Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I`m interested to learn how many SuN members use elance.com - either as one seeking services or as one providing services through elance.com.

If you have used elance.com, how was the experience?

I have never used elance.com but it appears to be a great concept and a good resource for small businesses - both as a user of services and a provider.

Look forward to your comments.

Thanks - R@

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Richard Arnold · Key Concept Writers · Business Communication: The "Key" To Success· Law of Attraction Blog · Life Ain`t Brain Surgery Blog

Hi, R@

I`ve visited elance and guru several times to try to decide whether my time was worth spending there.  You`re right, it`s a great concept.  However, it comes with several inherent problems if you`re hoping to secure clients.  My experience has been that people/companies posting projects are selecting professional`s proposals based only on price.  Given that these sites are open to anyone on the Internet, the competition is so fierce and not really worth the time.

For example, I responded to a RFP on guru.com... it was perfect for me because they were looking for a virtual assistant to run their online/offline operations and provide administrative oversight of their program managers.  I quoted my hourly rate and received a response that they were only willing to pay 1/3 of that because they didn`t believe the work was that involved.  Either the person didn`t understand business processes or they didn`t know what they really wanted.  Either way, it was a waste of my time.

Perhaps, others have had more positive results?  I`d love to know how you overcame the $$ mentality!

Just my 2 cents.

Danielle

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Danielle Taylor *
Taylor-Made Virtual Assistance *
Real Virtual Solutions for Real Business Needs *
http://www.TaylorVA.com

R@ -

I found my web guy from elance.com, recommended by a friend from SuN.  The experience turned out real nice, stress-free.  It definitely saved me tons of $.  The work was done within the scheduled period.  I was pleased.

 

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Life isn`t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.

As a buyer I`m very happy with elance. I only put out one project out for bid. The rest of the jobs were translations. I put those out to bid by invitation only. I was looking for people who were, say from Italy, but could speak english as a 2nd or third language. Many of the providers simply did not spend the time to describe their location, history and skill ... so they were not invited to bid.

I can see TaylorMade`s point of view. It`s a tough go if you`re in an open bid situation, but if you have a special skill and describe it carefully you might receive an invitation to bid. I wish i could tell you how much of the bidding is by invitation only. It might change your opinion of elance.

If that is the case, you *definitely* don`t want to use that site for outsourcing technical projects. Systems engineering and developer creativity come at a high price.

Do some reseach on failed tech projects (I`m not talking like a 3 page static website) and see how many and how much money has went down the drain from cost *focused* bidding!

Exactly, RichSUN.

I guess these sites work well for piece work.  But, if one is looking for a highly qualified "vendor" (for lack of a better word), they may want to use the tried-and-true method of referrals. 

Degrees is also right in that being invited to bid results in better partnerships.  The rock-and-hard-place is that without a rating from buyers, one is typically not invited to bid; and one cannot be rated until their proposal(s) has been accepted.  I have responded to a handfull of open bids and included the information Degrees suggests, but only received responses that my rates were too high.  Since I haven`t had much success with the open bids, I`m not really willing to pay for membership that may - or may not - result in being invited.  Perhaps there`s another way?

Danielle

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Danielle Taylor *
Taylor-Made Virtual Assistance *
Real Virtual Solutions for Real Business Needs *
http://www.TaylorVA.com

R@,

Loved it. Actually heard about it here first before checking it out. Used it for a website redesign. We were flooded with bid requests. (24!) I was able to sort through this heap easily. Ratings, Project history, and portfolios gave us a good idea of  the quality, capability, and style of diffent vendors. Many vendors mention a guarantee of satisfaction and don`t accept final payment until you give the final thumbs up.

An added bonus is the protection that the message board brings. If you maintain messaging and file transfer through Elance, you have a distinct "paper trail" that can be followed if ever a matter of contention arises. This is protection for both  the buyer and the service provider and allows both to follow along with the progress in linear fashion.

My only warning would be to avoid the very lowest of bidders. Just like anywhere, the extreme lowest bidder is probably not very flexible on their base offering and will find a way to upcharge you for the work until they again end up right were everyone else`s bid was or higher. 

I would go back to Elance in a heartbeat.

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~Eric
JE Design Group, LLC
If all you do is what you`ve done, then all you`ll get is what you`ve got.
www.jedesigngroup.com

I`ve used ifreelance.com a few times (basically the same as elance)  and we`re actually about to open up a new site for freelancers that will hopefully combat the price wars.  It is scheduled to launch in January, so I hope you all will try it out  I`ll post the site address when i launches.  :)

 

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Jen Walter
Creative Director
JW Design Center
www.jwdesigncenter.com

I have never used them personally, but I have recommended them to a lot of people - including some SuN members - because I think it`s a great concept. I like that you can look at portfolios and choose a provider based on not only price, but whether they match your style and vision.

Commenting from the buying perspective, I think sites like Elance, Guru, RentACoder, ODesk, etc. are essential cost-effective resources for startups, non-profits, and increasingly larger businesses as well. Even great for personal stuff - like invitation designs, T-Shirt designs for sports teams, etc.

I`ve used Elance successfully as a buyer in all of those contexts - a logo for my son`s rock band, a special invite for my Mom`s BDay, a logo and letterhead for a non-profit, a business card design for my son`s micro business, and as as a way to generate paid logo concept ideas for my new startup. For a detailed post regarding how I went about this latter project and results, see here.

I have been very pleased with the results and the cost (even after not awarding based on price). Not surprisingly, performing thoughtful due diligence on the providers, taking the time to carefully articulate your requirements, chunking the work up into smaller, phased and less risky deliverables all help to increase the probability of a successful outcome.

These sites are not perfect and are constantly improving, but I highly recommend trying one out on a low-risk project and making your own assessment. I suspect you`ll become a believer.

Cheers, Bill