Sitting down with a friend one day, he was telling me about how crummy a week he’d been having.

Moving along past the part where he curses and calls his boss and colleagues all kinds of names which I will not reiterate here, he tells me he wished he could freelance if only he had some skills.

“Skills?”, I asked feeling abit confused.

“Yeah…skills, you  know like web design, programming and all that stuff. I don’t know how to do any of that stuff.”

Here I was staring at a man who had spent 4 years in university and a couple more years working in an engineering firm, and he was telling me he didn’t have any skills.

“Can you read and write?”, I asked.

“Sure”, he answers.

“Can you speak a language fluently? Can you count? Can you use a computer, check email and web surf?”, I continued.

“Uhuh”, he responds.

A look of confusion begins to appear on his face. “So what?” he says, “Anyone with a brain knows how to do all that stuff”

Turning my laptop towards him, I’d done a very quick search online and showed him an article I had found just minutes before.

Parts of it read something like this:

“…Statistics released by the U.S. Education Department show that some 32 million U.S. adults lack basic prose literacy skill. That means they can’t read a newspaper or the instruction on a bottle of pills….”

“…A large number of the unemployed are low-skilled individuals who struggle with everyday reading, writing and math tasks…”

Literacy is a freelance skill

Even if you don’t know web design or programming or don’t believe you have what it takes to be a travel writer, there are heaps of people out there (especially online business owners) who are looking for people who can read, write and speak good (insert your native language here) to help them with running their business’s.

More and more people are getting jobs as Virtual Assistants or Virtual Admins whereby they are paid to carry out the busy work of people’s businesses.

In many cases, these people don’t expect you to have any prior skills or knowledge and will teach you how to do the activities they want you to carry out.

People who get targeted for these jobs are generally people who have good literacy in the employers desired language and are able to use a computer and learn new software easily.

——–

Even if becoming a virtual assistant isn’t your thing, learning new freelance skills is 10 times easier compared to if you couldn’t read or write.

These days, people can teach themselves web design by referring to books or online tutorials.

Others learn to travel write by reading other travel blogs then giving it a shot themselves.

Imagine if you wanted to freelance online but you didn’t know what the internet was or even how to turn on a computer.

——-

80% of all freelance skills out there can be self taught without spending heaps of money.

You only need to be able to read in order to gain access to the information that most of the time is publicly available in libraries, websites, forums and blogs.

This was how I learned how to  use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator in order to work on an early freelance project and how i’ve acquired additional freelance skills since.

Online training resources for increasing freelance skills

While there are definitely heaps of free resources out there, there are quite a few websites that specialize in selling video training tutorials designed to speed up your learning process.

Here in this post I will give you both so you know where to go if you ever want to learn more than what the free tutorials can give you.

Adobe Design Center Video Workshop

One of the best places I’ve found online to get started learning how to use Adobe products. They have heaps of free video tutorials run by certified Adobe Trainers.

Creative Cow

Another great place with heaps of not only Adobe video tutorials is Creative Cow.net. Here they have an extended list of video tutorials that include Autodesk and Apple software.

Lynda.com

Probably the most extensive Online Training Library on the web, Lynda.com boasts a database of 700 self paced training courses and over 43,900 training videos which continues to grow on a monthly basis.

While many of these tutorials are free, most of them are locked behind a subscription payment to their site.

I would hold off paying any money until you’ve gone through all the free tutorials relating to what you want to learn on all these sites.

It is usually enough to get you started and once you’ve got a foot into using the software, you’ll start to get a hang of using the software on your own.

Some final advice to help supercharge your learning process

Another good idea is to find a friend or just anyone you know who might have some experience with the software or skill you want to learn.

Spending even a few minutes talking to a person who has experience in the freelance field you want to enter could potentially save you months of trial and error and help you supercharge your learning by pointing you immediately in the right direction.

Use the experience of others to your advantage and take advantage of free resources to learn and gain experience cheaply while you are just starting out.

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3. Exercise 2.2: Get your company to spend time and money on you

In this post, I’m going to explain how complete beginners with nothing to show can increase their odds at winning a project

When I started out freelancing online, I thought that as soon as I registered for a freelance job site, things would be smooth sailing and projects would drop right into my lap.

