Elance is a global online employment platform. Clients can hire
independent freelance professionals and use online collaboration tools to
manage remote teams and projects. Independent contractors create online
profiles and portfolios, submit proposals for jobs, and collaborate and receive
payment through the Elance website.
Background
Inspired by a 1998 Harvard Business Review article titled "The Dawn of the E-Lance Economy",the founders of Elance saw a need for technology capable of supporting
virtual work and the first version of the site was launched in 1999. Two
years later Elance also introduced a vendor management system for
contractors and third-party services used by large enterprises. In 2006 Elance sold its enterprise software division and began the
development of its current web-based platform for online, contingent
work.
As of February 2012, Elance is used by approximately 140,000
businesses and 1.4 million registered contractors, who have collectively
earned more than $500 million to date.
Other sites that provide similar services are Guru.com, Freelancer and oDesk.
Clients
Businesses can use the
Elance website to post jobs, search for freelance Professionals,
and solicit proposals. They can evaluate the contractors applying for
the job by reviewing qualifications, work history, ratings, portfolios,
and skill test scores. Once a contractor is selected, the project
communications and files can be exchanged through the Elance system. The
contractor is paid by the client through Elance's system, which deducts
a percentage of the fee as a "commission." For hourly-rate jobs, timesheets are automatically generated, and Elance's optional Work View tool provides an official record of work completed. For project-based jobs, Statement of work
or milestones are defined to indicate progress toward completion, and
funds held in escrow by Elance ensure payment upon completion of the
milestone. When a contractor quotes an hourly rate or a fixed price to a client,
Elance automatically includes a service fee of between 6.75% and 8.75%, and after Elance bills the client and receives payment for the work,
the fee is deducted and the balance is transferred to the contractor's
account.
Skills
Information technology jobs such as web and mobile programming and
development account for the majority of earnings on
Elance (59%),
followed by creative jobs (24%), marketing (7%), and operations (7%). Also popular are jobs for writers and graphic designers. Elance maintains a current list of their overall top 100 in-demand skills, and in 2011, the most in-demand skills were PHP programming, WordPress programming, article writing, graphic design, and HTML programming. Specific data, including global job growth numbers and earnings on the
most in-demand skills, is made available on Elance's website.
Awards and recognition
Elance has been cited as an example of the emerging paradigm of
informal workplace communication, employing social media tools and
cloud-based applications to drive productivity.
Elance also caters to the increasingly liquid labor market by
facilitating direct contact between contractors with specific skillsets
and clients with specific needs. This reduces search friction and benefits the economy as a whole.
As enterprises increasingly look to hire project-based personnel in lieu of traditional full-time staff, freelance marketplaces like Elance are gaining popularity. Business owners support the trend because it lowers their payroll
expenditures, and workers support it because working for multiple
clients results in increased job security. Project-based hiring also allows small businesses access to highly
skilled workers at a significantly lower cost as compared to hiring
full-time staff.
In 2009, Elance was selected as one of CNET's Webware 100, an award recognizing products and services that embody Web 2.0 ideals of collaboration and cloud computing.
Now that you’ve learned the ropes around the Elance
Work System, it’s time for you to push the pedal to the metal, crank up the
volume, and get awarded more jobs than ever before.
After personally spending
quite a bit of time studying the Elance universe, I’ve learned that there are a
few ways that you, as a provider, can stand out and shine from the rest. So
before you jump the gun and send off your next proposal, familiarize yourself
with the following tips
1. Keep Your Profile Up To Date: Your Profile page is one of the most important
assets for any provider on Elance to maintain. Having a well-written,
fully-completed, typo-free page shows your potential client that you will take
meticulous care of their work, similar to your profile page. Additionally, take
the time to fill out the Summary and Keywords sections in detail as these are
two key areas that attract the eyes of many employers. DongoDevTeam andYourtravelgirl are examples of
great profiles.
2. Write Awesome Proposals: Making a great first impression is key. Proposals
are a lot of times the very first communication your potential client will see
from you, so be sure to spend some time preparing your proposal. Aside from
replying with just, “I can do this in one week,” ask thoughtful, poignant, and
relevant questions, prepare a detailed timeline, establish a standard
communication channel and frequency, and spec out your milestones. This will
clearly state to your potential client that you mean business. You’ll show that
you have put serious consideration and thought into the job as well as
understand the requirements and have foresight into the project. For more on
proposals, check out our this blog post: Make Every Proposal Count.
3. Take Skill Tests: If you’re
debating on investing the time in Skill Tests, consider this: A
recent Elance survey identifies that 77 percent of prospective clients found
that Skill Tests and Verified Credentials to be important factors when making
the hiring decisions on Elance. That’s nearly four out of every five employers
on Elance! If you’re still debating on taking Skill Tests, remember, you aren’t
playing the odds, my friend.
4. Join Groups: By joining an Elance Group, you are
showcasing your talent and professional skill that is officially recognized by
a sponsoring company – for example, Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft Excel. Talk
about real street cred. Your Group affiliation is prominently displayed on your
profile page as well, which helps employers quickly identify the cream of the
crop of a specific skill and expertise in no time.
5. Act Fast: Once you see a job that fits your skills
perfectly, be sure to prepare your proposal as quickly as possible without
contradicting point 2. By responding quickly to a job posting, your proposal
will be closer to the top of the list, thus being one of the first proposals
that the client sees. Of course, you also have the option of submitting a
“sponsored” proposal to ensure the top spot if you wish. Are you on Twitter?
Follow our jobs feeds, located at @elance_jobs, @elance_web, @elance_design, and @elance_writing, and you’ll be
notified via Twitter of the latest job postings in your discipline.
6. Take Care Of Your Rep: Feedback is one
of the most important elements when a client is perusing through a provider’s
profile, according to our last survey. How can you build a shining reputation?
First, obviously, by completing your jobs on time, treating your client respectfully,
and by having stellar communication. Secondly, you can consider bringing your
existing clients on to the Elance Work
System to instantly build up your feedback while taking advantage of Elance
features like Escrow and the
Workroom.
7. Be Connected: One thing that all clients can appreciate is fast
turnaround with everything, especially with any lingering questions, so staying
connected as much as possible is critical to keeping your employer feeling
good. Here’s a tip: If you have a mobile device with email capabilities, be
sure to have it sync up with your email account associated with Elance. We’ve
just recently added BlackBerry support, so answering questions directly into
the Workroom or other areas in Elance is a cinch.
So, now, I must ask you, the real Elance experts:
What strategies or tips do you have when winning jobs on Elance? Fill us in and
leave us a note in the comments below.
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