Opportunity Alert: Freelancer

Logo from Freelancer.com

This year, I decided that I am going to take time to show you what you can do with your freelance writing, rather it is part-time, or you are making a career out of it.  Today is one of those days.  The reason why I am doing this is because of this economy.   In the United States, there can be a shortage of jobs, lack of compassion by corporations, and the government trying to take away unemployment benefits, and so on.  Today, I want to talk to you about a website called Freelancer.  

Freelancer, as the name implies, is an employment site for freelancer writers, graphic designers, programmers, and others who like to work on the computer. The rules are simple:  employers write up an opportunity at their company in the form of a gig.  A potential employee looks on a board, similar to job board on sites like monster.com and Careerbuilder.com, and apply to the job by making a bid for it.  The highest bid wins the gig.  So you may be wondering how to bid?  That is a simply process as well. 

You win points by filling out your profile.  The more you fill out, the more points you get.  The next possible way to get points is to take exams on your knowledge of the subject.  You start by taking the English level 1 exam and math exam.  The idea here is to let employer know that you have the knowledge, but be careful, because exam can cost you from Free-$20. There is a way out of paying that money through your points.  You earn points for referring friends, adding a skill, providing feedback, and completing projects.

There is so much information on Freelancer until one post just does not do it.  This is an introductory post on the site, and a love being a part of it.

So, I would ask you, while you are waiting on your next job, especially in the programming and writing field, give this a go.

My review on my experience with Freelancer…

I have been with Freelancer for 3 years.  I only had one incident with an employer, but Freelancer took care of it right away.  One of the rules that Freelancer has is you cannot contact the employer outside of the site.  All communication has to be through them.  At first I did not understand it, until I had this incident.   The employer found my email address and contacted me.  When I first contacted him through Freelancer, he ask me if I would create a couple of Ebay listings for him, and I said yes, but I felt a little uneasy about it.   Next thing you know, he sent me an email outside of the scope of Freelancer’s website, and I ignored him at first, and then he kept contacting me.  I immediately contact freelancer’s support, and the person told me to let them take care of it.   I thought it was over, and he still contacted me.  I contacted Freelancer once more, and they suspended his account.   But it was not over.  He finally stopped contacting me, but that was only after I changed my email and cable company for different reasons.   So be careful.

Other than that, I had nothing but good experiences with them, and if you are looking to expand your portfolio, I highly recommend them to you.  I did take some time off from them, because I was super busy with my other writing, scrapbooking (I am also a freelancer artist specializing in scrapbook albums, greeting cards, and alternate items), Longaberger (if you do not know about Longaberger click here), as well as a new company, and family.   Of course I had to also lay low until the incident passed, and so far he has not found my new email address.  If he does, I will be asking Freelancer for the next course of action, but I think he is gone.

What I want you to take from this whole thing called freelancing…

Anything you want, especially if you enjoy writing like I do, but you want a little extra income from it.  It is a good ways to get your name out there.  I always love to escape every once in a while.  I cannot afford a vacation most of the time, so I write.  Even as a child I loved escape to faraway lands and writing about them.  It does not mean that I lived in a bad household, it just means I had a vivid imagination, and I still do.   So give it a try, even if it until you get back on your feet if you are currently in between jobs, earn money for vacation, anything, and this is perfect for stay at home moms who do not like selling products

Be blessed, my friends, because you are blessed.  Happy writing.