Odesk..com

[Rhiannercakes 14]

I've always been curious about this.

I should look into this, even though I don't really have a background on anything... but it never hurts!

Thanks for the sites

[piscesforever 1]

The process works by you, as the freelancer, searching for and bidding on projects that you feel you can complete. The "employer" (i.e. the person that posted the project) chooses whichever bid they feel is the best (usually a combination of competency, price, and speed) and awards them the project. The freelancer then works on the project, completes it, and invoices the employer who pays them through the freelancing website. The freelancer can then choose to withdraw their pay through any of the methods the site offers, which usually include a mailed check, direct deposit to a US bank account, PayPal transfer, or wire bank transfer.

Some sites (like Guru) have an escrow option whereby the employer pays the site at the beginning of the project, the site holds the payment through development, and then the employer releases the money to the freelancer upon completion of the project. This way, freelancers can be assured that the employer isn't just going to disappear upon delivery at the end of a project, since in a disagreement, the site will offer mediation and/or arbitration services to determine correct payment.

In some sites (also Guru), employers can also search for freelancers directly, and invite them to bid on their projects. This is why it's important to keep a complete, professional, comprehensive profile on the site; it is competitive business, after all. I've actually gotten a few emails asking if I'd be interested in long term work based almost entirely on my Guru profile.

One of the things that you should remember if you go this route is that this is self-employment, and it's treated as such at tax time, meaning that since no taxes are withheld, you'll have to pay all your taxes on that income when you file your return. (No more tax refunds.) That said, you get the same advantages as a business when filing, such as having many more deductions and write-offs available.

Guru has a pretty good overview of the process, I encourage you to read that.

It's funny how Spoom is sharing his Guru experience, and me in Odesk.

I don't worry about the taxes since my husband knows what to do already, and he will file our taxes next year. He usually keeps track on our expenses like things we buy for our office at home, so that they can be deducted on our taxes.

Odesk has an about 10% fee per transaction. If someone hires you on $9 per hour, the client pays $10. You don't pay fees except when withdrawing your money from Odesk.

Payment withrawals in Odesk are through Paypal, direct deposit to a bank account, wire transfer, Payoneer, or moneybookers. There are certain fees that correspond to each payment method, except for direct deposit which is free when you withdraw.

Hourly jobs when logged already are guaranteed by Odesk. If you have logged 10 hours for an hourly job this week, you are guaranteed to get paid for that. They don't guarantee on Fixed jobs where you and the client just agree how much to pay you on an assignment or a project.

I don't know about other freelance sites like Guru or Elance.

[m_ru 0]

Spoom and Piceforever!

huge thanks

I was on the edge of insanity finding job here:-(

web freelancing give me the hope

again thanks A LOT

if you have any more suggestion/ advice for me how to start

my skills are different (more drafting,designing,illustrations,arch)

but I wish to learn more about web page designing and graphic, too

maybe just for fun, maybe more if I catch it

thanks again:-)

[piscesforever 1]

Spoom and Piceforever!

huge thanks

I was on the edge of insanity finding job here:-(

web freelancing give me the hope

again thanks A LOT

if you have any more suggestion/ advice for me how to start

my skills are different (more drafting,designing,illustrations,arch)

but I wish to learn more about web page designing and graphic, too

maybe just for fun, maybe more if I catch it

thanks again:-)

You have plenty of jobs in Odesk.

here's the design and multimedia (wide) category

Check other sites too mentioned here like Guru or Elance.

[Spoom 8]

Here's the Design and Multimedia Section on Guru, lots of jobs there too.

I also posted about how to write an effective proposal; there are a lot of good suggestions there for someone just starting out at the freelancing game.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

I've been looking for work since I finished college last December and I've had no luck. I'd applied for 94 jobs and finally resigned to babysitting my 3 month old niece temporarily.

It took another doctor from Egypt to tell my Husband about freelancer.com and odesk.com as a way to make money. The guy has been doing web freelancing at odesk.com for 3 years working on marketing and medical reports & said he was making $3,000 USD a month that he finally quit working as a doctor to do this all the time.

I was hesitant at first because I didn't know him when we were learning about this and looking at the information yesterday and setting up a paypal account. I'm really glad I found this thread with more information on web freelancing by other VJ users. It makes me feel more confident about perusing it and even my Husband is thinking of it as a job for himself when he gets his EAD card or green card, which ever comes first.

[melbergs 1]

Hi, I really need to have an online job, I register on odesk but I'am confused about the flow of the job, I hope I could get a buyer and get involved with it.I need to earn because of financial problem.Hope you share some ideas about this company.

Edited June 15, 2010 by melbergs