Freelance Job Bidding Sites: Top Tips, Tricks, and Warnings For Success

Clearly focusing in on the bigger sites with thousands of jobs posted monthly is the way to go to keep non-paying job-hunting hours to a minimum, thereby maximizing the time you spend making actual money. But not all of the big sites are created equally.

You have high work standards, and so should your job-bidding site. How do you tell if they're committed to working for you? Judging this can be broken down into five key areas, and only job bidding sites scoring high marks in all of them are worthy of your time and money. Otherwise, you'll run into serious problems.

Job Quality

You were attracted to the high number of jobs, but ask yourself if the majority of jobs are worthy of your time? If you find page after page of slave-labor wages or unclear project descriptions, or even downright shady job postings, you're better off sticking to small sites with only a handful of jobs a day. You won't get a lot of work, but at least you won't waste time sorting through garbage.

A good freelancing site insists on high quality jobs and removes questionable buyers and job postings. They are set up to screen new buyers to cut down on the number of mass cross-site job postings and fly-by-night clients.

Security of Payment

You do the work, you expect to get paid. You deserve to get paid. And the buyer is legally required to pay you. But many big freelancing sites offer little or no help when it comes to ensuring their providers actually get money owed to them.

A big must-have feature for any freelancing bidding site you choose is guaranteed payment for work done. Most clients are great about paying promptly, but when you do run into the occasional problem, you want a site that has your back.

Escrow is another big feature you want on your must-have list. Buyers fund a third party escrow account, so they've already paid before you even begin to work, and the money is simply released to you when you finish the project or reach agreed upon milestones for bigger jobs.

Tools

The better sites not only offer tools to organize your workload, they also offer tools to make working and getting paid easier.

Look for sites that have ways to track hours, invoice, provide records of all communication with clients, tracks work progress, have real-time collaboration, and automatically sends out payment requests and friendly reminders. In other words, look for tools that are designed to allow you to concentrate on the project rather than unpaid housekeeping.

Customer Service

All of the above must-haves are absolutely useless to the freelancer without solid customer support when you need it. From sign-up, through each contract, right to getting paid, make sure your site is there to support you.

Look for clear FAQs, easy access contact for help, sites that respond to their users needs on message boards, and most importantly, sites that offer dispute resolution when you need it.

Balance all with Cost

A good freelancing site will have costs associated with it in order to provide all of these services. Some charge a sign-up fee, some charge a monthly fee, some take a small percentage of money made, or a combination of the above.

Whatever you do, don't base your decision on cost alone. The biggest mistake a freelancer can make is to cut costs by sacrificing the above must-haves. It will cost you money in the long run.

Elance clearly leads the pack when it comes to freelance bidding sites, and scores high on all of the freelancer must-haves.

When it comes to quality of jobs, Elance is committed to the freelancer. They charge buyers a one-time activation fee and verify a financing source before buyers can post a job. They also have a high minimum pay rate for all jobs listed. Both of these are designed to discourage buyers looking for cheap labor and encourage professional quality jobs. They also have a strict Terms of Service that sets out clear expectations that buyers must adhere to, and guarantees scam jobs, jobs that don't meet minimum rate, and jobs that ask for free work are not permitted. And if one slips through, Elance allows freelancers to report them, and they are removed.

Payment security on Elance also rated top marks. They offer Escrow on all fixed-price jobs, and have Work Guarantees for both hourly jobs, and fixed price jobs. And even though their dispute rate is less than 1%, they also offer Dispute Assistance and third-party arbitration for when the occasional issue arises. Now that's security a freelancer can feel good about.

Elance also leads the competition when it comes to providing tools for the freelancer. Elance uses Workrooms which is a virtual workroom that enables real-time collaboration and management between the buyer and the freelancer(s), Milestones to track progress against deliverables, Work View to track hourly job time and progress, timesheets, and auto-pay tools that not only make billing easy, but also promote prompt payment from buyers. It's a great virtual office at your fingertips.

Elance scores high marks again in the customer service arena. They have live customer support 7 days a week from 8am to 5pm PT. The ability to talk to a real customer support person at a time where almost everything is virtual puts them well ahead of the pack. A freelancer can also contact customer support online from their site, or find help, information, and/or connect with other freelancers in the Water Cooler, Elance's online forum.

Cost: Elance memberships range from Free to $40 a month, depending on the plan you select. An individual freelancer will get the most for their money by going with the $10 a month individual plan, while businesses should look at the higher priced business plans. They also charge 6.75 to 8.75 percent on completed contracts.

Overall, Elance's policies are transparent, their track record is solid, and their design promotes a safe, professional work atmosphere.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

oDesk scores well in several must-have categories, but fails to achieve an excellent rating.

