Recently I came across a site called Elance, which I had never heard of before. Admittedly, when I first saw the URL without any context, it made me think of some sort of online store for medieval weapons. However, upon visiting the link, I found a resource for finding or posting contract jobs in fields such as design, programming, marketing, writing, translation, and just about anything that one could do as a freelance contractor. It uses a system where people can post jobs, then freelancers can submit proposals for each one, describing the cost and what services they would provide, and how long it would take, and then the client chooses the one that appeals the most, either based on budget needs or how well-written the proposal was. After that, the client and contractor communicate back and forth during the working process until both parties are happy, at which point the payment goes through. I haven’t been on there too long, but from what I can tell, it has its ups and downs much like any other online community. For any freelancer who is considering signing up and looking for jobs, it might just be worth your while.

PROS

• It is a very large community, with over 45,000 jobs posted in the last 15 days
• The range of fields is fairly vast as well, providing small to large jobs for people with many different kinds of skill sets
• The jobs feature a large range in prices, depending on the type of job and the client; anywhere from $20 to about $500,000 as well as hourly rates
• Many different groups can be joined depending on what field you’re in, most of which require a skills test to make sure you have the required knowledge. In these groups are job postings, and it ensures the client is getting their job done by a real professional

CONS

• The large community means there is a lot of competition when writing a proposal for a job that interests you. It may require you to lower your prices or provide your services in less time in order to land the desired job
• When you are a newcomer to the site, it is very difficult to get a job because most clients are looking for someone with an already established good reputation in the elance community
• Clients are often very picky and require a ton of minor tweaks and changes, often meaning that you end up doing more work than the job is actually worth in the first place
• With a free account, you can only choose one field of jobs for which you can write proposals, so it is not as beneficial to freelancers with different skills in multiple areas