Hello, my dear readers!

This is the second of three posts about the Big Freelancing Three – Elance, Fiverr and PeoplePerHour. Today, we take a look at Britain-based PeoplePerHour!

How it works:

The home of the creepy, expressionless orange smiley face is similar to its blue-and-white-themed cousin, but it has its own nuances as well.

Once you set up a profile on PeoplePerHour, there are two ways to go about finding work.

1. You can search multiple job categories (writing, IT, administrative assistance, etc.) and send a proposal in the much the same way as you would on Elance. You send a cover letter, the price, some portfolio samples and you’re done! A free account on PeoplePerHour gives you 15 credits per month used to apply for jobs. In the past few months, though, I’ve been given 85 and an email saying they think I’m going to be one of their top sellers. I’m not sure if I’m tooting my own horn here because I don’t know if this is something they send out to everybody at some point or what…

2. You can also sell Hourlies – fixed price jobs clients can purchase like any other online product. For example, one of my Hourlies that’s been doing well recently here and on Fiverr is screenwriting. I set up and Hourlie that says I will write so many words of a screenplay for such a price; it’s as if my clients buy little “packets” of work. I haven’t tested the price limits on said “packets” so I can’t tell you how high it can go; it goes as low as $10USD, though.

There are advantages and disadvantages-a-plenty when it comes to this Fiverr-Elance hybrid.

What PeoplePerHour Does Right:

Overall, it’s a healthy blend between Elance and Fiverr in the way it operates.

Unlike Elance, you can apply for jobs in any category even if you only specialize in one or two.

You have the option of getting an email notification if the job you applied for is awarded to another freelancer.

The portfolio system makes it easy to send prospects documents/samples without having to re-upload them over and over again.

Asking for a deposit on a job is a default setting, a feature not found on Elance.

Clients have the option of having freelancers answer specific interview questions during the proposal-writing process.

What PeoplePerHour Does Wrong:

This has less to do with the site and more to do with my own observations, but the competition seems especially tight.

seems especially tight. A 15 percent service fee taken out of the final earnings? And a 1.9-percent fee for PayPal transfers? No thank you.

The proposal submission system would really benefit from giving freelancers the option of including a schedule. A simple calendar system like Elance would do.

A more detailed reviewing system for both freelancers and clients would be nice.

The portfolio system isn’t what it could be; it doesn’t let you describe each individual sample in very much detail.

A free PeoplePerHour account only gives you 15 credits per month. (UPDATE: They’ve since changed this to 45, in my experience. I’m currently CERT Level 4.)

Final Word: My experience with PeoplePerHour has been all right. There are flaws in the system and room for improvement and there does seem to be more (or at least quicker in terms of applying for jobs) competing freelancers, but I still find it a viable site for making connections, expanding your portfolio and, of course, making money.

Last Week: Elance

Next Week: Fiverr

Have you had experience with PeoplePerHour? What did you think? Discuss in the comments below!

Share this: Facebook

Twitter

Email

Print

More

LinkedIn

Pinterest



Tumblr

Reddit



Pocket

Like this: Like Loading... Related

Tagged: bad, elance, fiverr, freelancing, from home, good, honest review, how it works, people per hour, review, website, work, working from home