How to win your first freelance project online?

Question like this keeps coming in rapidly to my inbox, so I’d like to post the answer here where everybody can read it.

Getting the very first project online as freelancer could be the hardest part for most people, so I would not wonder if you still haven't won any till date. I got my first project after 3 months of signing in; it was only an hourly project for US$2 per hour in 2 working hours a day, daily. My job was to copy–paste some data from a website and processes it in an Excel Spreadsheet, so simple. But I've never thought that the first project would be the beginning of my career in freelancing online in the internet. Even until today, I am still dealing with that project (well...indirectly) and have hired another freelancer to work on it every day (now, the payment is US$7 per day since the job expands).

Fortunately, my skill is also my hobby, and that’s the thing keeping me back when my mind stucked and therefore it gives me strength to keep bringing the best of my masterpieces even more than the employer expected and as the results they often gave me bonus. Even though I’ve never expected any bonus since it is actually my hobby and no need to pay more for what I’ve done but in the other hand of course I have never refused :) The important thing is we must be honest for what we can do and cannot do, the timing we need to finish the job, etc... trust me that they will appreciate it even more.

For the first 3 months, I logged in every day, studied the bidding process, wrote many styles of proposals, read the code of conduct and some tips in the website, and also I always bid at the lowest price. So all the efforts I did were just to get an attention from employers (giving sample according to their project description could be the most effective way). My reputation was zero at that time, it seemed almost impossible to be seen or to get hired. That’s one of the reason why when I started to succeed; I shared my experiences in this blog.

I kept monitoring and trying in every way (but of course, still comply with the rules of the game). Actually, it is not necessary to stay tune online all day long on the site, but the good thing of doing so is that we can be the first bidder who place a bid and being seen while the employer is still online. The added value, if we can offer something that attracts their attention. It doesn’t mean it has to be overestimating and overpromising e.g.: you mentioned that you can finish the job sooner but you're not, submitted lower bid than other but cannot finish the job, etc.

Based on above experiences, till date I have many experiences and reputations in several freelancing websites and not to mention new insprirations, new knowledges, new friends as customers and my skill is improved dramatically.