Should You Use Freelance Websites In 2017?

Using Freelance Websites in 2017

I got an email a while back that I meant to address. In it, a reader asked me whether I still saw freelance sites as valuable.

I wrote way back about how you should use freelance websites as a means to get on the freelance ladder and then find success. You can read that article here.

But it’s 2017 and a few changes have happened. That’ll put some people off, and I’d be less-than-truthful if I pretended there weren’t additional challenges since the last time I wrote about this. Let’s talk about those.

Has The Freelance Website Landscape Changed Dramatically Recently?

I would argue that working on freelance websites has changed since I started and has also changed within the last year.

Numerous complicated factors probably abound, but as is the case with most tech startups, the real reason for this is money. Namely, freelance platforms like Freelancer and Upwork (was Elance and oDesk) couldn’t actually afford their bills.

This means that the “cut” they take has gone from 10% in some cases up to 20%+ on some sites.

Add on the Paypal fees and the currency transfer fees, and if you’re charging $20 for a project, you’re talking a significant amount of money.

Also, most freelance websites have had a steady stream of new competition.

Finally, the biggest pain in the neck as far as freelance websites is concerned, has always been the fact that their support systems are rubbish. Whether it’s a $5 gig at Fiverr or a $2000 job at Upwork, if you run into any trouble, customer support seems to exist to make it worse.

Quick Solves

So, those three problems:

1. More money in fees
2. Stream of new competition
3. Bad customer support and general poor organisation

All have solutions. The first two are simple.

As far as prices are concerned, raise them. Any business will incur costs and it’s expected and natural that you raise your costs to cover the additional expenses. The exception to this is if you’re starting out, in which case you should take a pay cut to get the referrals and ratings.

So, for instance, you might be new to Upwork as a writer. You might want to charge $0.2 a word (or $100 an article.) That’s a reasonably hefty weight, and you won’t get that on Upwork to start with. So, you do five articles for $5 each and then get some positive feedback. Then you put your prices up.

Now the second problem is competing with the steady stream of new competition. My answer for this will depend on you and your skills.

If you are a native English speaker or otherwise have a high level of whatever language you’re going to write in and

If you have a functioning brain and are willing to learn how to do basic work to a reasonable standard,

Then don’t worry about the new competition. Most of them are rubbish and don’t know what they’re doing. Being a professional who is reasonable at what you’re offering is all you need to be better than 90% of them.

Now, the third problem is the general terrible set up of most freelance sites. Here’s where we need some strategy.

Using Freelance Websites As A Lead In

The long-term game with freelance websites is and has always been to move off them when you can. Not permanently – I still have freelance website profiles – but in terms of your client relationship.

In other words, the way to deal with your clients and the complicated middleman is to take the middleman out of the equation.

Think of freelance websites as the start of your customer acquisition funnel: Just like a lead in or a cheap product, you’re getting access to their contact details and they’re paying you. This is usually for a simple job like a $20 article or fixing their stupid WordPress slip-up.

Just like any other funnel, your job is to get them to trust you and invest more heavily. “Hey… I can do some more work for you” or “Hey, I give out tips to website owners on my list which you can join for free because you’re a customer.”

The way to deal with freelance websites being rubbish is to treat them like a sales channel and nothing more. Don’t base your business around them.

Just like running ads for your service, devote no time or money on them if you’re not making any money from them, and when you are making money from them, get your clients or customers further down the funnel.

Now, most freelance websites say, “It’s against our Terms of Conditions to contact people outside of the site.” There are two things to note here:

1. You’re probably going to have to send them documents which might occur off-site anyway
2. There’s no reason to worry; your bigger projects are “outside the scope of your freelance website work”

What Good Are Freelance Sites?

This is true and entirely natural. A web developer might be able to write a simple script and deliver it via an Upwork message, but he certainly can’t fix a server. The services are incomparable.

You need to do this as soon as you’ve developed a decent relationship with your client and you’ve determined they aren’t going to screw you out of money.

This is what freelance websites are nominally good at. Sure, you can get your money held in perpetual escrow, but at least the dodgy client isn’t getting it back either. My point is to use the freelance websites to check the clients credit cards and all that, and determine if you want to build a relationship with them before giving them your actual business details (and I’d argue to set up a simple DBA website for most of these clients initially.)

Final Thoughts

Freelance websites should only be a single part of your freelance business strategy, and they should be treated like any other lead generation system; use your freelance profiles as the start of your funnel, give your customers straightforward yet high-quality work, and then bounce them into your own little spider web of business.

If you have to raise your prices, then do so. There’s zero point in selling a service that doesn’t make a profit.

Finally, don’t worry about competition. The fact is, competition is largely irrelevant when you provide a superior service.