The internet is responsible for many changes in our lifestyle – some good, some bad. But there is one specific area where the internet has leveraged the power of globalisation to enable millions of people to simplify their lives or businesses, or to get hired.
Outsourcing.
We can now pay people all over the world to do almost anything for us at a price we can afford. From phoning people on our behalf to creating webpages. From giving us advice on any topic to even recording a birthday message for us (presumably if all of your friends have forgotten).
This article covers five websites which have revolutionised the way people advertise for, and obtain, paid work.
And the great news is that, whether you’re a comic writer or artist, right now there are people advertising jobs on these websites that could earn you good money.
Here they are:
This website allows people to post a job, and wait for ‘contractors’ to bid a price and timescale for the job. In order to bid on a job, you first have to set up your contractor profile, which includes listing your key skills from a list of categories, and choose a membership scheme. Membership can be free or paid, with differing benefits between the schemes. You can then search for jobs that are looking for your skills, and bid on the ones that interest you. The person who posted the job can award it to any of the bidders at any time. They pay the money for the job into an Escrow fund (which is held by Elance), and the funds are not released until the job has been completed to the buyer’s satisfaction. The price paid by the buyer includes Elance fees (up to 8.75% of the contractor’s quote).
An alternative to Elance. Contractors are called ‘Freelancers’ and set up their profiles in a similar way. People post ‘projects’ and the site displays the average amount being bid for the project over time. The job usually gets awarded to whomever looks the best value for money, or the most professional. The Freelancer site takes a cut of the money being paid for the job (up to 10%).
Very similar to Freelancer, but with fewer visitors. There are a lower number of jobs posted, but to balance this out, there are a lot fewer contractors, making it easier to get hired for a specific job. For example, at the time of writing, there are only 184 contractors in the ‘Cartooning / Comic Strip Illustration’ category on iFreelance, but just over 400 in the ‘Caracature & Cartoons’ category in Freelance.com. One other big difference is that iFreelance does not charge commissions for any jobs posted or won. Buyers don’t pay anything to use the site. It makes its money solely from contractors membership fees, which iFreelance says is ‘one of the lowest in the industry’.
This website is a major find if people want small jobs done for next to nothing, but it could also become a lucrative outlet for comic creators to sell their skills. The concept is simple – contractors post specific jobs that they are willing to do for $5, and people can buy those jobs for that amount. For example, you may offer to write 3 three-panel cartoon strips for someone’s webcomic site, or draw someone as a superhero. There are also some slightly insane people offering to do just about anything, like record a video message dressed as Jesus or a dancing gorilla. However, just searching the site for words like ‘comic’, ‘cartoon’, ‘script’ or ‘superhero’ brings up a plethora of great (and not so great) ideas. Being imaginative can help you stand out from the crowd on this site, but if you can show off your skills in a picture or video (like some ex-Marvel employees that use this site), you can ensure some steady work. Make enough sales and high ratings from customers, and you can work up to being a ‘Top Rated Seller’, which gives you extra pulling power. For every $5 job (also known as a ‘gig’), Fiverr takes $1. You can also post extras such as an additional $5 for completing the task within 24 hours.
This is a site purley for those with graphic design skills. Buyers post an artistic project, such as designing a business logo, book cover, web banner or t-shirt, or just an illustration. The site allocates a set price depending on the category of design (from $149 to $1499). Designers can then post one or more attempts at a design within 7 days (so the buyer can end up with less or more than 99 designs over that period). During this time, the buyer gives feedback on the designs so far and rejects any that they’re not happy with. The aim is that, ultimately, they end up with a design that they love, or they don’t pay a penny. This means that designers can end up spending a lot of time on work that doesn’t earn them any money, but top creators can make a lot of money from the site.
Here are my top tips for getting the most out of these sites as a contractor:
- Read the terms and conditions first – Before you sign up to offer or sell your services, make sure you read and understand the terms and conditions of the site, especially the payment terms, and the options in the event that a buyer is not happy with the work provided.
- Make sure your profile shines – Include any past experience, samples of your work, and any testimonials from past customers. If your profile is compelling enough, you may get invited by people to bid on their jobs, which increases your chances of getting the work.
- Choose an hourly rate and stick to it – Although you may wish to offer lower rates than you would normally be prepared to win a few early jobs, you are doing yourself a disservice if you regularly work for less than what you feel your skills are worth. And your heart won’t be in the work that you provide.
- Don’t bid too low – Remember that a very low price can also reflect badly upon you and prevent you from getting work. If someone posts a job and receives 10 bids between $25 and $200, they may prefer to go with a $50-$100 bid rather than the $25 one as they may doubt the quality of the work solely on price comparison. Remember the adage – ‘Pay peanuts and get monkeys’.
- Ask questions before starting the work – There may be times when a buyer asks you to make numerous alterations to your original submission because their brief was not clear enough. If you have any doubts about what is required, ask first to prevent additional work further down the line.
- Keep the quality of work high – Good work results in good feedback, which is reflected in your profile, and may sway buyers towards you rather than your competition. It also gives you the chance to build up a good base of regular customers.
- Research what others are doing – See what others with similar skills to yours are bidding for jobs. Are they getting any work? If so, and they are regularly charging more than you, then it may be time to increase your rates.
These websites are a godsend for anyone wanting to make a living working from home. And they can also help you to outsource some of your least favourite tasks more quickly and cheaply than ever before.
I hope that this article has have given you a few ideas to make some money on your own terms. If you know anyone who would benefit from these sites, either as buyer or seller, please share it by using the buttons below.
Kind regards,
Phil Hampton
The Comic Academy
Phil Hampton founded The Comic Academy to help and inpire comic creators and publishers to market their work effectively. Download your FREE exclusive report ‘The 7 Steps to Comic Creator Success’ at http://www.TheComicAcademy.com
