Be Careful of these 3 Freelance Job Posts Scams

Freelance work is great. You have the liberty to work from your own home, or wherever is most comfortable for you, set your own rates, choose the work that interests you the most (to some extent), while it conveniently helps you to fine-tune your professional skills. You will quickly discover, however, that many job listings seem either too good to be true, or, not true a lot. Chances are, that they are scam. The following are three popular job posts scams that you should be aware of:

1. 'Native English-speaking article writers: excellent quality articles required'

Translation: We pay $0.50 per 500 words. We’re aware that in countries where native English-speakers actually live, $0.50 will not cover the cost of the electricity required to write those 500 words.

For this reason, we’re looking to hire a financially secure trust-fund baby who has an insatiable desire to write keyword-rich articles about the new iPhone. Or possibly someone who has moved to Mali. And has no desire to afford to a plane flight back. Ever.

2. 'Very easy data-entry job'

Translation: You know captchas? Those annoying, messed-up letters that prevent our bots from creating Hotmail accounts? Yeah? Well, we need some cheap, real human eyes to transcribe those for us. Then we can get back to creating mass email accounts to send our important “news bulletins” about Viagra. Kthxbai.

3. 'Great opportunity for planning/urban design professionals'

Translation: We’re a large company that bid way too low on a massive project (like, ah, the Urban Design Proposal for Kabul, Afghanistan*). Surprise, surprise, we won the job since they couldn’t resist our rock-bottom price. Now we’re trying to outsource it to reduce our losses. This is the perfect project for anyone who is desperate and/or doesn’t know any better.

*This was an actual project. I didn’t just invent it for the sake of drama. Unfortunately, the job was deleted before I had a chance to snatch it up.

How you can earn money on sites like Freelancer.com!

Now that you know which jobs to avoid, use these tips to win bids on the real jobs so you can earn more money:

Market your talents confidently

If you feel you're good at what you do, say so. In fact, say that you're EXCELLENT at what you do. Of course, make sure that you can live up to the brand by which you're marketing yourself. However, don't be shy to show your employer that you know and, in essence, are proud of, what you do.

Infuse personality to stand out

Show some personality, people! Sure, it’s important to act professionally, but have a bit of fun with it. Show your potential employers why you’re funnier, more charming and more reliable (and more human) than the guy whose computer responds for him.

It is good to be professional and to show that you mean business. However, it would be even greater to add some fun along the way, which makes you a more charming person in the eyes of your employer. In turn, you will likely become more reliable (and more human) than the guy whose computer responds for him.

Adapted from BrazenLife

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