Why You Should Hire on Elance

Small and large corporations, entrepreneurs, and even non-profit organizations often hire freelance professionals to assist them with various types of administrative, legal, web design, writing, and programming projects. Many of these entities choose Elance as their sourcing partner simply because it's the best place to find qualified professionals on the 'net. At Elance, clients can easily and securely post projects, hire talented professionals and use their innovative work system to get those projects done - right on budget and right on time. Here's why their superior work processes and qualified professionals leave their competitors in the dust.

The Provider Network

Elance attracts the most qualified and skilled professionals by marketing to professionals with specific skills, work backgrounds, and qualifications. They verify addresses and phone numbers and recommend that service providers pass rigorous standardized skill tests as well as showcase their skills with stellar profiles and verifiable credentials. This allows clients to glean as much information about the provider as possible before hiring to ensure that the writer and their work are of the highest quality and value. In addition, Elance rewards providers who demonstrate specific skills, project completion timeliness and exceed customer satisfaction with higher visibility in searches and more opportunities to be seen by buyers.

Flexibility

Unlike other sites, Elance is very flexible with their payment options. Clients can pay a flat price or they can pay by the hour. The choice is ultimately left to them. Either way, providers submit detailed invoices and are paid after the client approves of their submitted work. For larger projects, clients can pay in installments (as milestones are reached), which encourage the provider and the client to work collaboratively and complete the project in a timely manner.

Guarantees

Elance offers guarantees for both the Fixed Price and Hourly jobs, named the Elance Fixed Price Work Guarantee and the Elance Hourly Work Guarantee. These are protective measures that ensures satisfaction for both the client and the provider when working online.

With the Elance Fixed Price Work Guarantee, clients start with a guarantee of payment by placing the total budgeted amount in the officially licensed Escrow service. This way, the provider knows the money is there and will not be hesitant to start the work. In return, the client is able to review the work fully before he or she releases the funds to the provider, to ensure that the work is satisfactory. This system allows both the client and the provider to feel secure and ensures a smooth transaction with fewer instances of conflict or disputes.

With the Elance Hourly Work Guarantee, clients can view screenshots and comments that the provider includes to support the hourly billing. In addition, providers can log the amount of time they work online so that the client can see precisely how many hours of work has been accomplished, what the provider was doing during these allocated work hours and what they owe the provider for compensation. In return, Elance guarantees payment for hours of work documented through its Work View feature.

Robust Features

When working through Elance, both the provider and the client are given a 'workroom' area, allowing them to communicate and stay updated on the project's progress. This workroom has a file-sharing feature, so the provider can upload design templates, first drafts, notes and more. Version control, team accounts, and a message board are included to ensure that the project is coming along smoothly and to the provider's satisfaction. The real time chat is extremely convenient, as clients and providers can instantly communicate and work together, as needed. It's a fact that regular communication better ensures a successful transaction between client and provider, with fewer misunderstandings. No other online site provides a feature set like this, and this is one of the reasons that more clients and providers continue to use Elance over the competition.

Feedback

With the feedback features available on Elance, clients can scan a provider's work history before hiring them. The history includes the types of projects completed for other clients, what the rating was from those past clients, and the comments regarding the work. This is a great little insight into the quality of the client's work and is very valuable to future clients as well. This is just another measure a client can take to ensure that they're going to receive the highest-quality work in a reasonable amount of time.

With the number of features and guarantees Elance offers, it's no wonder they're the leading online marketplace for talent amongst online business owners, website owners, and others who often need legal, administrative, written, programming or design work completed.