It was sort of wishful thinking on my part, and I found that I actually had to  compete against more experienced and established freelancers.

The common advice is to start with small low paying projects and build up from there so you can get some client feedback.

Having client feedback definitely helps, though the tips i will be explaining below are designed to help you speed up your efforts at winning higher paying projects sooner, even with minimal experience or client feedback.

Create a work portfolio that you can show your target market

A very simple tip, but very often overlooked. Alot of new providers think that the best strategy is to bid as low as possible in order to win a project.

This is not always true, especially when clients are looking to hire someone who has the specific skills necessary in order to complete a project.

Bidding too low without having work samples also makes you look amateurish if brand new, making you more likely to be skipped over on more high paying projects.

Starting a free blog displaying your resume, personal profile, and sample of your skills (writing, audio editing, video editing, webdesign etc.) is a good and free way to start an online work portfolio that you can direct to clients when you make a bid.

If you’re not familiar with free blog sites, check out blogger.com and wordpress.com to set one up quickly.

Go the extra mile to show you’re perfect for the job

Most projects will usually come with a project description. Sometimes this description is enough to let you create a sample of the work you can do.

I did this in one project whereby I wrote up a sample layout based on the description and also created a quick free blog with a few posts to demonstrate my knowledge on the topic my clients project was based on.

This impressed my client enough that they gave me the job before bidding had even ended.

Instead of just making a verbal bid for the project, I went the extra mile to prove to the client that I was serious and had the knowledge and ability to achieve their project goal.

This strategy is effective, especially when you have little to no previous work samples to show but would like to prove you are capable.

Make who you are visible to the client

Don’t you feel more comfortable when you actually know who you’re working with? The same goes with clients who are overseas and who can only see you and get to know you through the information you provide.

In your job profile on the site you are registered with, fill out your job profile completely outlining your past experience, qualifications and any references.

Have a link to a personal blog or website you might have so they can check you out and get  to know you.

Being visible can give the impression that you are honest and that you aren’t trying to hide anything (i will assume that you are honest and aren’t trying to hide anything).

For clients, this makes them more comfortable and opens up your chances of being selected for a project.

Summary

For anyone who is just getting started or is currently freelancing, using the above 3 tips will help boost your odds at winning project bids.

The tips described above are designed to help you win better paying higher quality projects instead of settling for low paying overly demanding projects that would choose you simply because you offered a low price.

Demonstrated ability speaks louder than a verbal promise and going the extra mile to show clients that you have the skills and the desire to work for them helps as well.

Doing this shows a level of commitment and seriousness that can help you stand out of the crowd. This helps especially if you are brand new and have never won a single project.

Showing all your qualifications and giving them a chance at getting know who you are by directing them to your personal site can help clients feel more comfortable and also decide if you are a right fit for the type of person they want to work with.

In the end, you need to be creative in coming up with ways to grab the clients attention.

Obviously some effort is involved, but seriously, you don’t make friends by standing 10 feet away from people and telling them how awesome of a friend you’d be.

In the same way, you don’t win clients by making verbal promises alone. Show them your commitment, show them who you are and I can promise you that you will see results.

Related posts:

1. A freelance skill most people have but never think of
2. Why oDesk is a great place for employees to start freelancing online
3. Donanza – A Freelance and Telecommuting Job Search Engine

Just as a start, I thought I would add a quick post on some of the most common mistakes that I’ve known some of my friends to make when it comes to their resumes.

I’m by no means an expert, but these are some common mistakes that shouldn’t happen in most basic resumes.

Forgetting To Put Your Contact Details

Probably the most important thing you can remember to do is to make sure that potential employers are able to reach you if they are interested.

Remember to put your full name, current mailing address and phone number (land line and mobile) and a current email address.

If they like you, but can’t reach you, chances are they will move on to the next candidate. It is rare in my experience that employers will like potential candidates enough that they would be willing to dig around to figure out who is the mystery person with the fabulous resume.

Not Putting Relevant References

If you’ve never held a job before and hence don’t have any work references, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t put any or that you should put anyone you can think of as a reference.

The purpose of references is to serve as a third party character reference that your potential employer can trust is reliable.

