If you want to make some serious money online or offline, freelancing is the best way. Most of the freelancing sites are absolutely free to join and to continue and I have listed only them. It has following advantages over other ways of making money that are available online;
i. You can opt for doing what you are best at, i.e. you can choose the job you want to do based on your skill sets.
ii. You can do your jobs at your leisure; whenever you wish, wherever you wish (even sitting at your home). You do not need an office for that.
iii. You need not always turn-out in real time. After you get the job, do them offline at your leisure and then upload them to your client. Well, almost all the freelancing sites offer tools that monitor working in real-time, for the jobs that pay on hourly basis, but that's not compulsory.
iv. The payment is very good; as good as any other full-time job. You can earn thousand times better than that you can earn from PTC/PTR/Survey sites. You won't believe it but there are buyers who are ready to pay as much as $50,000 for designing & constructing a fully functional full-fledged website. Ya! You heard me right!
v. This is the best way of utilizing the time that you spend online, when compared to other opportunities like PTC/PTR/Surveys. Let me clarify this. In PTC/PTR sites, you need to view each ad for about 15-20 seconds, and it pays you hardly more than $0.01 per ad, and some sites even less. At this rate, you need to spend 1500-2000 seconds per day sitting before your computer to make just $1. That's a lot of time. Similarly, each survey demands 15-20 minutes to be completed and the reward in most cases is either an entry in sweepstakes or a few points which can be redeemed for cash/gift cards/items later. The exchange rate for redemption too, is not very good (sometimes a few thousand points for a real dollar). That doesn't make it a good utilization of time either. The main income potential of these opportunities lies in referral commissions which is a hard target. But in freelancing, if you are good at a particular skill, say programming or translation or content writing or graphic designing, then you can easily make even a few hundred dollars per hour of working. People are really earning this much and there are projects available in freelancing sites which pay even $25,000 and above (unimaginable, but true).
vi. Once you earn a good reputation in freelancing sites, you need not always bid to get a job, since most of the clients prefer a long-term business relationship with the providers. Once you are on, you can get a good continuous incoming of work.
vii. Unlike other MLM/PTC/PTR/Survey sites, you need not worry to collect referrals here in freelancing sites to earn handsome. Still, most of the freelancing sites have a good referral policy which pays good.
So, if you are really good at something, (say data entry, translation, article writing, web designing, programming, illustrating, sketching, coloring, content writing, ...., ...; the list is never ending) and you want to earn real good, then you must join the freelancing sites.
Before you proceed to join the freelancing sites listed down below, you must know something about freelancing & freelancing sites. Here are they;
i. Most of the freelancing sites are absolutely free to join, work, earn and to continue as there are no upfront fee. Although there are some paid freelancing sites too, but I have listed only the free and genuine ones.
ii. Although the listed sites are free to use, they charge a commission on the amount you withdraw from these sites and that's how they earn (after all, they must earn something to live). Now, these commissions are of two types. First, that is directly charged on the amount you earned. For example, suppose you charged your client $100 for a job, then the freelancing site will deduct a certain percentage (not very high of course) from this amount as their facilitation fee or commission and pay the rest to you. The second way is the amount is indirectly charged on your earnings. In this case, supposing you charged $100 for a job, the site will add their percentage of commission on this amount and charge the employer. Later, when the job is done and the actual charge + commission is paid by the employer, the commission is deducted from your total earnings and the basic amount (that you actually charge the client with) is paid to you, so that you don't feel bad.
Both ways, they keep their commissions. But this does not make them fall under paid sites or scams or this is no way bad. Since you are not required to pay any upfront fee, these sites can be listed under free sites. The only thing is that you need to pay them some commission and that is very well justified, since they are bringing you jobs.
iii. To build your reputation in these sites, you must execute your jobs within the deadline agreed upon by both sides (the employer and the provider), or else you may loose all the money and your reputation even after you have completed the job.
iv. Try to give the best you can. If the employers like your work, they may continue to provide you with work, even when you do not bid.
v. Try to be honest and don't ever cheat. Try to give original work. Absolutely no plagiarism.
vi. In the beginning, keep your bids as low as possible. You may feel that you are being paid less as compared to others out there, but this is essential to build a firm stand. Then, after you are old enough, well recognized and well reputed, you can gradually increase your rates. But do never try to kill the hen at the very first attempt.
vii. Behave well with your clients and be polite even when your bid is rejected.
viii. If you feel that you cannot execute a job up to the expectations of your clients, let them know well in advance before the commencement of the project, even if you have placed your bid. This is build an honest image of yours and that's very important.
ix. Freelancing can be your chief earning solution if you take it seriously, but the best deal would be continue it with a full-time job, because you never know when your bid is going to be selected.
x. In most of the freelancing sites, it is forbidden to post any contact information other than your Username in that site. This they do to avoid bypassing them. So, abide by the rules and do not cheat them or you may lose your membership forever.
xi. Based on the skill sets entered by you during registration or updated afterwards, these sites will send you job/project alerts to your mailbox. But alternatively, you can visit the sites and search for projects too.
