Have you heard of online home based business, online jobs and online money making?

Are you aware that you can do data entry work and many other varieties of internet jobs from the cozy comforts of your home and earn handsome compensation?

Well, even if you are oblivious about any of the above realities, there is nothing ridiculous. Probably, you are not the only person who is ignorant about fantastic freelancing ideas and opportunities available on the internet. I am sure that there must be millions of other people like you who are naïve about what wonders the internet has created. Anyway, it is never too late.

Let me tell you in one simple statement that internet is a medium that has thrown open plenty of exciting opportunities for earning legitimate income. Carry on reading further and I am damn sure that you would be tempted too fast too soon to get a hold of a tiny proportion of multi million Dollar outsourcing and freelancing business on the internet.

Who can do online home based works?

Anybody irrespective of age, gender, religion, and country of residence can take up online internet jobs. If you are employed full time with some company, you can do your online jobs during your spare time and earn extra income. If you are unemployed you can take up online jobs for full time and earn enough money to live a happy life. If you are a student, you can earn money to pay for education expenses. For home making moms it is the ideal choice to keep her knowledge and creativity alive and at the same time earn substantial remuneration.

What types of home based jobs are available on the internet?

Here’s a list of few simplest home based jobs that any one with a PC, internet connection and basic knowledge of MS Windows office suit can start immediately.

• Simple Typing Jobs – This is a straightforward job that expects you to retype hand written or typed PDF documents into word or excel format. You don’t need to possess any extraordinary skills. It is not necessary to possess super fast typing speed. However, higher the speed, better it is for you as you can do more work per day.
• Data Entry works – Here again it is a very simple job that does not demand any exacting skills and knowledge. Familiarity with MS Excel is an added advantage. Depending upon the project, data entries, database creation, form filling and other similar jobs have to be done online or offline. Many of the projects may be as simple as copy/paste assignments that involve extracting and compiling data/information/reports from various websites.
• Copywriting – Such jobs are neither easy nor very difficult. You need to possess skills like creativity, perfect English grammar, content knowledge and proficiency in internet research. Basic knowledge of SEO (Search Engine Optimization), keyword density and blog writing can help you to succeed faster.
• Internet marketing, forum posting, and internet advertising – Requirement of specific skills may vary from project to project. Essentially, these jobs demand that you should be internet savvy and willing to learn new concepts and idea and have a flair for marketing.

How much is the earning potential of online work from home?

Well, sky is the limit. It varies from individual to individual. Monthly earning potential can vary from few bucks to few thousand bucks every month depending upon various factors. There are many people who are fully occupied with internet freelancing jobs and living five star life.

Where can one find online money making jobs?

Internet is full of advertisers enticing people like you and me for data entry jobs, internet marketing, forum posting, and many more full time/part time money making opportunities. Due to ever growing popularity of online money making concept, a large number of devious websites have sprung up on the internet. Gullible people are most likely to fall prey to fast buck schemes and internet frauds. I would not write much on this aspect as there is lot of stuff available elsewhere on the internet. You must keep in mind that easy money and greed are the root causes of majority of internet scams.

Let us talk about which are the good places to find genuine online freelance jobs.

There are many genuine websites or freelancer platforms on the internet. Freelancer platform is like an open market place where buyers and sellers meet to carry out their business. Essentially speaking, a freelancer website is a platform that facilitates service buyers to connect to service providers. Service buyer can be an individual or a small business owner or a medium/large company that is looking out to get the work done (outsourced) at the most competitive rates.

Likewise a service provider can be an individual like you and me or a group of individuals (team) or small/medium business owners. Servicer buyers post their projects on these platforms with specifications and invite bidding from suitable service providers. Though there may be tough competition but the chances of cartelization and other means of foul play for winning the bids are almost remote.

The entire concept is based on fair play. If you have offered your services at the lowest rate then you are awarded the job provided that the service buyer is satisfied about your job execution skills. There are different payment modes but the most common is escrow payment through the freelance website. Escrow payment ensures that there is no cheating from service buyer and service provider.

Here’s a list of few freelance platforms where you can try to get online home based works.

