Has anyone had any luck with eLance?

1. 61

   sethpowersposted 12 years ago

   Has anyone had any luck with eLance?
   
   I've just recently started here on HubPages and am beginning to see my earnings grow, but I am eager to branch out into other means of passive income. Anyone tried eLance or know any other sights that would provide a passive means of income?

   replyreport
2. 74

   lizyetterposted 12 years ago

   I would avoid elance entirely. From what I've read, there are too many scams on elance. To build up more income, try out Squidoo and, as soon as they start hiring writers again, Suite101.com. If you have an adsense and an amazon.com account, build a blog on Google's blogger. You can add your adsense and amazon links to your posts. If you want to earn even more through your writing, work on getting a writing job at about.com. I write for them, as well, and they bring in the most money for me out of all the writing sites. Hubpages is about to enter 2nd place in passive income, I just need to get a few more hubs finished.

   replyreport
   1. 61

      Guy Foxeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Elance seems to get a really bad wrap here on Hubpages, I'm not sure why.  I've found jobs through them for 3 years and have never not been paid. It seems to me to be the most reliable of online venues for actually getting paid a reasonable sum.

      replyreport
   2. 61

      sethpowersposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      How difficult is it to get set up on elance and find work? Is the work steady?

      replyreport
   3. 61

      Guy Foxeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Getting the first gig on Elance is the hardest part, so go for the low proposal count jobs that have been overlooked and bid at $5/article, include samples of similar work so they can see you can do the work, and make sure to fill out your profile.

      replyreport
   4. 61

      sethpowersposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Seems like a lot of work to get the ball rolling. I'm not sure if it's worth the investment. Thanks for the heads up!

      replyreport
3. 72

   suvitharojaposted 12 years ago

   Hi,
   
   Hubpages is a good place to earn passive income. Regarding Elance, I think you cannot compare it with hubpages or squidoo.
   
   On hubpages, you write an article and earn a passive income. However, on Elance you bid on an assignment and get paid for the article on a one-time basis.
   
   Elance is a very good site. It is reliable and money is funded into escrow before you begin the assignment. So no issues of payment.

   replyreport
   1. 61

      sethpowersposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      It seems like getting paid per assignment might not be so bad if the money and assignment are right. Do you have any personal experiences or actual figures you'd be willing to divulge?

      replyreport
   2. 72

      suvitharojaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, the payment rates vary with your experience and credentials. The normal prices are $5-$10 per article of 500 words. However, there are clients who pay $100 per article too.

      replyreport
   3. 61

      sethpowersposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      This sounds reasonable to me as I typically write at least 600 word hubs, yet I only receive a few cents per article if I'm lucky.

      replyreport
   4. 61

      Guy Foxeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      It is a lot of work initially, but once you get going within a couple of months you can easily find $10 per article jobs and get so much work you can raise your rates.  Currently I only take 4 cents/word jobs and up ($20/500 word articles). Good luck

      replyreport
4. 56

   pozabloposted 12 years ago

   Thinking of Outsourcing?  Beware of Elance and SynapseIndia!
   Journalists interested in the following extensively documented case of perjury, abuse, conflict of interest and possibly illegal orporate collusion please contact rpm@empiricalwellness.org.
   Through Elance, Empirical Wellness, Inc. hired SynapseIndia to build a website/app that would assist healthcare providers and researchers to work with patients through cellphone services.   Almost a year after the project due date, and after receiving the majority of payments, SynapseIndia demanded  the final payment even though they had produced only an incomplete and defective website.
   Empirical Wellness was forced to file a Dispute with Elance which escalated to arbitration. Throughout the 4 months of arbitration, Empirical Wellness proved that the SynapseIndia had lied throughout the development, and that the COO of SynapseIndia (Kapil Gupta)  repeatedly lied  to the arbitrators--under oath.
   SynapseIndia is Elance’s  most profitable provider, and Elance refers all their arbitration business to Net-arb.com.   So guess what? A) Net-arb imposed no penalty for SynapseIndia’s perjury, B) Empirical Wellness was awarded only a small refund along with the incomplete and deeply flawed code for their website, C) Elance paid the financial award for SynapseIndia, D] instead of providing the code as ordered, SynapseIndia sabotaged the  website and provided only useless sabotaged code, E) despite promises from Michelle in Elance's "Dispute Assistance" there were no consequences from Elance for the contractor's refusal  to comply with the "binding" arbitration, and F) the undersigned personally lost about $30k and two years of work.
   BTW, most of the reviews of SynapseIndia on Elance are positive.  So is mine...because when the due date for the project arrives (and the project is still far from complete), the client  is pressured to provide a positive review.   Not wanting to alienate a contractor who already has our money for an unfinished job,  clients like myself post positive reviews.  Then, when the work goes bad, Elance absolutely forbids any modification of the review.
   Robert P. Miller, PhD --  President, EmpiricalWellness, Inc.

