Freelancing Sites???

[ChicoMatt]

Hi. I am looking at starting up a business and I was thinking of using a freelancing site such as freelancer, fiverr, elancer, guru, etc. Before I take the plunge though I would like to know if anyone has had some experience in dealing with these types of sites? Would you recommend one? What did you have them build? Was it cost effective? etc. basically your whole experience. Any and all details would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.

[RyanF]

Matt,

Best of luck with the new venture. We've used contractors through a couple of freelance sites and have had pretty good experiences in general. I've used Odesk, Elance and Fiverr. I'm tending to like Fiverr more currently because it gives you the option to basically audition someone on a small project to check their work/communication through a small task before hiring them for more elaborate or complex tasks. We usually do that through Elance and Odesk anyway to vet contractors but Fiverr makes the process super easy.

Hope our experience is helpful.

Best!

[Alex Warren]

I have started my writing business from freelancercareers.com. This site deserves your attention.

[steveblake]

There are lots of freelancing sites where you can hire a freelancer. However, you can’t assure that all of the freelancers there are capable to do the job even if it comes from a legit freelancing site like oDesk and eLance. One of the best ways when hiring a freelancer is to give a short test, which can help you determine if that person is capable to do the job. You could also check Staff.com, where you can test/interview the person you want to hire. Constant communication is the key when managing a freelancer. Online tool like skype is a great way to communicate with freelancers.

[cobase]

I would echo what Ryan said about Fiverr; it's great to be able to work with freelancers on a small project so that you don't get stuck with someone that has low-quality work (but who advertises well).

You might even consider having a few different people do some small tasks that you need, and then ramp up the one(s) who do the job well.

[jasminelane]

Freelance switch & freelance Zone are the best resources of freelancing

[Alex Warren]

I guess you should try elance

[Olmert]

please tell me what are the main features that need to pay attention, there are hiring workers to freelance sites?

[Craig Ridley]

I am a huge fan of outsourcing sites. To be successful in an online business you need to be able to leverage your time and outsourcing is a cheap way of doing just that.

I use oDesk for most of my hiring. I find I can get good quality article and book writers, sales letter creators and web site builders.

I use Fiverr for one off jobs like creating logos, blog headers, ebook covers. Fiverr is also a good place to get people to build followers to your Facebook Fan Page or Twitter account etc - $5 for 500 followers to start you off - how good is that!

As always you need to be careful with who you hire. My best tip is interview the applicants for each job on Skype, or at least get them to answer a short questionnaire so you can se how they write and how they respond. Once you have selected someone, give them a small job to do as a test.

If they are no good, cull them and find someone else. Before too long, you will find a good one, and you will be surprised where in the world they are based.

Good luck with the buisness. Focus on creating great content and outsourcing the things you are not good at or are basic tasks that others can do just as well as you.

Craig Ridley

[DanBecker]

I use both oDesk and Fiverr.

I use Fivver for specific short term jobs such as building a simple website.
oDesk is my favorite for long term jobs such as SEO.

What I like about oDesk is that you can easily have 30 people competing for the job. The challenge is to find the best one. What I do is to check their history and feedback first. I choose the top 5 and then test them one by one. I give them a small job first and I'm making it clear that this is just to test their work. It doesn't cost me much and allows me to find out which of them does the best job.

Once I find one, I stick with him/her and develop a good relationship by giving positive feedback and reinforcement. this is always honest feedback because I really do appreciate a job well done.