Make $100 A Week With Virtually No Work

[Sagar Mehta]

Hello Warriors,

I haven't been around on the forum - have kept manic busy in the last couple of weeks. Just wanted to share this simple method with everyone that I've been using for some time now.

What I'm going to share with you is nothing new or revolutionary but it works and I'm sure someone can use it for themselves

So here's the process:

1. Register on freelancing sites like RentACoder, Elance and Guru.com
2. Go through the projects that have been posted and find the ones that interest you and in which you have expertise in
3. Place a reasonable bid on the projects you liked. While bidding, make sure you've read all the requirements of the buyer. Come across like you KNOW what you're talking about (use examples from your previous work and show how it relates to the current project - ).
   
   EDIT: Previous work means work done by other coders for you, not your own work. As Becky pointed out in her post below, it'd be dishonest if you show your work as a sample and then hire someone ELSE to do the work.
4. When your bid is accepted, thank the buyer and get to work.
5. Look at the buyer's description of the project and write your own, shorter version of the same. Try to explain the whole thing clearly in lesser words. You can hold back some information regarding the URL of the site on which the coder will work and reveal it only in a private message or only to the winning coder.
6. Using that description, post a NEW project as a buyer on the site. Set your maximum acceptable bid lower than what you bid on the original project (obviously )
7. When you receive some bids, select a coder and make sure he/she delivers quickly. Their turnaround time should be LOWER than what you promised the original buyer.
8. When the coder finishes their job and provides you with the final deliverables, check them thoroughly. If everything is ok, accept their work and pay their dues.
9. Take the deliverables and give it to YOUR original buyer.
10. When the buyer accepts your work, you get your final payment after deducting the fees charged by the site. You can subtract what you paid your coder and what's left is pure profit for no real work

You can repeat the same process over and over again. Of course, not all your bids are going to be accepted so keep bidding on the latest projects you find interesting. As you go on doing projects, you'll build a reputation on the site with great ratings from buyers. Once that happens, it'll be easier to get your bids accepted.

Personally I bid on 5-10 projects everyday. It takes me 30-45 minutes a day and it's good return for almost no work on my part. Just this weekend, I've made net $130. When this week ends, I'll be getting nearly $250 as profit from 2 projects.

NOTE: If you find someone who does great work for low prices - REWARD them. You can pay them small bonuses and keep them in mind when you need to get a similar project done.

Go out there and take action!

Regards,
Sagar

[shop-bright]

That is a good idea, the only problem is that how do you get your first project, so many people with tons of completed projects.

[Sagar Mehta]

Originally Posted by hidman

Thats pretty cool..i believe they call it outsources' arbitrage?

Probably - I'm not too big on terms as long as the process works

Originally Posted by shop-bright

That is a good idea, the only problem is that how do you get your first project, so many people with tons of completed projects.

There are many buyers who're willing to give a chance to new coders. Besides, if you have samples of your work to show them, getting projects becomes easier.

For example, if you're behind article writing projects, it's great to have some samples ready. Nothing fancy, just a link to one of your good blogs or your EzineArticle Author Profile works great.

If you don't have any samples, create some

Originally Posted by moneymaker12

very interesting?
whats the most outright profit you have made in a week?

Glad you asked that. This weekend I'll be getting about $430 (have got more projects since I stated $250 in my OP) after fees etc. So this is my best week so far

Regards,
Sagar

[Andyhenry]

I can see where you're coming from and if you already had reliable sources which you trusted to get the work done before you bid I would consider it a reasonable thing.

However - I think it's really bad advice to tell people to start out by placing bids on projects and trying to fool people into thinking that you're able to deliver their project when you actually have no ability or intention of deliverying it yourself.

There are so many unreliable providers on these sites that bidding on other peoples projects before you have established people you can trust to get the work done is just asking for trouble.

Many people new to IM do not realise the trouble you can get yourself into if you fail to deliver to businesses that do most of their work offline.

I have my own full time programmer but I still put tens of thousands of dollars of work out on Elance, and have been seriously disappointed so many times that I have very strict non-delivery clauses now and I am serious about implementing them.

If you're new and try this model you could very easily and quickly end up in debt due to paying other people for something that your project owner won't accept but you've already paid someone else to do (thinking you're gonna make easy money skimming off the difference).