1. GetAFreelancer.com
2. Scriptlance.com
3. EUFreelance.com
4. RentaCoder.com
5. ELance.com
6. Guru.com

How to go about for getting the online internet jobs on freelance platforms?

Freelance platforms as listed above follow different sets of rules, terms and conditions. However, the basic concept of open and free bidding remains the same for all these freelance sites. One of the most important plus point of these freelance platforms – For a beginner or entry level participant there are no registration fees. These freelance sites are considered as the most reputed and trusted sites on the internet.

All these sites allow various types of outsourcing jobs right from simple data entry to highly skilled software jobs. But some of the sites are more popular then other sites in respect of the types of jobs and remunerations and hence may not be suitable for all the people. I would recommend that you should initially start with first three freelance sites where your chances of early break through are more profound.

I am sure that dozens of questions must be popping up in your mind. How do I register with freelance platforms? What are the registration charges? Do I have to pay any fees for bidding? How do I place the bid? What happens once I place the bid? I would advise you to have a look at our section “FAQs on popular freelance websites”. Besides, it is also necessary that you must browse the websites for a broader perspective on how to start online home based internet jobs.

Summing up

While the investment required to undertake freelance jobs is nil, nevertheless you must invest your time and energy to dig up suitable online jobs for you. Websites like this and your well wishers can guide you but ultimately a lot depends upon you. What is most important is the zeal, seriousness and conviction to excel in whatever work you choose to undertake on the internet.

When one browses a popular search engine with keywords online jobs, work from home, data entry work, online home based business and few other similar sounding words the search result is likely to generate few hundred thousands pages. There are abundant online money making opportunities available on the internet. Finding a right online job without getting duped is a daunting task for the beginners.

You must have gone through the overview of online jobs on the Home page of this website. This article is an attempt to solve all your queries on how to go about looking out for freelance jobs on most popular and trusted freelance sites like GetAFreelancer.com and Scriptlance.com. Before going further let me make few things clear.

• This article is a general guide to resolve few frequently asked questions related to GetAFreelancer.com and Scriptlance.com.
• This article discusses the queries only from the viewpoint of service providers (online home based job seekers).
• Getting hands-on exposure to GetAFreelancer.com and Scriptlance.com can automatically provide you the desired confidence to search online work on the other popular freelance sites.
• The information may not be exhaustive and the readers are advised to go through FAQ section of GetAFreelancer.com and Scriptlance.com.

1.    What is a freelance site?
Freelance means self-employed, whereas a freelancer means a person who works independently for different jobs without any commitments on salary or permanent job. Freelance site is a platform that facilitates or connects freelance service buyers and providers.

2.    How to register on freelance sites? Are there any fees?
Registering on freelance sites is absolutely free. Signing up process is absolutely hassle-free and it is open to anybody from any country. You are required to furnish various personal details such as name, address, email id, contact details, username, password and profile.

Most important – Try to provide maximum details about your career profile, skills, area of expertise, your mission, vision and all the important matter that is directly or indirectly related with your talent and professional knowledge. When you have placed your bid for a particular job, the service buyer gives lot of importance to your background besides the price bid. The entire process of signing up gets over in maximum three steps. You can also edit your profile and personal details later on if required.

3.    What are the various membership plans and commissions payable to freelance sites?
The amount of commission payable to the freelance site depends upon the type of membership. For a beginner, it is advisable to start with free membership. Generally the commission is around 5 to 10% of the project cost, subject to a minimum of 3 to 5$. As a free member you can place bids on 15-20 projects per month.

You may please refer the freelance sites to know more about gold membership, featured projects and other paid membership plans where you have to pay monthly or quarterly or half yearly or yearly fees to the freelance site. Advantage of paid membership is that you are not required to pay any commissions to the freelance sites and you can place your bids for 150+ projects per month. You should go for gold membership only after you have successfully established on the freelance platform.

4.    How to transfer the funds?
Funds transfer involves payment of project commission fees to the freelance site. Credit cards, bank transfer and third party agents like PayPal, Moneybookers and many other innovative and convenient funds transfer options are available on the freelance sites. It is better to study the funds transfer options on the website and then exercise the option that suits you best.

