The best way to earn money as a programmer would be to locate a customer (buyer) locally with in your area. The benefit of locating a customer within your area is that the competition is a lot lower compared to advertising and promoting your expertise on the internet as a freelancer. However, if you have the extra time to spend on the internet as a freelance provider, in the long run really boost your income.
The following lists are superb places to start earning an some extra income.
- Elance.com
- guru.com
- oDesk.com
- RentACoder.com
Each of these websites has their own pros and cons. You should become aware of these issues before proceeding with one of them. A good example would be Elance and Guru have membership fees included in their service while RentACoder and oDesk is totally free.
How does it work?
The buyer will post a bid on his/her project. The coder will have the chance to ask questions and place their bid. The buyer then responds to any questions, asks his/her own questions, and then selects the individual they want to work with on the project.
The winner of the auction is not always the one that has given the lowest bid, rather the buyer considers all of the facts such as; Ratings, Examples, Correspondence through questions and answers, the knowledge to perform what the buyer feels he/she needs to complete the project, and last but not least the bids. Once the buyer has selected a winner, the coder then has twenty-four hours to turn down this job offer, without any repercussions. The coder might decide to do this due to any other bids that may have been accepted. The buyer then may select another coder.
Do not assume that your bid will be the lowest and you will get the project. Place several bids according to what the buyer needs are and your ability to perform the task at hand.
How to win the bid?
My best advice on how to bid would be to list all your programming background experience in great details. Build your resume according to all of your accomplishments and with great honesty. Remember, I cannot stress to you how much your honesty is important to your business online. Buyers soon are able to determine those individual coders that are not completely honest. The Buyers are the future of your online business.
When starting out you might wish to place a lower bid. This will be your starting point. You can ask in your bid that if you win this project with the lowest bid, the buyer would be willing to let you use them as a reference and leave a positive rating. This will benefit both the buyer and yourself. As long as you do a good job, most buyers are very willing to do this for you.
The reward
After you have established yourself and earn credibility, then this is the time to make take it to the next level. You may start placing higher priced bids. The buyers will have the tendency to be more willing to pay the higher price for your work if you have the reputation for doing great work on your previous projects.
Not only will you be able to earn money on the internet but as well as you are improving your programming skills. The reward for all the hard work and sharing your expertise cannot always be measured by the accomplishments that you have made.
Happy Coding!
