Not too long ago, we talked about finding jobs to match your skills with a site called Climber.com. This time around, we thought to review a freelance job site called GoFreelance.com.
Many people feel that we’re in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The media and “leading economists” say that our 7% unemployment is nearly as bad as the 25% seen at the height of the Depression, and that the sky will fall right down on top of our heads. But what leading economists fail to remember is that the world economy is infinitely different than the economy of the ’30s.
In the ’30s, people had to relocate to places where jobs where to be found, and where there was actual demand for workers. Today, through the Internet and freelance sites, people are able to work for companies all around the world without so much as stepping outside their home — a vast change from the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Find Freelance Work at GoFreelance.com
One such freelance site you can take a look at is GoFreelance.com (previously known as Freelance Work Exchange). GoFreelance.com offers its members the opportunity to bid on jobs from around the country and around the world. While it seems to be writing-centric (they’re a little heavy on the freelance writing jobs, and on the support afforded to members who are writers), GoFreelance.com offers all of its members something other freelance sites do not — active aid in starting and continuing a freelance career.
The Pros of Using GoFreelance.com, an Online Job Search Site
1. The site offers support and helpful resources for job seekers.
Rob Palmer’s 169-page ebook, “Million Dollar Freelancer, How to Find Work and Make Big Money” is available to every member upon membership, and is an extremely useful resource for those just starting in the freelance world. Their weekly newsletters and other articles available in the members area also offer invaluable advice to those needing to make a name for themselves in their chosen fields.
2. They have a fairly wide variety of jobs available.
GoFreelance.com offers jobs in the following areas:
- Writing and Editing
- Design and Illustration
- Web Design
- Web Development
- Programming
- Software
- Administration and Support
- Sales
- Marketing
- Consulting
- And the ever popular Other
3. The job rates are decent.
One other thing that’s good about GoFreelance is that those who post jobs with them seem to have pretty decent budgets, as far as I can tell. So far, most of the budgets provided by the buyers (those wanting to hire a freelancer) are extremely realistic, if not generous, which is something that is lacking in other freelance sites.
The Cons of Using GoFreelance.com
1. Their user interface and site features could use some improvement.
Unfortunately, your portfolio and profile options at GoFreelance.com are somewhat limited. The site is mostly text-based, which means that your profile and portfolio information will be rendered in text form as well. It seems that their presentation of the job seeker’s details is fairly rudimentary; this is one area they can improve upon in a big way. For instance, the information that a potential buyer will see about you will include the names of the files you upload as labeled on your computer — so make sure to name your sample files well!
2. Their job search option needs some work.
Want to browse around for jobs? Well their search option for jobs is somewhat vague. In fact, I couldn’t find the list of jobs anywhere on the site at first. The main way to search for jobs is through their search option box, but you will need to be specific with your keywords. For example, searching for “write” finds 16 jobs, searching for “writer” brings up 13 jobs in the search results, and searching for “writing” pops up only seven jobs. Searching for other types of jobs yielded similar results.
3. Their membership fees for job seekers are on the high side.
The membership price is probably the largest drawback to GoFreelance.com. While not completely out of reason (or maybe so, if you think of the free job sites that exist out there), the site’s $49.95 a month membership fee — when compared with the number of jobs available on the site of late and the number of members competing for the jobs — seems a little excessive. As with other sites, posting jobs for bid on GoFreelance.com is free.
Parting Thoughts
The membership fee can be somewhat assuaged, however, by signing up for GoFreelance.com’s affiliate program. Since many freelancers own web sites, this program may be of particular use to them — you may get a break in the membership fees this way. Also, a trial membership (seven days for $7) is available to everyone via PayPal or credit card payment.
Freelancing is an excellent way for us to get a few bucks to “help make ends meet”. There are opportunities here for job seekers or for those who just want to make extra income, since our current economic environment has seen many businesses tighten their belts by favoring freelancers (who are cheaper to hire) over permanent employees. Many businesses are turning to the Internet’s freelance sites to fulfill their business needs without having to pay for the medical benefits of full time employees. So from what you’ve read so far, would you consider GoFreelance.com as a possible starting point for a freelance career?
Written by Rachel Strong.
Rachel,
Thank you so much for your review of this site. I’ve been looking at ways to make money on the internet that won’t cost too much. It’s regular post on my blog but I never found this site. I think the only thing that might make people pause is the monthly fee. The trial membership seems like a decent amount for you to see what’s out there and if it’s worth spending almost $50 for work. Thanks for the great review! I’ll link to it in my next job post.
Thank you for your review of Go Freelance. We appreciate you sharing your opinion and doing the research needed to fairly evaluate their freelance opportunities. We have seen fit to link to this article in our independent Go Freelance Reviews section. Anyhow, keep up the good work spreading truth.
Thanks for the review. I think having to pay a “membership fee” just to see if there are jobs that might fit my expertise is unnecessary. Additionally, it doesn’t guarantee getting a job. There are other sites that only charge fees based upon whether you are actually getting projects. No projects, no fees.
Which are the other sites that offer online freelance work for no fees and are authentic. Would appreciate if someone is able to inform me about them.
But there are a lot of people complaining about the website, saying that it’s a scam. Please confirm.
I read the same as Chris, that GoFreelance is a scam. I read that they make it hard to cancel your membership. Have you actually used the website yourself?
I haven’t used GoFreelance but I’ve used other reputable freelancing networks such as vWorker (RentaCoder) and another one I came across a little while ago is ataskfreelancer.com. They’re new and registration is free so I’m going to see what I can gain on that site….it’s hard to find decent networks these days that have decent jobs for good pay.
I would like to start work.