It's not enough to just post your profile on a job auction site. You must also learn the art of bidding. This is extremely important because there are literally hundreds of other writers out there who will also bid on the same projects as you. So how do you stand out?
Firstly, identify your unique selling point - what are you offering that other writers are not? Why should the client choose you over everyone else? What particular experience do you have that you can mention in your bid that is relevant to the project you are bidding for? This is crucial because it is all about selling yourself as someone unique.
Don't just put something like: 'I will provide your with an excellent article' say HOW you will and WHY it will be excellent. Perhaps your an expert on the topic concerned. Maybe your have brilliant research skills. Whatever it is, MAKE SURE your prospective client knows about it.
And this brings me to another point. On most sites you can see what others are bidding. IGNORE THIS. Look at the project budget that the client has set. Now ask yourself if you can achieve a fair price for the work involved and the money being given.
DON'T undersell yourself at all. In fact, unless you are seriously desperate, don't even consider low paid work just to make money. I learnt this the hard way when I was working on a project that paid me 3p for every 100 words or so - and I had a huge database of work to go through. After three days of hours and hours of typing, I had swollen wrists and fingers, in fact, my elbow was also swollen and my shoulder was painful. Was I anywhere near completing my task? No. And worse still, this company only paid up when you had completed the work to a total of £30.
Ok now, lets do the sums. I was expected to write 100 words (per question - it was a question and answer database) on average for 3p. I had to complete 1000 of these BEFORE I got paid. So basically, that's 100x1000 100,000 words!
£30 for writing 100,000 words? (most novels are between 50,000 and 80,000 words) Do you understand the importance of working to your value and not out of desperation? Nowadays, you would not catch me dead working for less than 3p a word. If I had been charging my minimum rate of 3p a word, for 100,000 words, I would have been paid £3000. I actually charge more per word :-)
There will ALWAYS be low paid work and there will ALWAYS be takers for this type of work, but that will NOT include you. Those who take low paid work will only ever get more low paid work.
Here's something to try. Write down all your strengths in your writing. Now write down WHY they are your strengths. Always refer to these when making bids. It will change the way you get paid for work. Also, compare yourself to cheaper writers - what are you offering that they cannot? The most obvious answer here is the quality of the actual work - low paid writers are more concerned with the amount they write rather than what they write. Use this to your advantage and sell your skills. Implement these strategies each time you bid for work and you will stand out from the crowd.