# freelancer.com



## lightwing (Feb 17, 2013)

https://www.freelancer.com/

I discovered this website today. I'm wondering if anyone's had any experience with it before, either as getting employed or finding someone to do some work for you.

The gears in my head are turning... wondering if I could make a living by being a "freelancer"...

I appreciate your input.


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## knife (Jul 10, 2013)

Hard work, intermittent pay. But for an increasing segment of the population (myself included) it seems to be the _only_ way to get any income.


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## petite libellule (Jul 4, 2012)

I've actually looked into it to hire. Haven't had the courage to commit yet. I signed up on odesk as well. I just want someone to help with things I don't have time for and/or am not into to be good at it. Like social media/web site/small things regarding research (collecting process) and maybe some proofreading and editing work. 

My main issue is trust. How do I know they'll do a good job? And what is the appropriate pay for such jobs? I'm afraid of getting milked for cash I don't have in surplus. The irony is I'll make more money if I get the help, so in the future I'll have more courage as I'll have more income to cover for unexpected bullshit .. But to start. Ugh. I'm in a quandary. 

So far I like odesks reputation. And I love the idea of a virtual assistant so .. I think it's worth it if the work suits you. 

Anyone else have experience with this ? Would love to see this thread get more activity.


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## StranGaaa Danjjja (Jan 6, 2015)

First off artists are in it to be artistic professionals are in it to work and do there job to the tea.......

As far as end results you get that with anything you pay for..............

takes money to make money not hard work...............

just as anything else in life if you want it you will get it if not then your still gonna guess wtf


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## tangosthenes (Oct 29, 2011)

I'm thinking about using it to check the level of skill needed for programming tasks(I'm learning programming right now). It'll help me save up so I have an excess in my income-expenses at the end of the month, hopefully.

My fears are these:
-Exploitation- Do the thing listed in the job description, and then 100 other unrelated things or I'm not going to pay you and/or rate you poorly.
-You need to build up credibility and dollar amount before anyone will take you seriously.
-People bid down amounts to stupidly low levels because $10 means more in eastern europe than it does in the US.
-Overall, you're going to have to take it in the ass for a while before you can make market-rate money off of it.
-The more skills you have, the more you distinguish yourself, just like in the job market, the more untouchable you will be.

These are just my fears. I haven't actually done any of it yet. May update once I've been there done that.


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## ScientiaOmnisEst (Oct 2, 2013)

Bookmarked it and considered signing up to work....not sure though.


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## knife (Jul 10, 2013)

Thaumaturgic Theorist said:


> Bookmarked it and considered signing up to work....not sure though.


Yeah, I've been waffling on the idea as well. For two months now!


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## knife (Jul 10, 2013)

So...I procured a new toy and starting creating a Freelancer account to pay for it _ex post facto_ and lo, this be what I see:










Le slimy skuzzballs.

Lo! But wait! I verify from my email and instead I see this:










Hmmm...


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## ScientiaOmnisEst (Oct 2, 2013)

White Knight said:


> So...I procured a new toy and starting creating a Freelancer account to pay for it _ex post facto_ and lo, this be what I see:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



You have to pay to sign up? 

Nope (can't and won't).


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## knife (Jul 10, 2013)

Thaumaturgic Theorist said:


> You have to pay to sign up?
> 
> Nope (can't and won't).


We'll see. I didn't follow through on the PayPal page so they don't have any payment info on me whatsoever.

There is no way in hell I'd pay to sign up to this or anything.


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## zpsych (Jan 28, 2015)

Mmmnn...


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## SoulScream (Sep 17, 2012)

Some years back I tried to make some money from freelancer. Once or twice I got ripped off (back then it was easier, now I am not sure how it works). Once or twice I made some money but it wasn't worth it - too much work for measly pay. Gave up on it and never went back. 

Now with odesk, the experience is different from a freelance perspective. You don't have to go into super low rates to find a job. With their recording system I think it all works rather well (even though I haven't used it since I always tend to go for project with fixed payment). 

For graphic artist freelancers another place would be 99designs. When someone posts a project the site takes the money from him so your pay is a sure thing. Problem is that it is contest oriented which means that you do work and hope to be selected as the winner of the project. That isn't really efficient from my point of view. 

From my talks with people who have hired me to do some work for them, as a contractor you need to stay away from India and generally who promise they will do work for really really cheap. Usually the product you get .. you can say you payed really really cheap for it. A lot of people were annoyed with the quality of work. I was surprised by the good feedback I got because it was about simple projects that didn't require much (although I always do more than needed). Just be careful ask for portfolios and previous projects. If you can you can also contact previous contractors (if the freelancer did a good job he/she will never refuse to give you contacts so you can verify stuff).