   replyreport
   1. 61

      sethpowersposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Why do you have to spam?

      replyreport
   2. 56

      pozabloposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Spam? 
      You don't think people should know about this?????

      replyreport
   3. 61

      sethpowersposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      The only thing people should know is how dumb you are. I wanted an answer to a legitimate question not a dissertation on your stupid company.

      replyreport
   4. 0

      DMartelonlineposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      30K over 2 years? You're not too smart if you managed a project so poorly that you spent all that money. And you left good feedback  You need a reality check my friend.

      replyreport
   5. 56

      pozabloposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, in retrospect, I truly was naive.  But isn't your comment a bit like saying "well lady, you should have known better than to walk in that neighborhood"?

      replyreport
   6. 0

      DMartelonlineposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      No, but any professional would know enough to not allow a project to run into 10's of thousands of dollars before pulling the plug and hiring someone else

      replyreport
   7. 61

      sethpowersposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Pazablo, you are pathetic and no one wants to listen to you bloviate about your dead end company. At least admit that you spam people before I delete your answer/comments.

      replyreport
   8. 0

      DMartelonlineposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Seth, he's spamming  http://www.staffingindustry.com/Researc … ontractors
      Here: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/tech-m … arket/7844
      
      http://empiricalwellness.org/

      replyreport
   9. 56

      pozabloposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Clearly I misunderstood the intent of your question.  As my answer has reduced you two to name-calling, I apologize for hitting such a sensitive nerve.  I'm not a professional, and so had hoped, through Elance, to hire pros.  Delete away, Seth.  Bye.

      replyreport
5. 61

   Guy Foxeposted 12 years ago

   Elance is a good source for finding ghostwriting jobs, but is not a good place to get passive income.  You will rarely write under your own name on Elance and the only recognition you will get for the work you have completed there is in their job history, which is mainly useful for getting more jobs.  Of the job bidding sites, I personally think Elance is the best.
   
   For passive income, Squidoo, Suite 101, and the Yahoo Contributer Network are the ones that I would consider--in addition to Hubpages, of course.
   
   In seems to me that when it comes to passive income, if you really want to make some money, however, the key is to start your own website about 1 topic, to either do adsense on it or do affiliate marketing.  That is a whole other can of worms, however.
   
   Good luck, Seth!

   replyreport
   1. 61

      sethpowersposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I see your points. I don't care about recognition, I just want money, and I definitely have the time. Starting a personal site is probably the best way, but it seems like a huge responsibility to do it right.

      replyreport
   2. 61

      Guy Foxeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      It is a LOT of work, but not that expensive: the domain name will cost you about $10 and the hosting costs about $4/month depending on where you get them.
      
      You have to learn SEO, Wordpress etc. And there are no guarantees a site will make money.

      replyreport
   3. 61

      sethpowersposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      There enlies the problem. I have the capabilities, but the opportunity costs seem vast.

      replyreport
6. 0

   DMartelonlineposted 12 years ago

   I have not personally used eLance because I have an issue with a company that charges me upfront for the pleasure of searching for an assignment.  However, I do know some people who have taken the plunge and been successful. 
   
   I do know there is a "free" option but it's extremely limited (as I found out after I set up my profile). For example, article writers, blog writers, technical writers are all under different categories.  The only way you can register for multiple categories is to pay for a membership.  Thanks but no thanks.
   
   They do offer payment guarantees through escrow. Be aware that the "hourly" payment guarantee is only in the event that the client and you both agree to track your hours through the time tracker. It is optional for the buyer.
   
   I have no gripes with Elance, in fact, they even posted on my blog when I wrote my first (not so flattering review) about them (with the caveat that it was a comparison to oDesk).
   
   Understand that they do not provide passive income, but honestly as with any other freelance bidding site, once you build up your reputation, you will do just fine if you keep at it.

   replyreport
   1. 61

      sethpowersposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I just registered and it seem really competitive (10+ bids for most jobs). Not sure if it's worth my time to write proposals for a $50 writing gig. Is oDesk any better?

      replyreport
   2. 61

      Guy Foxeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      But all jobs are open to the free option right (maybe this is only for new providers, because I don't pay and have access to writing jobs).
      Seth trying searchng writing jobs by "proposal count (low)", in the upper right search field--overlooked jobs.

      replyreport
   3. 0

      DMartelonlineposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Seth, bidding sites are risky no matter which one you use. Some people swear by Elance while others (me included) swear by oDesk. It takes time to get your "feet wet" and find clients who are willing to pay decent rates. Once you do, it works out.

      replyreport
   4. 61

      sethpowersposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Good look Guy Foxe, I'll check into that. DMartelonline, I don't care how low the rates are I just don't want to spend hours writing proposals for no return.

      replyreport