For the past month or so I have gone through about 200 emails looking for suitable people to join the Task.fm blogging team.   Plenty of freelancers have written articles on this topic – however I thought it would be more useful to hear what an employer has to say on the issue of applying for a position.

Heres what to do when applying for a position:

Listen to What the Employer is Asking

In the ad I posted when looking for a blogger, I asked to send me an email with links to previous blog posts you had written.   I was able to halve my list of potential freelancers in half almost instantly as I only read the emails that had followed this simple instruction.

Lots of freelancers applying for the position took the libery of attaching a .doc with their articles.  As an employer this told me a couple of things – first, the freelancer didn’t follow instructions and secondly an article in a .doc is useless.  Im looking for someone who nows how to blog (use the software) and understands social media.  The freelancers who sent me a link to their blog understood this.

Don’t Hide Behind a Pen Name

It might be alright to hide behind a pen name when applying for a ghostwriting position, however, I want to look at your Facebook, twitter, etc. The more info about yoy included in your email gave you a better shot at getting the position.

Don’t Kid Yourself

I chuckled when someone requested $300-$500 per post.  What was more funny was the fact they had no previous experience.  Do your research and now appropriate rates.    Also, don’t be pushy and demanding – thats my job.  Freelancers who wrote to me demanding a certain rate were ignored.  Even if I was happy to pay them that rate, I would hire the freelancer who was open to negotiation.

Don’t Use Comic Sans in Email

Sounds trivial but I didn’t even bother reading any emails that were sent to me with fancy fonts or an annoying background.  Keep your emails plain and simple.

Establish a Presence and a Brand

To get a job at any top blog you will need – a personal weblog or site, twitter account and a presence on other social sites.  Blogspot blogs were a turn-off for me, if you had a hosted blog or site I was more impressed.  I was also actively seeking out as much info about you.  Those who had social media profiles were bookmarked instantly.