5.    How to search and bid on the projects?
Daily hundreds of projects are posted by the service buyers. You can start your search with top 50 newly posted projects on the main page. You may also search the projects on the page that displays all the projects. Projects are sorted based on the date as well based on the category of project. You can also have an option to receive emails whenever a project that meets your criteria is posted on the freelance site. If you just want to bid on the data entry projects then don’t waste time on all the projects. Whenever you feel that you can comfortably execute a particular job then you should place your bid.

Be specific while submitting your bid. You must place your bid details on the PM (private message) section. You can view PM icon just below username. PM section can be viewed only by you and the service buyers. Remember when you click PM icon, you would be prompted to sign in with your username and password. Never place your bid details and sample work on project message board as it is accessible to all the members.

6.    What next after placing the bids?
Having submitted your bids does not mean that your part is over. Be on the look out for any responses or messages received from project buyer. Check your PM frequently. You can also check PM through your email inbox. Freelance sites instantly send you an email as soon as a private message is posted for you. If your bid has been selected for any project then the intimation is sent to you immediately by email. Develop a habit to check your email regularly at least 2-3 times in a day.

Immediately upon receipt of the email about selection of your bid, you are required to accept the bid on the website. First step is to make the payment to the freelance site towards the commission. Once you send your acceptance, the freelance site will provide you the contact details of project buyer. Now onwards you will communicate with the project buyer through email instead of PM. Upon successful completion of the work, the project buyer will instruct the freelance site to release your escrow payment. Freelance site will allow you and the buyer to post reviews about each other only after the payment is completed.

7.    How to succeed in getting the project?
Getting a first break through is a real test of your endurance. There are number of bidders out there to grab the projects. Data entry projects and simple typing projects that require simple skills are prone to cut throat competition. It is literally not possible to provide a sure shot guide to success. I can only emphasize few important points.

1. Pay more attention to new jobs (not older than 2 to 3 days). It is really difficult to get the older jobs.
2. Always be the first to place the bid especially when the urgent projects are posted.
3. There are many jobs posted only for new service providers. Here you have more chance to win the bids.
4. Be prepared to bid at the rates lower than lowest bid. You can always revise your bid if you see that somebody else has bid lower than you.
5. After placing the bid, send a private message (PM) to the service buyer. Here you can explain in detail why you are best suited for this job. You can clearly mention that you are new and prepared to work at the lowest rates expected by the service provider.
6. Keep an eye on the response received from the project buyer and be prompt to reply back.
7. Try to provide samples of your past work whenever possible. You may also show your willingness to the project buyer to execute a small part of the project as sample work for free of charge.
8. Never overstate your capabilities. If you have one job in hand with a very short deadline then it is advisable to complete this project first before taking up new commitments. If you overshoot your deadlines the service provider may give you a bad review and it can affect adversely to your reputation.
9. Don’t lose patience and go on bidding with conviction and success will definitely come to hard working people like you.
10. Never display your contact details in the private message (PM) as it violates the terms and conditions of the freelance sites. In such cases your membership is liable for immediate termination.

8.    How safe is it to work at freelance sites?
It is 100 percent safe as there are no fees to register on freelance sites. At the most you may lose your time and energy. Escrow payment is the option that ensures fair play. Before starting the work you can request for an escrow payment. Here in such cases the project buyer deposits the money in advance with the freelance site. Your payment would be released after satisfactory completion of work.

9.    How to withdraw money from freelance sites?
The procedure differs with the sites. You can request withdrawal to your bank or credit card, PayPal or MoneyBookers. All the freelance sites levy nominal charges for funds withdrawal. There is a limit on the minimum amount that can be withdrawn. When it is your first withdrawal it may take 2 to 3 weeks to get the funds credited to your bank account. Subsequent withdrawals are much faster and depending upon when you have placed the request you may get the funds in your hands maximum within one week. Please refer individual freelance sites to study in detail about various withdrawal options and procedures.

In conclusion
I have tried my level best to resolve all the queries and anxieties. However, I am always available for further clarification at any time. Please feel free to get in touch. My best wishes for your success in online home based works. Failure is part and parcel of life. Accept it in your stride. Importance of success can never be realized without tasting the failure.