Are Elance and oDesk worth the effort?

October 12, 2014 3:14 PM

I'm transitioning away from regular work to freelance. Friends have pointed me to Elance and oDesk, but the hourly rates are abysmally low! Has anyone made a success of that business model? I am a writer, so perhaps those skills are paid less than the more technical jobs on those sites?
posted by SallyHitMeOntheHead to Work & Money (6 answers total)

I have a friend who was moderately successful using oDesk as a freelance writer. She used low rates to get a solid feedback score as a top-rated writer, then raised her rates to a value that was more commensurate with her work. She has since drifted away from this model to rely more on personal networking and seems waaaay less stressed out now.
posted by mochapickle at 4:11 PM on October 12, 2014 [3 favorites]

I'm not sure what country you're in, but from what I know of oDesk you'll often be be competing for work with freelancers in developing countries. That's what keeps the rates low. Five bucks an hour might not be much for someone in the US or Australia, but it's a lot to someone in the Phillippines for example.
posted by RubyScarlet at 6:01 PM on October 12, 2014 [2 favorites]

Without knowing how either site works, but from the perspective of a successful freelance writer of 8+ years, I'd say that unless your need is extreme and/or your social network extremely limited, your investment of time would be better repaid in reaching out to your network, especially those who already know you and can speak to the quality of your work.

Unless your clients have reason to believe that you can deliver results (ideally in a specific area of expertise), online writing is priced as a commodity, meaning rates are in a race to the bottom.

To raise your rates, work on developing relationships and expertise.
posted by ottereroticist at 6:09 PM on October 12, 2014 [4 favorites]

My mom (who is a designer so in a different field) has found both sites useful for initial connections. However, once she forms a working relationship with someone, they usually take it off Elance or oDesk. So I think it can be useful at establishing yourself and forming a network.

I have personally found both sites as little use to me as writer and overly complicated to use, but that's partially because I just haven't been motivated enough to pursue it. Freelance writing is a tough gig as it is but I think with enough effort, Elance and oDesk are options worth looking into, among other outlets you look into.
posted by darksong at 7:35 PM on October 12, 2014

One reason the prices on sites like Elance and oDesk are so low is because these sites' implicit promise is they'll make it easy to find work. By "easy," I mean you won't have put yourself out there in any meaningful way. You won't have to schmooze at business lunches, make cold or warm calls or emails, develop an online presence, meet contacts for lunch or coffee, ask people for referrals, or develop a network. Not many want to do all that hard work to develop a reputation and a clientele. They'd rather let the work come to them through the Internet. It involves so much less personal exposure or risk of rejection. As a result, the intense competition drives down prices.

So maybe use these sites to feel them out or develop a portfolio of pieces or to get a feel for what the work is like. But look at the clients you may want to work with. For example, say you want to write for a local hospital and help out with their website, ads, self-published magazines, and so on. If the hospital uses freelance writers, I doubt they're finding them on oDesk (or only as a last resort). More likely, they'd rather find recommendations through their own personal networks.
posted by Leontine at 7:01 AM on October 13, 2014

oDesk is incredibly ratings driven. Which means that the rate you can charge will be highly dependent on getting lots of good ratings. My understanding is that it takes 6 months - 1 year to get up to higher payrates.

The benefits of oDesk is speed and flexibility. Traditional stats on getting hired for oDesk type jobs not through oDesk is 20 days, whereas the oDesk average is 4 days.
You can also use oDesk to connect with local firms, and sell your local knowledge. That way, you can build a relationship beyond the oDesk interface.
oDesk can do some sketchy stuff, like taking pictures of you through your webcam (to verify that you haven't outsourced the work). Also, they are taking 30% commission on top of the rate you are paid, which is another reason why initial rates are low.
posted by troytroy at 7:35 AM on October 13, 2014