Every day, I’ll get an email that goes something like this: “I’ve been looking for a home based job for x number of months now…with no luck. I just want something I can do in the evenings or on weekends so I can supplement my income. Can you help me?”
You might be thinking, “Yeah, I’d like that too… can you help?”
Well, I just might, though my suggestion might not be exactly what you had in mind.
A lot of the people who email me have marketable skills. Skills like typing, word processing, accounting, human resources, transcription..the list goes on. Here you are working all day long, then spending all this time searching for that ever-elusive telecommute job. Well, there may be another option- freelancing.
You might say, “Me? A freelancer? I don’t think so. I don’t have the time to go out drumming up business.”
I say, “Oh, but you do!” Among all the other nifty conveniences the Internet has given us (Finally, a place where I can get garden gnomes 24 hours a day!), there are now “Freelance Marketplaces”. These are sites that enable the freelancer and the employers who need freelancers to hook up.
Most of these sites work something like this:
ABC, inc. is a relatively small company that doesn’t have a Human Resources department (or Accounting department or Transcription department…). Rather than take on the expense of creating an in-house HR department , they want to contract out their HR related projects. They go to a Freelance Marketplace, post their projects and then wait for the bids to roll in.
This is where you, being the consummate Human Resources Professional (or Accounting Professional or Transcriptionist), will go and post your bid for the project..and voila! You’re a freelancer.
Some sites that offer this type of service are eLance.com and Guru.com. Both companies offer a range of subscription levels and charge a service fee based on your subscription level and the terms of the job you complete. Membership plans range from free trial memberships to paid memberships.
According to the eLance website:
Elance collects a small percentage (4% – 6%) of the total billings on the work done on Elance. This money is collected from the provider during the payment settlement process. Additionally, Elance collects subscription fees from service providers who voluntarily opt into membership plans that are designed to help them grow their business and get great work on Elance. Clients pay no fees beyond the money that is paid to the provider for the work that is done.
At eLance.com, freelancers (or e-lancers) can leave feedback regarding project posters. This is a handy feature that can help you to decide who you want to do business with. Employers also give feedback on the freelancers. The feedback system is similar to the one used on sites like eBay or Amazon.com.
From the Guru.com website:
Guru.com offers three levels of freelancer memberships:
Basic – Free
Guru – $29.95 to $99.95 per quarter
Guru VENDOR – $38.94 – $129.94 per quarter
Project Fees are 5% (Guru and Guru VENDORS) or 10% (Basic).
Guru uses a ranking system for freelancers. The higher your rank, the higher the perceived quality of your services, giving you an edge over other freelancers. The factors that determine your rank are defined at their website as…
Quality Score is the main determinant of rank. It is an objective measure of a Freelancer’s business success. The Freelancers with the highest Quality Scores do the best job of satisfying the needs of Employers.
Quality Score is the product of three core indicators:
- Customer Acquisition Rate — A Freelancer’s success rate of being paid an invoice from a newly acquired Employer after submitting a proposal for a project.
- Customer Earning Rate — How much money a Freelancer earns per Employer per month through SafePay within the last 12 months.
- Customer Retention Rate — How well a Freelancer retains relationships with Employers over time.
You are responsible for reporting your income and paying your own taxes as you are an independent contractor.
The beauty of being a freelancer is that you can often do your work on a part-time basis- at your convenience. The bottom line is that you will typically have a deadline to meet, so when you do the work is flexible. Another benefit to this is that as you build your clientele and your reputation as a freelancer, you may find that you have enough business to freelance full time.
Tags: freelancing, home based jobs, job searching, telecommute jobs, work at home jobs
