Do you Elance?

adarkfox

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I am a member of Elance for other reasons, but out of curiosity I browsed the job postings in the creative writing section and was amazed at all of the ghost writing jobs. I was also amazed that there were more misspelled words in the Writing job postings than other sections I typically peruse.

Just curious if any of you freelance writers actually use this site?
 

ShannonC_77

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I've looked at it before and put in a bid on one job. It seems though that most jobs are either very low paying (per word) or you are competing against people who own writing companies or have extremely high credentials.

...at least that's the impression I got from it.
 

twnkltoz

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True. However, my husband and I have both gotten some reasonably-paying jobs. The frustrating thing is that I've paid a lot of money for two jobs...Greg's gotten 4 or 5. I'm hoping as I get more history on there I'll be more successful. I also use oDesk, which I like better because it's free except for the service fee that's added to your bid.
 

ShannonC_77

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I've been thinking of trying oDesk for a little while now. So, you can bid as much as you like on different projects and you are only charged if you actually get the job? That's definitely a better set-up than elance.com IMO.
 

twnkltoz

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You're limited to 20 bids per week, any dollar amount. If you bid $40, the buyer is charged $44.
 

DanaPrince

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I just started elancing just over a month ago and so far it's going pretty good. I'm getting good feedback from buyers so starting to build some credibility and I like the safety of the escrow service. I've done some slightly lower paying jobs at first to get some numbers showing on my profile but now it's starting to pay off. I have a premium membership so it's $20 a month. For now it's good for filler work for me during slower times.
 

mario_c

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I joined initially to promote my computer programming skills, but I think I could get more work in this department at other sites. So I'm interested in switching my resume to highlight my skills in editing, proofreading, and maybe - just maybe - writing copy. I'm a fiction writer so figuring out what to write about in a nonfiction style is the hard part.
Has anyone here attempted something like this?
This thread is good to know about, I was starting to give up hope.
 
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twnkltoz

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On Elance you get three free "connects" per month. You only have to pay if you want more than that.
 

ShannonC_77

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On Elance you get three free "connects" per month. You only have to pay if you want more than that.

Yah, but many jobs are two connects anyway, so you aren't going to get too far with just the three they give you. At least that's what I found.
 

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I've got some decent work on Elance, but I have to say, it's really hard with all of the providers from India lowering the bidding price. I recently bid on a job that required 15 articles on Pilates. I've been teaching Pilates for 10 years, trained with one of the original instructors who worked with Joe, and have written books on the topic. I lost the bid to an Indian writer who bid $75 for the entire project! Many of the people who post projects are more interested in keyword placement than good writing. ODesk is interesting, but you have to download software that takes a sceen shot of your computer while you're writing.
 

JenNipps

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But that's a good thing, IMO. I was having trouble uploading a project for oDesk. The buyer noticed because of the screen shots and fixed the problem before I asked about it.

Above, I saw mention of the fee oDesk charges. It is charged to the buyer, never to the provider/writer.
 

Lyra

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It takes a little while and some effort to get established at Elance, but there is decent money to be made. I average about $8,000 a year and my current earnings are just over $40,000 - and I'm nowhere near one of the highest earners. A free membership isn't worth it if you want to earn real money, especially as a lot of projects go unawarded. I usually buy more than my allocation of connects each month when I'm active, but it easily pays for itself.

You soon learn to spot the jobs that pay peanuts and ignore them, and it really helps to have a niche.

I hate O desk with a vengeance. No way am I installing spying software to watch me as I work. And the rates there are consistently low.

Guru is another one where you can get decent work, although it requires a sizable upfront fee and takes a while to get established. However, although I don't get much work from there, I always make more than the fees, and you can suspend your memebrship when you're busy.
 

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I've made some decent money o0n oDesk but it has the same problem with India writers undercutting us, asking for $1 an hour. However, REAL employers, you know, the ones who actually want quality work, will pay the higher prices.
 

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I just saw this on another writer's Elance profile:

If our bid seems high on a particular project, and you don't understand why, then consider the old adage: "You get what you pay for." This does not mean that we are better than the next bidder; rather, it means that you should be wary of low bidders if you are looking for quality writing. Anyone can create a Profile on Elance, claiming anything whatsoever as experience.

Many writers live in non-US economies, and as such, can bid lower than US writers. This is great for competition, and writers who don't like it should consider relocating to those economies. However, a disparity arises when "writers" masquerade as native-English speakers, and their bid is backed by someone with a US address who farms the work to writers abroad. This is deception, pure and simple.

You will find that many serious Elance Buyers request "native-English" speakers. This is because (good) writers from the US or Great Britain--in general--can write better than any writer from Klakastan (or anywhere in the world), even if that Klakastani writer has an advanced degree in English--or any subject, or any degree, or any number of years of writing experience. This is an artifact of native languages. There are exceptions, as any translator of Hermann Hesse will argue, but the fact remains: English writers are the best writers of English.

Wish I had the nerve to write something so over the top!
 

twnkltoz

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Lately, I've been getting more discouraged at oDesk and Elance...there are so many $1/hour jobs that I don't even look half the time. It's unfortunate, because as I said above, I have gotten several decent jobs from both.
 
