Sell Your Services Online – Elance + BizReef

Gerri — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 19:55:00 +0000

Many of you are skilled at a number of things involving computers that you do as a hobby. This can include things (word choice) such as graphic design, web design, programming and so on. You may have been at whatever it is for a while and perfected it or you may just have natural talent. You may want to consider getting yourself set up and selling your services online.

There are a number of freelance websites where you can list your services and get found by people who need to get a particular job done.

Elance which has been running for a few years is one of the leading freelancing platforms. Elance works on a bidding system where providers bid on projects. As a service provider, you will need to build a profile which will include your experience, skills and portfolio. From this point on you can go out and look for work. Clients may also ask you to bid on projects that they have open. If your bid is selected you accept it you can contact the buyer to discuss the project details and start working.

Buyers pay for services rendered through the Elance Payment System from where they will be available for withdrawal. Depending on where you are in the world, you can withdraw payments via Automated Clearing House, cheque or wire transfer.

There are fees associated with using their services. There is a monthly membership fee which is dependant on the membership plan you choose to use and the services you provide. These fees range from $11/month to $199/month. There are four membership plans which include Courtesy, Limited, Professional and Select. The higher the plan you choose, the more access you have to membership benefits and a higher monthly bid allotment. If you exceed your monthly bid allotment you are charged $1.50 per additional bid. They also charge a project fee which is a percentage of the transactions and ranges from 6.75% to 8.75%. One draw back that I see with their service is that you may not end up making much for projects if your bids are low and you have to pay monthly and transactions fees.

Here is a video with a simple explanation on how Elance works:

If Elance does not seem like a viable option to you an option to take into consideration is Bizreef. They are a new company that got up and running this year and already has 25,000+ providers signed up. They run on a system very similar to Elance. You list your services and you can wait for people to find you or you can bid on projects. They seem to lean more towards buyers seeking out service providers and if they can’t find any then they can open a project and wait for bids to come in. One big point of difference between from Elance is that it is FREE to list your services or bid on projects.

After sign up, you go on to fill out a service profile where you list all the services you will offer and wait for business to come in or go out and seek it. Bizreef has more categories in which to list your services which is good as the service that you have to offer may not be listed on Elance. Another good point about BizReef is that they offer 18 currencies and you could get paid out in your own currency. Payments made out via cheque, Google Checkout, PayPal or wire transfer.

The other side of the coin is that you can use Elance to find a professional or BizReef for Anything you need! You can find someone to get a job done at a price that you can afford. This will also save you the time and trouble of looking around for a place to outsource your project. The great thing about these services is that money is paid in escrow and only paid out once a project has been completed and the buyer is satisfied with the finished product.

Ninety Nine Ways » outsourcing

Sell Your Services Online – Elance + BizReef