Freelancing on the Internet

From ArticleWorld

A freelancer is a person who is self-employed and is engaged in a trade or occupation for which full time engagement is available. Freelancing on the Internet is working online on a project or for an organization on a job-to-job basis. The worker is not attached to any particular employer, but works for different employers for remuneration decided upon through a process of negotiation.

The term 'freelancer' was first introduced by Sir Walter Scott in the 19th century. A freelancer, according to him, was a knight who was not attached to any particular lord. Freelancing on the Internet refers to such workers who are hired by an employer to do a specific task at a negotiated price. The peculiarity of freelancing on the Internet lies in the fact that the employer and employee rarely meet in person and are invisible to each other. Only the performance of the job is the key that links these two. Freelancing on the Internet is common for work involving the writing of articles, journalism, graphics design, computer programming and consultation.

Components of freelancing on the Internet

Advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web has opened up many new opportunities for job seekers throughout the world. Without having any direct physical link, the freelancer works via a computer connected to the Internet and delivers the desired product to the employer. According to very recent statistics, about 30% of the work online is done by freelancers. Freelancing on the Internet involves the following elements:

• A service buyer and a freelance service provider.
• Contracts may be verbal or written. Many prefer written contracts to avoid fraud.
• Most often the contract is gained through a third party who may have their own website and requires a small commission to create the necessary link between the service buyer and service provider. GetAFreelancer.com and FreelanceWorkExchange.com are two such websites.
• A system of escrow payment has recently been developed on these websites, where the payments can neither be blocked by the service buyer at will nor be taken by the service provider at will. The amount is deposited by the service buyer into an escrow account and can only be withdrawn upon completion of the project to the buyer's satisfaction and only when both employer and freelancer agree.

Freelancing on the Internet - a perspective

Normally the buyers hail from developed countries such as the U.S.A., Canada and Sweden, whereas the freelancers belong to such developing countries as India, Romania, the Russian Federation, Bulgaria and Argentina.

Freelancing on the Internet typically follows the pattern below:

• The buyer floats an ad on any well known website working as a link between buyers and freelancers such as www.GetAFreelancer.com, www.datajob.com or any other such website. While floating the ad, the buyer indicates the core requirements of the project, the range of price for the project and any specialties required such as that the database has to be ‘My sql’ or the work has to be done in ‘Windows’.
• Freelancers coming across the ad place their bids to indicate their price for the project and delivery time. They can also post messages asking for clarification of the project.
• The buyer gets his job done from his selected freelancer, the freelancer receives his remuneration and the website providing the link between the two earns his commission.