Poor Job Economy Spurs Growth Of Online Freelancing Article

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Poor Job Economy Spurs Growth of Online Freelancing

Skilled professionals searching for work on the internet are tapping into the power of freelancing and personal websites.

Author: Lindsay Heidbrink

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The struggle to find stable employment in the current economy is necessitating a move towards increased freelance work. Those with professionals skills to offer might find it hard to resist the appeal of finding freelance on the internet. This is especially true since various websites have emerged in the last several months as purveyors of the freelance market, most notably Freelancer.com.

Freelancer founder Matt Barie was recently interviewed by New Zealand’s TVNZ and said of his site, “It is a bit like trading but instead of buying and selling goods online it’s for outsourcing small projects . Just about anything that you can think of can be digitized and sent online for someone to do on the other side of the world.”

Another website, Elance.com, has provided companies with talent and skilled professionals with contracts since 2008. As of Q2 of this year, Elance reported over $390 million in cumulative earnings for members of their online forum, reflecting the website’s positive growth for the last three years.

What this means for job-seekers is that there are jobs available, and lots of them. Elance reported over 45,000 jobs posted in May. To take a bite out of these numbers, the key is the same as in any application process: stand out from the crowd.

Individuals and groups with profiles on sites like Freelancer and Elance can increase credibility by redirecting potential employers to their professional work websites. This can not only create a grounded and trustworthy image for your business but make it easier for repeat clients to find and connect with you online.

In addition to combining freelance profiles with professional websites, skilled professionals have also taken advantage of the social media extravaganza in order to get their names to potential clients. Since 67 percent of B2C companies and 41 percent of B2B companies have obtained customers through venues such as Facebook (Hubspot 2011 Inbound Marketing Report), internet freelancing can only benefit from the growth of online interaction.

Matt Barie of Freelancer spoke optimistically of the future of online freelancing during his TVNZ interview, pointing to the success of his own business: “We have almost doubled the business and we are on the track to triple that actually this year in New Zealand alone. Rather than relying on Internet advertising as a business model, what we are seeing now is quite solid foundations.”

In essence, the pragmatic has become practical—online freelancing is putting your elbow grease into play in the online world in a very real way. Good, old-fashioned hard work has proven to be a very solid commodity, and the success available in the online freelancing market has become more and more viable for those with websites and social media outreach as part of their marketing plan.

About Author

Lindsay Heidbrink is attending Brigham Young University and will receive a BA in Communications: Public Relations in April 2012. She currently works for Marketecture, a company that provides website construction/hosting. Visit http://www.Marketecture.com/ for more information. These articles are part of Marketecture’s continued efforts to help SMBs build a better business online. Lindsay likes reading, writing, painting, and scuba diving, among other things.

Article Source: http://www.1888articles.com/author-lindsay-heidbrink-42855.html

Poor Job Economy Spurs Growth of Online Freelancing