That's why we're developing http://www.socialance.com If you have any suggestions or want to help, let me know: guillermo@socialance.com
ODesk vs Elance vs Freelancer vs Guru
91–100 of 118 posts
Re: ODesk vs Elance vs Freelancer vs Guru
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
If i were a generalist programmer, eager to learn a technology for good pay on Odesk, what would you say are the technologies more well paid and that at the same time adjust better to the remote freelance model on that site?
In general, my advice would be to not approach freelancing as an exchange of expertise in a certain technology for currency. Usually people are looking for their problems to be solved - build me an app, fix my slow site, make me more money - so my advice would be to market yourself as a problem-fixer instead. That said, web development is obviously hot at the moment (Django, Rails, Node, etc) and I have marketed myse…
Re: ODesk vs Elance vs Freelancer vs Guru
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
Agreed. Skills mean very little to me. There's a lot of great developers out there. The top workers finish projects and can communicate. I opt for the niche job boards such has http://www.gun.io or http://www.djangojobs.net as I can find good talent and it's much easier to screen people when I can hope on the phone. There's a real problem finding devs with softskills and so far it's a pain point that no one has gone…
I agree and finding great developers is a big part of the challenge. However, there's more to arranging a project then finding the right talent, especially for clients who have expectations for security, domain expertise, and quality assurance. Most platforms simply solve the matchmaking component (eharmony style). The solution is a platform which supports engineers' workflows (git, hg, etc) -- or at least this conti…
Re: ODesk vs Elance vs Freelancer vs Guru
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
It isn't worth the time or effort to do so. I tried it out (elance) a couple of years ago as a worker. My impression of it is that basically it's a place for two kinds of employer: 1) the "I have this idea, code it up for me for equity in my 'company'" employers who either don't actually have an idea of what they want (and will needle you to flesh out their idea more fully) or have a generic "let's build the next X"…
Umm, no not really. I charge around 60$/hr on oDesk.Have closed to 5000 hours and can easily pull in upwards of 5K USD a month, which is an extra ordinary sum for someone sitting in a country in Pakistan where the conversion rate i 104 PKR to a USD.You can easily get well paying clients if you spend a little time building up your history, and are really good at what you do.
Re: ODesk vs Elance vs Freelancer vs Guru
#95This is relevant because since that time, freelance.com has acquired vWorker(formerly rentacoder) and hence a lot of things might have changed as well over 2 years period
Re: ODesk vs Elance vs Freelancer vs Guru
#96I've done some work on these in the past, dating back to 2000. They've always been challenging if you're not in a market where you can lowball, so I presume most "senior" developers in premium markets avoid these sites. I'd love to hear thoughts about using these marketplaces to build up experience in languages you're not yet using in production.
To be clear, this wouldn't be my primary income earner. I have a lot of experience with languages like ColdFusion, PHP, etc, but really want to get some Rails work in. Of course, my "low" rate might be too high (I was thinking in the $15-30 range, where I'd normally bill $50-75 for work I have experience in)
Re: ODesk vs Elance vs Freelancer vs Guru
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree and finding great developers is a big part of the challenge. However, there's more to arranging a project then finding the right talent, especially for clients who have expectations for security, domain expertise, and quality assurance. Most platforms simply solve the matchmaking component (eharmony style). The solution is a platform which supports engineers' workflows (git, hg, etc) -- or at least this conti…
I've just tried to sign up for your service and it restricts certain characters from the password. Why is that?
best wishes + happy hacking
Re: ODesk vs Elance vs Freelancer vs Guru
#98Speaking as an employer: All of these sites have good workers, and all of them have workers who will turn in shoddy work, hoping you won't notice. I've hired for more than a dozen projects and in no case did the contractor do the job right the first time - because they didn't care enough, not because they were incompetent. I've hired workers in the US, in India, in the UK, and elsewhere. Same sorts of issues crop up.…
I am about to join oDesk as a freelancer. Coming out of college, I have basically limited experience behind me (internships, personal projects). Any advice you have for me about how to grow in the platform?
Step 2: Do what you said you would do, by the time you said you would do it, for the price you said you would do it for.
Step 3: Tell the client that you've done what you said you would do, by the time you said you would do it, for the amount you said you would do it for.
This alone would make you a stand-out in the world of free-lancing. For bonus points, keep the client updated regularly via a single page report, at least weekly, of your progress, of project risks, and outstanding issues.
Re: ODesk vs Elance vs Freelancer vs Guru
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hello Slav In answer to your questions. 1) You can get a refund for any amount in your account. Just contact support. 2) This is incorrect. We have a full dispute resolution team of paralegals. 3-5) Please let me know who this freelancer is by emailing me at matt@freelancer.com. This is a clear violation by them of our Terms of Service. Regards Matt
I feel like I shouldn't have to 'jump through hoops' to get my money back - if it's such a non problem why do you even have minimum amounts for withdrawals? talking to your support / dispute resolution team is a waste of time - I felt like they're one of those $1/hr people who just don't care now it's a violation of your ToS but at the time when I described the situation to one of your support guys it was OK... I eve…
There's no jumping through hoops, but a few things to be aware of. You can't deposit funds through one payment method e.g. credit card, and withdraw funds through another e.g. wire transfer. This is money exchange and we are not allowed to provide this. Refunds are different from withdrawals. Refunds can be for any amount at any time. Withdrawals have a minimum because we have people trying to withdraw $10 via an International Wire Transfer and they then complain either why the wire was not sent (because it costs $25 to send) or because no funds turned up at the other end after intermediary bank charges.
The support team and dispute resolution are well trained. If you would like to email me the ticket IDs I will be happy to send them to quality assurance to review.
Re: ODesk vs Elance vs Freelancer vs Guru
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
Agreed. Skills mean very little to me. There's a lot of great developers out there. The top workers finish projects and can communicate. I opt for the niche job boards such has http://www.gun.io or http://www.djangojobs.net as I can find good talent and it's much easier to screen people when I can hope on the phone. There's a real problem finding devs with softskills and so far it's a pain point that no one has gone…
I agree and finding great developers is a big part of the challenge. However, there's more to arranging a project then finding the right talent, especially for clients who have expectations for security, domain expertise, and quality assurance. Most platforms simply solve the matchmaking component (eharmony style). The solution is a platform which supports engineers' workflows (git, hg, etc) -- or at least this conti…
depending on how big the project is, i typically use trello to project management and i've built my own invoicing system. i usually use git labs for private repos.
but again, my main concern is whether they can get the project done. for me that comes down to communication. i've noticed that in other cultures, if they don't accomplish anything, they'd rather not tell me. it's taken time, but i've been able to really pound it home that it is vital that i know exactly what is going on in case i need to jump in.