Anyone here have an experience or testimonials for Elance? I’m looking for part time, at home transcription work while I work on my catering business, and this looks like a good way to get it. (providers bid on prospective jobs and are awarded jobs after bidding closes)
It does, however, have a subscription fee that’s pretty steep (for a gal out of work) and I wanted to know if anyone had had experience with them or had other suggestions of similar sites.
The reviews for Elance on a mailing list for publishing freelancers I belong to have been mostly negative, IIRC. (I’m not a writer, so I didn’t follow the discussion closely.)
Do you have any other suggestions, Scarlett of websites or groups that discuss freelance transcription and writing?
I used to do stuff on ELance (freelance writing and web design) about, oh, a year and a half ago. It was possible to pick up work now and then, but lowball bidders would always win, people didn’t always want to pay (for example, they’d ask for samples, then just use said samples), and it was generally not a use of time. I think I got 3, 4 jobs over 6 months, none of which paid more than $200.
Try FreelanceWriting.com, I guess.
Not a good use of time. It was quite a use of time. Maybe I didn’t get more jobs cause I can’t type?
Check your e-mail, jarbaby!
Any good sites for freelance proofreading or editing?
Is this something you can share publicly? I also might be interesting in freelance resources, and others reading the thread might also.
Hey, Jar!
The best publishing site for freelance editorial work (ANY editorial or design work, for that matter) that I’ve used is www.mediabistro.com. I know many in the publishing world who rely on it exclusively.
Also, if you’re just looking for transcription work try some local doctors offices. I worked as a gofer one summer for a large one (5 offices) where the doctors would just dictate their notes and shove the tapes off on transcribers to process.
OK, you’re right, I could have posted this. (When I e-mailed jarbabyj I had no idea whether I was going to include personal info or not, so I kept it private. The following is OK for public consumption, though.) These are not so much job leads as general discussion. (At least in freelance copyediting, there’s no easy way to get decent work, such as going to a Web site and “signing up”; you’ve gotta pound the virtual pavement, sending out your materials, taking editing tests on occasion, generating word-of-mouth and networking, and so on. Wish I had a nickel for every newbie who posts, “OK, I’m a-gonna be a freelancer! Where are the Web sites where I can sign up to have them send me work?” Uh, try freelancerfantasyland.com. Or worse, “Tell me who YOUR clients are so I can hit them up for work!” That would be no.)
OK, off the soapbox. Here’s the dirt:
Freelance mailing list:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/freelance.html
Mostly discussion about the business of freelancing – paying taxes, handling clients, getting work. We’re all in publishing – mostly writers, copyeditors, proofreaders, and indexers, although we also have compositors, graphic designers, illustrators, photographers. Might even be a few transcription folks, though I admit to deleting discussions specific to fields I’m not in. Occasionally someone posts a job op or a site that provides leads.
Freelance Online:
http://www.freelanceonline.com
I check in at the message board once a day; you can also list your resume and whatever for (I think) $15 a year. There may be job listings as well; I’ve had plenty of steady work for several years now, so I haven’t bothered to check it out. The population is about the same as Freelance, with perhaps more writers, but it’s not as busy.
Thanks for the help. I would do medical transcription, except that it says you have to have a huge knowledge of medical terminology, which, regardless of my hypochondria, I do not. Some medical transcription places even say you need to have taken the MCATs!