April 8, 2009
Confessions of a Former Elancer
I was a few years out of college, temping to make money to fund my travels, when I stumbled into the online writing world. It was the late 1990s, and I was the proverbial 20-something, confused and not sure of what I wanted to do with my life. I had decided, by my senior year of college, that journalism really wasn’t for me. I was pretty sure that I was meant to be a writer – after all, it’s who I was, but I had no idea how to jump in. The confidence I exuded in college had waned during my years as a temp, and I didn’t know how to break in as a freelancer.
Then one day, when I was living in Toronto, I discovered a wonderful Web site with links to writing resources – one of them was Elance.com. The idea of Elance intrigued me. At the time, it cost nothing to become a member, but there was a project fee for every project that a member completed. Essentially, providers bid on projects and buyers chose the providers with whom they wanted to work. After the project was complete, the buyer would pay and leave feedback for the provider. The provider could also leave feedback for the provider.
Those were the days. Today, Elance has changed dramatically. By the time I decided to become a member and really start bidding, Elance charged a membership fee in addition to a transaction fee. It was costly, but that was all part of freelancing, right?
In the years I spent with Elance (which is now a thing of the past, fortunately for my self-respect, stress levels, and bank account), I dropped thousands of dollars on project fees, transaction fees, membership fees, and buyers who disappeared.
This is my view of Elance as a former provider.
Held Hostage to Feedback
Losing money to buyers is, unfortunately, an unfavorable consquence of doing business on Elance. Providers (writers, designers, engineers, you name it) live and die by the feedback they accrue on Elance. Bad feedback can prevent a provider from garnering new business.
Many buyers know this, and those who are unscrupulous will take advantage of that fact. When I was with Elance, if a provider returned payment for the project to the buyer (while Elance still collected their fees), the buyer couldn’t leave feedback. That puts providers in an unenviable position: If they end up with a buyer who just isn’t pleased with anything they do or who requests more work than the initial scope of the project for free, providers can either get paid for their work and face potentially bad feedback or can refund the money in full to prevent bad (retaliation) feedback, which means they worked for free.
I’ve been held hostage for feedback, and it’s not fun (buyers who wanted more work for no additional pay). It’s stressful and really puts a writer between a rock and a hard place (to use an old but relevant cliche): Do I give the work for free and risk not being able to pay the bills, or do I accept the payment and the potential consequences of that bad feedback I might receive from a disgruntled buyer? (I have been lucky – in my years of freelancing, I am very rarely asked to make major changes, if any, to projects, so I have a very good satisfaction rate. The problem is with the buyers who will never be happy and who only want to get writing for free.)
Disappearing Buyers
Another major problem with Elance.com, at least from my experience, is working with buyers who will simply disappear after the project is complete (one reason I added a clause to my Statement of Work that states I own all copyrights of what I’ve written until I’ve been paid in full. I also began requiring deposits). There is absolutely nothing Elance can or will do when a buyer disappears (and probably reappears on the site under a new nickname). In fact, the first few times my buyers disappeared I was not even refunded my project fees (that later changed). I lost a lot of money – thousands of dollars – that way.
High fees
Elance used to have a simple and straightforward, yet costly, structure for charging its providers. We had to pay a membership fee, which we could do monthly, quarterly, or annually in addition to a minimum $10 project fee for each project and an 8.75 percent project fee. Elance recently instituted a connects system. For a monthly fee, you get a certain number of connects with which to bid. A project with a price range of under $500 will cost you one connect, for example. If you sign up as an individual provider, you are allotted 20 connects a month, which can get quite costly as the more the estimated project budget (which often isn’t the actual budget), the more you are going to pay in connects. Previously, you paid a flat membership fee, including commission on every project, and were able to bid on 120 projects a month. The connect system prohibits such bidding unless you’re willing to pay for additional connects, which can be a pricey option.
Focus on Buyers, Not Providers
Without the providers at Elance, there would be no Elance. Elance wouldn’t be a multi-million dollar company. But, it is. And, Elance earned its millions from the providers, not the buyers. Of course, any business is out to maximize their profits. However, Elance goes out of its way to take care of their buyers, not their providers (the ones who make them the money).
Just go on Elance’s forum – the Water Cooler – and read the frustrated comments from providers complaining that Elance doesn’t respond to problems via email, phone, or the Water Cooler itself. Unfortunately, with a business plan like that, Elance might make its millions now, but they are destined to failure if they stop listening to those who pay their way. More and more professionals, fed up with the way its run, are leaving Elance.
Wade through the crap
Maybe there’s a nicer way to say it, but you really do have to wade through a lot of crap to find any projects of value. When I first started at Elance, the buyer base was much more diverse. Buyers were more willing to pay for quality. Today, you’ll find countless projects – at least in the Writing & Translation category – with buyers willing to pay only 50 cents to a dollar for high quality, researched 500 word articles (like any self-respecting professional is going to accept such a project. It would be more profitable to work at McDonald’s). I’ve seen dozens of projects where the buyer is asking for 1000 articles for $100, a full-length ebook for $50…it has become so outrageous that Elance has long since stopped being a viable resource, at least for me.
Upsides of Elance
Not all of my time with Elance was stressful or unpleasant. I’ve cultivated long-term relationships with some great clients and enjoyed a wide range of projects (this was before Elance really began taking a dive in terms of what types of projects are offered). Unfortunately, as I mentioned a moment ago, Elance has stopped being a viable resource for me as a professional.
The key to working on Elance is to understand what you’re getting in to and to be willing to expend a lot of time and a lot of money to find those really great projects.
