Best Online Marketplaces to Find Freelancers
Outsourcing work to freelancers is a great way to free up your time and complete a project on the cheap. Whether you need a writer to post daily blogs or a designer to revamp your logo, freelance workers can help you complete just about any task without you having to hire full- or part-time staff.
Over the past five years, the number of freelance marketplaces has exploded online, so how do you choose the best marketplace to find your freelancer? Here are the pros and cons of the top freelance marketplaces for outsourcing your work.
Cost: Free for employers
This marketplace has more than 750,000 freelancers from 150 countries. A handy feedback ranking system lets you find the best freelance designers, software developers, Web developers, writers, and virtual assistants in the oDesk network. You can also select professionals based on work history, portfolio, résumé, and test score.
Pros: It offers a unique “work diary” that guarantees “an hour billed is an hour worked.” The work diary allows you to collaborate online and work together as if you’re in the same office. A snapshot is taken of your freelancer’s work diary every 10 minutes, so you can see work being done as it happens, which will allow you to step in to correct something or simply guarantee that you’re not being billed for phantom hours. You can even use oDesk’s handy work diary iPhone app, which lets you check in on your freelancer’s work status no matter where you are.
Cons: The company doesn’t offer phone support, so if you encounter a problem, you’re stuck sifting through its help topics or waiting for an e-mailed reply to your question.
ScriptLance.com
Cost: $5 per accepted bid
Running a website requires a touch of technical genius to make it successful and profitable. If you can’t design your way out of a box or if programming language is as foreign to you as Chinese, try a freelance site like ScriptLance.com.
Posting a project is free, but once you select a winning bid, your account will be charged a flat fee of $5. An escrow account keeps your money secure until the freelancer finishes the project. When the project is done and you’re satisfied, you can have the money transferred. In addition to programmers, ScriptLance also gives you access to designers, writers, and marketers.
Pros: ScriptLance has a handy forum that lets you communicate with programmers via a message board or through private messages.
Cons: ScriptLance’s website is outdated, which makes it confusing to navigate.
Cost: One-time fee of $10 for unlimited job posts
Elance.com is perhaps the best-known and most-established freelance marketplace. Choose from more than 165,000 experts in areas such as programming, design, writing, marketing, administration, and consulting. You can search the Elance database using criteria like tested skill, location, category, feedback, and hourly rate, and compare your chosen freelancers by experience, ratings, profiles, credentials, and portfolios. All payments are placed in an escrow account and are only released after you approve the project.
Pros: Elance lets you hire by the hour or by the project and keep track of the job in an online “workroom,” where you can view and manage your freelancer’s work-in-progress. Messages, screenshots, files, and completed work are automatically saved here for you to view. You can even invite coworkers to join your workroom as needed.
Cons: Some Elance buyers have complained that after accepting a bid from a contractor, they discovered that the contractor barely understood English. This can translate into disaster if you’re stuck with grammatically incorrect work or have to take the time to explain instructions over and over. The escrow account is intended to protect you from paying for work you don’t like, but it can’t protect you from wasting your time on a freelancer when you could have been looking for another one. Avoid this by taking the time to investigate the bidder thoroughly before you accept. This “con,” of course, could apply to any freelance marketplace.
Cost: Free
Guru.com is one of the oldest freelance marketplaces and a favorite among many. Connect with more than 250,000 freelancers in categories such as technology (websites, e-commerce, engineering, etc.), creative arts (graphic design, writing, photography, broadcasting, etc.), or business (administration support, marketing, consulting, legal, accounting, etc.). Refine your search based on skill, location, industry, or budget criteria, and sift through your search results using tools such as résumé, tested skills, feedback and ratings, work samples, and even video. Payments are deposited into a SafePay escrow account with a payment method of your choice.
Pros: A “workroom” lets you work more closely with your freelancer by allowing both of you to upload files and view project files.
Cons: Reviews of Guru.com show that some employers who were unsatisfied with their freelancers were unable to get any support from Guru to rectify the situation. Most of the poor freelance work appears to come out of India or other non-English-speaking countries where freelancers are willing to bid extremely low on a project. Keep in mind that a really cheap bid often equals cheaply done work.
Cost: $39 listing fee plus 15 percent of what you pay for the project
While 99designs.com may be more expensive than other freelance marketplaces, it’s one of the most popular designer marketplaces for a reason. It lets you dip in to a pool of more than 82,000 freelance designers from all over the world for any design project you have, including logo design, Web design, stationery, Twitter backgrounds, banner ads, print design, T-shirts, and more.
The thing that makes 99designs stand apart from other marketplaces is that you actually get to see the design before you accept a bid. Here’s how it works: You host a “design contest” in which you describe your requirements, and dozens of talented designers compete to create a design you love by submitting their design concepts. You choose which design you like best and release the payment for it. If you don’t like any of the designs, you get your money back, guaranteed. You’ll then receive the final design along with a copyright to the original artwork.
Pros: Ordinarily, when you hire a designer, you’re stuck with their concept and aesthetic. With 99designs, you get ideas from many different designers. If you don’t like the submissions, you don’t have to choose one, and you get your money back.
Cons: Submissions can be inconsistent, because amateurs and pros alike can submit.
