Five Unconventional Freelance Platforms
That are transforming the freelancing world
Times are changing, and how freelancers connect with clients is no exception. In the past few years, freelancing has greatly increased in popularity as millennials try whatever they can to avoid a traditional 9–5 job. The way people work worldwide is transitioning from working locally in offices to remote work.
Using a freelancing platform is an excellent option for anybody looking to earn some extra cash, embrace the freedom of freelancing, or to develop their professional skills on their own time.
Freelance platforms have altered the way professionals and companies operate. In fact, in the US alone 43% workforce is already spending some time working remotely. As the digital nomad lifestyle grows in popularity, freelancing platforms are opening doors for new and existing professionals to find more work online.
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As trends like the digital nomad lifestyle grow in popularity, Freelance platforms are without a doubt proving beneficial for both enterprise and individuals.
Implementing freelancers into your companies team is a great way to reduce overhead costs, boosts productivity, and open up a greater pool of talent to choose from. Studies show that freelancers and remote workers are more productive than in-house employees. Moreover, hiring freelancers provides companies with the freedom to hire different workers as needed, and can part ways with freelancers without any mess.
On the other hand, freelancers receive an opportunity to work with flexible schedules, get rid of daily commutes, and have a better balance between work and professional life.
Freelancing platforms can be leveraged to produce incredible effects for both businesses and individuals. But the crucial question is — How does someone begin freelancing? Well, to start off you will need a freelancing platform which you can register and connect with the clients on.
However, due to the abundance of both freelancers and freelancing websites in the market, it becomes challenging to choose which one is best suited for you. You can always choose the large platforms, but do these websites actually provide the services which you are looking for? Here we will introduce you to some unconventional freelance websites that offer unique and distinctive features. To save you some serious time, we’ve compared and scrutinized different platforms and present our top 5 websites with stand-out features to fit your custom needs.
01. SimplyHired
Founded in 2003 by Gautam Godhwani, Anil Godhwani, and Peter Weck, SimplyHired is both an employment website and an online recruitment advertising network. Back in 2006, Recruit Holdings Co. Ltd acquired SimplyHired, stating that its webpage would continue to operate as a job search destination, but would additionally serve as a publishing partner for Indeed.com. With the availability of a wider range of talent and clients, SimplyHired is perfect for everyone from programmers to construction workers.
What makes SimplyHired stand out?
A) Diverse Resource Pool -
It’s difficult to beat SimplyHired when it comes to the pool of resources at their disposal. From personal care to technology and construction, to administration, SimplyHired has jobs for any professional. The site lists jobs from over 24 countries in 12 languages
B) Finding Talent Made Easy -
SimplyHired is a platform populated by experts from various domains. The platform focuses on enhancing experience and usability for clients. In order to simplify the search for talent, the platform offers a tailored way to search for freelancers based on job title, skill, and company. Additionally, users can also perform a location-based search if they are looking for freelancers in a specific location.
C) Salary Estimator -
Are you a novice freelancer just starting out in the freelancing world? Then you probably have one question on your mind–How much would I make? Will I be scammed or underpaid just because I am new?
No need to fret, with SimplyHired’s Salary Estimator you can quickly get a salary estimate and learn about the wage for any job.
02. Guru
Founded in 1998 in Pittsburgh and acquired by eMoonlighter.com, Guru.com has over 3 Million members worldwide and 1 Million completed jobs. It is a platform designed to connect and associate employers with a talented pool of freelancers from all around the world. Moreover, to make the transactions between parties easy, Guru also facilitates communication between the two parties. The Guru Work Room lets you efficiently manage all your work in one convenient place.
Guru is perfect for freelancers, looking for good pay jobs in designing, writing, IT, marketing, administration, and related fields.
What makes Guru stand out?
A) Showcase Your Work -
Guru that lets you showcase your past work experience and provides you with access to new jobs every day. Being able to show your past experience to employers can allow employers to make the right decision (choosing you!).
B) Payments Made Safe -
With Guru, you can set up how and when payments will be made on your job. There are 4 arrangements to fit any job:
- Pay by Milestones
- Pay by Task
- Pay by the Hour
- Pay Using Recurring Payments
But what really fascinating about Guru is SafePay. It doesn’t matter which arrangement you choose, SafePay gives you a simple and secure solution for payments. Always focused on convenience, Guru offers a way to automate your payments. And, in case of any dispute which cannot be resolved by words alone, Guru has Dispute Resolution Service dedicated to solving problems between clients and freelancers.
C) Simplified Onboarding and Job Posting -
Guru is focused on providing a relaxed and hassle-free onboarding and job posting experience. By leveraging above-the-fold content, Guru empowers employers to quickly post a job for free. However, while creating a job post is free, Guru offers a way to boost your job posting by paying additional money for increased exposure. The advertised posts are featured on top of the search results.
03. PeoplePerHour
Founded in 2007 by Xenios Thrasyvoulou and Simos Kitiris, the company is headquartered in London. PeoplePerHour is a freelancing marketplace mostly aimed at bringing together people searching for services in writing, web development, designing, social media, business development, etc. PeoplePerHour empowers professionals around the world to take on work that they love doing.
