When deciding to use a job bidding site to look for freelance work, it is important to set yourself apart from the crowd. On average, a single project will boast anywhere from 8 to over 20 applicants and you want to get yourself noticed.

While it is true that quite a few buyers base whom they award their project to solely on who bids the lowest, there are a fair amount of buyers looking for a freelancer who they can rely on for quality work, long-term. After all, if you can land a project with a repeat client, you save yourself the time of looking for as many future projects and the hassle of fees for bidding, etc.

So how do you set yourself apart from everyone else? Over the past several months, I’ve learned two main ways that help me create an identity for myself on these freelance job-bidding sites: 1) have an informative profile and 2) sell yourself in your bid.

While these may seem like no brainers, you’d be surprised how many fellow providers have incomplete profiles or place generic, boring bids.

Take Your Time Creating Your Provider Profile. Regardless of the job bidding site that you use, each allows you to create an area known as your profile where you can essentially introduce yourself and give both an overview of yourself, the services you provide, your education and work experience. It also gives you an area where you can create an electronic portfolio of samples of your work. Take your time when creating your profile. Be cure to include as much information as possible, covering any and all the bases that potential clients may be curious about. Also try to include as many samples of your work as the service allows. This is where you want your work to do the talking!

Sell Yourself in Your Bid When placing a bid for a project, you should ALWAYS cater your bid to the individual project. If you have relevant experience, now is the time to be specific about it. Instead of simply re-stating what the buyer can readily see in your profile, market yourself to the specific project. If the buyer is looking for someone to write an article about dog grooming, be a little bit creative and start off your bid with a brief story or antidote. Make yourself and your bid stand out from the crowd. Not only will this impress the buyer and increase your likelihood of being awarded the project, but this will also show that you have some extra degree of creativity which can go make a strong case when it comes to getting paid the rate you want.

These tips are especially useful to newbies, since they help increase your confidence when bidding against more experienced colleagues, as well as boost your reputation among potential clients.

Do you have any tips or tricks that you find useful when it comes to landing a job at these freelance bidding sites?