Outsourcing Ruining My Day!

by EndGame

Posted: 15 years ago 30 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

I HAVE to vent about this.

I am using Elance for the first time to find a web designer for a company i am working with.

It's drving me nuts! I literally hate the elance design and interface. I am also going "biscuits" at reading all the applications that clearly haven't read anything I have said in my job posting.

We are looking for ONE person to work with us on an hourly rate to design a number of websites, and if we hit it off, we'd like to work with that person in the long term. That was made fairly clear in the ad, and I am being bombarded with proposals and messages from companies that love to talk about how great, good and competent their "team" is.

Most of them have nothing to offer in terms of a portfolio most of them have totally misunderstood what we are looking for and have just sent a script they use to solicit business.

Whats worse, the inbox is full of messages and I have to wade through all the crap just in case I miss out on some one who can unerstand what we need and can meet the criteria!

ITS DRIVING ME NUTS!!!!!!

Has anyone else had these kind of frustrations or experiences and if so, can anyone offer an elance newbie and fan any constructive advice? You'd cheer me up and make this week a lot more manageable if you do!

Thanks for reading

From

A Frustrated and Highly Strung Internet Marketer Who Needs to Get Out in the Sun!

#day #outsourcing #ruining

rhelaine 15 years ago

that's outsourcing for you....the finding competent people is always the hardest.
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Dan C. Rinnert 15 years ago

One problem with Elance is that there seems to be a high turnover in vendors. There are some freelancers that I initially found through Elance, but they eventually stopped using the service as vendors because it wasn't worth it to them. They have to deal with lots of competitors that will undercut them dramatically, plus Elance's fees for vendors are apparently high.

Elance seems to go in cycles. There have been times where I have put up a job for bid, and received dozens of bids. And, it was tough picking one because there were so many good ones. Other times, I've put up a job and only had a handful of bidders and had a tough time because none of them were any good.

And, it does seem as though reading your project description is a low priority for some bidders. What I do is try to make sure that the project description is as clear and detailed as I can. If the bidder demonstrates that they haven't read it, just reject or ignore those.

I know that's probably not much help, but frustration is sometimes something you have to learn to live with on Elance. It just depends what part of the cycle you're in!
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EndGame 15 years ago

Thanks.
I seem to be in unique scenario of recieving many bids from eegits.

They post messages to me as long as salesletters. I have got over 20 sales letters in my inobx!
They use very big words, which is not a problem, but they use them incorrectly and out of context so as to sound clever. It has the opposite effect!

It would be quicker and more enjoyable to learn about web design and do it myself!

I appreciate the insight though.
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John Romaine 15 years ago

Elance frustrates me too. The navigation on that site sux.
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- appr 15 years ago
  
  Another alternative I have heard about is odesk. I think that you do not have to pay if the work is unsatisfactory. I have not used this service myself.
  
  Another is rentacoder.
  
  Joan
  
  Thanks
  
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Ryan700

15 years ago

Originally Posted by EndGame

This reminds me of the time an ex-co-worker of mine wrote a book on how to win the lottery. After getting someone to invest with him and then getting his book published he and his investor lost it all because he was too cheap to invest some more (minimal) money in a proofreader. He could have hired a student! (the book was laughable)
Is there a local university or college that you can enlist a student that could help you out? You will be doing both of you a favor. They need the money and the advantage for you is proximity and they'll be easier to get a hold of when you need them. And they may be cheap.
Most of the colleges have a central bulletin board that you can advertise on.

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Loren Woirhaye 15 years ago

Hire somebody locally off Craigslist or other such site
where talented people advertise.

Of course you won't get the work done for peanuts,
but you won't have to be a money-keeper either.
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IWebGirl 15 years ago

I gave up on Elance a long time ago. I tried Odesk. Found a few good people but still very frustrating.
I like GAF but choose only people who specialize in what you are looking for.... or you're up for an unpleasant surprise.

Take care,

The IWebGirl
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kentaiwan98 15 years ago

This isn't just a problem on Elance. I used sitepoint to advertise my interest in buying some smallish sites to add to my 'then' growing primary blog. I clearly indicated what area I was interested, my price range, and a whole bunch of criteria (for the 2nd round).

I was amazed how many emails I simply deleted because people were trying to sell sites that were worth a $1000+ ... all I was looking for was something that simple as a bolt on for my main site.

I eventually found a site, but decided not to advertise in that fashion again. I mean, I wanted a finance/tech site that was unloved... I was being pitched EVERYTHING! Just ridiculous. Those that were way off, just got deleted. I had no other choice.

That was Sitepoint.
Kenneth
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Tyrus Antas 15 years ago

Hiring competent people is not difficult. It's just that they rarely waste their time competing with people who work for less than 5 times they do.

You'll have more luck checking out web design communities where very talented people with affordable rates frequently hang out.

Tyrus
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mistermint 15 years ago

I like elance because, if it's quick coding job you can get it done at a moments notice. There are some prop heads from Russia & India. $ 50 is a lot to them.

The other point IMO is this, you get a lot of response because, the jobs go quickly especially if a person has good feedback.

Happy Days
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severt 15 years ago

Somtimes I think that "providers" at elance have an automatic script that sends a project price automatically... At the end of the day they have 20 responses, and just need 1 to get to work... If this is true, then it su*cks! But it explains the self promoting / nothing to do with your project messages.

I look always at the rating of the member, how long he's using elance, how many projects he have had in the last few month's, check if his portfolio is legal etc.

You can weed out alot of bids if you only choose to look at the rating and number of projects...

