There are two main reasons I would recommend a freelance site to my clients. Before I get into that though, let me talk a little bit about what a freelance site is and what some of the better ones out there are.
According to Wikipedia, "a freelancer is a self-employed person like an independent contractor who follows after a profession without establishing a long-term commitment to any one work." Now you might say, what the heck does that mean. In simple terms, it means that a virtual assistant (or writer, or graphic designer, etc.) goes into business for him- or herself.
There are many areas in which a person can set themselves up in business as a freelancer -- areas like website development and programming, administrative services, writing and translation, sales and marketing, and multiple other categories. Within each of these categories, there might be specific niches that you can establish your business in, depending on your skills and determination.
Okay, so that's all well and good, right? How does a freelancer find a buyer, or how does a buyer find a service provider? If a person does a search through their favorite Internet search engine under the term "freelance marketplace," one will find a wide variety of freelance marketplaces out there where freelancers and buyers can meet and done work, get to know each other, and work together. There are several good ones out there like Guru, Elance, iFreelance, and more, depending on what you are specializing in.
Let's take a look at these three briefly.
* Elance
Elance has been around since 1998 when it was founded. Privately held and headquartered in Mountain View, California, this company had a vision that has allowed it to become the most widely used application for Services and Contractor Management.
According to their website, more than 200,000 employees are using Elance in all facets of finding, buying, managing and paying external services and contractors from more than 2,000 suppliers across 50+ services categories.
While Elance has a high minimum bid requirement of $50 for providers, as well as multiple fees, the overall quality of the projects is much better. You, as a buyer, get people that overall want to please. As a service provider, you have an opportunity to enhance your reputation and build long-standing relationships with multiple employers.
* Guru
Guru provides businesses with the capability of finding virtual outsource help they need from a variety of talented freelancers worldwide. Guru is very similar to Elance in that it caters to both businesses and service providers. Guru makes its money through the service providers through fees. Using the Guru SafePay system, employers are guaranteed 100% satisfaction with their project results.
While Guru's guiding principle is "to provide businesses with the most efficient platform to connect and perform transactions with freelance professionals locally, nationally, and globally," Guru's standards are very low, both in the quality of projects, as well as ensuring fair and equal practices between buyer and provider.
From my experience as a buyer, (I am also a provider) it is extremely common to hire people that promise "I can do it" and have them disappear off the face of the earth. Also, you can only provide feedback to those providers that sent you an invoice. If they up and quit, you have no recourse to forewarn other buyers of that provider's shortcomings.
* iFreelance
iFreelance is an easy and effective method for businesses to connect with talented freelance professionals globally. By outsourcing through iFreelance, businesses can potentially have their projects completed in about half the time at minimal cost.
iFreelance has options for both buyers and providers, just like Elance and Guru. For buyers, it's a simple matter to post a project or search for a potential provider. There is no fee for buyers; the only cost to buyers are for the pay you give out to the providers that work for you.
In reviewing their site, it appears that most of the projects are not current other than in the Writing-Editing-Translation category.
So let's go back to my original premise as to why a virtual assistant should recommend a freelance site to one of their clients. In my case, there are two categories that I would want to do this:
1. There are clients of mine that may have a service that is not currently in my repertoire of skills. For example, I offer virtual assistance services - things like data entry, customer service, transcription, article writing, article submission, things of that nature. I don't do graphics, I don't do photography or videography, I don't do anything having to do with legal matters -- you get the picture, right? In other words, if one of my clients needs me to come up with a logo, for example, I'm going to recommend that they go to a freelance site where they can go to find a service provider that does that type of thing.
2. There are new prospective virtual assistants out there that need to acquire clientele and may want to test the waters to see if becoming a freelancer is going to appeal to their sense of adventure and be a good fit. When my partner and I first started out, we were compelled to go into freelancing because I had been laid off and she had retired. We needed a way to supplement our income. Not everyone is going to take to freelancing. Becoming a member of a freelance site can be an excellent way to be introduced to it, build skills, and gain feedback.
With the economy being what it is right now and so many people being out of work, a virtual assistant has to do everything they can to keep the clients they have. This is a good time to recommend freelance marketplaces to clients and individuals that want to get into freelancing. That is why I think it only makes sense that a virtual assistant not only can but should recommend freelance sites to anyone that listens -- but especially to clients looking for something to be done that I can't do or to new people wanting to get into the field of freelancing.