I checked out Guru this morning, but you can barely look at any of the jobs unless you are at “Guru” level (i.e. $75 per quarter year). I’m having such good success with Elance, though, I think I will just stick with Elance. With Elance you get the 3 bidding opportunities per month for no fees. This is great for people who are looking for freelance work and who are so strapped that they really can’t shell out a bunch of bucks for job site subscriptions.
I tested out the Elance membership for the past month, and am very happy with the variety of jobs I have received from the extra bidding opportunities. I still have 4 more connects for the next 2 days and I have decided it is definitely worth the $10/month for me to renew. I don’t love the fees charged for each job; I think they are too high for lower-paying jobs, but I accept them as part of the cost of doing business.
I have been looking around the web for other people’s experiences, and have seen that some people get burned by buyers who don’t pay them after they’ve done the work. You can minimize this possibility by doing the following:
- Use Elance escrow, free for buyer and provider and protects both of you. Particularly important when bidding on projects posted by new buyers.
- Once you accept a project, try to secure additional contact information about the buyer, like a phone or e-mail address. You can get the e-mail address from “Accepted Projects” under “My Elance”
- Bid on projects whose buyer is well-established, who has already paid out on other Elance jobs previously.
- You will usually receive an e-mail stating that the buyer has funded the project. If you don’t receive this e-mail, you can request through Elance that it be funded.
- Consider using contracts.
Of course, these steps won’t guarantee you won’t get burned.
Enjoy your work!
Diane