I know people like to hear money for nothing schemes, but if anyone intends to follow this advice - be very careful.

Andy

[Sagar Mehta]

Andy,

That's very good advice actually (and something I must have put in my OP).

Originally Posted by Andyhenry

I can see where you're coming from and if you already had reliable sources which you trusted to get the work done before you bid I would consider it a reasonable thing.

I think I've been lucky in that regard. The first couple of people I worked with were great in terms of quality and turnaround time.

One thing someone could do is a put out some test projects in the same area as they are going to target to build a team in advance. There ARE good people out there and apart from the occasional idiots (of course, just my experience), most coders were good.

As a sidenote, I suggested going behind projects in fields you KNOW about for two reasons:
1. If you understand the project you're going to take up, it puts you in a better position to judge the coders who'll be bidding on yours. Also, you'll be able to explain the project better. Of course, there is still risk but then risk is everywhere

2.Secondly, just in case your coder doesn't do the work, you can at least try to complete the project by giving it to someone else OR complete it yourself. To ensure that the project is done on time, I make sure the time difference between when I need to deliver the project to the buyer and when my coder delivers the project to me is substantial.

If you're new and try this model you could very easily and quickly end up in debt due to paying other people for something that your project owner won't accept but you've already paid someone else to do (thinking you're gonna make easy money skimming off the difference).

I agree completely and also with the idea of being careful. Don't take everything at face value is what I like to go by

Regards,
Sagar

[Taylor French]

I have to agree with Andy. This is a dangerous game to play unless you have a number of very reliable, very talented people to work with. Playing with a single provider would be a good way to destroy your reputation.

Make sure you have a network of people to fall back on in case one or two or even several people don't deliver in time.

[Scott Ames]

I wondered where you went. Welcome back.

This is a good method of making money if you have organizational skills and can get good coders on your end that will follow through and do a good job. Its risky in that you may lose money if you have to rehire someone to get the job done right.

When you think about it, that's what consulting companies do. They just direct hire talent, get them work, and make a profit with the difference. Since they direct hire they risk paying someone when they have no work.

[GlynisG]

Originally Posted by Andyhenry

I can see where you're coming from and if you already had reliable sources which you trusted to get the work done before you bid I would consider it a reasonable thing.

However - I think it's really bad advice to tell people to start out by placing bids on projects and trying to fool people into thinking that you're able to deliver their project when you actually have no ability or intention of deliverying it yourself.

There are so many unreliable providers on these sites that bidding on other peoples projects before you have established people you can trust to get the work done is just asking for trouble.

Many people new to IM do not realise the trouble you can get yourself into if you fail to deliver to businesses that do most of their work offline.

I have my own full time programmer but I still put tens of thousands of dollars of work out on Elance, and have been seriously disappointed so many times that I have very strict non-delivery clauses now and I am serious about implementing them.

If you're new and try this model you could very easily and quickly end up in debt due to paying other people for something that your project owner won't accept but you've already paid someone else to do (thinking you're gonna make easy money skimming off the difference).

I know people like to hear money for nothing schemes, but if anyone intends to follow this advice - be very careful.

Andy

I agree with Andy. This kind of easy money is not worth the trouble you can get into.

[Scott Ames]

Originally Posted by Andyhenry
I have my own full time programmer but I still put tens of thousands of dollars of work out on Elance, and have been seriously disappointed so many times that I have very strict non-delivery clauses now and I am serious about implementing them.

I know you like to give things away these days, but perhaps you could put together a WSO on how to hire properly on these sites. It seems like you have plenty of experience. I know many would benefit from it.

[R Hagel]

This is a good business IF you already have a team standing by and ready to deliver. Then you can bid on projects and give them to your team to complete. That's actually a fine idea.

However, like Andy and others, I would caution against using this method as described in the original post. Not only do you risk getting burned, but it's dishonest. Specifically:

Originally Posted by Sagar Mehta

Come across like you KNOW what you're talking about (use examples from your previous work and show how it relates to the current project).

If you're using examples from your previous work but you aren't doing the work for the current project, that's dishonest.

Becky

p.s. There's nothing wrong with this method if you have a team already standing by. Then you can provide samples of their work -- and that's honest business, since they're the ones who will actually be completing the project.

[Sagar Mehta]

Originally Posted by R Hagel

If you're using examples from your previous work but you aren't doing the work for the current project, that's dishonest.