Time to join the sites! Just click on the links or banners provided below the description of each site and start earning.
1. Site Name: VWorker (for Virtual Worker)
Review: This site is so far the best among free freelancing sites. It's old name was RentaCoder and it was primarily launched for outsourcing programming projects. Later, it started accommodating all types of projects and today it has one of the largest number of employers and providers registered with it. I myself am working as a provider with this site for more than the last 5 years and have thousands of dollars. So, I can tell you that the paying system is excellent and you'll never be cheated. The commissions are also nominal. Furthermore, any project is seldom cancelled by an employer here. It has a very good rating system and the number of projects you get purely depends upon your performance and the ratings given to you by your employers, unlike other sites where paid upgraded members get more project invitations. It sends project alerts to your e-mail box systematically. Alternatively, you can also visit the site, search for open projects that suits you and bid to get the job.
Eligibility: World-wide
Referral Policy: Yes
Payment Modes: PayPal, Payoneer, Snail Mail Check, Western Union, International Priority Mail, Bank-to-Bank Wire Transfer etc.
Verdict: The Best Free Freelancing Site.
Join the site using the banner given above.
2. Site Name: ODesk (for Outsourcing Desk)
Review: This site is undoubtedly one of the bests when it comes to freelancing in pay-for-time-worked basis or hourly payment basis. This is what it is best at. But that does not mean that it does not have fixed-rate jobs. It has a plenty of them. Surprisingly, if you compare its project budgets with those in other freelancing sites, its amazingly higher and they really pay. For example, an average compensation for a thousand word article on any niche in any other freelancing site is around $10. Whereas, in this site, it may be anywhere between $10 - $50. Whatever, the site is very trustworthy and neatly built. You'll enjoy working with Outsourcing Desk. It requires you to download and install some of their tools like ODesk Team, ODesk Work Diary etc. It sends project alerts to your e-mail box systematically. Alternatively, you can also visit the site, search for open projects that suits you and bid to get the job.
Eligibility: World-wide
Referral Policy: Yes
Payment Methods: PayPal, Bank-to-Bank Wire Transfer etc.
Verdict: Best freelancing site for hourly payment jobs.
Join the site using the banner given above.
3. Site Name: Freelancer (Old Name: Get a Freelancer)
Review: Very old site and trusted one. But just because of the reason that it sends too many project alerts to your mail box, some mail service providers like Yahoo! & Rediff etc. put the alerts in your spam folder. So, don't forget to check your spam folder if you are using Yahoo! or Rediff. Actually, the manner this site sends job alerts is bit different from that of others. Most sites send a group of matching project alerts in a single mail (sometimes a few hundred in a single mail and thus your mailbox does not look overcrowded). But Freelancer sends a single project alert in a single mail and such mails may add up to fifty or sixty such mails per day, depending upon your skill sets. But believe me, this site is as genuine, as safe and as good as any other listed above.
Referral Policy: Yes
Payment Methods: PayPal, Bank-to-Bank Wire Transfer etc.
Just hit the banner above to join this nice site.
4. Site Name: Eufreelance (European version of Freelance)
Review: This you can call as the European version of Freelance.com because all it's transactions are done in Euro, unlike in Freelance.com where it accepts dollars. This site too created and launched by the creators of Freelance.com and hence everything here remains same as Freelance.com except the name and the currency. You can log on to both the sites using the same username and password.
Referral Policy: Yes
Payment Methods: PayPal, Bank-to-Bank Wire Transfer etc.
Just hit the banner above to join this nice site.
5. Site Name: Projectlance
Review: This is another good and absolutely free freelancing site with lots of customers and providers registered in it. Although it is good platform, but I have not seen it sending any project alerts to e-mail box. Instead
, you need to visit the site, search for open projects that suits you and bid to get the job.
Referral Policy: Yes
Payment Methods: PayPal, Bank-to-Bank Wire Transfer etc.
