I first came across Elance a couple years ago when I started freelancing full time.
At the time, I was willing to try most anything to get my business up and running, including:
responding to ads on a Craigslist-type website (which worked; I got a great first web design client this way) and
competing on a crowdsourced logo competition site (which was a complete disaster other than to improve my Illustrator skills).
At first glance, Elance seemed too good to be true: thousands of clients looking for work! Being able to work anywhere and set my own schedule!
But then, it hit me: these jobs paid less than I was willing to work for. Plus I’d have to compete against thousands of other freelancers.
Nope, not for me.
Instead, I pounded the pavement, following the advice of the wonderful, seasoned entrepreneurs on Millo, and learned how to find new clients the traditional way.
Then, out of the blue, Danny Margulies’ article on Millo (“How I built a 6-figure freelancing business on Elance“) hits my inbox. I was intrigued, and I bet so were many of you.
If it were any other blog, I’d have paid no attention.
Getting to 6 figures on Elance sounds like a ridiculous, impossible claim.
But I’ve been reading Millo for a couple years and they’ve helped me in my freelance design career time and time again. Because of this, I trust their content.
Going into research mode, I looked for other articles about freelancers’ experiences with Elance.
(Psst: Do you have an Elance experience? Share it in the comments!)
At first, everything I read seemed to support my initial thoughts: it was a waste of time, a race to the bottom.
I’d come across the same complaints:
There are no good clients
There are no high paying jobs
There’s too much competition
But then I found a different perspective: people who presented Elance hacks and tips on submitting proposals that won jobs.
I wondered if there was any truth to what they were saying.
So I decided to look into this whole Elance thing.
What I discovered not only changed the way I run my business, but allowed me to work with some incredible clients on the most interesting projects of my career.
This changed how I run my business and brings me the best projects of my career. #freelancing
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I really enjoy working on Elance and want to share my experiences with others.
(A note from Preston: we’re not paid here to promote Elance. And we don’t have any sort of partnership with them. But this was such a unique story, I wanted to make sure we shared it here.)
From freelancer to Elancer
The turning point for me came after reaching out to author Danny, who also provides a course on how he became successful on the site.
I still had no idea whether I could land even a single job online, but he seemed like a genuine guy and his course appeared to be helping others, so I chose to try it out.
The day I put up my very first Elance profile, I submitted a proposal late in the evening and won that job the very next morning.
Day 1 on Elance: I won the job the very next morning after submitting my proposal….
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I experienced little milestones on Elance every week:
winning a job an hour after submitting a proposal,
getting invites to apply to jobs that I would be interested in,
earning a good review, and
receiving a message to apply to an invite-only job where all the applicants were pre-screened (and being awarded that project!).
Why Elance works for me
My whole perception of Elance changed as I started working, and my experiences were that:
1) There are GREAT CLIENTS on Elance
I’ve worked with high-quality clients who were responsive, professional and had business-critical jobs I could help them with. I felt like I was making a positive impact on their immediate design and marketing goals.
And it was extremely easy to communicate with them – through Elance and normal channels.
2) There are HIGH PAYING JOBS on Elance
Within a week, I was already charging my Elance clients my outside-of-Elance hourly rates.
And you’d be surprised the various types of people I’ve met on Elance:
well-known industry leaders,
up-and-coming entrepreneurs, as well as
clients who work with Fortune 500 companies.
Not your stereotypical low-balling client (although there are plenty of those, too). It’s just like in the “real world,” some clients are cheapskates, and others are willing to pay for quality work.
3) Elance is about CONNECTING, not competing
Sure, it feels amazing to be awarded a job against dozens of other applicants, but the whole Elance system is more about being provided the opportunity to connect with clients, not compete against other freelancers.
When I’m submitting proposals, I’m looking for a good fit with a client just like freelancing outside of Elance.
On Elance, I’m looking for a good fit with a client just like with outside-of-Elance prospects.
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If I don’t win a job, I know that the client has found a better fit for their needs.
And finding this mutual fit can be an incredibly quick process. On Elance, I could apply to a job, meet the client, and complete the work all in one day if that was the schedule the client had in mind.
In the “real world:”
meeting a prospective client,
demonstrating my value,
negotiating the terms of the job, and
then waiting for the client to gather the necessary resources to start
sometimes took weeks to land a new contract.
Overall, I feel like I’m just getting started. I’m only two months into my Elance career, but every week is a new adventure connecting with potential clients, helping out ongoing clients and doing work I love.
How Elance can work for you
The sheer number of job posts on Elance at any given time benefits freelancers.
You can pick whether you want to apply to jobs that require a certain set of skills, or ones in a particular industry.
You have the opportunity to apply your experience from your offline business as well as branch into industries you’ve previously been unable to break into.
Everything’s up to you.
What do you have to lose?