Elance Review
(Or How to Get That First Job on Elance)
By Eric Hammer
More and more people are hunting for jobs on websites like
Elance and Guru, thinking that this is an easy way to make money
on the side or even to make a full time living on the site. Sadly,
most of these people have never read an Elance review where the
good, the bad and the ugly are exposed regarding sites like this.
Here's what you need to know before you place a bid for a job:
What Kind of Work Elance Has
Elance is one of the largest freelance websites on the World
Wide Web with millions of dollars worth of work being offered
and completed at the site on a regular basis. This means that
almost any kind of job you can think of is going to be offered
through Elance, as long as it's something that can be done remotely.
That said however, Elance tends to specialize in a handful of
areas: writing, programming and web development, including SEO.
This means that those looking for example for virtual assistant
types of jobs may find them on Elance, but would be more likely
to find them on other websites. That said, almost any kind of
virtual job can be found on Elance and as such, you should definitely
check the listings on Elance. Review the terms carefully though
as some employers aren't really clear on what they want.
Two Kinds of Employers
On websites like Elance, there are generally two kinds of
employers. There are those who are after the absolute cheapest
price they can find and who think that because they pay a penny
a word or less for writing or $50 for an entire website to be
built, they deserve to get the quality of the New York Times
(both in terms of writing and programming).
The other kind of employer has generally been around Elance
for a while and realizes that if you want quality, you'll have
to pay for it. This kind of employer may not need to pay exorbitant
sums for quality, but they know they won't be able to find the
equivalent of penny a word people who know how to write on Elance.
This dichotomy means that one must be careful to check on
what is being asked for when one looks for a job on Elance. Review
all the terms of the job carefully and be sure to ask questions
before you accept a job, otherwise you may find that you're in
for more than you bargained for.
Be Prepared to Take a Low Paying Job
This advice applies both for the professional who really does
know what they're doing and the person who is just getting started
in a field where work on Elance is plentiful. In both cases,
you need to get the first few reviews written of your work and
then you'll be able to land better paying jobs. However, it's
extremely rare to find well paid jobs on Elance when you have
no record on the site.
Professionals May Have to Lower Expectations
Those who have worked in their fields for years for large
companies may also need to lower their expectations. A basic
web article on Elance will generally be considered well paid
if it pays between $15-$30 whereas traditional print media often
pays hundreds of dollars for an article (this has been noted
in many an Elance review from professional news outlets such
as the New York Times - however what they don't mention is that
projects on Elance rarely involve doing original research and
interviews and instead involve simply researching on the web
and regurgitating what's been said elsewhere). This means that
even if you were used to getting hundreds of dollars for writing
an article, you shouldn't expect that kind of money on Elance.
Then again, you also won't be expected to do the same amount
of research for such an article when you work on Elance.
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