Thoughts on Elance.com
If you're not familiar with contract bid sites such as Elance.com, they are simple to understand. Basically, I like to describe them as an "Ebay for services." A potential employer posts a project, and providers (such as freelance writers) bid on finishing the project, highlighting their qualifications.
Writers tend to have various opinions about these kinds of bid sites. I've encountered many people who have no interest in using them, and hold that the wages are awful. On the other hand, my personal experience with them has been positive. I never dip below my set fee structure, and still usually find one or two projects a month who are willing to pay what I ask. One thing that seems to draw me to them is how quickly I can pick up work to fill out my schedule. Often, when a writer applies for freelance jobs through freelance writing job lists and other resources, you wait weeks or even a month or two for a project to begin. Bid sites generally feature quck turnaround.
If you are a beginning freelancer, I feel that bid sites are a good place to start. What is your experience with them?
Comments
Elance is great, they have great projects. However a lot of buyers put their project on more than one site and that makes it hard to win something. When you’re new to freelancing as well, it’s hard to get people to notice you, no matter what your qualifications are.
I have been using Elance since September, with some success. Some of the asking rates ARE ridiculous (1$ per article for 50 articles? LOL). And one of my frustrations is that so many projects are never offered to anyone-they are just a waste of a connect. With these, if I am really interested in the project, I will usually wait four days and PMB the buyer, expressing that I am still interested and just want to follow up. Usually, no one responds, but a few times, I have had people write back that they found a writer elsewhere but would be interested in keeping me on a shortlist for future projects. But the jobs I have had have all been positive experiences, and for building a portfolio, Elance is a great option because of the variety. It’s a good chance to try out lots of different types of work, as well.
I have been freelancing full time since 2005. Before that, I had put in 12 years as a writer and editor with a trade magazine. I was able to make a go of it full time because of my contacts and my knowledge. I looked at elance and was horrified. It may be great for a kid right out of college, or someone with minimal experience, but for a full fledged writer it’s appalling. The fees being offered are for the most part laughable, and I can’t believe that anyone could possibly make a living taking those sorts of jobs. It it doesn’t pay at least 50 cents a word, or $60 an hour, I won’t consider it.
Build up your networks. Interact with people. Bidding on pitiful jobs isn’t the way to make a living as a freelancer.
I have just started using eLance. I’ve been a contract writer for the last eight years with the occasional full time job. I have been interested in trying my hand at freelancing, party because my last couple of jobs have been pretty close to this. I follow your site and the advice seems pretty good to me, and you mentioned a while back that bid sites, eLance in particular, were a good way to start.
To be honest working at eLance has been horrible. I have finally managed to get some work but the pay is nothing near what I would require if I were to actually depend on freelance for my bread and butter. I am making about nine dollars an hour. I have lost proposals that are just silly. The people I’ve worked with have been pretty sketchy in terms of their requirements and they are kind of looking for some instant magic nearly no wages.
In one lost bid, someone paid a writer 2,000 dollars to ghost write a 80,000 word book. This is easily a three or four month full-time proposition. I know because I’ve published four books. Publishers sometimes pay writers 10,000 plus royalties for a quickie book on a hot topic. This might result in a 45-50K word book generated from primary sources. Someone mentioned the 1 dollar for an SEO article. That’s right. There are a ton of pitches out there for SEO articles at 10 dollars an article. What is weird, is that these contracts are awarded.
When I started winning bids it was more out of a desire to see how it worked. At nine dollars an hour I would be better served doing just about anything else. I just worked the estimate for a job that was posted for 500 dollars at eLance. It would take 85 hours. At a 60 dollar an hour rate, this is about 5,000 dollars. (In my region modestly experienced writers can get contract work that pays 40+ per hour. With the indie-mark up you are looking at 60+ to reach the same hourly rate.) The posting was asking for bids below 500 dollars, which is only 10% of what it should cost. What is amazing to me is that this person will find someone to take them up on it.
I can’t figure it out really. Either people are filling in work as you mention here. Or they are finding side work to do during other work, in essence getting paid twice — but this doesn’t seem ethical to me. Or they live somewhere and in a situation that has a very low cost of living (i.e., second income, government health insurance, and low rent costs.) Or it’s a sequence of golden handcuff deals where writers just can’t deliver, but whoever has contracted them is in for it after they have started.
