> But by growing within freelancer, I had neglected forming my offline network.
You can't advertise the work you've done through freelancer.com as your own?
Why you should think twice about Freelancer.com
21–30 of 71 posts
Re: Why you should think twice about Freelancer.com
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
Without being rude, what sort of income is possible from those sites?
It's tough. Personally I know that I severely undervalued myself but it allowed me to work via email and not have to interact on the phone or in person with people which I had trouble with for a few years. I was able to make enough money to 'get by' In other words I just about covered my basic living costs for a small city in the UK. We're talking about £800-1300 per month which was fine as a single college aged guy.…
Thanks for your honesty.
When you say you undervalued yourself, what was the rate you were charging on freelancer?
Re: Why you should think twice about Freelancer.com
#23I've been thinking about forming a co-op for a trusted network of freelancers, to handle the crummy parts of the job (sourcing, selling, collecting) while encouraging the good parts (building, branding, partnering with quality colleagues). I had similar experiences being left with fake jobs/bad credit through freelance markets. Thanks for sharing! I generally take longer-term gigs, so consistent dealflow isn't as big…
I think gun.io has pretty decent projects although I've never actually worked through them. They seem more properly screened and to hold their talent to higher standards. At least that's the impression I've received.
Re: Why you should think twice about Freelancer.com
#24Freelancer is awful. In fact all of those sites are. I made my living off Freelancer for a few years and I can't count the number of times they severely screwed me. I move to Elance which, although much better, has it's own issues. I try to find long-term clients on those sites and move the business away from them as quick as possible and that seems to work well.
Without being rude, what sort of income is possible from those sites?
I know a few hundred dollars here and there doesn't sound like a lot, but if you are doing it while living in a country with a favorable exchange rate (say, Brazil or Argentina), it becomes an easy way to earn a decent living. I've done it myself.
Re: Why you should think twice about Freelancer.com
#25I did quite a bit of work on vWorker. I enjoyed doing it and got a very good reputation but I ended up making about $1 an hour
Re: Why you should think twice about Freelancer.com
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's tough. Personally I know that I severely undervalued myself but it allowed me to work via email and not have to interact on the phone or in person with people which I had trouble with for a few years. I was able to make enough money to 'get by' In other words I just about covered my basic living costs for a small city in the UK. We're talking about £800-1300 per month which was fine as a single college aged guy.…
Thanks for your honesty. When you say you undervalued yourself, what was the rate you were charging on freelancer?
I charged a price for the whole project. At the end of the day it probably worked out to $10 per hour. I started this when I was 18 so imposter syndrome was a big deal for me but over the next few years I gradually increased prices. At the end of the day though if I had bills I needed to pay I would take whatever work I could get and sometimes that meant bidding lower than the other guys. Eventually I got better at selling myself and convincing people that although I charged more than other bidders I was worth more. I think my biggest mistake as a freelancer was not charging hourly. I screwed myself quite a lot taking on projects that ended up being WAY more work that I thought.
Re: Why you should think twice about Freelancer.com
#27When I was freelancing, I tried similar sites and stayed away.
It is largely a race to the bottom in terms of prices, and writing unique cover letters consumes a lot of time.
I had much much better results with a monthly 'looking for a freelancer' thread on HN, and instead of writing the cover letters there, I spent time on studying and improving my skills.
Re: Why you should think twice about Freelancer.com
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
Without being rude, what sort of income is possible from those sites?
I know a few hundred dollars here and there doesn't sound like a lot, but if you are doing it while living in a country with a favorable exchange rate (say, Brazil or Argentina), it becomes an easy way to earn a decent living. I've done it myself.
I assume you mean PPP ratio.
Re: Why you should think twice about Freelancer.com
#29Freelancer is awful. In fact all of those sites are. I made my living off Freelancer for a few years and I can't count the number of times they severely screwed me. I move to Elance which, although much better, has it's own issues. I try to find long-term clients on those sites and move the business away from them as quick as possible and that seems to work well.
ODesk is the least bad of the general sites. There are a few niche networks that are decent also, e.g. TopTal.com.
Does anybody have any experience with TopTal? Somebody (I guess a recruiter had just sent me an email inviting me there?)
Re: Why you should think twice about Freelancer.com
#30Well, a platform like freelancer is designed intentionally such that you can't, or at least shouldn't, build contact with clients off the platform. Otherwise you and your clients have no use for freelancer.
Some people would still prefer to use the platform as protection, with their escrow-like payment service.