aipb.org., here is a story about a successful freelancer.

Armelta Briggs, Consulting and Design, West Palm Beach, FL, has figured out a way to do only the work she likes, grow her practice-and have as much time as she likes to travel with her husband on his business trips.

Five years ago, she quit her full-time bookkeeping job to freelance and travel with her husband. Through a friend, she landed an assignment at a church showing employees how to use new software. Her work so impressed the church’s CPA, he started referring clients and her freelance practice was underway.

Despite Briggs’ decision not to advertise, market or attend business meetings, but to rely only on referrals, she doubled her last salary within 5 years.

“I get two kinds of referrals,” she explains, “big companies whose books are a mess and small businesses getting big enough to need bookkeeping.” For cleaning up the books, she charges $50-$70/hour, 2½ times the going rate for bookkeepers in her area; for routine work, her rate of $30/hour.

“Cleaning up problem books is my niche, and it’s what I enjoy most” she says. “I can do it without being given any direction, learn the software if needed and train the next bookkeeper on it. Software comes easily to me.”

Once the books are on track, Briggs spends 5-8 hours a week making sure they stay that way, then drops to once a month to check them. She says it averages $300/month per client, but can run over $1,000 if it includes daily data entry.

Briggs hates, and has avoided doing, data entry. Yet that is what small, growing businesses-and most of her referrals-need. So she hired a part-timer whom she pays $20/hour for data entry and charges the client $30. Once a month, Briggs reviews the books, does the bank rec, and checks the monthly financial statements.

Now that her business is growing without her having to do work she hates, she is starting to advertise, market and attend meetings where she can meet prospects-and she travels with her husband throughout the year.

If you have lost your job or are needing to find alternative means of making money, freelancing could be the answer.  You must of course have a talent.  Whether you are a virtual assistant, bookkeeper, web designer, legal secretary, writer, translator, marketer, sales, marketing, programmer or researcher it is possible to find work from your home.

How does it work?  First off, you need to do some research on which freelance site is for you.  Some require you to pay fees while others are free.  Three popular sites are elance.com (fee), ifreelance.com (fee) and odesk.com (free).  The basis of every site is the same.  You have your employers or buyers who post their projects for you, the freelancer or provider to bid on.  The buyer posts the project with their terms, budget and project description.  The provider then creates a proposal and places a bid.  At closing, the buyer then reviews all the proposals to make an informed decision on which provider would make the best choice for completing the project.

How to get started? Choose a freelance site and register.  Each site varies as to their fees and is usually on a per category basis i.e. web design and finance.  If you are on a budget, choose the best category that you would like to bid in.  If you can spare 10-40 bucks a month, then register in multiple categories.

Now create a profile or bio about you or your company.  Make it professional, check your spelling and detail your entire work and experience history.  Good to be thorough so the buyer knows who they are hiring.  Be sure to include your education, certifications and things that could set you apart from your competition. In today’s world, everyone wants to work from home and most are forced to find ways to make money from home.  Make your profile stand out and you will be a success. Now post your profile for the world to see.

ifreelance, you can start bidding immediately.

Elance, you need to take an admissions test before you can bid.  They want to be sure you know how their system works before taking part in it.  Tests are available to raise your skill level in your profile which is nice, however they are not necessary to start finding work.  You can test your skill level on phone etiquette, Windows XP, Excel, Word and so much more.

oDesk, their profile section is much more extensive than the rest and you will be required to take and pass tests.  Your grades from your tests shows up in your profile as well.  oDesk uses the same testing system as Elance.

These are the basics to get you started in freelancing.  Good luck.

Here is what AIPB.org’s most successful freelancers advise, based on their experience:

1. Get that first client. To get your first client, consider accepting any fee you can get. Give your rate, but compromise. For instance, say your rate is $30 an hour and your prospect offers $15. Take it and say: “I’ll do it for $15 an hour but if you like my work, I want $20 (or $25 or $30) after 30 days.”

You can ask for a limited raise any time. Most prospects jump at this offer, planning to drop you in 30 days. But if you do quality work-correct, complete, on time-they will never let you go. Good bookkeepers are always in short supply.

2. Make sales calls pay off. Here’s how to turn prospects into clients:

a. Present a businesslike appearance. For men, a conservative suit or blue blazer. For women, a business suit.

b. Be practical: Don’t knock on doors of firms too small to afford a bookkeeper.

c. Be firm, but not pushy. Ask, “Are you the owner or manager?” When you find one, say: “Hi, I’m Ann Jones. I have a bookkeeping service in the area and wanted to introduce myself. Do you do your own bookkeeping?” If they have a service, be positive: “Great, I’m sure they do a fine job.” (Never try to steal satisfied accounts.) If a prospect is unhappy, ask what’s wrong. if they keep their own books, ask which tasks they do. Then explain what you do.

d. Keep the door open: Set a second appointment to explain more precisely what services you provide and what they cost. Leave a list of your services on stationery with your letterhead.

e. On second visits, act as though you have the job. Bring a sample of work the prospect was interested in: a budgeting tool, sample invoice, etc. Leave something that shows the quality of your work. Best: Bring a disk to demonstrate your work on the prospect’s PC or your laptop. Talk as though you have the job–e.g., “When should I pick up your work?”

