I have used Freelancer.com, Guru.com, Odesk.com and Elance.com and decided they were not worth my while after trying to get jobs for a long time from them. I got a few. Generally the bids are for very very low amounts and not worth the time and energy as far as I am concerned. I decided it was better to start my own marketing campaign for rates I feel more comfortable with and deserve.

I have used these sites, but don't seem to be able to get any work. I did get contacted by two "companies" but they never followed through. So my experience with these sites has not been positive.

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Sara - Virtual Guardian

How about I comment from a prospective of hiring someone on these sites. I posted a few jobs I was looking to hire for and couldn't believe the responses. So, looking at it from the other side the person seeking is "testing" the waters trying to find someone good to work with (for future work down the road). I'm willing to pay more LATER once I see how their work is and their follow through. I've been burned on these sites too from the hiring aspect when I lost my deposit where the worker hired didn't follow directions and continually made mistakes so I cancelled the job, resulting in loosing my $.

I would say these sites are an excellent place to start and build your clientele. Make sure you have samples of your work and before & afters (with approval from your client if it's a true piece of work). Furthermore, I would receive offers to do the work and then when I replied with a question, never heard back from the applicant. I also do search by the USA only when seeking applicants...my preferred choice (sometime there are very fewer applicants for certain projects by doing this). If you don't have any ratings, you probably won't be included in my search. I typically want people with a few ratings this way I know they've done work on these sites before. So, if you're one of those who's not getting any work off these sites, that could be another reason too. Keep in mind your keywords of what you offer. There are times I search for a person to do a project and few appear because the item isn't in their list of duties and such.

You can tell the people who are successful on these sites. Look at other profiles and how much background they give about themselves and what they offer. As a clientele is built your rates can go up. There have been several people I've contacted privately about a project because I see their following and good ratings. If you don't have any jobs or projects on file I might not be willing to test the waters with you (sort of speak). I agree with a few others here that you should build your following, ratings and clientele if you want to be successful on these sites.

BTW, I've found excellent GIGS on Fiverr. Keep in mind you can offer additional "tasks" for more than $5 buck! So, my header designer had hers set up as an example, $5 for a header with three designs and NO changes. If you want a 24 hour turn around with unlimited changes it's an additional $25 GIG. So, it's all in how you work it! But, I will tell you I didn't want to spend a ton of money testing the waters since you never know what you're getting. I've also had a few poor Fiverr jobs but felt for the money testing the waters I didn't feel so bad.

I've had the same issue with a job posting I did here on the VAF's. The work was substandard and I felt I wasted good money for a poor job. What recourse did I have? None...had I been able to test the VA with one of these sites, I would have not used her again especially for the project I hired her for. I guess it's a catch-22 both ways.

Hope this helps!

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The Doctor's Rx
"The Doctor's Prescription for Success"

Thank you for the input, Robin. There is no medium: for some people the freelance sites work well, for others they do not. I am working through a list of Freelance sites while I wait for my website to be down and get my business up and running. There are people who are successful with the sites, and I think you have offered good insight on why that me be.

Caroline

Glad to Help Caroline. I believe it's just another Tool to use in building a business.

Enjoy your day!

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The Doctor's Rx
"The Doctor's Prescription for Success"

I have used Odesk and Elance and some others. The rates are very low. I have gotten a few jobs but applied to so many and did not get any more jobs that I decided it was not worth my while anymore so do my own marketing campaign. There have been some scams on Freelancer.com. But mainly the bids are very low and it is just not worth my while anymore.

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Stephanie Cogeos
Wordprocessing & Design

I too, have ventured on some of the sites mentioned and its sad to try and compete with $1.00/hour with someone overseas. I felt like it was a waste of time so I am back to the drawing board trying to figure out how to market myself.

A used Elance and Odesk and I never got anything, I did get a few jobs through networking.

One site that I have used and I have received responses is People Per Hour or (PPH).

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Mak's VA Services
Magdaline Makris

I have had many jobs on Elance, and even converted some to clients off of Elance after the initial contract period was up. I bid at my rates no matter what else anyone else is bidding. I just simply ignore the others rates, and that has worked for me. The worst thing they can do is say no. I have had some say yes. I haven't been using it lately because I don't need to. It does take some time and effort to review the projects and bid on them, but I did have some luck with Elance.

When they come back to me with something like your rate is to high and I can have it done for this amount will you consider doing it for that rate. I simply answer no, and state that is my rate and I stand firm. No point in trying to convince them as it won't work. Either they will use you or they won't. Besides you don't want a client who doesn't appreciate you and who is likely to constantly haggle for a lower rate.

So my advice is if you do use any of them is to only bid on what you know you can do, and bid your rates and stand firm on them.

My Elance rating is a 5.0 and I believe that speaks for itself. I have never had a client on Elance walk away unsatisfied.

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I agree with ALL of the above as have tried them ALL and found them wanting. It is best to go to forums and build up your reputation with other VAs as many are multi-VA or at least joining services.

I currently am searching for a newbie associate as I have one very small ongoing task but I believe it has potential to generate additional assignments. I need two (2) -- one with physical address in WISCONSIN and one with physical address in MISSOURI --

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Deb's Professional Services
http://www.debsprofessionalservices.com