Yesterday I woke to exciting news: my country was verified on Elance and I was capable of submitting new bids. With my day mostly taken up with social activities, though, I only got a couple of hours to actually work. I need to figure out how to keep the balance between taking advantage of social opportunities and keeping boundaries around my work time. In any case, with the new time management blocking system and some motivation, I was able to send off all but one of the five bids I’d written. The fifth had already closed; c’est la vie.
I’m trying something out that may backfire. Instead of providing complete bids based on the information given, I’m sending out requests for more details, along with some highlights of applicable design and modeling experience. Most of the job descriptions are too vague for me to accurately bid, but I’m purposefully withholding the bid on all jibs for more than that. I want to get a conversation about the job going to help me stand out from the crowd through clear communication and insightful design questions that will demonstrate my knowledge. Once we’ve started talking, then I’ll give a price, and I’ll know whether it was the price or the initial proposal that failed when I don’t get jobs. I could end up turning off some clients this way, but the only way to find out is through trying, right?
So far I’ve heard back from two customers, which is not bad considering that yesterday I contacted only four. Today I’ve sent out another ten information requests and my mind’s eye is now cross-eyed. Since it’s the weekend I don’t expect I’ll hear anything back till Monday or Tuesday, but that doesn’t stop me from nervously and excitedly checking each incoming email in hopes that I’m getting closer to my goal of completing $300 of work this month.
I can’t really plan out next week the way I’d like to before the weekend, but my goal is to land jobs, and accomplish significant work on any that I’ve landed. If I don’t get many responses, then I’ll focus more on developing my portfolio with old design work, and also look at doing some interim teaching to keep bacon on my table.
Alright, the weekend is starting I five, four, three…
