Outsourcing websites (Guru, Elance, etc)

[Third Sector Lab]

Who's used an outsourcing/freelancer website before and how did you find the experience?

I'm referring to the likes of Find Freelancers, Professionals, and Contract Workers for Hire - Guru.com, Elance | Hire Experts. Outsource Work. Pay For Results and Custom Web Design and Programming. Freelance Programmers. Outsource Web Development Outsourcing

 

[Third Sector Lab]

No idea how those URLs ended up looking like the, makes me look like a spammer!

 

[Scottish Business Owner]

It's the SEO software we use Ross. Dont worry we know you're not a spammer

 

[Scottish Business Owner]

I've never used them to be honest Ross to get back to the question. I feel really nervous about working with people so far away. It must be tempting however as the costs can be massively lower.

I do know people who actively use sites like this on a regular basis. In the current environment though i'd rather support a business closer to home and dont mind paying a bit more to do that

 

[stuarty]

Ross,

You pays your money and takes your chance.

I hired one to do some SQL/ASP work for us a couple of years ago for a bespoke project. They were cheap enough but when they delivered the code it was absolutely appalling. It was full of security leaks and free code snippets and all hashed together. Get this though - I developed an asp search script which I later made open source a few years ago. When the outsourcers delivered the files I went through it and made some changes and in doing so I found some of my own scripts that they'd removed the comments from. They never even had the gumption to change the variable names (named after my cat)!!!

Aside from the above the distance was a problem as I like to meet face to face with developers. Suffice to say I've never used anyone from these sites since.

I'm sure there will be a few good guys on these sites but from experience the best guys don't need to advertise and sell their skills short.

Hope that helps.

 

[Boxby]

There is a site called bobex, and it does get UK contractors too. I actually found a really nice UK company when looking for an ASP programmer through them (however ended up going with a Scottish Company who could do the whole website thing). But I have to say that the company that contacted me through bobex are still on my list of useful contacts.

 

[stugster]

I took a chance on GetAFreelancer for a job that I was going to run out of time to do. The coding wasn't that difficult, just PHP database work, but I was so snowed under, I put the job on there.

The guy was extremely helpful and did the work I needed done. When it came to actually launching the site though, there were a few bugs in his work. He disappeared off the face of the earth at this point, and I ended up having to go back and fix them myself. This, at the end of the project, actually made it more difficult. His coding was all over the place and he hadn't bothered to annotate it (yes, I know, "comment"!).

These guys can code, but they can't program. They're hackers, at best, and they don't understand what it takes to actually program to a professional and high standard. If they did, you wouldn't be paying them $20 an hour.

 

[Mike Lewis]

I'm coming at this from the other direction ....

On three occasions, I've obtained work from one of these freelancer sites. This was programming work, but my comments will apply equally to web design work.

On the whole, my experiences weren't great. There was no personal contact with the client and no subsequent feedback. I did the work and got paid for it, but I felt there was no proper relationship with the client. I never knew what happened to the work, and there was no opportunity to suggest improvements or to pitch for further work.

There's always be exceptions of course, but on the whole I wouldn't particularly recommend this way of working to anyone looking for work or to any prospective clients.

Mike

 

[Adventurelife]

Not talking web design or code work here but outsourcing projects in general.

I normally have several projects in the air at one time being done by a range of people all around the world.

In my experience you have no more or no less chance of getting quality work by getting it done close to home or at the other side of the world. At the last count I had work done for us in over 12 countries and I am sure it is more by now.

When it comes to working with distance outsource support most get it wrong as the project is not written down in specific terms so that your project partner can understand.

As a double check I always, repeat always get them to write back what the project is in their understanding and not just agree to my spec.

Some refuse to do this so they are ditched, but that small measure has saved me lots of potential grief.

The world is connected like never before, I view it as a businesses duty to ensure that it gets the highest quality work done for the best value by using the tools at its disposal

 

[Mike Lewis]

AdventureLife,

You've made some good points.

My comments didn't refer to outsourcing in general -- which I am all in favour off (vested interest). My hesitation was about using a site that doesn't allow personal contact between the contractor and the client. I don't know if that's the case with the sites that Ross mentioned in his original post, but it certainly was with the one I used.