Largely though I am coming to the conclusion that eLance is a pretty low-grade service and is in fact destructive to the practice of freelance writing. Good writing requires time and concentration — and there is some cost to this. It is impossible to offer good service through eLance because freelancers are competing with such unrealistic demands since they are looking at paying 10% of what it really costs to write this stuff.
This is frustrating, really, because the idea of eLance is solid. I wish there was a more stringent service that was perhaps more difficult for writers to get listed in — that could match serious clients with serious writers. You’d think the Society for Technical Communicators would offer something like this. My thought is writing talent if it were managed the way Acting Talent is managed through Screen Actors Guild, that it would work well to at least verify a writer’s means and method. From the outside writing may seem glamourous, but in practice, it is work. A good end-user manual or article requires research, clear writing, editing, copy editing, and document production skills.
(After all, how can a writer really do afford to anything except copy and paste if they are paying paid a dollar or even as much as 10 bucks for an article?)
I quit using elance after having a client who wanted my bank account number to deposit payment. I refused to give the client my bank account number and elance didn’t do anything about it. I’ve landed a few projects on the site, but it seems like the clients are looking for cheap labor. The rates are ridiculously low and frankly I can’t stand writers who would work for such low rates. Cheap writers lower respectability for the craft.
Hmm, I am looking at my project calendar and finding the following jobs were a result of Elance: editing curriculum materials for a small publisher- $80 per hour. Three hour rewrite of 5 page website: $450 total project fee. I simply don’t take those low paying jobs. Easy at that. The people to work for on elance are new and small companies/publishers who do not yet have a staff writer or a “go-to” freelancer. You then become that “go to” freelancer. Easy as that.
Here’s my say on elance: don’t use it to find much of your work, and don’t lower your rates, no matter how tempting–STICK WITH YOUR RATES!
I applaud freelancewrite! Good for you.
See, I wondered about that. Lowering my rates, I mean. I don’t write per se, I edit, format and proof as well as tackling any job I think I can do. I wouldn’t say I’d take anything, but I have experience now in editing both novels and how-to manuals for a publisher who gave me a chance when I was new. I love the job, but it’s not a steady income, at least not steady enough. I edit for several companies on a freelance basis and get paid on commission by one. It’s a new publisher and I get paid every three months. Again, good work and I love it, but it’s not the best situation monetarily. I’d love to get more jobs, I’m at home and have the time, but don’t want to spend my life freelancing for a pittance.
http://www.freewebs.com/yourproedits/index.html
Elance allows you to post a few bids for free. I did that and got a steady ghostwriting gig out of it. I get paid every Saturday, and I’m fine with the money.
People will always complain about this or that. I say do what you need to do and tune out the rest.
I’ve been writing fiction for about seven years. The money has never been steady. I’ve received money, but it has never been steady. With this ghostwriting gig I appreciate the steady money and the ease of finding the job. I don’t have time to search for freelance gigs, folks. I don’t have time for the freelance rat race. I’m trying to write a novel. I found a steady gig with Elance and that’s fine.
Jolie du Pre
Good for you Jolie.
Yes elance is really good but there exists some other sites as well where membership is free and one can get un-limited projects in allmost all technologies. Please have a look at:
Interviewhelper
Thanks
I happened on elance on a suggestion from a colleague. I”m a designer with a thorough background and 15 years in the business both full time and as a freelancer. Although this is a California based company I wonder why there are so many non-USA “designers” bidding for USA jobs at a rate so low they are practically giving it away. What’s the story??
I will stick with my rates as I do quality work and have been awarded jobs through elance with USA people who do pay for quality. But like anything else on internet, you must be critical of the buyer of your services and be very very careful about giving out any bank numbers, etc. Elance works with Paypal which is fine and they also have their own escrow accounts.
So far I have been satisfied with my clients but I still question the non-USA designers trying to make our profession lower than that of a prostitute. Maybe USA dollars have more equity in their country but elance is denying the jobs in effect to those of their own country.