Before the widespread use of the Internet, working for yourself was a much tougher undertaking than it is today. With over 13 million people claiming the status of “self employed,” sites have sprung up online to fill this niche and offer help through a variety of services. From helping you find work projects to offering advice, these sites can be a real asset to anyone striking out on his own.

Job categories range from writing, management, legal,

Information Technology, marketing, and more. The

primary focus of these “Business to Business” (B2B)

sites is to match your skills with companies who

have projects for someone with your talents. Some

charge for membership, some are free, and some take

a percentage of each job that is awarded (usually

from the employer).

Each of these sites requires you to fill out an online

profile specifying your experience and skill level.

Some allow you to list examples of your

work.

Let’s take a closer look at a few of the bigger

freelance sites:

1) Guru: http://www.guru.com

This is probably the most popular, likely due to their large

advertising budget. You’ll find their ads in all of the more

popular PC Mags and pasted everywhere online.

Like most of these services, you must first create

a profile that details who you are and what you do.

The site currently claims over 320,00 members with

over 7,000 job listings. They also offer a variety

of backend services such as articles, and an ezine

and other goodies that will help you run your

business more efficiently.

2) eLance: http://www.elance.com

This site is set up in an auction setting where

you bid on projects that interest you. Use of an

online rating system allows buyers and sellers to

make comments about each other which are then

publicly shared. eLance covers all business

categories you can possibly think of

3) eWork Exchange: http://www.eworkexchange.com/

Registration includes building your online

resume, which can be added to by creating a skill

profile to go with it. Searching for projects is

simple. When you see something you like you can

e-mail the project owner with your comments through

the use of a private profile number. You won’t

receive any direct contact information until you

accept the project. eWork boasts they have over

170,000 members

4) Free Agent: http://www.freeagent.com/

Claiming over 100,000 members, this is another one getting a

lot of press. Upon registering you have to fill out a lengthy

form detailing your skills and qualifications. They don’t use

open bidding, but you can search for projects by category. Free

Agent uses a skill-matching engine that matches your skills

with possible employers. Your name is then sent to them so they

can contact you and work out the money details.

So next time your business is slow and you’re not

quite sure where your next paycheck is coming from,

browse through these sites and you’ll have a “gig”

in no time at all!

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