Mike

 

[Gutsy]

From my side, the services I offer are generally considered as outsourced, and as I know in a lot of cases it would be hard for the client to actually meet me - I do work for clients all over the world, including Australia, UK, America - I tend to really try and make an effort to ensure that I'm very contactable in other ways - always have my phone with me, on Skype, Yahoo, Windows Live, and I try to answer emails as fast as I can too. I think particularly with the recession outsourcing, or offering an outsourced service is very viable, specially in cases where companies have laid off staff but have to still get the work done. Just smiling at Stugster's comment about when the contractor disappears. That is SO frustrating, but I think that is a general thing - I've experienced disappearing transcriptionists too, and the only thing I can think of is to know that I wil not do it myself ever - now I urge my contractors to open their mouths the minute there is a problem and let me know so that we can deal with it, instead of hiding from me after something has gone wrong, and I try to uphold the same policies when dealing with clients.

 

[Adventurelife]

AdventureLife,

You've made some good points.

My comments didn't refer to outsourcing in general -- which I am all in favour off (vested interest). My hesitation was about using a site that doesn't allow personal contact between the contractor and the client. I don't know if that's the case with the sites that Ross mentioned in his original post, but it certainly was with the one I used.

Mike

Hi Mike

I agree , if I cannot have personal contact ie phone, messenger etc etc then I never go ahead.

Peter

 

[RedEvo]

Have you looked at oDesk?

d

 

[Gordon N]

Have you looked at oDesk?

I had never seen this one before now, very interesting! It looks a lot more honest than some of the others, and I really like the look of the time tracking features.

Thanks!

 

[andrewghayes]

As someone who has actually used these sites as a service provider, I can tell you that almost all of them are rubbish. They're overrun with bodyshops from 3rd world countries that ensure the bidding results are so low as to keep out all but the most desperate of providers. (Do you really want someone who is desperate working on your business?)

ODesk may be great from the business customer side, but it isn't all that fair for the provider who has to setup a separate specific paypal account and is charged numerous fees to use standard features in the system.

I've actually stopped using these tools completely, either to source work for my business or to provide service. I now only rely on sites where you work directly with the individuals, such as:
ProgrammerMeetDesigner - where web developers find web designers
No Agencies Please - Freelance Jobs and Projects

These are just my opinions - your mileage may vary!

 

[Employment Law Services]

I've used a site similar to these and had a very positive experience...........the site itself provided an escrow service so the programmer didn't receive payment until I signed off on their work.

I've since used the same guy to do various work for me, he does it for a lot less than any UK based company would charge (seriously less) and his turnaround time is excellent. He only gets paid after all of the work he's doing has been completed, delivered to me and is uploaded and working. Great guy, great quality, great prices.

 

[Gordon N]

Fair point, but with todays economy and financial mess should we not be focussing on promoting and using British (more specifically Scottish!) businesses? The only way we can get ourselves back on the mend is self healing.

Maybe I'm just a bit old fashioned, I still buy petrol from my local independant garage rather than going to Tesco/Asda as I feel I am supporting the local business community.

I am registered with a couple of these sites now and find the hoop jumping to bid for jobs a bit too much. Add to that the fact that you know that someone from the far east is going to at least half your bid there really is little point. In many ways (for my industry certainly) this actually devalues the work we do and the services we provide.

 

[Employment Law Services]

Fair point, but with todays economy and financial mess should we not be focussing on promoting and using British (more specifically Scottish!) businesses? The only way we can get ourselves back on the mend is self healing.

I agree that promoting Scottish/British businesses is important and that we should, where possible, do this as a matter of course, but isn't keeping costs as low as possible to ensure the best possible ROI on any project expenditure and maximising profit margins more important?

If a UK based web designer is quoting me £2500 and another (location unknown) is quoting me £200 to do the exact same work and there's no difference in the quality wouldn't I be daft to pay the higher price?

Sadly, these challenging financial times are forcing many of us to revisit our pricing strategies but I guess its even more difficult for web design companies because the service they provide can not only be outsourced, it can be offshored too and at much lower prices.........