The Art of Getting Freelance Work Using Forums
Posted February 14, 2008 in Marketing 25 Comments »
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
******
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.
******
Image in this post: Star Dust
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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25 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:
haryFettect
May 31st, 2009 at 9:25 pmHi!
Jesus Christ and the Pharisees
The New Testament Gospels reveal an intense conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees, one of the two principal Judean religious sects (see Matthew chapter 3, verse 7; Matthew chapter 5, verse 20; Matthew chapter 23, verses 13-15, 23-29; Mark chapter 8, verse 15; Luke chapter 11, verse 39). Much of this controversy was centred on what was later to become the foundation and highest authority of Judaism, the Talmud. In the time of Jesus Christ, this bore the name of “The Tradition of the Elders” (see Matthew chapter 15, verses 1-9).
The Judean historian Josephus wrote: “What I would now explain is this, that the Pharisees have delivered to the people a great many observances by succession from their fathers, which are not written in the laws of Moses . . .”
While the Pharisees recognized the laws of Moses, they also claimed that there was a great body of oral tradition which was of at least equal authority with the written Law – and many claimed that the Tradition was of greater authority. By their tradition, they undertook to explain and elaborate upon the Law. This was the “Tradition of the Elders”, to which the name of Talmud was later given. It had its beginning in Babylon, during the Babylon captivity of the people of Judah, where it developed in the form of the commentaries of various rabbis, undertaking to explain and apply the Law. This was the foundation of Rabbinic Judaism.
This Judaism was very different from the religion of the ancient Israelites. The late Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, who was the Chief Rabbi of the United States, expressed this conclusively when he said: “The return from Babylon, and the adoption of the Babylonian Talmud, marks the end of Hebrewism, and the beginning of Judaism.” The Jewish Encyclopedia tells us that the Talmud is actually “the product of the Palestinian and Babylonian schools” and is generally referred to as “the Babylonian Talmud”.
Dr. Boaz Cohen in Everyman’s Talmud states the Talmud is the work of “numerous Jewish scholars over a period of some 700 years, roughly speaking, between 200 C.] and 500 D.].”
Rabbi Louis Finkelstein in Volume 1 of The Pharisees, the Sociological Background of their Faith says, “Pharisaism became Talmudism, Talmudism became Medieval Rabbinism, and Medieval Rabbinism became Modern Rabbinism. But throughout these changes of name, inevitable adaption of custom, and adjustment of Law, the spirit of the ancient Pharisee survives unaltered.”
According to The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. VIII, (1942) p.474 : “The Jewish religion as it is today traces its descent, without a break, through all the centuries, from the Pharisees. Their leading ideas and methods found expression in a literature of enormous extent, of which a very great deal is still in existence. The Talmud is the largest and most important single member of that literature.”
Moshe Menuhim explains that the Babylonian Talmud embodied all the laws and legends, all the history and ’science,’ all the theology and folklore, of all the past ages in Jewish life — a monumental work of consolidation. In the Talmud, Jewish scholarship and idealism found their exclusive outlet and preoccupation all through the ages, all the way up to the era of Enlightenment. It became the principal guide to life and object of study, and it gave Judaism unity, cohesion and resilience throughout the dark ages.
The Talmud, more than any other literature, so defined Judaism that Rabbi Ben Zion Bokser admitted, “Judaism is not the religion of the Bible.” (Judaism and the Christian Predicament, 1966, p.159) It is the Talmud that guides the life and spirit of the Jewish people.
“The Talmud is to this day the circulating heart’s blood of the Jewish religion. Whatever laws, customs, or ceremonies we observe — whether we are Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or merely spasmodic sentimentalists — we follow the Talmud. It is our common law.” (A History of the Jews, Solomon Grayzel).
Both Jewish and Christian scholars agree that it was Jesus Christ’s flagrant rejection of this “Tradition of the Elders” and his open confrontation with the powerful Pharisees that created the climate that led to his death. Historically, Christian thinkers argued that the Talmud was directly responsible for the rejection of Christ.
In their view these “traditions” blinded the eyes of the people to a true understanding of the prophecies which related to the coming of the Messiah.
If Jews are Chosen, they are self-cosen who use their vast wealth to bribe and buy up political power to the point that they now control U.S. Government policies, both foreign an domestic.
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no of the links are working….
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