Becky

p.s. There's nothing wrong with this method if you have a team already standing by. Then you can provide samples of their work -- and that's honest business, since they're the ones who will actually be completing the project.

Thanks for your input Becky. I can now see how that comes across as dishonest. I think I was not thinking clearly while typing my original post

Of course, it would be dishonest to show samples of my own work to get projects and then hire someone else do work on the same. By past projects in my OP, I wanted to say projects done by other coders FOR me.

I think I must add it to the OP too. Thanks again Becky.

@Scott: Thanks for the support! Organizational skills are KEY in something like this. Effectively, it's managing people when you look at it

Regards,
Sagar

[Roy Carter]

Being the middle man and taking a cut can be a good way of making an income , but I have to agree with Andy and Becky on this one.

I'd hate to see a newcomer to this go and get burned badly for the reasons already mentioned. The OP is obviously experienced and has existing providers that he trusts. If you aint got that then don't do it, would be my advice.

[gjabiz]

Originally Posted by Sagar Mehta

Hello Warriors,

I haven't been around on the forum - have kept manic busy in the last couple of weeks. Just wanted to share this simple method with everyone that I've been using for some time now.

Regards,
Sagar

Why be MANIC busy? Are you getting several jobs a week?

What you do is fine, if it works for you, good on you...but, does this get Warriors excited? I'm just asking...I don't get people who are "manic busy" busting their humps for such small amounts of money.

Now, this may not apply to anyone...but certainly anyone in USA...on ANY given day...

ANY GIVEN DAY...

You can go to craigslist.org in your area and find something to buy which you can then resell for an EASY 100 bucks of net profit. AFTER you've paid for gas, or any expenses...on ANY given day (every day)...you can find things for sale...which you can buy within hours and turn around and sell it in hours...and you don't have to be limited to making 100 dollars.

I guess I don't understand the attraction of spending hours behind the computer for one time payments...at least create something that could pay you over and over again for decades.

Sagar, why not use your talent and some of that time to create and or acquire a product that will pay you the 100 bux over and over and over again...AND frees up your time to create your next project?

Now, I'm not saying what you are doing isn't a good idea...but, I just would like an explanation as to why so many people here are selling themselvs so short? This forum has remarkable talent...and if you package your knowledge in the right way...many buyers too.

Anyhow, good luck with that constant bidding on projects stuff, I hope it helps you to escape from having to do it.

gjabiz

[Sagar Mehta]

Originally Posted by gjabiz

Why be MANIC busy? Are you getting several jobs a week?

What you do is fine, if it works for you, good on you...but, does this get Warriors excited? I'm just asking...I don't get people who are "manic busy" busting their humps for such small amounts of money.

Now, this may not apply to anyone...but certainly anyone in USA...on ANY given day...

ANY GIVEN DAY...

You can go to craigslist.org in your area and find something to buy which you can then resell for an EASY 100 bucks of net profit. AFTER you've paid for gas, or any expenses...on ANY given day (every day)...you can find things for sale...which you can buy within hours and turn around and sell it in hours...and you don't have to be limited to making 100 dollars.

I guess I don't understand the attraction of spending hours behind the computer for one time payments...at least create something that could pay you over and over again for decades.

Sagar, why not use your talent and some of that time to create and or acquire a product that will pay you the 100 bux over and over and over again...AND frees up your time to create your next project?

Now, I'm not saying what you are doing isn't a good idea...but, I just would like an explanation as to why so many people here are selling themselvs so short? This forum has remarkable talent...and if you package your knowledge in the right way...many buyers too.

Anyhow, good luck with that constant bidding on projects stuff, I hope it helps you to escape from having to do it.
gjabiz

Gjabiz,

I've been manic busy offline - with my MBA entrance exams and interviews

Of course, creating products that pay you over and over is very good business model and something everyone should strive for.

I'm not sure if it came across that way from my post but I DO have products that I sell. I've a number of ebooks in different niches. Then, there are blogs that bring in regular income.

I experiment with a lot of stuff on a regular basis (I love to ). Point being, I do a lot of stuff and this is one of them. Just thought I'd share with everyone.

Regards,
Sagar

[mogili]

That's a good idea gjabiz. Yes, the amount you earn from these bidding sites is peanuts compared to the work turned out by you.

Thanks for the idea. It sounds interesting.