Should a designer be working through service provider freelance sites?

by Artinspireblog | Nov 28, 2010 | Articles, Freelance, Make Money

[private]I think not !

Service provider sites  for freelance graphic designers are the sites which provide a platform for designers and clients where they can set up and provide and get  work done. Many leading designers and artists choose to stay away from these kind of sites because of the uncertainty of being paid on time and full amount .My experience had been the same.. I shoud’ve listened to their advice :).

While trying to expand my clientele I looked for these site , wasted lots and lots of time in updating my portfolio on these site. Creating folders , managing , writing non ending forms of terms and blah blah…  and when eventually I was being paid I faced some strange behaviors by clients , using “unauthenticated” credit cards for payment . OR as soon as the file was delivered “AFTER” client is  “Happy ” with the work. Client claiming a refund as the work was “NOT” according to their requirement!.

When something like this happens remember THESE service provider sites are not playing fair. As the amount of profit that these sites are gaining are from the clients site. Who puts the money in your mouth? hmmm…

But if you do decide to work through sites like Elance , Liveperson , Freelancer or odesk there is some extra work that you need to do . And that extra work is first doing your homework on the client you are going to start work with .

1- Check the rating of the client
2- How many project the client has already paid for , some sites show how much project and payments they have done and are reviewed back as well . So don’t go desperate to start working for just ANY client.
3- Read thorough the description it is always wise and nice to know if the client is ready to make down payment.
4-If you can which i think you should , Google the name of the company you are going to work for .
5- Most of these sites work through bids , If you do win a bid and get a project make sure that you have all your terms and conditions of work at hand.

© Photographer: Rolmat | Agency: Dreamstime.com

There are designers who are getting paid well and getting enough works through these sites , but then again it is not just the matter of how you handled the client , my advice is just remember that if something goes wrong most of these sites are going to with the Person seeking service and very often the service provider.IF this is something that seems ok with you in a ratio of 1 from 15 projects ….then i would say .. Happy hunting! ;)[/private]