Using Elance to Make Money

Yesterday, I talked about Textbroker and why I think it is a complete waste of a freelancer's time.  Today, I'm goingt to talk about Elance...

...because I think that Elance is exactly the opposite of a waste of time.  In fact, I think it's amazing.  Don't get me wrong, I won't be freelancing on Elance for the rest of my life.  For now, though, I'm going to show you how I can make a living using this incredible freelance community.

If you are a writer, a web designer, a marketing specialist, a social media networking specialist, an SEO writer, or a computer programmer... you can find WORK on ELANCE.  I'm talking about high paying, high quality, legit work, not cheap, ridiculous, five dollars an hour work.  You can actually be COMPENSATED for your time.

What Is Elance?
Elance is a community of freelancers.  You have to register to be a member of the Elance community whether you are looking to work or to hire.  Once you are a member (a process I'll explain later), you can bid on projects, complete work, and get paid.  Here are the benefits of freelancing within a community like Elance:

• Payment is always guaranteed with escrowed funds
• Clients are abundant; you don't have to hunt for hours looking for work
• Work is more substantial, projects come in packages of several articles
• Elance takes a cut of your earnings, not a monthly fee, so a dry spell won't cost you
• Your performance, client ratings, and skills are rated and ranked so that you can easily stand out amongst a crowd
• You can self-test to show potential clients what your skills are
• YOU are in complete control of how much money you want to make per job

If you are looking to jumpstart a brand new freelancing career, get yourself through a dip in client jobs, or do something totally new on the side to make a few hundred dollars extra every month you have got to try out Elance.  It's fun.  It costs nothing.  You can make MONEY. 

Boom bada boom.

Anybody else use Elance?  Any hobby writers out there who have considered trying to freelance but didn't know where to start?

The Help

Alright peeps! It's Book Review Wednesday.  I just made that up.  I probably won't do this every Wednesday.  But for now, let's pretend that this is a regular thing.  Ahem.

BOOK REVIEW WEDNESDAY!!

A couple weeks ago I snatched up The Help by Kathryn Stockett as soon as my wife had finished it.  If you haven't read it, I'm going to try to avoid spoilers at all cost because I really think you should pick this one up.  While I am definitely a Science Fiction and Fantasy geek, I can appreciate a cultural, semi-historical fiction novel with the best of them.  And on a personal note, I love the Civil Rights Era of American History.  Ever since I went to the hotel where Martin Luther King, jr. was assassinated in Memphis, I've been infatuated with that movement in our country's history. 

In spite of that, I was naive enough to be disappointed by this book.  I'll explain that in a minute.

First of all, the characters in this book are so strong.  I love a book with good strong characters: characters whose voices you can hear in your head as if they were standing next to you and shouting.  I love being able to imagine a character's posture, clothing, nonverbal communication, all of it.  Ms. Stockett has her characters DOWN.  I also loved the story.  The humor, the intrigue, the old Southern charm.  It was all great.

The ending, however, left me feeling empty and dejected.  I found myself wanting a more definitive ending.  I wanted the characters to succeed.  I wanted more justice.  I wanted more recognition.

That's when I remembered... Kathryn Stockett couldn't write that ending because it would require a complete change in history.  The Civil Rights movement wasn't over in a week.  It wasn't over in a year.  It didn't wrap up neatly and nicely in a tidy little package where everybody, all of a sudden, got along.  In fact, the ending I found myself wanting would have been ridiculous.

"Now, I know I treated you like trash yesterday because you are black.  But now, I see that was wrong."
"You're right, it was wrong.  Wanna play Gin Rummy?"
"Oh yes."

Yeah. Stupid, I know.  This story ends with a handful of questions because that is what the lives of these characters were full of during this time.  Questions.  Questions about survival.  Questions about society.  Questions about change, about solutions, about unmet needs, about fear, about anger.  Some of us are still asking these questions today.  Some of us throw a huge temper tantrum when an African American man gets elected president.  Some of try to mask our prejudices by hurling stupid accusations about birth location and religion.  Some of us have forgotten the journey that our ancestors traveled. Some of us have forgotten our destination.

It may sound odd, but after reading this book I decided that I am proud of our President.  Not because he is black.  Not because he is the first president elected to this country that isn't as white as the signers of the Declaration.  But because, to me at least, he stands for another step on a journey that I think is well worth traveling.  I know that wasn't the intention of Kathryn Stockett.

Still, we can learn a lot from reading about the past.  We see where we've come from.  We see where we are going.  I see where I am.

