Early Thoughts on Elance
Long story short, I’ve decided to try out Elance and I have some mixed feelings about it so far. Read on to get the long story about why I signed up now after years of shying away and what I’ve experienced so far.
I’d previously written off Elance as a possible source of income because a few of my favorite writers don’t advocate it. But, on the other hand, I’d read some positive reviews about it from some other well-respected writers. While I have advised against bidding sites in general because of the tendency of bidders to go low and buyers to buy low, I’ve never spoken for or against Elance specifically because I don’t know enough about it to say anything. Well, that’s changing.
How I Signed Up for Elance
Over the past year, I’ve looked at the writing jobs posted on Elance and since I wasn’t too interested, I didn’t sign up. Then a few weeks (maybe months) ago, I registered, for the heck of it, just in case I saw some projects I wanted to sign up for. I didn’t really like the profile generation process. There was too much information to have “verified” and all I wanted to do was apply for jobs and tell the job posters why I was the best fit. I didn’t want to spend time on a profile.
Earlier today, I was thinking about posting a research job. I’m working on a couple of stories and I wanted to find a few people who’ve had experience with credit repair companies (if you’re one or know someone who is please email me). While there, I thought about a friend of mine who has a paralegal certificate who might be looking for some legal research work. So I peruse through the legal part and find a job that was right up my alley. I promise I’m getting to the point…
Issues From the Start
I wanted to apply for the fabulous job, but Elance informed me that I needed to change my “Category” if I wanted to apply for the job. You see Elance posts jobs in different categories: Writing & Translation, Finance and Management, Web & Programming, Legal, etc. When I signed up, I selected the “Writing & Translation” category, not thinking I’d ever see anything in Legal. Well, the Basic (free) version of Elance only lets you select one category and though I tried to change it to Legal, the change wouldn’t take effect until December 15. The job I wanted to apply for would have expired by then.
Ok, so I upgraded to the “Professional” membership plan which costs $9.95 a month and lets you select multiple categories, with a catch of course. You can select one category for free. Each additional category costs $4.95. And that leads me to what I don’t like about Elance - they charge for everything. They allow you to enter skills information. You can verify those skills by taking Elance tests. They give you credit for two tests. Each additional costs $4. I entered my degree information, but if I want Elance to verify it, that’ll be $15. Every time I want to do something to improve my credibility on the site (since I’m a noob and all), there’s another fee.
Then, there are the transaction fees you pay when you’re awarded a job. You’ll have a maximum of 8.75% cut from your Elance revenue. Stop with the fees already. I guess everyone has to make money on the internet and if I find some good paying work, I probably won’t complain about the fees anymore.
What I Like About Elance
So far there is one thing I like about Elance - the bid amounts aren’t disclosed. That means there’s not as much pressure to underbid the next guy because you don’t know what the next guy bid. It doesn’t mean, however, that buyers won’t choose the lowest bidder. But that’s no different than how we apply for jobs outside of Elance.
Well, like I said, it’s something I’m trying out. I have a much higher revenue goal for 2009 and I’m looking at different ways of meeting it. Doing the same old thing will only get me the same old results. Stay tuned for updates on the Elance saga.
Oh, and I’ve already set a reminder in January to cancel if I don’t make any money!
What are your thoughts on Elance? Have you used it? Been successful?
