Occasionally I'll get an inquiry as to why someone's Freelance Marketplace profile isn't getting enough hugs and kisses. When that happens, the first thing I take a look at is how their profile is constructed. More times than not the reason for their lack of freelance love is because their profile is chock full of generalities. When writing your profile (especially your introductory paragraph), adopt the mindset that you are writing the profile not just for a potential employer, but for a search engine as well. Your profile may tell a great personal story, or be loaded with every superlative known to man or beast ("diverse" seems to be the gold standard), but unless you have some specific, searchable words in there, you're going to come up less frequently in employer searches. For example, if you've written in several different arenas, list them by name (education, robotics, nano technology, tennis)! Don't just say you're "diverse." Diversity is a name reserved for old wooden ships during the Civil War era and for flavors of Mountain Dew.

Just remember that your profile's introduction is the first thing an employer will read, so it needs to contain words that will pop out at them (pertaining to your experience, don't just type "boobs").

(Photo credit: Photo by Frank Masi, SMPSP - copyright 2004 Dreamworks, LLC. All rights reserved.)