Textbroker: Counting Pennies in Hell

I've been putting this post off for far too long.  I really want to discuss the beginning of my personal freelance journey and the important differences I discovered between two of the biggest freelance writing communities: Elance and Textbroker.

When I decided to try my hand at freelance writing, I didn't really know what an important and widespread field I was getting myself into.  A friend of mine told me she had made a few extra hundred dollars a month with a site called Textbroker.  Extra hundred dollars?  Ok, yes I'm trying this out.

Textbroker is a website where clients post their writing needs in different categories and writers can choose to complete these articles for a rate of less than two cents per word.  Categories include jewelry, home, business, computers, family, travel, etc.  Depending on how your writing rates with the Textbroker editors, you have access to different levels of writing jobs that pay different amounts of money.  The highest rating you can get as an "amateur" is a four star rating.  That's where I started. 

Here is the problem with Textbroker.  Er, there's more than one.  First, the jobs are first come, first served which means that there is no bidding process or freedom in deciding how much you are going to make.  If you write a four star article, you get paid 1.7 cents per word.  Every time.  No exceptions.  The second problem is that the a lot of the articles are filled with REALLY COMPLICATED guidelines that you have to complete before the article can be written.  Sometimes, just reading the guidelines for each article would take me fifteen minutes.  Then, the article would only pay about $5-$8.  Not exactly cost effective. 

The last problem I had with Textbroker freelance writing was the process by which they moved you from a four star writer to a five star writer.  Ideally, once you have written ten articles in a row with a four star rating, you can apply to be a five star writer which gives you access to better paying jobs.

Well, I've written about a hundred articles with all four star ratings.  I applied to be a five star writer.  I was rejected.  Why?  Because in ONE of the hundred four star articles, the editor at Textbroker didn't like some of my phrasing.  It wasn't wrong.  It wasn't grammatically incorrecct.  She just didn't like it.

After that, I abandoned Textbroker for Elance.  And I absolutely love Elance.

The Freelance Experience

So, guess what I'm figuring out?  Freelance writing is hard work.  Ok, I see you all seasoned freelancers slapping your foreheads and groaning.  Of course it's hard work, you say!  Nevertheless, I admit I initially subscribed to the "I Can Write Fast So I'll Make A Ton Of Money In No Time" school of thought. 

Thankfully, the rainbow is gone and the dancing leprechaun at my feet revealed himself to be a Reality Gnome.  I've got it now.  This career choice is danged hard.

My Freelance Experience

I've been working as a freelance writer for about a year now.  I started out writing articles (for dirt cheap) on a website called Textbroker.  Textbroker was a great place for me to start because it provided me with simple articles to write and didn't require any sort of bid process.  It's just first come, first served.  Eventually, I graduated to Elance. And that's where I've parked my derriere for the time being.  Elance is great, and for now, it is providing me with most of the work I need.  There is still room for growth, of course, and I've got other plans for developing my own personal brand...  but that's going to take time.

Wanna Know A Secret?

I spend about an hour each day reading some great blogs about writing, freelance writing, marketing, social media, and SEO principles.  One thing I've noticed, there doesn't seem to be a lot of blogs about getting your foot IN THE DOOR of the freelance community.  I'm going to add a few posts for the next few weeks about my experiences with Elance and Textbroker, and offer some tips to those who are considering the industry.

To my readers: if you have been considering pursuing some ventures that will provide you with a little extra income each month, I encourage you to try Elance.  Keep checking back for my insider secrets about how I found jobs, wrote successful bids, and kept my clients coming back for more!

Sign up for ELANCE today: it's easy and free!

First Meetings

No, this post isn't about the Orson Scott Card book.  What?  You don't know who Orson Scott Card is?  SHAME on you!!  Ender's Game, look it up. Buy it, borrow it, check it out.

No, this post (shamelessly overdue) is about my family's new dog.  Tonight via Skype, Jill and I met Frank.  A few weeks ago, my parents were forced to send one of my chocolate labs to join Charlie, Old Dan, Little Ann, and Old Yeller in that strange and wonderful paradise devoted to man's best friend.  Claude was her name.  Her liver basically shut down without warning, and keeping her alive would have been cruel.  So closed one of the most cherished chapters of my life.

Tonight, I met the new dog that was chosen as a companion to Claude's sister, Cleo.  Whoever says dogs are dumb or emotionless obviously hasn't witnessed a puppy who has lost her lifelong friend.  Cleo was depressed, lethargic, and unresponsive.  Was.  Frank, the adorable Rottweiler mix, has completely changed all of that.  I know that this dog will never know me the way Claude did.  I'll only be able to meet him through sporadic visits to St. Louis.  He will never stare at me adoringly as I make a turkey sandwich (hmmm... maybe it was the turkey sandwich that was getting stared at), he'll never curl up at my feet and breathe that sigh of contentment that only dogs have perfected, and he'll never pull his ears back and wag his tail when I come for a visit as if the world is once again complete. 

