Wanted to write a short post. I was not paid by Thumbtack to write it. I started doing freelance work around 8 months ago. At first I found my clients mainly through meeting in person. While this certainly has its benefits, you can only meet some many people in your city. So I went online.
At first I tried to use Google Adwords and my website but this proved difficult. I think I will try it again but I have found more success with freelancer sites like Thumbtack, Elance, and Upwork (Elance and Upwork are merging and will soon be one site).
I actually have had the most success with Thumbtack. I think it is because they only allow 5 people to quote a project. On Elance, it is easy for someone to pass you over when there are upwards of 30 people quoting. The Thumbtack system makes you invest some money to buy “credits” which you use to submit a quote. You get so many quotes with your credits then you have to buy more.
At first I would use up all my credits and not get hired. Frustrating to say the least. But I did get hired eventually. Then I got hired again, and again. I guess my learning is I had to be a little patient. I am tracking my ROI from this site, and right now I earn back $3.19 for every dollar invested in buying credits. Not too terrible for a guy who just started.
Check out my page here, and if you need a freelance engineer, I’m your guy!
