How to structure a job post on e-lance?

If you’re going to look for labour on e-lance then it’s important that you write your post in a way that filters out respondents that you do not want to work with. You want to keep some of the respondents behind the velvet rope.

As I’ve described in a previous post you can often find yourself so inundated that you literally need a Virtual Assistant to find yourself a Virtual Assistant. (link to previous post).

OK how do you filter out some of the noise…?

It depends on what your task is and the type of relationship you want. If you want a low touch outsourcing relationship (link to previous post) then you can ask for something specific in your post. e.g. Please do not enter into any conversation via the Private Message Board, these instructions are very simple. If you find the need to ask questions at this stage then you are not the right person for this job, please do not submit a bid.

If you would like to be considered for this bid then insert the following line into your bid.
‘I have read and understood the terms of this bid’.

One good way is to ask for a sample of work to be co. It’s only really viable to do this if you have either a big project that you are posting or you have a good track record on elance.

When I say a good track record, I mean a good ratio of Projects Posted to Projects Awarded. If you’ve posted 8 projects and only awarded 1 what person is going to bother submitting a ‘free sample’ to you? There not because the chances are that you are not going to award the project.
You have to get the balance right if you ask for too much then respondents will be put off and all you’ll be left with are the desperate.

If enough people are interested I’ll make a video demonstrating some examples of people who know what they are doing when it comes to using e-lance. Just put a comment in the comments box below, if 10 of you want it I’ll create the video.