Making freelance projects work with Elance
The freelance problem.
Let’s face it. Being a freelance contractor is hard. It takes time to find quality leads and even more time to develop those contacts into work. As your network and reputation build up, it becomes easier to find jobs. However, even with a good name and a strong contact list there are times when the resource pool is full and the projects are scarce. Just like your grandma told you, never have all of your eggs in one basket. In those lean times, it is good to have a second stream of project leads.
Likewise it can be difficult as a business to find quality professionals for limited engagements. Headhunters provide you with high dollar contacts that end up lacking experience in the expertise you need. Your friends and family always know some great guy who turns out to have no credentials or experience but really wants to make a few bucks on the side. Often it seems like everyone who is worth your time has been hired by a full time company. You need to have an easy way to find and sift through a stack of truly qualified candidates.
Whether you are a job seeker trying to find a new source of work or a company looking for freelance help, an internet job site geared directly to freelance engagements is wonderful thing. That is where Elance comes into play.
The right tool for the job.
Elance (http://www.elance.com) is a powerful tool for both professionals and businesses. For the independent consultant, their site provides:
- Profiles viewable by potential clients, complete with a verifiable skill set.
- A friendly job board full of projects waiting for proposals.
- A streamlined method to bid on those projects.
- A way to build a reputation through feedback from prior jobs.
For companies looking to engage an expert, the interface provides:
- A template for posting jobs that will attract the right consultant.
- A review process optimized to help you select an expert.
Finally, for collaboration between the company and expert, they have created:
- A lightweight project management framework.
- Templates to state project goals and timelines, easing the creation of a statement of work.
- A secure escrow-based payment method giving peace of mind to both parties.
Overcome the hassles.
This site removes or at least eases the pain of the major problems with freelance work. From the free agent’s point of view, the hardest parts of an engagement are finding worthwhile projects, coming to an agreement on the definitions of scope, working out the related milestones and most importantly, getting the invoice paid. Elance meets all of those needs in the same way an expensive agency would. From the enterprise’s point of view, the hardest parts of an engagement are finding qualified professionals, expressing the projects needs, and managing the timeline effectively. Elance’s framework does all of that and more.