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## AriesLilith (Jan 6, 2013)

I work as a programmer in a company, and checked freelancer.com before, but the pay seems to be very low and there are so much competitors with cheap prices that I doubt the effort would be worth it.

Perhaps it would be better to work as a contractor/freelancer with my own brand website plus some marketing strategies and networking. Contacting some potential clients too perhaps.

It's just, freelancer.com seems like a place for cheap labor, so better clients would probably prefer someone who looks less cheap. What would look more reliable? Someone with a website built by himself that showcases a few things they can build and a portfolio online and charges like a professional web designer or developer... Or some random guy who works on freelance.com for scrap jobs for 10$ per hour?


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## Coburn (Sep 3, 2010)

ningsta kitty said:


> I've actually looked into it to hire. Haven't had the courage to commit yet. I signed up on odesk as well. I just want someone to help with things I don't have time for and/or am not into to be good at it. Like social media/web site/small things regarding research (collecting process) and maybe some proofreading and editing work.
> 
> My main issue is trust. How do I know they'll do a good job? And what is the appropriate pay for such jobs? I'm afraid of getting milked for cash I don't have in surplus. The irony is I'll make more money if I get the help, so in the future I'll have more courage as I'll have more income to cover for unexpected bullshit .. But to start. Ugh. I'm in a quandary.
> 
> ...


From experience:

1. Ask for a portfolio 
2. If you need web design work, ask for their professional website. They should have one. 
3. Ask for references from previous clients they've worked with. When you talk to these references, ask for their relationship with the designer, ask for examples about results they saw, and ask if they would work with that designer again and why or why not. Also, ask what problems they ran into with the designer and what they would have liked to have seen done better.
4. Tell designers you're looking for quotes up front; make them work to show why they deserve your business. Don't be crazy and ask for a whole hypothetical marketing plan, but ask if they can make time for a phone call with you to go over your website/social media/ branding/etc and make some suggestions or offer some insights.
5. Determine rate of pay (by hour or flat fee). Specify in a contract what both parties agree to and in what time period (set a deadline).
6. Pay half up front, the other half when the project is done.
7. If the designer does a good job, wrote a recommendation or offer to be a reference.

Note: "designer" equals any kind of creative freelancer. I'm on my phone so it's too difficult up break the word down into all freelancer categories.

Second note: ALSO, most importantly, you get what you pay for. If the freelancer offers a cheap price, expect cheap work and bad communication. There's a reason designers from India/Ukraine are cheap.

Think of it like getting a tattoo: if you're going to get it, save money and pay for the best you can so you get it done right the first time. Don't go to the cheap ass guy who has loads of free time (which means NO business) and can do it in a jiffy. You'll end up with a bad product you'll eventually have to pay twice as much to do over.


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## nichya (Jul 12, 2014)

Indeed like mentioned before the programming project bidding are so so low. Truly based on the fact that US dollar is much more in different currencies. I know that some projects there require much more than the payment. Totally a system based on cheap labor, I understand individuals who rarely need something should use freelancing but I honestly get sad thinking western companies most probably do this as well. I am not even going into people looking for others to get their homework done -_- and research projects, seriously, and you are going to publish a paper with that?? I also highly doubt the quality, not that I assume the people are not good programmers - I know eastern europe has gifted programmers for a fact- but I saw many people from some part of the world bidding for translation jobs of some very specific and totally unrelated languages, I wonder how that goes really >.> Also I do believe in software quality >.< However I have noticed that the flash animations etc. is better paid and the people bidding seem more confident and not setting the bids too low. They seem to have more professionalism and flexibility as well.

That site makes me sad. lol. As a grad student the idea was charming. Also I don't have the Te confidence to say I can finish a very specific research software in 1 day but some people seem to be able to say that, I think it requires much practice on the site.

Yawn.


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## waters (Apr 27, 2015)

There's another site called eLancer, which is similar. I used to do translations. You can get fulltime work on elance, the only thing is you have to start low, take a job for literally 10 bucks and apply for everything. Once you've got a few positions you can increase your price!


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## somethingtotallyrandom (Mar 7, 2015)

This looks like an amazing tool, but I wouldn't pay to sign up 

Is there a way we can contact the developers/designers on the site without creating an account?


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## waters (Apr 27, 2015)

One of the best things to do with these websites is to make yourself seem as professional or competitive as possible. It really helps if you've already got experience behind hired on the site, becuase often even if your CV is good that's not enough.. The other thing you can do is to have external links, like website - just make any old website with a hosting service, i used this one, and put examples of your work on there - that way you can link to your account with eLancer or freelancer.com so people will know where to find you. The same can be done with LinkedIn - connect back to the freelancing site, and the same with other platforms. If you connect people to a platform where they can pay you directly and securely then these sites can actually work in your favour, people just need to be really thorough with their approach! But you can make money off of them and even become a digital nomad! Good luck!


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