He may never do that, I know.  But he's there.  In my old home.  Comforting my lonely dog Cleo.  Bringing joy to my parents who I miss.  Watching over things while I am two hundred miles away.  And for that, I already love him.

Too bad his name is Frank, short for Franklin.  That was going to be the name of my first son.  Whoops.

Hannah, Haggadah, and Hard Rock

Went to The Hard Rock cafe for the first time in my life (I think) this weekend.  All in all, I'd say I was impressed up to but not exceeding my expectations.  This is probably due to my thoroughly miserable knowledge of rock musicians.  I can name the top three highest-selling rock artists of all time: The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson (did you know that), but my rock knowledge comes to a screeching halt immediately after that particular morsel. 

So, Hard Rock.  There I stood, surrounded by guitars and records signed by people I'm sure were famous, but nevertheless clueless about my surroundings.  That's what I get for marrying into a family of musical prodigies.  It's a good thing the man doesn't have to take the woman's name when he gets married... I never would have passed the Shackelford Entrance Examination for World Domination Through Musical Trivia Knowledge.

All in all, I prefer Planet Hollywood.  I can appreciate the slab of meat that Rocky worked out with, Leia's gold bikini, and the E.T. bicycle a lot more than a Les Paul signed by Billy Gibbons.

I had to look up that guy's name and what guitar he plays.  Sigh.

Monday night, the Thurch gang recreated the traditional Passover feast.  We wanted to go with all the traditional elements of Passover.  If you didn't know, each part of the Passover meal represents a specific topic or idea that is supposed to be meditated on as you eat or drink it.  Naturally, I went to a Passover website to look up Passover recipes.  How exactly do they prepare the lamb these days?

Apparently, any gosh darn way you want.  I saw a recipe for a Kosher beer battered lamb steak.  I'm not even kidding.  I decided to throw together a quick dry rub because, hey, we're not Jewish and there's no since wasting good lamb by not seasoning it properly.

So, we all sat down on the floor on some cushions, Cullen read the Haggadah, and after three glasses of Kosher wine (translation: liquid skittles), some bitter herbs (translation: parsley), some charoset (translation: apples, raisins and honey), and a platter full of lamb (translation: awesome), we had ourselves a traditional Passover celebration.  Mazeltov!


One more thing. I just remembered (after watching The Biggest Loser tonight. No spoilers Tori, I promise!) that Jill and I saw a special somebody jogging down Old Hickory Blvd on Sunday morning.  Yeah, it was Hannah from the Biggest Loser.  We are 85% positive.  If I'd had enough time to react I would've stuck my head out the sun roof and screamed at the top of my lungs.  Go Hannah, Olivia, and Irene!!

Tori, dahling, break a leg in Spring Sing this weekend.  You blow my mind up with helium and then suck my brains out and talk in a funny high-pitched voice.  Er... I mean.  You blow my mind.  I should have probably just stopped there.

Awkward.

Thurch

It's a beautiful day... don't let it get away.  What you don't have you don't need it now...

Wow I love that U2 song.  And today WAS beautiful.  Perfect weather; it even smelled pretty outside according to Jillian. 

Today, Jill and I FINALLY put some stuff up on our poor, lonely apartment walls.  We hung a mirror and two sconces in the dining room, and put a makeshift mantel over our fireplace in the form of a shelf with some pictures and vases on it.

Side note: did you know that M-A-N-T-L-E refers to a cape-like garment or the layer above the earth's core and M-A-N-T-E-L refers to the decorative portion around a fireplace?  Yeah neither did I until I just looked it up.

So after Jill and I wrestled with tape measures, nails, screws, a drill and a hammer, we had our weekly get-together with some of our greatest Nashvillian friends.  Thursday nights are bible study nights (actually, I think we've decided to call it Thurch), and I absolutely love them.

Next week we are starting Rob Bell's new book Love Wins, and we are all really excited about it.  Tonight we decided to share one thing we were all dealing with and pray for each other daily.  I can't wait to see what's going to happen with everyone's unique situation. 

We had a small problem after Thurch where Brett decided to insult Julia Roberts and Sandra Bullock in the same sentence, but Linzi lit his hair on fire and the party broke up soon after that.

All in all, great day.  Excited to see my in-laws this weekend.  Hope everyone has a great Friday and beyond!