Elance Review

 

 

A good, honest Elance review

Is much-needed, here’s why.  They are the largest collection of independent contractors and freelancers on the planet in fields like programming, writing, graphics and admin assistance.

If you want to hire a contractor to help create content for your next project, you need to know if Elance is up to the task.

Elance for Buyers

If you are buying Elance is all about you. It’s designed to please the buyer, to get you on the site as soon as possible. It’s all totally free apart from the providers that you choose to hire. It only takes a minute to sign up and you can post your first project instantly. As most Elance review writers will point out, the site is keen to get you on there as quickly as possible.

Setting up your first project requires little effort but be careful to review the options for your project. Give the most specific instructions and lay out your requirements precisely. You don’t want to get swamped by loads of bids from unsuitable candidates.

This is unfortunately the one weakness of a site like Elance . Anyone can be an Elance member if they pay their monthly service fee, and they can then bid on your project. This is good for perhaps new writers looking for their first gig but not so good for you if you have to wade through hundreds of unsuitable bids.

You’ll need to read samples, ask for interviews, and setup milestones and make sure you get the quality you’re seeking.

The Providers

the old maxim of “you get what you pay for” almost always come into play. Most Elance review writers note that Elance has long been in the middle ground due to the sheer volume of providers.  The top-level providers are scored to help you find them. They have ratings for each project, total earnings, repeat clients, and an overall aggregated score that shows how well-regarded they are by other buyers. So you pay your money and make your choice. As with everything it’s all about value. A balance between Quality and price. Find the perfect balance for your budget and required quality and you are all set.

Workroom Tools

Elance was one of the first services to offer escrow services and they work well. Providers usually pay the escrow fees out of their earnings, after verification the escrow is instant. The workroom is changing and had recent upgrades to give the same hour tracking and screenshot tools as Odesk, though they still lagging without mobile apps and desktop tracking offered by Odesk.

Most Elance review writers will also mention that Elance’s backend is a bit confusing with a lot of overlapping options for payment and invoicing. This is they are always testing and upgrading. As with many online products development is fast. Every month or two you can expect a change to the way Elance operates, this means that it’s maybe slightly different every time you visit, this as most of us know is  confusing and frustrating always having to upgrade your knowledge to keep pace with these developments. Documentation is limited and customer service can be hard to get. This is a shame because it is such a valuable service but as I have already pointed out, next time I visit they may have revamped the site and ironed out these few kinks.

The Bottom Line

As any good Elance review will tell you, there are both good and bad points to make for the use of Elance as your outsourcing tool of choice.

Elance has more providers and a greater network of projects than any other site in its class.

As a buyer, you pay no fees and can get access to providers almost instantly from around the globe.

However, the platform itself can be dizzying at times and the quality of the providers is often hard to verify, and there is no way to guarantee where the bids are coming from, a major problem in certain categories, like Writing and Translation.

Overall, Elance is a useful tool that can help you cut your work load significantly. Don’t expect it to do all the heavy lifting for you, however. Interview your prospects, edit their work, and liberally use the feedback tools to land solid contractors and try to build a team you can work with on future projects.

Personally I use Elance when I am really stuck for time and I need the best possible quality work. I often find I spend a lot of time preparing and researching the project and looking for the best contractors for the job. I find that extra time invested at this stage pays off big down the road. I save up and pay as much as I can afford. After all if I wanted poor quality cheap work I could do it myself.

In conclusion check out Elance, it won’t cost anything to see what great options for outsourcing are available to you.

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