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I've been working on oDesk some and I don't even pay attention to what the client's budget is most of the time. If I bid a job, I bid what I want to be paid and see where the chips land. I will generally explain to the buyer that although I have bid over their budget I can guarantee that they will receive a quality product in return. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn't. The best part of oDesk is that you essentially have unlimited access to jobs, as if you reach your limit and want to apply for something juicy all you have to do is end your weakest candidacy and apply for the other job.

I look at oDesk as exactly what it is: One bullet in the gun. There are other places to work and the jobs I do get there are at least decent pay and sometimes they are great. Getting paid by ACH doesn't hurt my feelings either. Also it is a fantastic way to build a resume and get regular clients. It's not a big league gig, but it is far better than the majority of the content mills out there. Plus I've even been able to get some of my regular clients to let me have my byline as well as the pay.

As for the software and "spying" concerns, anyone who is worried about that simply doesn't understand how the program works. I don't mean that to sound arrogant. I'm just saying that it is not as invasive as people might believe and you have total control over the program at all times. In the simplest terms it is basically just a device that allows you to bill hourly rates while ensuring that the client doesn't get sandbagged for hours that were not worked. It's a fair, safe and convenient feature of what I feel is a very decent freelance site.
 

Lyra

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"As for the software and "spying" concerns <snip>"

So how does it work when research is away from your desk? One factor that has landed me work at Elance is being able and willing to use a major library and/or conduct interviews. I can't see how either of those are compatible with the requirement to use an online logging system.
 

Lyra

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Btw, when it comes to low bidders on Elance, if you look at who's consistently bidding ridiculously low, a sizeable number are US providers rather than those from India :crazy: Although some of those sub contract to places like Getafreelancer (which should win an award for the lowest rates EVER), there're also a lot of "genuine" bids. There are several discussions about this on Elance's own forums.
 
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"As for the software and "spying" concerns <snip>"

So how does it work when research is away from your desk? One factor that has landed me work at Elance is being able and willing to use a major library and/or conduct interviews. I can't see how either of those are compatible with the requirement to use an online logging system.

I'm sure it would depend on the client and the job. So far, in my experience I have yet to come across a situation that required me to leave my desk. That said, any reasonable client would certainly understand if that were the case and that situation would probably be more suited to a fixed price as opposed to an hourly assignment. The program is only used if you take on a project as an hourly assignment. Also, you do have the option to propose any number of parameters with your clients once the interview process is engaged and most of the jobs I take are fixed price anyway. I've only used the hourly tracking software twice in two months. HTH.
 
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Btw, when it comes to low bidders on Elance, if you look at who's consistently bidding ridiculously low, a sizeable number are US providers rather than those from India :crazy: Although some of those sub contract to places like Getafreelancer (which should win an award for the lowest rates EVER), there're also a lot of "genuine" bids. There are several discussions about this on Elance's own forums.

I don't know about Elance, because quite frankly I'm not a big fan of their pay-per-application system, but on oDesk the main issue with the low bidders is almost always people from either India or the Philippines. Either way, I am one who has little tolerance for semi-literate hacks driving down the market price for writing services, regardless as to where they live. I know that may sound harsh and I am fully aware that the situation is never going to change, but it still bugs the crap out of me, simply because I think it hurts everyone who is trying to make a living with a commitment to high quality work. Just my .02 for what it's worth, which may indeed be .02 or less. :D
 

Lyra

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So far, in my experience I have yet to come across a situation that required me to leave my desk. HTH.

We clearly do very different work. I often do library research, which I charge by the hour as it's impossible to know what you'll find - and how long that will take - until you've found it. I usually cap the number of hours at some agreed figure, although in real life I may come under that. (I suppose it could be fixed rate for x hours and renewable as needed.)

I'm still not happy with the system for a number of reasons, not least it appears to promote quantity over quality - but that's just me and if it suits the way you work, all the more for you if I'm no competition :)

I don't know about Elance, because quite frankly I'm not a big fan of their pay-per-application system

Neither am I but my membership predates the present system and I have a lot of feedback :) However it does seem to have reduced at least some of the more nonsensical bids, which was apparently the reason behind it.

What I don't like about Elance is their customer "service". Only Ebay is so good at being bad. This is the wrong place (not sure there is a right one) to go into detail about my experiences, although I have been collecting apologies from them during the last week.

On balance, I do ok out of Elance, although I'd never use any single board on its own. And I've never managed to make my income solely from online sources.

Either way, I am one who has little tolerance for semi-literate hacks driving down the market price for writing services, regardless as to where they live. I know that may sound harsh and I am fully aware that the situation is never going to change, but it still bugs the crap out of me, simply because I think it hurts everyone who is trying to make a living with a commitment to high quality work.

It isn't at all harsh. The only thing I disagree with is the term "semi-literate". It's far too generous. (The only time it doesn't bug me is when someone pays me to turn what they bought cheaply into something that makes sense. :) )
 

Lyra

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Above, I saw mention of the fee oDesk charges. It is charged to the buyer, never to the provider/writer.

But surely you charge a fee that includes enough to cover those costs so whichever way the system is set up, the buyer ends up paying it anyway?
 

MamaLou

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We clearly do very different work. I often do library research, which I charge by the hour as it's impossible to know what you'll find - and how long that will take - until you've found it. I usually cap the number of hours at some agreed figure, although in real life I may come under that. (I suppose it could be fixed rate for x hours and renewable as needed.)

********************************
I might be tempted to discuss this with the buyer as an "in addition". That or bump up the hourly rate to cover this so that once you do start writing, it's covered in the hourly rate.