Others may disagree but I think a good place to locate clients is Elance and Guru. I got all my clients from Elance. And two of which I have a guarenteed 30 hours per week. It takes a while and you must be patient, and market yourself. But in my case it was well worth the effort.

Thanks for your input I will check that..I need clients!..lol

I agree that Elance and Guru are good places to seek out clients. One of my best clients came from Guru! Bidding can be time intensive and you have to remember that you are competing against many other people. Market yourself to the best of your ability and clients will come and find you! I believe in not putting my eggs all in one basket, but I never want to toss out any either!

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Doreen R. Patrick, MVA, ACS, CIVA
www.virtualbusinesspartners.net

Thanks for the input. Always great to have resources.

That's good to hear that you had a positive experience with Elance and Guru. Those are two that I have been thinking about checking into. Any advice on how to spot "legit" clients from the ads?

I don't disagree with you at all - I actually got quite a good start on GetAFreelancer but not much has changed I'm afraid in terms of what people expect price-wise there...competing against third world bidders can be daunting but if you stick to your guns and sell QUALITY then you're likely to find a few good projects here and there with possible long term clients.

Stacey - my best advice is not to send specs in advance of winning the bid. Many projects are set up specifically to cull 'samples' from tens to hundreds of bidders. Getting them a ton of work for free...Steer clear of anyone who expects you to 'do a small project just to show the caliber of your work' etc. Your portfolio of writing, design, etc. should speak for itself.

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Getting a client is a great thing no matter where they come from. Getting two is just wonderful.

Continued success to you.

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Vicky
www.c-vas.eu

I have found success through Elance as well. I don't think it is the fact that VAs are turning to Elance for clients that causes disagreement amongst VAs. I think it is the fact that some VAs relay solely on bidding sites for a source to find clients, as well as, the fact that most buyers from these sites want to pay peanuts.

I have been very happy with my experiences via Elance, however, I continue to find marketing opportunities elsewhere too (direct mail, networking, Press Releases, etc). For me, it doesn't matter where my clients found me or I find them, as long as we have a great working relationship.

Stacey, on Elance, you can check out buyers project history. I tend to check out their project history to get an idea of how many projects they posted and awarded. Many projects listed, with hardly any awarded could be a good indicator that they are fishing for free work via samples (like Tess said). Also, to get an idea of how much a buyer is willing to pay, you can again check out their project history to see what they have paid for awarded projects in the past. It can be time consuming, but like everything else, hard work and patience, in the end, does pay off!

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Darlene Victoria Gonzalez
The Voice & Vision Behind Your Business