Thursday Tip Triad #4

So it's been brought to my attention by a number of folks that Elance is a bit hard to get the hang of, and to be quite honest, I agree completely! While it is a great way to find legitimate work from home jobs, it can also be really difficult to get the hang of. After two months I still find myself getting confused from time to time so here are a few tips for getting started with Elance.

1. Choose your category very carefully. One mistake that a lot of people make is that they pick a job category without really thinking about what it will contain and if it's the best option for them.
You can only bid on projects that fall under the category you sign up for, so make sure you choose wisely. Additional categories can be added on for a monthly fee, but for the most part, that is probably unnecessary.

2. Pay attention to your connects. You can only place so many bids per month based on the number of connects you have, this applies to free and paid users. As a free member I got 3 connects per month, but I think they've raised that recently to 10. Most projects will only require 1 connect, but some with higher budgets can require more than that. Try to be choosy about projects when you first get started and pick ones that you feel you have a good chance at winning. You don't have to bid on brand new projects either, you can let them sit for a while and see what the competition offers.

3. Use the watch list. This is by far one of the most useful parts of the site. When you put a job on your watch list, you will then be able to see the highest, lowest and average bid that's been placed. You can use these numbers to make sure your pricing on the project is competitive and increase your chances to beat the competition.