Online Freelancers

[Vohligh]

Hi everyone,

Which freelance websites are the best for developers in SA to make a decent 2nd living? Do you have any tips for newbies exploring this avenue? Any things to avoid or watch out for? How does tax work? Do you have to have an international paypal account to get paid etc.

Thanks in advance

 

[guest2013-1]

odesk

no, thanks to FNB you can have a local PayPal account (where have you been the past few years?)

things to watch out for is competition from people who will underbid for a job. stick to your guns, you might need to do a few cheaper jobs to get your foot in the door, but there are many people sick of india and their half-assed work that costs them more pain and grief than it would just doing it themselves. So when you do find "employers" and they like your work, they tend to re-use you constantly. One mistake I made was to come in too cheap, the amount of work/hours wasn't offset by the income so I had to stop.

I know a few people who make a living off of odesk

 

[roguemat]

I would recommend totally skipping those types of sites. There are thousands of people poorer than you that will do it for half the price.
Rather contact companies directly, even if it means getting shut down 95 out of 100 times (it does mean this).

 

[House]

Roguemat is right.

There are many online Freelancing websites such as Odesk, but the biggest of them all is Freelancer.com (The old Get-a-Freelancer). These sites are huge and they literally have hundreds of thousands of people looking for developers online.

Unfortunately, there are also that many developers onboard and the majority of them come from poor countries where $1 can go a long way. Where you charge $1000 for some job, these guys will come in and charge $100. Also, they are not always bad programmers, I know many of them and they are great - even better than many Western programmers I know.

Also, people making use of Freelancing websites are always looking for the low bids. They do not care about quality, experience or what you can offer them. It is all about getting things done at the lowest price available. I know some programmers who have bid on 1000+ projects a month and did not get a single one awarded!

So, unless you are willing to perform online freelancing work at very low prices, this may not always be a good option. It should then rather be a way to help you get a quick buck when needed, but you will not become rich from it.

 

[guest2013-1]

Roguemat is right.

There are many online Freelancing websites such as Odesk, but the biggest of them all is Freelancer.com (The old Get-a-Freelancer). These sites are huge and they literally have hundreds of thousands of people looking for developers online.

Unfortunately, there are also that many developers onboard and the majority of them come from poor countries where $1 can go a long way. Where you charge $1000 for some job, these guys will come in and charge $100. Also, they are not always bad programmers, I know many of them and they are great - even better than many Western programmers I know.

Also, people making use of Freelancing websites are always looking for the low bids. They do not care about quality, experience or what you can offer them. It is all about getting things done at the lowest price available. I know some programmers who have bid on 1000+ projects a month and did not get a single one awarded!

So, unless you are willing to perform online freelancing work at very low prices, this may not always be a good option. It should then rather be a way to help you get a quick buck when needed, but you will not become rich from it.

That's incorrect. I've done online freelancing via odesk in the past and the people I've met there that constantly used my services told me they're sick and tired of working with India/non-English speaking countries and that they'll rather pay for quality work than have to constantly KEEP paying for low-quality work that ends up a 3 month project for a 1 week job.

 

[jackblue]

There are lots of different sites you could check out if you’re going to be a freelancer to make a living. All you need to do is sign up on different freelancing sites that will serve as your resume to attract clients. It can also give you a better chance of having a client. I believe that there is no registration fee when registering on freelancing sites like odesk.com, freelancer.com, staff.com and etc. You need to avoid sites that require you to pay registration fee before you can sign up because it could be a scam.

Here’s a good article that could help you find ways on how you’ll get paid working as a freelancer. http://biz30.timedoctor.com/how-to-make-sure-you-always-get-paid/

 

[cerebus]

I took the oDesk route for a while, and it did work for a few little jobs I picked up. But the level of pay just wasn't very good compared to what I should have been able to command. Then I hit on the idea of just Googling for my area of work from google.co.uk (since I have a British bank account it made sense), and sending mails out to all the sites that came up. I ended up finding a situation that has suited me very well.

Problem with those kinds of sundry freelancing jobs is that it's very hard to build a relationship with someone. So that's what you're really looking for - a person you can work with. And lots of people are just unworkable - fly-by-nighters, highly unprofessional, with no idea of what's required from what they're asking you to do. Then if something goes wrong and it comes down on them, they take it out on you, regardless if it was your fault to begin with. Once you get connected to the right person, you just latch onto them.