Describing your job well can help you get more proposals, better prices, and higher quality matches with the right service providers for your jobs.  Here are a few tips:

Choose the category that best matches the skills you need
Choosing the right main category (Design & Multimedia, Web & Programming, etc.) is important as it defines the group of professionals that will be able to bid on your job.  Elance categories represent the skills needed rather than the industry or business type.  For example, if you are a lawyer and you need a website, you should post your job in the website category and not the legal category.  For each category there are also subcategories that further classify your job.  Service providers in that category can see and  submit proposals in all subcategories, so if you are not sure which subcategory to use, choose the one labeled as Other.

Choose the right posting type - Featured, Business to Business or Standard
Elance has three types of postings: Featured, Business to Business and Standard. 
Featured and Business to Business Postings are highlighted with special tabs that service providers will see when searching the job listings pages that help it stand out and increase the visibility of the posted jobs.  These are a good choices when you want higher-quality proposals from more established providers.  Standard service providers will be charged more than Premier service providers to submit proposals on Featured and Business to Business Postings.   Featured and Business to Business Postings will have an additional cost to post.

All service providers in the category can submit proposals on Standard Postings at the same cost, which make up the majority of Elance jobs, so if you are unsure which type of posting is best for you, go with the Standard Posting to get the most proposals.

Determine your approximate budget
When posting a job on Elance, the price you set in the beginning does not lock you into a price range.  Providers can bid higher or lower based on what they estimate the job will cost to complete and how much they want to win your business.  It is good to communicate an estimated range, especially if you have a set budget.  If your range is unrealistic for the amount of work to be done, however, service providers may not think it is a serious job, and the likely result will be fewer and lower-quality proposals. 

Write a good job description - provide enough detail
Describing your job in a clear and concise manner is one of the best ways to increase the number and quality of proposals you receive.  It also helps you get more accurate estimates in the proposals you receive, since a service provider won't need to charge a higher price either in the original proposal to cover potential unknowns or later if more complexity is added to the job than originally anticipated.  By starting with a clearer concept, your job is also likely to be more successful in terms of faster completion and your satisfaction with the final deliverables.

You don't need to detail out everything, but it is important to give service providers enough information to make a good proposal.  Make sure to outline the job goals, scope, and main requirements.  Using examples of things you like or want your provider to do is a great way to make your ideas more concrete, and you can point to ideas online or upload files to share.

Select the appropriate skills
When posting your job, you have the option to select the top 5 skills you are looking for in the provider you hire.  The skills selected will be used to tag your job so providers have better visibility to your job when searching on those skills you've selected.

Use the Elance Escrow system
At no additional cost, Elance Escrow protects both the employer and the provider. Employers’ funds are held securely until the services are provided satisfactorily. The provider can begin working on a job knowing that the employer has provided job funding into the escrow account.  In addition, jobs that use Elance Escrow receive the benefit of two other free services: Elance Dispute Resolution and the Elance 1099 Service (for U.S. employers working with U.S. providers).
More about Escrow and 1099.

Expect multiple responses within days
You should start to get multiple proposals from qualified providers within the first few days.  Every situation is different, but the quality of the proposals is more important than the number of proposals received.  Check out our tips on choosing the right provider, and if you don't feel like you are getting the right quality proposals for your job, we highly encourage you to give us a call or send an email by clicking on the ‘Contact Us’ link above to give us the opportunity to help you out.

For more information on how to post your job, please watch the following Elance University video: