Cyber-Work

[Sleidia]

Good Morning.

As a French Multilingual Web designer/Programmer, I would
like to know if there is any system allowing web professionals to do some kind of freelance work for clients from any remote location without meeting them even once.

Does such a system already exist or is it some utopic idea
because employers can't trust people they've never seen before?

I had a close look to

http://www.freelance.com

and I would like to
know what their competitors are and which one propose the
best options (based on experience and real stories).

Thanks a lot to the ones who will respond.

 

[danielh68]

Hi Sleidia,

I'm subscribed to

http://www.elance.com

and

http://www.guru.com

. Elance is very professional, but the competition and bidding wars are brutal. Plus, there's a monthly fee. I like guru.com, not as many jobs, but it's more proposal-based instead of bid-based. For instance, at Enlance, there are so many competitors driving the price down, you wonder how anyone can earn a living. Guru, is basically ads which the designer/programmer then submit an email describing who they are and a modest proposal. Check both out, you'll understand what I mean.

Hope this helps,
Dan

 

[Sleidia]

Thanks for the response Dan!
Do you know someone who earns a living thanks
to such ways of getting jobs? Or is it more like
pocket-money?

Do you think it would be a good idea to do some
personal advertising, to contact directly managers
of some big company based in U.S and to offer them
to pay via a Paypal account?

Thanks again.

 

[danielh68]

I essentially freelance. I'm not at the point where I can do it full-time and make a decent living. So, to answer your question: it's just pocket money. I make anywhere from two thousand to six thousand a year with freelance. It becomes a nice benefit at the end of the year.

Since, I live in the US, I can't really tell you what's the best method of transfering money if you live in another country. Sorry.

Concerning the freelance sites, they can be helpful and I have gotten some jobs, but the best way is to network locally. I do more jobs locally than I do via internet. Which is good, in some respects.

Anyhow, wish you the best on you endeavors.

DanH