About Salma Jafri

Freelance With Elance – course details by salma jafri Wouldn’t it be great to earn in dollars and spend in rupees? Wouldn’t it be great to earn money from anywhere in the world – while working from home? Wouldn’t it be awesome to be your own boss, choose your own projects and determine how much you want to make every month? Wouldn’t it be totally cool to finally break out of the 9-5 and live a life where you control your work hours and output? Welcome to the freelance life! Living a freelance life enables you to do all of the above, but requires discipline, motivation and effort. If you think you have what it takes, live in Pakistan and want to dive into the world of freelancing, then Elance.com is your best starter bet. Elance provides you a marketplace of ready and willing buyers who want to utilize your services. Elance protects you with escrow so you are guaranteed payment. Elance gives you immense marketing and earning opportunities, but navigating Elance and knowing the tricks of freelancing requires a bit of a learning curve. I am offering a comprehensive course that will take you step-by-step through the freelancing world and put you through your Elance paces. I am also guaranteeing that you will win your first project worth hundreds of dollars with my guidance and help. Who Am I? So who am I to make these guarantees? I have earned over $25,000 from Elance in the past 12 months alone. I have won second place in the Elance New Way to Work contest. I write for the Elance blog. I am ranked amongst the Top 25 freelancers on Elance (out of 74,000+). As you can see, I have gained a lot from Elance. It’s time to give some back What will you Gain from this Course? By the end of this course you will be able to: Choose a freelancing niche according to your passions and interests Setup a kickass Elance profile that will wow buyers Pass the Elance admissions test as well as a few skills tests in your area of expertise Choose/shortlist your first few projects Discover how to choose serious and high-paying buyers Write custom bids for those projects and buyers Work out your hourly rate (in $) Make/choose a few samples to send with your proposal Follow up with communication messages and added detail Setup your banking system with Elance to receive direct deposits to your local bank account Win your first project worth hundreds of dollars!!! How will this Course Work? So that’s what you’ll get from my Elance course. Here’s how this session works: This session will consist of a tightly focused group of people Session will be approximately 4 hours long Participants will receive presentation notes as well as comprehensive printed take-home material Session will be held on [next date to be announced soon] Pricing for Lahore participants: Rs.7000/. Here is how this course is priced: I will be teaching you and taking you through the first steps of winning your first Elance project. The minimum price that a buyer can award a project for is $50, which is about 5000 rupees. So you will actually earn back your investment amount with your first project! And with my success steps and guidance, there’s no reason why you won’t earn not just your first project but many more and for much greater amounts! After all, I got my first project for $630 And here’s the next reason for this amount: Exclusive access to WordPL’s discussion forum for troubleshooting and support You will be able to share your triumphs, ask for critique on your profiles and proposals, and network with a support group via the discussion forum. Who is this Course For? This course is for: beginner freelancers students who wish to freelance on the side housewives and other work at home people wishing to add an extra income stream existing companies and freelancers who wish to pitch to international clients anyone who wants to get started with a service-oriented business of their own Event Details Date: Sunday March 27th 2011 Time: 2:00PM – 6:00PM Venue: 27 CCA, Sector DD, Phase 4 DHA, Lahore, Pakistan Duration: Four (4) hours Speaker: Salma Jafri, WordPL.net Note: stationery will be available for note-taking; you are free to bring laptops if desired (please indicate in registration form if you will bring your laptop) How to Register for “Freelance with Elance” Registrations are on a first-come first-served basis Registration is between Wed March 9th – Sat March 19 Please call Alex John on 0314-2968861 for any registration-related questions Registration for Lahore participants is via direct deposit. Details have been emailed to everyone who pre-registered for the course. Register now for Freelance with Elance Note: There are limited seats available for this session, so if you want a seat, please register early. Participants who register once registration is over will be placed on a waiting list for the next session. They may be called for current session in case of cancellation. —————————————————————————————————————————————— COMPLETE COURSE OUTLINE Freelancing What it is What it entails 10 reasons to love freelancing 10 freelancing challenges Elance What it is How it works Why it’s the best choice for Pakistani freelancers What you can expect from it Basic Elance ToS everyone should be aware of 1. Getting Started How to make an account How to choose a category How to choose a membership plan How to verify credit card 2. Your Account How to choose a username How to build your profile for maximum effect What skills tests to take and how to work them What keywords to use How to make yourself contactable & searchable How to setup your bank account info How to get verified recommendations & referrals 3. Start Bidding How to choose a project How to scout buyers 10 signs this projects isn’t a good fit for you 10 signs this project is perfect for you! 10 signs of a buyer from hell – avoid at all costs! 10 ways to work for great long term high-paying clients When to use pre-bids and public Q&A Action Item [Tea Break] 4. Write your Proposal The 6 steps of proposal writing How to determine your freelancing rate Why do some proposals fall flat while others prosper? Remember: your proposal is your sales pitch and your personality pitch! How to play to your strengths The #1 proposal writing mistake and how you can avoid it Examples and case studies of good and bad proposals across different categories Proposal writing checklist Action Item 5. Follow up Watch your watchlist How and when to send follow up messages Why some projects don’t get awarded How to keep your award ratios high 6. When the Project Gets Awarded – to YOU! Congratulations! Your first correspondence after an award How to make a detailed scope document How to set milestones How to never start work before escrow is funded (hint: it’s all in the way you ask) Your rights as a provider What you should know before signing NDA & other agreements Copyrights and plagiarism issues and how to protect yourself Why it’s essential to keep all communication on Elance What to do when projects get awarded to others 7. Living the Freelance Lifestyle All that and a bag o’ chips? Managing work and family – the ultimate balancing act Working evenings and weekends only Managing multiple projects When you have too much work… —————————————————————————————————————————————— What you Get At the end of the session you will receive: A printed & bound quick start guide (w/ screenshots) to setting up your membership account on Elance A checklist for choosing the right projects A checklist for proposal writing & bid submission You will have “homework to do” after this session as well. You will be sending me three shortlisted projects each week and three of your best bids to critique. I will help you with 3 bids each week (via email only) until you win your first proposal. If you follow my guidelines and have what it takes, then it won’t take you more than a few weeks to win your first project worth hundreds of dollars! Join me now in the quest to live to work, not work to live