Where is the best place to find reliable cost-effective work-from-home
freelancers for marketing and sales projects. I would prefer a
researcher with first hand experience in using such places. Projects
relate to our site http://www.eMachineShop.com - we make custom parts
online.

Dear swisscheese,

Thanks for your question.  First, let me request that if any of the
following is unclear or if you require any further research – please
don’t hesitate to ask me for a clarification.

You asked where is the best place to find reliable cost-effective
work-from-home freelancers for marketing and sales projects.

Three sites come to mind as leaders in this area.  They are ranked in
my order of preference.

eLance – www.elance.com

eLance is a marketplace for projects, basically, where project
providers offer work that contractors will then bid on.  The page
where you will want to post your projects is –

http://www.elance.com/c/static/main/displayhtml.pl?file=eol.html&module=home&

Guru – www.guru.com

Guru’s motto is “We connect great companies with great talent” –
similar in format to eLance, but because it’s free to register, talent
quality is expected to be lower (at eLance freelancers pay $70/month
or close to $500/yr to get listed and to receive permission to bid on
projects).  I have had ok experience with Guru from a contractor’s
perspective.

Sologig – www.sologig.com

Again, a similar service – this is also a subscription service for the
freelancer; I was subscribed to this for a while and very few quality
projects came through, so I quit.  Most of what I saw there was either
100% commission based or else one of those work-from-home scams where
they want you to pay something upfront to get started (guess who makes
money off those deals???)

I hope one of these helps you land the talent you are seeking.

A good resource for additional sites of this type is –

http://www.weblens.org/elance.html

But I believe eLance, Guru and Sologig are the top three in terms of
volume, traffic and name recognition.

I hope this response adequately addresses your request.  Please let me
know if you are in need of additional information concerning this
query.

Thanks,
ragingacademic-ga


Search Strategy:

None – based on personal knowledge.

Thanks - right on target.

Hi swisscheese-ga,

I do not have first hand experience using such places but I was
working for such people.  If you are interested in my answer as to how
I got the job then I will be willing to assist you.

Please let me know your response.


Thank

jeanwil-ga

Hi Jeanwil - OK I'd like to hear the inside view. -- swisscheese

What kind of Sales and Marketing jobs?
There are all kinds of sites where you can
get consulting help, and others where you
can hire sales-types.  Pro-Savvy I believe
is big in this area, but may be expensive.

Hi martinjay-ga -- Projects could be finding customers meeting a
specific requirement, arranging link swaps, finding optimal places to
advertise, etc.  Pro-Savvy looks a bit hi-end. -- swisscheese

Will add my two cents, these are very different skills
sets to be done, but here are some thoughts:
Projects could be:
finding customers meeting a specific requirement - 
this could be done, depending on whether you already
know 'who' your target is, with the help of a database
marketing company.  If you are looking for feet on the
street, two good places are a) newspaper ads, b) unemployment
gatherings, like Geek Meets or Layoff Lounge
Arranging link swaps - need to figure out which ones, negotiate
with the principals for the others.  I'd do this one myself.
Finding optimal places to advertise, etc. - on the web, or
otherwise?  If on the web, I'd go to the online pros, if off
the web find either a small ad agency or an advertising pro
and get a couple hours or his/her time.  Good luck,

Hi martinjay-ga - Thanks for your thoughts. -- swisscheese