Saturday, January 26, 2008, 5:39pm
oDesk is Probably Not Worth Your Time (As a Freelancer)
I’ve received a few emails asking whether or not I use freelancing websites like oDesk to find additional work when things are slow. I replied “no” for a few reasons, but the main one being that online websites like oDesk are not really geared towards the typical freelance designer or developer.
For example, do a search of available jobs with the keyword “wordpress”; as of this morning, there were 103 active projects. A few were PSD-to-theme services, but many were full redesigns of existing layouts or completely new WordPress-powered websites.
Pick a project, any project. Notice anything odd? Take a look at the average bid price (per hour). Are you willing to work on a WordPress theme for $9.50/hour?
It all comes down to how much you value your time and your skill. Online freelancing websites like oDesk cater to outsourcing companies overseas and provide a great way for companies to get projects done in an inexpensive way. However, for freelancers, the competition is so incredible and prices are so low that it probably won’t be worth your time.
For all I know, this may be common knowledge to everyone reading this. However, since several people have emailed me about this, I imagine it’s not.
