How freelancer.com works

It seems newbies are still confused in how the freelancer.com works, actually I posted and replied with full explanation at the comment sections in many articles in my blog. So, to make it easy to find, I posted this here. With this one we can disscuss anything about freelancing in Freelancer.com in English.

What is freelancer.com?

Freelancer.com is basically an online labor marketplace which connects their users from all over the world. There are many similar websites such as Odesk, Elance, Guru.com, 99Designs and etc. but I believe freelancer.com is the largest in the world combining predecessor websites such as EUFreelance.com, GetAFreelance, Freelancer.de Booking Center, Webmaster-talk.com, Scriptlance, Vworker, etc. As the main function of a marketplace, this is a place where buyers and sellers are met, that's it! So simple:) The domain Freelancer.com is their international website while they have many others regional domains such as Freelancer.co.id / freelancer.com.es / freelancer.com.au / freelancer.ph / freelancer.pk / freelancer.pl / freelancer.co.uk / freelancer.in / freelancer.ca / freelancer.ec / freelancer.hk and many more. All of them are the same and you can use your login details in any of those sites, the only different is the local language used. More info about freelancer.com please click here.

What to trade?

Definitely jobs! Mostly users are buying or selling services or products (softwares, articles, information, databases, designs, etc...) which could be sent over internet via emails or made but not limited as soft copies. The job categories almost include everything such as data collecting from internet, search engine optimization (SEO), web design, web contents, videos, animations, article writings, automatic reportings, accounting analysis, data entry, translation, codings, designs, photo editings, AutoCAD, PCB design, even college student's assignment/projects often being posted as a project and they are willing to pay someone to get their task done :), and many more.

Who is the Employer?

Employer is the project owner / contest holder who create jobs/contests and they are looking for freelancers to help them complete their jobs. Employer posts a project on website in order to be seen by freelancers from all over the world in freelancer.com community and wishes freelancers offer their service to finish the job with an amount of payment and competitive time of finishing project among other freelancers.

Who is the Freelancer?

Freelancer is the person who is looking for a job/project posted by an employer.

Who is the 'boss'?

None! Don't get it wrong, there is no boss here; everyone is partner in a workrelationship. One needs other's help to finish a job, while the other party needs the money and/or reputation in return of his/her work on the job given .

How this website works? Project Tenders.

1. Employer posts project - looking for freelancer – open a project tender.
2. Freelancers are offering their services (bidding process), compete to get attention from the employer in order to win the project and get awarded. For those who has not yet read my tips, please click here.
3. Employer chooses one of freelancers among other bidder. Interview/discussion could only happen when employer contacts freelancer through message system on website chat. Tips for freelancer: make sure you are only 'sell' the important thing, to be 'to the point' and not going around on your first proposal, use dropbox to make a link in order to download your sample file (if there is any).
4. Employer creates milestone payment (down payment) according to freelancer’s demand on bidding:
• Milestones payment will be temporary held by freelancer.com (the platform).
• Freelancer is suggested not to accept or start any project before he/she receives notification that the employer has create a milestone payment.
• Milestones payment will be released by the employer once he is 100% satisfied with the freelancer's job/service (a dispute resolution system is provided if there is something wrong going on).
5. Freelancer delivers their work to the employer, should any revisions or correction is needed, the employer could give some comments or feedbacks and so the freelancer should revise or handle the issue based on employer's queries.
6. Employer releases the milestone (and fulfill the rest of payment - if any) so the freelancer can receive the funds in his Freelancer.com account.
7. Employer gets the work done, freelancer gets the payment. In the end they both should post to each other a feedback review and rate based on their experience working in the project.

How the payment transaction works?

For employers:  employers can create milestones payment which will be accepted by freelancer.com via credit card, PayPal or Skrill. Employers with a verified payment badge will be likely trusted by freelancers as it shows that the employer already have a verified method to pay the project in full amount.

For freelancers: no need to make verified payment method, but it's more important to plan their withdrawal method which will be used later to get the money (Even though I always suggest to think about it later after you have some balance in your account because honestly it is more important to win your first project rather than worrying about how to get your money).

Employer vs freelancer: milestones payment will be held by freelancer.com and will be released at the end of project by the instruction from the employer which will then be transferred into the freelancer's account balance. A freelancer may draw the funds to his/her personal bank account (payment schedule is twice a week, however first time withdrawal would need about 15 working days).

How can freelancer withdraw his money?

You can read the mechanism here. In my personal opinion: the easiest way, based on my experience is transferring the funds to a PayPal account, once it tops up your PayPal balance you can withdraw them to your local bank account.

Don't have credit card? You can use SKRILL!

Beside Credit card and PayPal, you can use Skrill to withdraw your earnings at freelancer.com (if you are freelancer) or to pay the milestones payment (if you are employer). Learn how…

First step to become freelancer in freelancer.com:

1. Don't have an account yet? You can create one at freelancer.com for FREE here. For a new member, I'd suggest to try the free membership plan first, no need to verify payment method! The important things to be verified are your email address and mobile phone number.
2. Completing your profile is the main thing to do:
• Picture profile (could be your own picture), your own design, or logo, or it could be your team picture.
• Complete your resume (educational background and professional/work experience)
• Complete your portfolio (picture of your job, or use your own imagination)
• Follow at least Freelancer Orientation Exam (free) and try to pass the exam (could be repeated). The best is when you can pass the pre-paid exam (US$5) like English (US) exam level1.
• Please watch my short video here or download the tutorial by clicking the top section menu of this blog.
• Choose the skills that you are interested in or expert in. It's really important and necessary to choose your skill categories because it will be used by the system to match you to projects posted in this platform from any employers around the world.  You can change your skill 5 times a month. There is also quota for you to choose different skill categories.
3. Start browsing/hunting projects or contests, select menu "find project" > "my skill" or follow my video below for more detail example.
4. Make sure your proposal is ‘straight to the point’ and relevant to the employer's requirements, no need to write a long introduction or showcasing your skills or your education background.
5. The maximum bid for free member is 10 bidding in a month, it means will be refilled once more in the next day if you use it.

If you find issue in bidding a project or join a contest, try to check here for what might be the problem, if the problem persis, feel free to ask me in the comment section for I might be able to sort out the problem (note: I'm not freelancer's staff though) or you can always send your question to support@freelancer.com

Click freelancer.com fees and charges page to learn more about what, when and how to pay for freelancer.com's services.

Hopefully this article can be useful for those who wants to start their freelancing careers. It’s specially dedicated for newbies and I hope more people will get better income after joining here, Amen:)