A number of years ago, freelancing was reserved for the experts. Business owners, writers, and other professionals sought the help of freelance consultants, freelance editors, and other freelance professionals for short-term contracts and help to do what what they could not do on their own.
Back then, finding a freelance professional was not quite so easy. And becoming a freelance professional was even harder.
With the advent of the Internet came a whole new breed of freelance workers. From amateurs to experts, becoming a freelance worker is easier than ever. And for those people looking to become a freelance worker, the Internet has brought for you several methods of getting started and finding the people who will hire you as a freelance consultant.
Of these methods, oDesk is among the fastest growing center for freelance workers available. It is a system that I, myself, have been using for years. Of course, it doesn't mean that it is the only or even the best freelancing site - goodness knows there are plenty of others out there that offer freelance work. And for some of you, oDesk will probably not be the answer. But for those of you who are looking to compare freelance sites, here are some details about working with oDesk.
First, the advantages of oDesk:
1. There are no fees for contract workers. This was a huge deciding factor for me. Starting work as a freelance professional is just like starting up any other business - there are certain costs involved. These costs may come from supplies, such as purchasing a computer, or maintenance, such as subscribing to a reputable anti-virus program. Whatever costs you incur to start your own freelancing career, in my opinion, the service you choose to find freelance work should not be one. There are no registration or membership fees to join oDesk, and no levels of membership based on the amount you pay that limit your ability to bid on jobs. Additionally, oDesk does not take their funding from you. Instead, they add to your rate and bill the difference to your clients.
2. Protection for newcomers and experienced freelance workers alike. A lot of sites offer some sort of payment guarantee; however, oDesk's payment guarantee for hourly jobs is among the best. So long as you use their tools correctly and log your time, you are guaranteed payment whether you are new to oDesk or not. Other sites offer a similar payment guarantee, but only after you have logged many hours with their site - which protects only those freelance workers who have been using their system for a long time, not newcomers.
3. Plenty of tools and helpful resources. oDesk offers several means of getting help. Besides the normal resources, such as discussion forums, oDesk offers a learning center filled with tutorials about how to effectively use their system, several blogs written by other freelance workers as well as their own blog. In addition to all this, oDesk has a staff of highly active moderators and administrators that offer help to everyone daily. If you have a question, you can expect answer within a very short amount of time - sometimes only minutes - rather than waiting days or even weeks before you get the help you seek.
That's not to say that life working on oDesk is all peaches and chocolate. oDesk does have a few disadvantages as well - some that are easy to work around while others are not so easy.
1. A lot of low priced jobs. oDesk is quickly - and unfairly - gaining the reputation of having some of the lowest paid jobs being offered for freelance sites. Yes, it is still possible to find projects that are worth your time as a freelancer and competitive wages - but it's also a little disheartening to see so many jobs posted with very low budgets or offers for payment.
2. oDesk requires a higher level of commitment than other sites. Working as a freelancer through oDesk requires a higher level of commitment to your projects and to yourself than other freelancing sites. You set your own pay rate and your own worth, you have to sell yourself to the clients, and you have to negotiate any changes to your agreements made with your clients. oDesk will not guarantee a minimum payment amount, will not set your hourly rate, and will not promote you to the clients. If you want someone to pay you higher than the global average - then it's up to you to convince the clients that your work is worth the extra few dollars an hour.
3. There's no guarantee for fixed price projects. That's not to say that there's no help available for fixed price projects, but fixed price projects are not covered by oDesk's payment guarantee - which means you have to protect yourself (or else you may end up fending for yourself). Additionally, because oDesk's system automatically ranks freelance workers through a combination of the number of hours worked and feedback ratings, those of you who are interested mainly in working on fixed price projects will find yourself lower in the rankings than freelancers who choose to work mainly on hourly projects.
Ultimately, my choice to use oDesk came down to the level of commitment that oDesk does offer to newcomers - their level of protection and commitment to newcomers matches the level of protection and commitment to oDesk-experienced freelancers. You'll have to make that choice for yourself.
No comments:
Post a Comment