Thursday, May 7, 2009

Making Freelancing Work For You

In the Wall Street Journal, there is a report on how Web sites that advertise freelance work have been expanding, with some listing twice as many ads as they did a year ago. The sites — including Elance.com, Odesk.com and Guru.com — also feature opportunities in a wider variety of fields now, including accounting, law, engineering, sales and marketing. Many people also use Craigslist to advertise freelance gigs, too.

To be sure, freelancing is a juggling act in itself. The arrangement requires the ability to meet deadlines while always searching for and securing that next gig. There are also safety concerns if your job involves working with strangers. And working for yourself can have tricky tax consequences.

The good news is that many freelance job sites help simplify things by offering the option to create a free profile describing the services you offer. You typically can also upload work samples, post employer testimonials and complete competency tests in areas like software coding and email etiquette.

Do you think you have what it takes to freelance?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124157147509390007.html

1 comment:

Lynn Schafer Designs said...

Thanks Mr. Pinto! Loved this post. It is validation for what I already knew, intutively. It was the driving force behind my decision to change majors last year, from GD to WDIM. Times are changing indeed, yet "no fear" is needed. What you visualize, you materialize.

Have an awesome day!

Respectfully,
Lynn Schafer