The first simple answer here is to use a different platform. At one time that meant you could use Odesk and Elance as well, but now they are operating under the same umbrella. There are a lot of other platforms which don't have the same recognition, look around.
The second simple answer is that you don't have to use these platforms at all. Ultimately, anything which places you in a commodity / human cloud type of market is something you should avoid. If you can't avoid it now, then work hard to get away from it. Don't get too reliant on these sites. Keep trying new things to create new opportunities.
Aside from that, I'm not sure how much you really need of the features that Freelancer and the alternatives add. Outside the platform, you don't get things like buyer history or financial protection. Whatever fees Freelancer can charge is probably low considering they are providing leads which could turn out to be valuable over the lifetime of your relationship with the client.
You shouldn't need to rely on buyer history and filters against "spam" projects. You should be able to pick this up from the interactions you have with the client. Is the description a one paragraph mess full of misspellings? Does the description look like it was written by a professional? Does the listing really look like it has potential or are you just being overly optimistic?
Are you looking in an area which is full of trash? Are there other, more niche areas which have a better ratio of high quality postings to trash?
You need to be trying lots of things. You need to be spending time every day networking and marketing. There are lots of people here who have said these things far better than I could. Look through past HN posts on freelancing to pick up tips. This site is a gold mine of information.
ETA: For buyer protection, it's best to get paid as you go. Get a payment up-front. Get payments weekly. Make sure that at any given time, if the client flakes out, you aren't out much money.
Freelancing is a business. Like any business, there is a steep learning curve. There is a ton to learn and a lot of mistakes to be made. The effort is so large, that for many freelancers it doesn't even make sense to be doing this.
Spend a substantial amount of time researching info from others so that you don't have to make as many mistakes. Even then, you are going to make a lot of mistakes and you will need to try a lot of things to find out what works for you. All the issues you mentioned here are part of that. You just have to keep banging away and trying different approaches to find something which works.
The second simple answer is that you don't have to use these platforms at all. Ultimately, anything which places you in a commodity / human cloud type of market is something you should avoid. If you can't avoid it now, then work hard to get away from it. Don't get too reliant on these sites. Keep trying new things to create new opportunities.
Aside from that, I'm not sure how much you really need of the features that Freelancer and the alternatives add. Outside the platform, you don't get things like buyer history or financial protection. Whatever fees Freelancer can charge is probably low considering they are providing leads which could turn out to be valuable over the lifetime of your relationship with the client.
You shouldn't need to rely on buyer history and filters against "spam" projects. You should be able to pick this up from the interactions you have with the client. Is the description a one paragraph mess full of misspellings? Does the description look like it was written by a professional? Does the listing really look like it has potential or are you just being overly optimistic?
Are you looking in an area which is full of trash? Are there other, more niche areas which have a better ratio of high quality postings to trash?
You need to be trying lots of things. You need to be spending time every day networking and marketing. There are lots of people here who have said these things far better than I could. Look through past HN posts on freelancing to pick up tips. This site is a gold mine of information.
ETA: For buyer protection, it's best to get paid as you go. Get a payment up-front. Get payments weekly. Make sure that at any given time, if the client flakes out, you aren't out much money.
Freelancing is a business. Like any business, there is a steep learning curve. There is a ton to learn and a lot of mistakes to be made. The effort is so large, that for many freelancers it doesn't even make sense to be doing this.
Spend a substantial amount of time researching info from others so that you don't have to make as many mistakes. Even then, you are going to make a lot of mistakes and you will need to try a lot of things to find out what works for you. All the issues you mentioned here are part of that. You just have to keep banging away and trying different approaches to find something which works.