When it comes to quality of jobs, oDesk doesn't meet the needs of the professional freelancer. The fact that posting a job on oDesk is free may be attractive to buyers, but what that means for freelancers is that anyone with a computer can post jobs. The result is pages and pages of questionable jobs - jobs posted bythe fly-by-night clients with no real commitment to the project or hiring, jobs looking for ultra-cheap labor, and even outright scams.

oDesk scores higher on the payment security scale. They offer a guarantee for hourly work contracts with the use of their Work Diary combined with tracking software that monitors mouse and keystroke activity and uploads screenshots to the client. However, they have no work guarantee for fixed price jobs which is the most common type of freelance contract. oDesk leaves the freelancer to make their own payment arrangements, and if the buyer refuses to pay for completed work, there is no assistance from oDesk. The freelancer is on their own.

oDesk does offer some tools for the freelancer, namely their Work Diary which tracks hourly work and makes billing simple. However, there are no collaboration tools available.

oDesk falls short when it comes to customer service. They have no live customer support and their dispute assistance is only available on hourly jobs. Again, freelancers who prefer fixed price contracts are left to fend for themselves.

oDesk has no monthly membership cost, but charges 10% on each contract. The no monthly fees make them attractive to freelancers just starting out, but when balanced with the resulting low quality of jobs, oDesk falls short.

Overall, oDesk does have some attractive features, but the high number of low quality jobs and the lack of security on fixed price contracts should make any freelancer wary.

PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

Freelancer.com (formerly getafreelancer) rates low across the board.

For job quality, Freelancer scores very low. They charge buyers a flat rate of $5 per job, but they refund this when they award the job OR they cancel the post. Their system encourages buyers to spam bid, and a scroll through their current job posts reveals several outright scams.

There is no payment security at Freelancer. They offer a milestone payment system but absolutely no guarantees of payment for completed work.

Freelancer has no sophisticated tools or software on their site for freelancers.

There is no live customer support at Freelancer, and online support appears to be poor, especially when it comes to payment problems judging by the high number of complaints all over the internet.

Freelancer charges 10% for basic members and 3% for gold members. There are two membership plans: a free basic plan, and a $19.95 per month plan.

With poor quality jobs, no payment security, no tools for the freelancer, and no real support, the only rating Freelancer.com can get is:

FREELANCER BEWARE

You've read the site comparisons, you've seen what they all have to offer, but what does this mean?

It means you're armed with the knowledge you need to make informed decisions about which site meets your needs.

If you're looking for quick and easy money with little regard to quality, Freelancer might be your perfect fit, but if you're looking for a professional career, Elance is clearly the way to go. Here are some helpful tips and warnings when making your choice:

1) High number of jobs doesn't always mean high quality jobs

Spend some time checking out job postings on these sites and get a feel for the ratio of quality versus quantity.

2) Transparency

Familiarize yourself with the Terms of Service on the sites. Are their policies transparent? Can you even find them? What about their dispute rate? Number of complaints online? How do they handle these complaints?

3) Public Face

How do the sites present themselves? Do they advertise solely on the high number of jobs posted or do they promote themselves on job quality, professionalism, safety, and other important factors for the serious freelancer?

4) Site Focus

Is the site freelancer friendly? Do they care about your payment security and are they open to user needs? Are they simply a clearinghouse for jobs or do they offer services that help you build your career?

These are all hard questions you need to ask before committing both time and money to a freelance bidding site.

If you're new to online freelance bidding, you probably have several questions you need to answer before choosing a site. Here are some FAQs and answers to help you along the way.

1) What is Escrow?

Escrow is a secure 3rd party who acts as a middleman between buyer and freelancer. The buyer deposits funds into an escrow account before any work commences and it is released to the freelancer on completion. This protects both the buyer and the freelancer, giving them both the security of getting what is contracted.

2) Why do I need Escrow and Payment Guarantees?

The vast majority of clients are professionals who pay promptly. However, if you've been freelancing for any length of time at all, you know that occasional problems do arise. Tracking down delinquent payments or fighting with unreasonable buyers takes time and energy away from other paid projects, with no guarantee of a resolution. Payment guarantees and escrow services protect you from having to deal with these difficult situations so that you can focus on your career.

3) Should I quit my day job?

This question comes up regularly, and there is no simple answer. Building an online reputation that ensures regular work takes time. The best advice I can give is to go into it with a plan of action and a reasonable time line. What that is exactly depends on your experience, your specialty and your drive, but it's not unreasonable to expect that it will take anywhere from 3 months to a year to build up the kind of reputation that it takes to say goodbye to your 9 to 5.

4) How do I build a reputation?

It's simple. Deliver solid professional work with exceptional communication on a site that allows buyers to leave feedback and rate your services.

Haven't answered your question? Contact me or post it at the end of this lens, and I'll add to this section regularly.