How To Use Elance To Outsource

Elance provides a vast marketplace that enables you to post jobs for completion. This website covers any type of work from administrative work down to web design tasks. If you are a newbie or you feel that the site confuses you, here some tips on how to use Elance.

Post the job

Simply visit the Elance website and register as an Employer. After a successful registration, you will have an Elance account where you can post jobs ready to bidding by all interested freelancers. Be specific in your job post to make sure that you get to hire the right individual for the task. You are allowed to attach documents to your job post. It will benefit you if you set expectations in what you are looking for in your post.

Be secured with a code

As soon as you post the job you will get a number of responses from bidders. To avoid spam bids or bidders who don't qualify for the job, include a code in your post that should be mentioned in the bid when an interested bidder submits his bid. In this way, you will refrain from opening irrelevant bids. A code is a word or a set of words that should be mentioned in the body of the bid.

Set a budget

Setting a budget for a particular job post will save you time and effort in going through all the bids that you receive. To ensure that the bids that you accommodate are within your budget, always set a budget. Budget may be for a fixed price project or for an hourly project.

Provider filtering

Whether you like it or not you will receive an enormous number of bids for a single job post. Since you only require one provider to do the task for you, initiate a filtering process. Review the bids and check out the profile of the provider, validate provider skills, shortlist qualified providers and perform a short interview. Always ask for samples of work completed from your qualified providers.

Balance price and quality

Expensive providers do not always provide excellent work. On the other hand, providers that provide the cheapest bids do not always give poor results. Know where to strike the balance. Evaluate the skills that you need to complete the task and pay reasonable price for you project.

Establish milestones

After hiring your provider, it is best to establish milestones for every task that needs to be completed. In this way, you will be assured that you will get what you pay for. Read through the escrow and the dispute resolution section of the website. This will add protection to you and to your provider.