Comments on: Elance Hot 100: Good News for Designers

By: Assaumpbialia

Assaumpbialia — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 20:17:11 +0000

Thanks! Good news :)

By: Ariana J

Ariana J — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 02:13:21 +0000

For people who are willing to work for little money, and be slave labor it might be a great site but if you are a professional you should stay away from this site.

The clients at Elance are the worst people to work for, they expect you to underbid your peers and then they become “marketing experts” who think paying chump change allows them to become pure AS#H*LES. Sure if you are just getting started or are willing to dig your dignity out of the SH#T they shovel out then yes Elance will work for you. BUT WARNING WARNING… learn the lesson NEVER WORK FOR AN AS#H*LE. Fire them if you are putting in too much effort for too little payment.

By: Elle Phillips

Elle Phillips — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 20:25:41 +0000

Oddly enough, I have seen an increase in companies contacting me for Freelance work just in the last month (the summer has been very slow, though). I think the reason for this is likely due to so many companies laying off their marketing departments to cut costs… then finding themselves wanting when they need advertising done. So, they turn to freelance designers.

I signed up with Elance 3 or 4 months ago and find it impossible to win a bid with so many foreign competitors. But, for those companies who HAVE contacted me recently, they very specifically don’t want “cheap” – they want someone who they can easily communicate with for repeated work. So, as a Graphic Designer, I can see why demand is higher for us. Unfortunately the demand for American (versus foreign) PHP/MySQL programmers is probably lower because they’re a one-time deal that doesn’t often get repeat business, so employers want the fastest, cheapest work possible, which in turn puts some very talented developers out of business. It’s a shame. I am always on the lookout for good web developers for my own clients… and I prefer to buy American. :)

By: Izhar ul Haq

Izhar ul Haq — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 09:54:03 +0000

Mark You are right the competition is getting harder and harder, I am focusing on Niches as well.

Chris!

I am writing an Ebook, how to start making money at Elance in just 25 days. Going to Launch for Newbies in next month hopefully.

Izhar

By: Sekhar Ravinutala

Sekhar Ravinutala — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:31:43 +0000

As follow-up/corollary to Mark’s great point, IMO dropping in demand for written content like articles might mean outsourcing of that isn’t quite working – e.g., for language reasons. I.e., that’s probably not getting commoditized like graphic design and simpler coding areas, to which entry barriers are pretty low.

By: Chris from 'Freelance for Money'

Chris from 'Freelance for Money' — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 20:58:08 +0000

I’m curious about how graphic designers get on with Elance. Does a stronger portfolio help get better paid work?

By: Jake Rocheleau

Jake Rocheleau — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 15:37:21 +0000

I can see how too much competition can be a bad thing, especially with all of this work outsourced to larger companies in India working for $3.50/hr

By: wibbler

wibbler — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:29:59 +0000

Mark Dixon makes a great point – focus on niches always nets big benefits. Mark and I won’t say what niches we work in, but it’s a great way forward!

By: Mark Dixon

Mark Dixon — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:56:50 +0000

It seems to me the factor is not the level of demand but the lower priced competition from overseas. The fact that PHP and its frequent companion MySQL are in high demand on online job boards actually makes it harder for freelancers like myself to make a living from those skills. Whatever skill set is the hot ticket on online job boards gets bid down quickly by bright, ambitious young people from developing nations where the cost of living is low, to the point where freelancers from North America can no longer make their apartment rent and car payment on what skills like PHP and MySQL pay. I’m considering a new strategy of focusing on niche technologies that haven’t yet exploded onto the global radar screen. Am I missing something?

By: The Open Source Opportunity

The Open Source Opportunity — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:01:52 +0000

[...] 15th, 2009 (7:00am) Samuel Dean No Comments Yesterday, Simon noted that Elance’s Online Work Index, which analyzes the hot categories for jobs posted on its [...]

By: Emma

Emma — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:35:40 +0000

interesting data – I have had more requests for graphic design projects and video production in the past month

By: lapp

lapp — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:04:47 +0000

I have noticed that most of the jobs posted on http://www.vois.com are also php based!