Freelance writing bidding sites can provide a good entry to freelance writing. It's a quick way to find clients who need a freelancer, and the projects generally have far less competition than writing jobs listed on Craigslist and sites that compile freelance writing jobs. Some bidding sites require a paid membership fee that is paid either monthly or yearly. Others have free bidding but charge a higher commission on the projects that are completed.
Elance is possibly the best-known freelance bidding site, with thousands of projects added every day. The Writing and Translation category is one of the largest, with hundreds of projects available at any given time. The projects are available in a number of subcategories such as ghost writing and copywriting. The site charges monthly fees for membership and additional fees if more than a few bids are used. The commission is 8.75 percent for projects in the Writing and Translation category.
RentaCoder is a large bidding site that is mainly devoted to programming. But, there are many categories available to Web writers. The site has no membership fees and does not give members a maximum number of bids. Writers sign up for the site and post their resume and their applicable skills.
Freelancers can also upload a picture, though the photos are optional. They can then begin to bid on projects. Members can set up their own search function that only brings up projects from the writing categories and can even filter out the lower paying ones if they wish. The site charges a flat commission of 15 percent of each project.
oDesk
This site is run a little differently from other bidding sites. The process of finding a project is called applying rather than bidding. Freelance writers can apply for projects with a set hourly rate, and the buyers choose writers to interview from among those applicants. The site charges no membership fees but takes about 11 percent of the amount paid by the buyer.
Guru
Guru is another large site that is run in a similar fashion to Elance. It claims to be the largest freelance bidding site, and it does have more writing projects than any other bidding site. It charges a fee that can be paid either quarterly or yearly. There are hundreds of projects available in the Writing/Editing/Translation category at any given time. There is also a five percent commission fee on completed projects.
pcLance
Like RentaCoder, this one is mainly for programmers. But, there are also projects posted for web content articles and other Web content. Begun in 2006, it is one of the newer sites and has a few projects added daily. It doesn't have a user friendly category system like the other freelancing sites, but with few projects posted, it's easy to see all of the current projects at once.
GetaFreelancer
This site has copywriting, proofreading and SEO categories for freelance writers. There is no commission and a low monthly fee, but the site has a reputation as one of the sites with the lowest-paying projects.
Related article: Beginner Sites for Web Writing
Lizz Shepherd - I am a freelance writer specializing, for now, in Web writing. The Web is an enormous place and I have been carving out my own little ...
