Freelancing refers to the practice of taking on occasional work contracts from a company, but not being employed by them. Freelance work is common on the Internet. It suits both the employer and the person freelancing, as the employer's costs are much less than when using an employee, and the freelancer finds work without being tied to an employer.
Freelancing is commonly found in journalism, writing, proofreading, editing, copywriting, computer programming, translating, transcribing, consulting, web design and graphic design, among others.
The Internet has really opened up the doors for freelancing work. In fact, it is probably the perfect work model for online work activities. It allows an individual to work in any part of the world for anyone located in any other part of the world. The only possible restrictions are world time zones, and if these are taken properly into account, they need not be a problem.
A number of freelance bidding sites have sprung up online that offer the freelancer an opportunity to work on a freelance basis. The best known of these is Elance and Guru . There are many others, but these two are the best in many ways.
For one thing, with Elance and Guru there is not as much competition among the beginners who often bid wildly, presumably on the assumption that dozens of random bids will get them work eventually. This means that bids on Elance and Guru tend to be of higher quality with often quite strong, but less competition. Anyone determined enough can gain work on these sites without too much effort.
The work on the higher quality freelance bidding sites tends to be higher quality too. The individuals who will willingly work for peanuts don't often bid here, which means that any work gained on these sites will pay at least reasonably well. This can quickly give the determined beginner a good solid foothold on the freelancing ladder.
These sites are also very serious about protecting both the freelancer and the buyer. Other sites do this as well, but the top arguably do it better. This means that you can take on work, safe in the knowledge that you will get paid. The buyer will also know that you will deliver the work in a timely manner. It's your precious reputation that is at risk here if you do not.
There are a few downsides to using the top freelance bidding sites, as opposed to using some of the others. One main obstacle is that they have a paid membership model. This means that if you fail to get work in any one month from these sites, you will still have to pay their monthly fee in order to stay there.
While these sites do have free membership offers, these are so limited in functionality that anyone serious about freelancing work will not be able to compete on any level with those who pay for membership.
They also have a membership scheme for every category. This is fine if you only work in one category. But if you are a writer and a computer programmer, for example, hoping to get work in both categories, you will have to pay for both, which could be more than you can reasonably afford.
Freelancing is commonly found in journalism, writing, proofreading, editing, copywriting, computer programming, translating, transcribing, consulting, web design and graphic design, among others.
The Internet has really opened up the doors for freelancing work. In fact, it is probably the perfect work model for online work activities. It allows an individual to work in any part of the world for anyone located in any other part of the world. The only possible restrictions are world time zones, and if these are taken properly into account, they need not be a problem.
A number of freelance bidding sites have sprung up online that offer the freelancer an opportunity to work on a freelance basis. The best known of these is Elance and Guru . There are many others, but these two are the best in many ways.
For one thing, with Elance and Guru there is not as much competition among the beginners who often bid wildly, presumably on the assumption that dozens of random bids will get them work eventually. This means that bids on Elance and Guru tend to be of higher quality with often quite strong, but less competition. Anyone determined enough can gain work on these sites without too much effort.
The work on the higher quality freelance bidding sites tends to be higher quality too. The individuals who will willingly work for peanuts don't often bid here, which means that any work gained on these sites will pay at least reasonably well. This can quickly give the determined beginner a good solid foothold on the freelancing ladder.
These sites are also very serious about protecting both the freelancer and the buyer. Other sites do this as well, but the top arguably do it better. This means that you can take on work, safe in the knowledge that you will get paid. The buyer will also know that you will deliver the work in a timely manner. It's your precious reputation that is at risk here if you do not.
There are a few downsides to using the top freelance bidding sites, as opposed to using some of the others. One main obstacle is that they have a paid membership model. This means that if you fail to get work in any one month from these sites, you will still have to pay their monthly fee in order to stay there.
While these sites do have free membership offers, these are so limited in functionality that anyone serious about freelancing work will not be able to compete on any level with those who pay for membership.
They also have a membership scheme for every category. This is fine if you only work in one category. But if you are a writer and a computer programmer, for example, hoping to get work in both categories, you will have to pay for both, which could be more than you can reasonably afford.
