Elance

December 7th, 2008 in Freelance platforms, by Head Honcho

http://www.elance.com

Elance is a workplace online where businesses interact with professionals from all over to get a project done. This company was launched in 1998 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California. Elance mediates and assists the whole process starting from hiring, then to collaboration and then to payment.

The job or project categories available on Elance are Admin Support, Design & Multimedia, Engineering & Manufacturing, Finance & Management, Legal, Sales & Marketing, Web & Programming, and Writing & Translation.

For buyers - Get your job done
Posting a job is free. In your posting, you can further add the skills needed, timelines, requirements, and budget range expected.

After proposals by providers are submitted, you can then review these, evaluate and interview candidates using methods of choice and possibly award the project to the provider fit for the task.

For providers - Find jobs. Deliver great work. Get paid for results
Membership plans (Basic / Free, Individual, Small business and Large business) are offered to potential Elance providers. After choosing one, you can setup your profile that showcases your skills and your services. Additionally, you can include sample works, credentials list and Elance-certified skills to your profile.

Aside from that the providers’ voluntary membership plans, Elance earns by collecting a small percentage of about 4% - 6% of the total billings on work done by a provider.

The buyer and provider can now work together and collaborate in their online Workroom where they can share files and ideas upon project awarding. Buyers can then monitor progress of their projects with status reports. The Workroom also allows maintenance of communications history.

During payment, Elance assures buyers and providers release of funds upon project completion. Complete invoice details can also be reviewed and payment methods include credit cards and Paypal.
As of writing, there are currently 1947 jobs posted with 34233 professionals which is quite an understandable ratio similar to its competitors, oDesk and Guru.