If you were ever an Elance provider, you may want to search outsourceroom.com for your information. I am an inactive provider, and my information was posted. Elance claims they are working on it, but the hack is going on for about a month now and the information is still posted.

I’m guessing they hired one of their inferior $50 budget providers or buyers to do their security, proving once again you get what you pay for.

For people with low marketing dollars, the second option is SEO articles and content that is placed on article directories like ePubster.com.  To understand how this works, you need to understand how search engines are programmed.  Search engines like google “crawl” or “spider” the web looking for content that matches the phrases your potential clients type into their browser.  For instance, if someone was looking for “red widgets,” google searches for websites that have content directed at “red widgets.”

How does Google rank your website, the new, unadvertised site against your competitors? What if other sites discuss “red widgets” and place a link to this superior website, your company?  That’s where article writers can help you, and it’s a great way to advertise your site at an affordable price.  Article directory websites like ePubster give you a place to find article writers that create quality, keyword content that’s placed on their directory.  ePubster has ghostwriters who can create quality content that targets keyword phrases and hosts it on their article directory for Google to index your website higher.

How much is a fair price for SEO articles?  That’s been a debate for a while among writers and buyers.  My experience is $15-$20 for 500 words is fair, although many poor writers will charge a lot less.  You can buy keyword stuffed trash that says nothing to the reader, and in my experience, people read the content on article directories.  As a matter of fact, I’ve received applicants who have read my articles.

If you’re looking for a group of great writers, check out ePubster for reasonably priced quality web content and SEO articles.  If you’re a writer, come join us too!

1. Elance is a host for numerous scammers.  As a long time Elance bidder, the amount of jobs that are actually awarded is probably around 15%.  To dig into that percentage even more, many buyers will post jobs and ask for free samples.  It’s well known that these buyers who ask for free samples are really just asking for samples so they can accumulate the 10 articles they need for free and take off, never awarding the job.  Elance has become the number one place for these freelance writer scammers.
2. There is really no dispute resolution that doesn’t result in a poor rating.  Let’s say a buyer decides to take your writing and never pay.  Sure, he has the money in escrow, but the buyer just disappears.  You file a dispute with Elance.  The problem is that while you deserve to be paid, the buyer can come back and ruin your rating.  I had premier provider, so I was required to keep a 90% rating.  Disputing a non-payment could mean that I lose my rating and ultimately sales.  Elance allows buyers to rate you poorly if they refuse to pay you.
3. Top writers are nothing but article farmers.  If you’re an honest writer just looking for some jobs, get ready to compete against article farmers who resell their wins to very cheap overseas providers.  Go through the top Writing and Translation professions – jamos, jkwelch22, ladywordsmith, flour69 – these are all article farmers who bid low against you just to farm out their work to others.  Elance’s “professionals” claim to be individuals who write, but actually they sell a bunch of PLR articles to buyers.  This is one of the prime reasons why buyers are leaving Elance.  They claim that the quality is not there, but what they don’t realize is that the person who bid on their project has actually farmed it out to some offshore person for $1 an article.

These are just a few reasons why I never want to deal with Elance again.  Elance is the single worst experience any writer can have on the Internet.

I believe that some businesses still value quality web content, so I have created ePubster.  ePubster takes the hassle of bidding from freelance writers and screens writers for buyers.  ePubster also proofreads and checks for plagiarism for our buyers.  The prices are set, and freelance writers need only add the project to their workroom.  The deadline for one article is 3 days, so freelance writers are able to let go of the ridiculous deadlines asked from Elance buyers.  Additionally, ePubster asks for payment up front, so there is no chance of a buyer withholding payment.

For those who are in need of freelance writers for content, ePubster screens all their writers, so there is no question that the web content and articles you receive are quality.  ePubster buyers are given one revision in case there is something not quite right about the article.  The website also proofreads and checks for plagiarism prior to the work being submitted, so buyers can also eliminate the need to copyscape or proofread content.

If you are a freelance writer who would like to contribute to ePubster’s article directory and get noticed by buyers, signup to be an ePubster writer.

If you need quality writing from freelance writers who want to sell your business and give it the professional look it deserves, signup and post your writing job.

ePubster is also an article directory where writers can post content freely.  It isn’t just any article directory though.  It has publishing tools and editors who check your writing prior to its submission.  For anyone who writes full time, you know the hassle of finding a typo you didn’t see.  ePubster checks the article for you to help in the publishing process.

Elance has amassed a large amount of buyers who are trying to scam providers out of work. This is a fact I have realized. I am also a provider on Rent-a-Coder, and I honestly feel that site, even though it is considered the lowest place for writers, have fewer buyers trying to scam providers. I don’t know what to make of the situation since there are a lot of advantages that make Elance a better place for making money, but for honest clients, Rent-a-Coder is the place to be.

Overall, I think it’s best for freelance writers to mix work between Elance and RAC. iFreelance and oDesk are jokes. I signed up for oDesk and their format sucks and their providers and writing fees are a joke. I hope one day we writers find a better way to market our services. I welcome and hope someone creates an escrow service that incorporates Elance’s positive aspects with RAC’s provider services. If some visionary can create that wonderful mix, I think he or she will have the perfect website for freelancing.