You’ve probably heard of the term freelancing, being thrown around in articles that refer to temp work and freelancers.  While there are numerous websites that offer freelancing services, it seems that not enough emphasis is being dedicated to the people that use these websites to support their businesses.

Freelancing gigs offer a solution to the unemployed, grads, and freelancers. These are 3 large and different demographics, so while people complain that the space is too competitive to get work, I would like to share what it’s like from the other side, being a buyer of freelance gigs. The whole social selling market is still embedding and developing so that buyers of gigs still have to accept an amount of risk associate by purchasing a service or working with a freelancer. I would not go near a website that did not have either an escrow set up, because even though it’s often small amounts, I don't wan to be cheated out of money.

I have used pretty much every freelancer platform you could think of, from Fiverr to peopleperhour to freelancer. The common denominator when I post a job or search for something is the amount of people that are sitting around and hoping to be the chosen ones for the simplest tasks and projects. When I joined the Freelancers.xxx team, I finally found a platform that is open to adult friendly jobs and business without feeling judgded. While trying to get to the bottom of it, I realised a lot of these companies are not doing the sellers justice, they are not marketing the talent the right way to ensure that small medium companies feel secure and comfortable to use their website. It’s not you, the wonderful graphic designer or you, the English lecturer with a phd, it’s the idea that you are trusting someone not only to create something but the worth of it is a mere $5 which as a consequence sky rockets the risk factor for project delays, quality of work delivered and working relationship satisfaction.

I used to get, for a single job request for a blogger around 80 proposals but guess what, out of those 80, only around 5-6 made me comfortable that I could invest my money and have the job done well.

So here are the fundamental things I look out for when I post a job and am looking for someone to work with on a regular basis.

  • Do you answer what my job request wants?
  • Do you have relevant experience or are you passionate about what the job request wants?
  • Tell me your ideas, a job request is asking for someone to help me get a project done, start with a productive response on how I can go about getting my project done and in what time frame
  • Give me examples of your previous work. So many times voiceovers say they have amazing voices but I don’t have time or patience to message the majority and actually ask for a sample. I only pay attention to the proactive.
  • Be transparent! If you are on a micro-jobbing website to give a taster of your skills, say so! I might have a much bigger project 2 months on with a bigger budget, and if I like your working hours, commitment, communication and skills, you will be first on my contact list.

And the most important tip is to keep talking! Yes, companies as still a bit reluctant to pay such small fees to get quick projects done, because the secret is not in the money it’s in the time. Startups need work done quickly, so if a microjob is bought and there is no communication, it’s costing the company a lot. That is why it’s so important to let the person you are working with know when you will be working on their project, if you foresee any difficulties with time delivery, if you need an extension, the worst thing you can do is be silent.

I love freelancing platforms, which is why I was so keen to get involved with the Freelancers.xxx team.

The social gig economy is still growing loads and that is why we are working with adult businesses to educate them how freelancer websites work and what they can offer to businesses that need extra work done. We do not believe inviting the world to sell skills on Freelancers.xxx, we want the right ratio between service sellers and service buyers, so yes we are taking our time so our freelancers can spend less time job hunting and more time counting earnings.