You can easily score both online as well as on-site freelancing gigs on PeoplePerHour.
What makes PeoplePerHour Stand out?
A) Management and Collaboration -
With PeoplePerHour you can say goodbye to the struggles of managing a project. The dashboard allows users to monitor the information they need to get the job done, along with the necessary management tools to make your workflow easier. PeoplePerHour gives you a clearly marked inbox of tasks, structured threads for communication, and simple organized invoicing.
B) Secure Money Protection -
Unlike conventional freelancing platforms, PeoplePerHour has an intuitive payment system that holds payments in an escrow account until work is marked complete by both parties. Additionally, employers using the marketplace are required to provide down payments at the beginning of the projects to ensure payment is given.
In order to safeguard users, PeoplePerHour has an Anti-Fraud Protection system. They monitor every transaction and use their customer support specialists to help solve issues swiftly and fairly.
C) Pre-defined Job Posting Template -
PeoplePerHour has a template to describe the work needed for the project. The website has an artificial intelligence system in place that does most of the heavy lifting — matching and contacts with the best freelancers for the job.
04. TaskRabbit
TaskRabbit is extremely unique in its primary purpose. The platform aims to revolutionize how we handle our daily errands. Founded in 2008 by Leah Busque, the company has received $37.7 million in funding to date. Originally launched as RunMyErrand, in April 2010 Busque renamed it to TaskRabbit. In September 2017, IKEA Group announced it would acquire TaskRabbit, but would continue to operate independently. IKEA launched a furniture assembly service from TaskRabbit in March 2018. TaskRabbit is a freelance platform curated to help businesses and individuals with their day-to-day tasks. From minor repairs and housekeeping to furniture assembly and delivery services, this same-day service freelance platform provides solutions no other platform can offer. It has over 140,000 vetted taskers that are proficient in their specific tasks.
What makes TaskRabbit stand out?
A) Effortless Transactions -
TaskRabbit offers a companion mobile app which allows clients to choose the right tasker from mobile devices. Users can choose from a variety of home services and provide details about the services required - TaskRabbit does its magic and connects clients with taskers.
Select from a list of qualified and vetted Taskers for the job. Choose Taskers by their hourly rate, and start chatting with them right in the app.
When tasks are complete, payment is sent seamlessly and securely through the app.
B) Vetted Resources -
What is one thing that you need the most from any freelancer? Quality! “Quality over Quantity” is TaskRabbit’s motto. It doesn’t matter if a freelance platform has millions of freelancers, what really matters is the quality of the workers. Through TaskRabbit, you get talent that is thoroughly vetted and undergone a rigorous background and identity check prior to working on the platform.
C) TaskRabbit’s Happiness Pledge -
Trust and safety are TaskRabbit’s top priorities. While all Taskers undergo extensive background and identity checks, it is still risky to grant access to your property to a stranger. To secure and safeguard clients, TaskRabbit covers up to $1 Million in property damage.
05. RemotePanda
Founded in early 2017 and launched at Startup Grind Global Event by Ayush Jain, RemotePanda is the pragmatic, prudent and organized way to outsource your needs. With RemotePanda’s concierge service it means you have someone to take care of your needs right from recruitment to hiring and throughout the project. This freelance platform set the KPIs for the work and builds accountability within the process for the remote worker. With RemotePanda, employers can enjoy the taste of managed remote teams with a success facilitator to oversee that all KPI’s are met.
What makes RemotePanda stand out?
A) Managed Remote Teams -
There are multiple platforms which offer freelancers and remote workers, which really makes RemotePanda unique is the fact that they provide managed remote teams and freelancers. What this actually means is that when you hire a freelancer from the marketplace, you get an additional layer of management that oversees the operation and productivity of the freelancer, reducing the burden of management and allowing you to activate their full talent. Another thing to note, freelancers working on RemotePanda are extensively vetted and interviewed thoroughly prior to being allowed on the platform.
B) Success Facilitator and Quality Oversight -
To ensure that users can leverage the full vigor of resources, RemotePanda assigns a Success Manager to every project. From effective communication to resolving disputes, the success manager takes care of the little things so you can focus on results. Success managers make sure that all KPIs set at the beginning of the project are met.
C) ESCROW Billing System -
When a user hires talent from RemotePanda they are provided with a seven day trial period where the employer can test the waters and check if the hired individual is the right match for their project.
Moreover, to ensure the safety of clients, RemotePanda adheres to an escrow billing system. This means that all funds are held on the platform until the completion of the project. If for some reason you are not satisfied with the work you receive, the issue is resolved fairly and quickly by the success manager.
RELATED — Get to know the latest trends on remote work with “Remote Work Survey Report 2018–2019”
Conclusion:
Freelancers and clients have dozens of options to choose from, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. It is based on your needs and requirements which you will choose the right fit for you. This list contains options to seriously consider checking, although the only way to know is to try them yourself.
About RemotePanda:
RemotePanda is a personalized platform for companies to hire remote talent and get the quality work delivered from our city Pune. All talents associated with us are close network connections. When we connect them with you, we make sure to manage their quality, their growth, the legalities and also the delivery of work. The idea is to make remote work successful for you.