Verdict: Good one!
Click on the banner above to join the site.
6. Site Name: Scriptlance
Review: This site is quite similar to the one just above. Good one, but it seldom sends any project alert to e-mail box. So, here again, you need to visit the site, search for open projects and bid. As the name suggests, this site is more dedicated towards programming projects than anything else, but that does not mean that you do not have other projects here. They are also in plenty. All you need to do is bid well to get the job.
Referral Policy: Yes
Payment Methods: PayPal, Bank-to-Bank Wire Transfer etc.
Verdict: Good!
Click on the banner above to join Scriptlance.
7. Site Name: Project 4 Hire
Review: Although the name sounds like a typical PTC site, but it is a reputed freelancing site and you'll have fun working with it. This too, seldom sends any project alert to your mail box. You have to visit the site regularly to win projects.
Referral Policy: Yes
Payment Methods: PayPal, Bank-to-Bank Wire Transfer etc.
Just hit the banner above to join this nice site.
Review: Those who know about it might be surprised to see it's name listed at 7th position. This is because it is not an absolutely free freelancing site. Elance is one of the oldest freelancing sites on net and it used to be invariably a paid one. Very recently, it started allowing free members with certain limitations. Anyway, it remains free for you as long as you do not upgrade. It is really an elegant site with no nonsense. It sends project alerts via e-mail and you can also search for projects by directly visiting the site and conducting a search using keywords.
Referral Policy: Yes
Payment Methods: PayPal, Bank-to-Bank Wire Transfer etc.
Just hit the banner above to join this nice site.
Review: Now you must be really angry! A site like Guru listed at No.9! No, trust me, there is nothing wrong with this site. This site is considered to be one of the bests among the elite freelancing sites. The only problem is that they have no referral policy, and hence no referral links or banners to post here. So, having no choice, I just pasted the site's URL here so that you can at least visit the site without going into the hassle of searching it with Google. This is an excellent site when it comes to the expertise of the providers. They allow only qualified professionals and that's why they call them Gurus. I really love this site. It sends regular alerts to your mailbox whenever there are matches. You can also visit the site and search for available jobs using keywords.
Referral Policy: No
Payment Methods: PayPal, Bank-to-Bank Wire Transfer, Safe Pay Escrow etc.
Hit the banner above to join Guru!
Review: Another fine site, fine projects, fine people and fine customers. But I don't know why this site is not as much popular as those listed in the top 3 above. It pays in Euro. It has some unique features, products and a solid legal arrangement. It sends project alerts and you can also visit the site.
Referral Policy: No
Payment Methods: PayPal, Bank-to-Bank Wire Transfer etc.
Verdict: Good One!
Join the site with the link given above.
11. Site Name: Mechanical Turk
Review: First of all, let me tell you that this site is a venture of Amazon.com, the much heard and most trusted name in online shopping. So, you need not worry about its genuineness. This site is entirely a different approach in the field of freelancing. It lists a number of very small tasks, called HITs (Human Intelligence Tasks). All you need to do is to hit on the links, do as directed and get paid. The system may be quite confusing for even experienced freelancers, who are freelancing with other normal freelancing sites, not to talk about beginners. But once you get used to it, it may seem one of the easiest sites to work with. It does not send alerts to your mailbox. You need to visit the site regularly and check for available HITs.
Referral Policy: No
Payment Methods: Bank-to-Bank Wire Transfer
Verdict: Different but nice!
Join the site with the help of the link above.
12. Site Name: Freelancers
Review: I must say that it is a strange site when it comes to freelancing. Most amazing of all, it does not have "sign-up" or "sign-in" buttons. Instead, it has a box where you need to enter your e-mail ID to receive newsletters from this site. You can directly visit the site and search for jobs. To be honest, this site is not very promising and I have never received any job alert from this site, nor could I find any job matching my keywords. But still, I listed it here just because it is absolutely free and a freelancing site. It is more of an advertising list of available freelancers and projects available in other freelancing sites. It is very confusing one.
Eligibility: World-wide, but focussed in UK.
Referral Policy: No
Payment Methods: NA
Verdict: No Good!
Click on the link above and see what happens.
13. Site Name: Freelance Free
Review: To be honest, I have not used this site from the day I started freelancing. No, don't misunderstand me. This is no way the site's fault, but just because I was so busy with other freelancing sites. However, this site is another good site, with lot of features, options and available projects listed in the home page in a user friendly manner.
