How to Place a Bid on Elance
Elance is an online service that matches freelancers of all sorts (writing, technical, legal, etc.) with potential clients. It is organized around a bidding system where service providers can bid on projects posted by those who need work done. Once you find a job you want to bid on, you can place a bid.
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Instructions
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Find a project you want to bid on by clicking on the "Find Work" tab. Once you find an attractive project, click on it to bring up the bidding screen.
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Read the job description thoroughly before placing your bid. You can also use this screen to check to see how many other people have bid and, in some cases, how much each person offered.
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Scroll down to see how many "Connects" (or bid points) this job requires. The more the job potentially pays, the more Connects you will have to spend to submit a bid. If you have enough available, continue on to posting your bid. Otherwise, you will have to purchase more Connects by upgrading your account.
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Compose your bid description in the space provided. Be sure to outline your services, your qualifications of experience with this kind of work, and the rationale behind your price. It is usually easier to compose this in a word processing program and then simply cut and paste the material into the text box.
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Input your bid amount in the space provided.
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Select the time frame for delivery of your work from the drop down box.
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Click the check box if you wish to use Elance's escrow payment plans. (You can find out information about this by clicking the link right next to the check box.)
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Add extra Connects if you wish your bid to be placed at the top of the list of bids. Only two bidders can do this for each project, and it requires at least two extra Connects.
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Click submit bid, check your information on the next screen, and click Confirm. Now all you have to do is wait to see if your bid has been chosen.
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Tips & Warnings
You have to have an Elance account in order to bid. Accounts are free, but you only have a limited number of Connects with which to bid. You can purchase more Connects by upgrading your account at various fee levels.
You can cancel a bid after placing it, but you will lose the Connects you spent on that bid.