3. Get referrals. Send an introductory letter to CPAs. Better: Make dates and introduce yourself. CPAs who meet you are much more likely to refer. Caution: Watch for clients who are too small or are “problems.” Another strategy: Visit newly opened businesses (their names are at your local licensing office). Best: referrals. Do a great job at a fair rate and you can expect a lot of business.

4. Bill for top dollar. Here’s how to make sure you charge the highest rate you can get:

a. Base fees on local CPA rates. Peg your top rate to CPAs’ lowest rates (for client write-up work). This approach works regardless of your locale.

b. Vary your rate by the job. This may mean charging as little as $15-$25/hour for some bookkeeping work. Before you quote a job, analyze a new client. How well do they understand what you are doing? Do they have a ledger? Is their work set up? Are their records kept well and only a few weeks or a month behind-or disorganized and 2 years behind?

c. Be prepared to back up your fees. If prospects question your rates, have handy names of clients and CPAs as references, and make sure to explain how much you will save them on their CPA costs.

d. Get to know local CPA firms. Work closely with them because most of your jobs may come from their referrals. Tactic: When you start with a new client, arrange to meet with the client and client’s CPA. This will impress both of them and add another CPA to your list of potential referrers.

e. Triple-check your work. Quality pays. Check as many times as you need to (plus a few extra times) to make sure things balance and that you have support for all balances. Do a mini-audit before you submit work.
5. When to bill by the job v. by the hour. Avoid a flat fee until you work for a client for a few months. The less experienced you are, the greater the margin of error. Open-ended commitments lead to too many hours for too little money. Find out: How long will it take you to get the client’s information? How neat and up to date are its books? How neat does the client expect your work to be?

When new clients insist on a set fee, agree on a trial basis (two or three months). Then re-evaluate. Estimate on the high side: It’s easier to reduce a fee than to raise it. To “lock in” prospects, accept the fee they paid their last bookkeeper.

If they question your fees, explain: “These are the kinds of businesses I work for, and my usual fees.” Point out any differences: “I do everything for them and I don’t know if you will want me to do all that for you. For instance, I have a distributor and a store that both have a part-time bookkeeper; you have none.”

A letter of agreement helps in flat-fee arrangements. Exception: mom and pop firms. They are intimidated by “contracts.” If the prospect is very small, have a low-key, friendly, but thorough discussion to explain what you will and will not do.

It takes time to learn when to give extra service, and when you are being used. Until you are sure, give extra. If clients need you to answer the phone, offer to. If they normally drop off and pick up work, offer to do it if they are too busy.

When you know clients are taking advantage, don’t give an inch-let them know right away that you have rules. “I really don’t work that way-let me show you how I do it.” If this doesn’t help, let them go.

There are many steps to take when you are trying to make money online through affiliate programs. The most tedious and most important step will always be the marketing aspect. Beginners affiliate marketing should begin with knowledge. Read everything that you can to find out the different paths that are available.

As an affiliate, there will be millions of products and services to choose from. You should always choose a product that is in a similar niche to that of your websites.
A website that is based on technology should not have ads and affiliate programs about curtains and bedding. You can choose to display shoe ads if your website is about shoes, or you can select products that will go well with that topic such as clothing and accessories.

Whatever you choose as an affiliate program, always try to start with a product that you have used. As an affiliate marketer, you are recommending these products to your visitors, and they will not be pleased to find out that the product is subpar after they have purchased it.
You want to suggest a product that you know and love. By telling your website visitors about the honest experience that you have had with a product, the more they will grow to trust your word. Always be honest with your customers. As large as the internet is, it is still small enough and a few bad reviews about you and your website, can travel quickly and destroy your reputation before it has even begun.

A great way to receive and keep new visitors, is with a free offer. When free products are available, other websites will at times link to that web page so that they can tell their own visitors about the great deal. This helps you to get back links as well as new visitors who may decide to check out your website. This can help you to gain new visitors as well as repeat customers.
A well made site can become self sustaining in a short amount of time. This means that you will be able to simply add new content, done by yourself or through a freelancer, while you do other tasks, such as setting up more affiliate websites. You should always keep an eye on all of your web pages, to update and to make sure that there are no problems with your site or server.

While you are still learning, it is best to start with one affiliate program before moving to others. Trying to do, too much too soon can be a recipe for disaster. Put all of your efforts and concentration into making your first affiliate program a success.

Once you have learned how to put your skills into effect, your beginners affiliate marketing techniques can move on to new websites, blogs and affiliate programs.
With the knowledge that you have gained through your first website, you can begin to apply the same techniques to duplicate your previous success. However, you should always remember to check back with websites, ebooks and blogs, so that you are kept up to date on the new affiliate marketing techniques that are available.

Author: Jude Wright has been the owner of http://aboutaffiliatemarketing.com since 2002.