The Art of Getting Freelance Work Using Forums
Posted February 14, 2008 in Marketing
Are you one of those freelancers who bid on low paying gigs and yet don’t get accepted? Or do you simply find it difficult to find work? If you are guilty conscious of one of the above two, then read on, I will be guiding you on how to use effectively use forums to get freelance gigs. I find it’s a more personal approach than using job boards. Without further ado, let me take you to the art of getting freelance work using forums.
Finding The Right Forums
First and foremost you should choose the forums in which you want to sell your service. You can sell your services in any forum provided you don’t spam. Since there are many forums out there, you have to be careful and chose the ones that have a lot of members, that are related to your niche and that lets you put links in your signature. Also the forum should be very active.
Attractive Signature
Your signature gets posted under every forum post you make. In these couple of lines you should be able to sell yourself and your services or at least make people want to click through and visit your site. If you are a freelance writer, I would suggest something like this:
“Need a quality freelance writer who can write digg-able content? I can do that!”
Don’t forget that sometimes being active in forums that are not necessarily related to your niche (for as long as you’re interested in the topics discussed there) can be good. For instance if you’re a designer, SitePoint, LogoPond, and Your Design Forums are good starting points, but you signature really has to stand out and you have to be a very active member in order to get work since almost everyone posting on these discussion boards are, you guessed it: designers.
Become A Trusted Member
This is the most important part. Becoming a trusted member is not easy. But once you become a trusted member, you can sell almost anything to the members over at the forum. So how do you become a trusted member? Introduce yourself first as a freelancer, there is usually an ‘introduce yourself‘ thread where you can tell people a little about yourself. Help the people in the forum by answering their questions and also by offering good advices. If you have freebies to give in the forum, go ahead, be it a free ebook, graphics, brushes, free css designs. Most important rule: never ever spam. If you think what you’re about to post could be considered spam by other members, simply contact the board admins and ask, they’re there to help.
Offer Your Service Once For Free
This is to get testimonials from the senior and highly respected members of the forum. If you are a freelance writer, offer to write an article for free to a couple of senior members. Their testimonials can be very effective, especially in the forum. Since they are experienced members, they might even use you in their next project or recommend you to their clients.
By having a very good signature and a “trusted member” title or rank, it definitely increases your chances of people contacting you. If you have some testimonials from senior members or experts in your niche, a lot of people will want to visit your forum profile and then they may visit your own site (and hire you!).
Good luck in getting freelance work using forums. Do let me know if and what works for you. Which forums are you active on? Do you find clients through these forums? How do you do it?
Ram
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Ramkarthik is an 18 year old blogger and freelance writer. You can check out his blog at Blogging Tune where he gives tips on blogging. He is for hire.
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About the author: Ramkarthik is an 18 year old blogger and freelance writer. You can check out his blog at Blogging Tune where he gives tips on blogging. He is for hire.
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27 Comments
Dave Navarro
February 14th, 2008 at 2:42 pmI like the idea about the signature: here’s mine:
——–
4-Time Digg Frontpager for hire …
Jon Phillips
February 14th, 2008 at 4:47 pmDave, hehe yep that can definitely help make people wanna click on a link in your signature :)
nishu
February 15th, 2008 at 1:45 amVery nice and informative article Ram .. Keep up the good work.
Freelance Writer
February 15th, 2008 at 4:33 amSome really good advice about forums and winning freelance work.
I also like the one about offering the services for free once, anyone who is willing to do that for me is likely to be a good freelancer!
Tibi Puiu
February 15th, 2008 at 7:30 amPerfectly agree Ram, building your profile as an authority is the toughest task though. After that it’s all milk and honey.
Ram Karthik
February 15th, 2008 at 8:29 amDave, Good headline idea and it shows that you are really a 4 time digg front pager.
Nishu, Thanks and glad you liked the article.
Ramkarthik
February 15th, 2008 at 10:49 amFreelance Writer, yes and I have experience on that. I once offered for free and got good recommendations.
Tibi, Yes and it is not just tough but very tough.
Wayne Hall
February 15th, 2008 at 8:10 pmRam,
Good article. I agree that becoming a “trusted member” is the most important part. And it’s unfortunately becoming the most difficult part as people become more jaded because of spam and all of the hard core marketing tactics now occurring online.
Wayne
http://www.muvar.com
Fitness Diva
February 16th, 2008 at 9:18 pmGood tips. The signature suggestion is a gem, and something I’ve yet to implement. In my niche, there are a ton of people out there writing product. You really have to work hard to distinguish yourself from the crowd. Anything you can use to get a leg up on the competition helps!
Missy
February 28th, 2008 at 7:29 pmHi—Ram (and others):
Another tip for would-be-writers who seek work in forums is to do just that, seek out opportunities, don’t just sit back and wait for offers to come to you.
Be PRO-ACTIVE in your search.
deepra
March 1st, 2008 at 10:24 pmYou can try a social networking site for freelancers like http://www.whizolve.com. It’s free and great way to connect with clients and fellow freelancers.
dennis
April 30th, 2008 at 10:14 pmi love the idea of the signature and will have to develop a catchy one.
chachiksin
October 6th, 2008 at 5:27 pmhe US House of Representatives has voted by 263-171 in favour of a $700bn (?380bn) plan to rescue the US financial sector.More..
Tanya Patel
November 17th, 2008 at 7:12 pmHi Ram, Great article.
Do you have any ideas for good forums for someone to place freelancing opportunities?
Farrukh
January 19th, 2009 at 5:53 pmI am a Professional Web Designer with more than 4 years of experience in Web Designing and Development.
Here is my tag line:
Professional Web Designer – xHTML/CSS/JS/AJAX/Wordpress/Joomla Expert
temple web design
February 2nd, 2009 at 12:44 amThanks Ramkarthik. I will give this a shot :)
AlbertoDeKosta
May 17th, 2009 at 7:13 pmSorry, wrong topic. :ups:
Unardircazids
June 16th, 2009 at 3:22 amhi,
i was wondering where can i watch or download full metal alchemist the 2nd episode 11 been searching for it…
no of the links are working….
calling cards
December 17th, 2010 at 9:20 amI really enjoyed the tips and think they will be useful for the next time I find
myself in front of an audience. Thanks.
Danai Panagiwtopoulou
March 28th, 2012 at 3:48 amUsing forums to find jobs hasn’t really worked for me.. I prefer searching in a job listings site, like http://www.peopleperhour.com.. I find quality work and great employers as well!!
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