Skip to main content

Elance - A Marketplace of Freelancers

Elance is a fantastic tool if you are looking to hire a freelancer. It has a broad range of freelancers ready to bid on your project. The skill sets range from web site developers, to virtual assistants, marketing managers, and everything in between. If you go to their site www.elance.com you will see a big long list of skill sets available. Depending on your needs you will be able to find professionals to help you with one off projects or on an ongoing basis.
The way they have structured their site and the hiring process is really easy and intuitive. A great feature on their site is the freelancer’s bio section where you can review not only the standard bio information but also the projects that the freelancer has worked on previously (projects they won through Elance) and the reviews their past clients have left. I really like this feature for a couple of reasons: 1 it keeps the freelancer somewhat honest because they know there are repercussions to their Elance reputation if they try to cut corners or not deliver and a lot of hiring decisions are made based on the Elance ranking. I know it is one of the big factors in my hiring decision. 2 you can see the projects they have actually worked on. I typically will only hire if the freelancer has worked on projects similar to the one I have posted.
Elance also has an effective payment system that integrates escrow accounts. Before the work begins you pay into the projects escrow account and then once the work has been completed to your satisfaction you release the funds to the provider. This way both sides are protected.
I have used Elance quite a bit and have been very pleased with the quality of work that I have received. Just make sure that you take the time upfront to review the proposals carefully and interview the providers. Investing this time upfront will save you an incredible amount of time and energy should you make a bad hiring decision. There are great providers on Elance but there are also some not so great ones so be careful. Another great trick is to use small test projects, this way you get a great sense of their abilities and what they are like to work with before you commit to moving forward with a larger more complex project.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

how to bid and win the project in bidding portals

Grabbing your first project through online bidding website is not easy, but it is neither that much complex work. With over 14 million registered freelancers and over 6 million registered clients on Upwork itself, though to grab your first project through this online bidding portal is very competitive. I have gone through many blogs and websites which explains you to how to earn income online or successfully grab the projects by working on these portals but no one explains the process steps involved in grabbing the mobile app and website project. Other comments arise in my mind by writing this article, that why other freelancers can easily grab the projects then why can’t the newly registered freelancers? Before jumping into this we have to dig further to understand the working patterns of all the online bidding websites like Upwork, Freelancers and other related websites. They connect the freelancers or companies and clients by the mutual monetary benefit for both the parties. Onli...
1 comment
Read more

What are some good alternatives to Upwork?

We are proud to provide a comprehensive alternative to Upwork to those who want to build and manage a remote team with the help of one set of tools. However, there are many services that provide a feasible alternative that you can use to your advantage, here are some of our favorites: Freelancer.com – a freelancer platform similar to Upwork Hubstaff – talented freelancers and free job postings (no service fees) Angel.co – a job site focused on startups and a great place to find top talent Authentic Jobs – a job site established in 2005 with filters for industry and remote positions Coworks – work with a team of freelancers from Coworks. 3.95% service fee Flexjobs – a subscription based job board with focused on telecommuting jobs Inbound.org – a community of marketing professionals with a page of job listings Jobbatical – taking a working sabbatical and freelance in a different country for a while Jobspresso – job board that offers on-demand recruiting and fully screened can...
Post a Comment
Read more

What is a bid proposal ?

A bid proposal is a summary of want the buyers wants from the providers and purely express why you are qualified to undertake their project. It does include friendly greeting to the buyer and express interest in the job.Your bid proposal will must include your qualifications and how your past project experience would allow you to work on this specific job with excellence, accuracy, and on deadline. A bid proposal is an explanation of the services the providers offer at an estimated cost for any project. When the bid proposal is unsolicited, there is no initial any contractual agreement between the client and its provider. If the bid proposal is submitted in response to a request for project description, it can be accepted as a final job process. The bid proposal is often submitted with the use of a different writing style. This can be unique handwritten not any ready available template professional bidding. Generally, the writing is completed and bidder make 2 copy fo...
1 comment
Read more