Please look out for people that have 2, 3 or more accounts and give each other work.
If you see a weird pattern, just skip this person.
There's always a chance that someone is working with a provider on the long term, but normally they would do business outisde of elance after a while because of the high fees.

And never choose a new provider, (as cool as them may be)
You do not want to be somebody's "genuine pig!"

Hope this helps,

Dennis
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scattermouse

15 years ago

There a lot of people on those sites that don't read the job posting at all. Some of the experienced employers put something at the post along the lines of:

Start your proposal with the word "bananas" (or any random word, some of them are quite funny) to show that you have read this description fully.

Makes it a lot easier to wade through the crap when you find out in 2 seconds whether someone read your description or not

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Nick Brighton

15 years ago

Originally Posted by scattermouse

That's really good advice! I'm going to use that one myself in creative and subtle ways!

Thanks

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Neil S 15 years ago

I have had a lot of success with Odesk.
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Igor Kheifets 15 years ago

Hey EndGame,

have you tried Re-Explaining your demands.
Maybe your decription wasn't clear enough. It happens.

Also, try to look for this kind of a proffesional here, at the WF.
I have met plenty competent designers and scripters allready.

Igor
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Chris Thompson 15 years ago

I have never needed to do this yet, but I think you can post a job that is not visible to everyone, only to those you invite. So you can just invite people who you think are qualified.

Also - you can "reject" numerous proposals immediately if you think they are crappy. That way your list of bidders will not be so much of a hassle. Just reject people quickly to maintain a short-list.
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dageniusmarketer 15 years ago

If you need help with designing your sites, I may be of some assistance. Take a look here:

Digital Wonderland

Or just check the first line in my sig.

Not the cheapest, but the work is second to none.
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- ildarius 15 years ago
  
  It might get even tougher when the actual project will be worked on. I read on rentacoder.com that 75% of IT projects are either
  
  - not completed in time
  - not completed at all
  - get completed with bugs
  
  Thanks
  
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Charles Harper 15 years ago

Yes. I am testing out linking to a camtasia audio along with my written description. I guess I could theoretically link to a video too.

I think hearing something like: "Don't bid on this if you do not know PHP, you will be wasting our time" might have impact.

Then again, I have freelanced before, ignored the description and received the work because I was different from everyone else who applied. So you have to understand that perspective also.

Charles
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GoGetta 15 years ago

I would go to GURU.com and post your job there. Then search the web designers and invite the ones you like the look of to quote!

BINGO!

HTH

GoGetta
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- warfore 15 years ago
  
  Have you tried a contest at 99designs? Jeremy Stevens seems to use them with great success.
  
  Thanks
  
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  Tony
  
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jkiley 15 years ago

I use www.rentacoder.com
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Kneb Knebaih 15 years ago

Go with GAF, Guru, Odesk and Rentacoder... stay away from Elance for design jobs.
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E-supreme 15 years ago

You would be better off taking the time to spend on web design escpecially if you are making several websites!
It won't take you that long and costs very little to learn. Theres so many on the internet!
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Shaka 15 years ago

I have also posted jobs with Elance without finding a suitable contractor. However, I have had success with GetAFreelancer.com having satisfactorily completed several projects utilizing contractors from them.

I use the responses that fail to address my RFP specifications or fail to demonstrate an individually written response as a warning sign of a contractor that will not follow instructions. I automatically pass on them because I have found that there are plenty of others who read the requests, respond appropriately, and are qualified to do quality work.
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BJ Min 15 years ago

hey...

what i like to do is to write in my post to send a sample related to your project...
but make a a MINI SAMPLE...

and write on the ad, that you will ONLY select from those who do the mini sample...

from there, you cut down all the spamming type of people..
also, you can select the BEST from there...

because lots of people claim they are good, but when you see their mini sample, you will find out most are not very competent...

so make sure request a MINI SAMPLE...and WRITE that you will ONLY HIRE people who have done the mini sample...

...this also weeds out all the lazy people who don't take the time to do your mini sample...it's a great way to select the best person...

i used to do it the average way of just posting simple work...but after awhile i have found my way to be the best way to weed out the people who don't read the ad...

BJ Min
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embrown 15 years ago

I'm on elance and I can tell you from the providers side, that it sucks. Like the OP said, the navigation is terrible. When I first started out, I wanted to do some Virtual Assisting and didn't have any success at all.

Anyway, I would rewrite your description or at the very least put something in stating that "if you haven't read this...", "if you don't know...", "if you don't have a portfolio..." etc, then reject the bids. If they apply anyway they will lose their connects, which are not cheap!

That'll learn 'em a lesson. And they can't appeal or report because you stated in your ad that you needed XYZ exactly.

But, that's what I would do in your shoes. Also, this is spoken as a provider, not a buyer.

Oh, be careful about asking for samples. I'm off to elance to check on that, now. Its something about asking for samples that can get your reported. I think its classified as trying to get free stuff. I'm not sure how that works in that department, but in the writing section its a no-no, so I've read.
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EndGame 15 years ago

Thanks for everyone's comments.

This has been both useful and interesting and makes me realize I am not the only one having this issue.

It is very frustrating, a lot of people talk about outsourcing being the answer to a lot of prayers, but it can seem like more hassle than it is worth some times. Today has been a little better. Less responses and a good phone call with one prospective supplier so today is a little more encouraging.
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dvduval 15 years ago

From my experience you have to:
1. Ask the right questions
2. Go through several people before you find a good one
3. Realize that some good ones are going to get busy and not have time for you.

We get a lot of customers now who can't find good help, and fortunately for our company every employee has been with us for 2 or more years, and one since 2001. We have a full staff of PHP programmers and designers.
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Outsourcing Ruining My Day!

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