The Competition

Hundreds of thousands of individuals and businesses have joined Elance, and there’s no sign of slowing—the growth rate has been in the double digits since inception. The sagging global economy, corporate layoffs, and Teflon-strength entrepreneurial spirits will continue to fuel this growth. Given this business environment, it’s more important than ever to understand your competition.

For clients seeking to expand their business through the use of online hires, growth means the opportunity to choose from an expanding pool of talented contractors. A client’s competition is for the time and attention of the top contractors. This can be significant and sometimes solved only by larger and higher-paying projects, or by being a repeat customer. With the Elance system you cannot search amongst clients and see what they’re up to and what you might learn from them. Your worldview is of contractors.

For contractors, however, the story is different. You might end up bidding on a job with dozens of other freelancers. It’s important that you understand who your competition is and how to differentiate yourself. This is also a great way to get ideas as you build your own profile.

Remember, just because you have competition doesn’t mean you can’t come out on top. Online work sites are increasing in demand because people are finding work and are learning to build new lives; not because they’re all crashing and burning. As the number of contractors grows, so does the number of projects posted.

One of the keys to being in the top tier is to understand who else is out there.

Research

Researching the competition is most crucial for contractors. As a freelancer, you need to understand who else is out there and what they’re saying about themselves. So let’s roll up our sleeves and start digging.

To get a general overview, log in to Elance and in the top-left corner hold your cursor over Hire. A drop-down menu will appear. Click on Search Contractors, as shown in Figure 2.7.

Figure 2.7: Studying contractors will help you understand your competition.

Next, on the left side of the page, click on the category you want to research and this will bring up a list of every single contractor registered in that field.

Several ways exist to narrow your search. Scroll down on the left side and you’ll see you can sort by Tested Skills, Location, Feedback, Reviews, Hourly Rate, and Groups (see Figure 2.8). You can also access a list of somewhat different features by going to the Sort By drop-down menu in the top-right corner.

Figure 2.8: Click on the contractor category to search for those contractors with similar specialties.

Much information can be mined from learning what other contractors are doing. Spend some time here; you’ll be grateful you did.

What’s Working and What’s Not

The idea is to generate ideas for your own business. You’ll see many successful contractors as you explore Elance. Don’t worry about them being your competition, you have something distinct and special to offer, and you can become as successful as you want to be. But learning from others is a proven strategy for giving yourself the extra edge.

TOP TIPS

Knowing what your competition is doing can give you some handy tools and ideas when it comes to designing your own Virtual You. Gather tips and dodge mistakes; it all boils down to research.

You can learn from those on the top end, and those on the bottom. Have a look at what the most successful are doing and also at those who aren’t getting the business. Your eyes will be opened. Take notes, because in Chapter 4 we’re going to put this all together and build your profile.