Freelancers- What Do You Think of Freelancing Sites?

Definitely freelancing sites work. There are so many out there who are earning a full time income from these sites. I know that people including myself are paying anywhere between $5 and $7 per article to native English writers. Probably you fell on the wrong side.

freelancing... I tried both as employee and employer I went on freelancer and posted a job : I received in the next days 124 requests and bids... most people were indians who never even read the requirements...

as employee, I struggled a lot, because until you build your first 20 positive reviews, it is EXTREMELY hard to get any contract... nobody gives winning bids to 0 feedback users :/

I think if freelancing has a lot of potential and very likely provide a five figure income on a monthly basis. However, I've used only Elance and Freelancer and in comparison, Elance is way way better and safer as well. Elance has a verification system that seeks an ID proof from its members whereas anyone can bid for a job on freelancer (that makes it a black hat den). And these days, plagiarism is taking place in new means and ways. Some exceptional cases keep trying to crack copyscape and they actually have. The use of Roman letters in place of English to escape copyscape has been seen quite frequently in recent times.

Having said that, I'd also add that it is indeed difficult to get those initial jobs. I've never focused a lot on it and I don't regret it much either. I don't get enough time from my own writing and stuff.

I think what works best is to look at the profile of the client before bidding on the project. Check how many projects the client has actually executed before. There are a lot (and I mean really A LOT) of window shoppers on these sites. They just wanna know the price and bidding for them causes the loss of a credit (or more) to you. Once you are convinced that the client is serious then you should look at the average bid and measure for yourself if your bid isn't too high or too low. And the final and the most important part is the bid itself. Present yourself as confident and try to take advantage of your freshness. Mention in your message that as you're a newbie, you don't have many (even zero) projects and hence you can focus more on this particular assignment and provide an in-depth and quality result. An expert has the reviews, the rating and the credentials to back him but a newbie has to work like a salesman and win the client's heart.

Elance also has the "skills" set. If you take tests of a few of those and score shining colors, that adds to the resume as well.

Freelancers, many times, don't realize what they're dealing with. If they provide really good work they can be sure of the fact that a happy client can also become a marketing machine for them. He'd recommend you to others and generate unbelievable sources of revenue. I say this because I've seen a "guru" recommend a freelancer on his official blog. We know how powerful it is when a particular person or website is recommended online, it spreads like wildfire.

And don't worry about the low bids. The guys who provide high quality content even from India, Pakistan and Philippines, they know the worth of their art. They don't bid low. Its just a minority who are either too desperate or deliver cheap quality that keep their prices very down to earth. :p

I have only used Elance and have consistently made over $1000 a month with little time commitment. You will have to invest some money and time in the beginning in order to build your reputation, but it is definitely a viable way to generate some quick income.