This means putting people who are of perceivable social standing and are able to give an objective opinion of who you are.

In cases where you do not have work reference’s, you can put down the name of a lecturer or teacher from the university or school that you studied at.

If you are a member of a class or society, you can have a senior member of your group be a reference.

You don’t want to put down the name of your girlfriend or the old lady who lives across the street, unless of course they meet the above criteria.

No Contact Details For References

Usually if an employer is interested, they will call you asking for references. If on the other hand you attach the names of references with a resume but leave out contact details, this can give off the impression that you are sloppy and have a poor attention to detail.

Not Writing Clear Descriptions Of You Previous Job Responsibilities

I remember looking through a friends resume and all he wrote under previous employment was his job title and one word descriptions of what he did.

You want to communicate clearly and concisely firstly, “Your Job Title”, and secondly, “A Clear Description Of Responsibilities”

For example, let’s say the previous job you held was working as a pizza delivery driver.

Instead of just writing:

• Job Position : Pizza Delivery Driver
• Job Description : Delivering Pizza

Elaborate more on the exact tasks that you do.

For instance, when I used to deliver pizza I also used to help out in the back room in between deliveries.

In this case, you might write something like the following in your resume:

• Job Position: Pizza Delivery Driver and Food Ingredients Preparation
• Job Description:
  • Adhering to Business Health and Safety Standards
  • Responsible For Clean Up Of Food Preparation Area and Equipment At Close Of Business
  • Communicating With Customers and Providing Excellent Customer Service
  • Communicating With Other Driver’s To Ensure Timely Deliveries
  • Food Ingredients Preparation and Storage
  • Responsible For Packing Requested Delivery Orders
  • Responsible For Cash Handling And Correct Payment

It might sound like an embellishment of a pizza delivery job, but those are all the jobs I used to do and they are all true.

Your job description should clearly reflect your job responsibilities. Don’t look down on any previous work experience you have.

When you’re first looking for a job, everything you do counts, and when employers are expecting to hear from fresh grads with no work experience, they are going to want to know as much about you as you can tell them.

Not Putting Your Most Valuable Attributes First

When an employer posts a job, they can potentially receive hundreds of applications.

If you can’t catch their attention with a glance of the front of your resume, you run the risk of your resume being dumped without even having a proper look through.

What I usually do in this case is I would have my name and contact details clearly on the front page along with a list of my most valuable attributes that I think the employer will want.

For instance, let’s say that the job you are applying for is as a Marketing Graduate.

In this case, you want to put right on the front of your resume in clear letters that can easily be read even at a sideways glance what you perceive is your most valuable asset.

This could be anything from “Graduated At The Top Of The Class” or “3 Month’s Experience As Personnel Assistant To Marketing Manager of Acme Company” or both even if you have them.

You want to make each description large enough to read easily and short enough to breeze through. State as many of your key attributes on this page as you can without making it look cluttered.

Also, do remember to put your name, contact details and any other relevant information that they need to pre-qualify you.

These can include location, marital status, visa status and so on.

Not Being Consistent With Formatting

If you’re going to use size 18 Font for the headings, make sure all the headings are size 18. If you’re going to use Times New Roman for the description text, use it for all the description text.

Inconsistent page to page formating is an indication of someone who has poor attention to detail and also a poor level of professionalism. This is really bad, especially if you’re applying for telework in which the potential client only has the resume in front of them to represent what you might be like in person.

The font I will generally use whenever I am writing an official letter or document is Arial font. Arial is a clean font, very neutral so it doesn’t draw the readers attention away from the content and it is clear and easy to read.

Other good fonts include Times New Roman and Calibri.

Your character is reflected in how well you format your resume. Don’t let little inconsistencies belittle the chances you might have to being shortlisted and accepted for a job.

Spelling Mistakes

Having spelling mistakes prevalent throughout your resume screams laziness and poor attention to detail. Most word processing softwares (namely MS Word) have spell checkers that help you avoid this problem.

Some simple advice, always run a spell check after you finish your resume and reread it just to make sure the spell checker didn’t accidentally change the meaning of any of the words.

“Six” spelled “Sux” could be misinterpreted as “Sex”. A resume full of “sex” where “six” should be could really minimize your chances of getting a job interview (usually).

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