There are a few big outsourcing services online today. Personally I have used Elance several times with mixed results. Outsourcing services are potentially great for small businesses since they can get many services at very competitive prices.
For consultants and freelancers, outsourcing sites opens up the potential to increase your client base…however the amount of competition means you may need to adjust your pricing. I have seen many projects on outsourcing sites that I would never do for the amounts being bid. But there are some people who don’t go with the low bid but instead look for quality.
We have found an Infographic from TimeDoctor which makes some comparisons between the various online outsourcing services. Here’s a snippet from the article:
Online global outsourcing is growing at a rapid pace with a projected growth of over 40% for the industry. The biggest platforms are oDesk, Elance and Freelancer. 99designs is really in a different category as it’s a crowdsourcing site more focused on design, whereas the other platforms encompass any type of online work.
In this infographic we compared the funding received, number of freelancers and jobs posted, percentage they charge and cumulative earnings of freelancers. Great information if you are interested in the online outsourcing space!
