Account Types

First, let’s look at what type of account will suit your situation best, including what type of fees you’ll be paying. You can easily change between account types, add Connects, and even build a contractor team.

Four types of Elance accounts exist for contractors, as shown in Figure 3.1. They include both individual and business accounts, and also a basic option that has no monthly account fee.

Figure 3.1: The Elance membership plan grid.

The Basic Elance Account

This account is an easy way to get started if you’re gradually working into a new freelancing venture. As you grow and gain experience, you’ll want to upgrade to get added benefits including preferred placements in the search results and a greater number of monthly Connects.

DEFINITION

A preferred placement is also known as a sponsored placement. This feature highlights your proposal and places it at the top of the client’s proposal list. Although preferred placements give you extra visibility, be aware that they also cost you more Connects. Three preferred placements are allowed per project posting.

The advantage to the basic account is it’s free of any monthly account charges. The disadvantages are you have a limited number of Connects and cannot add more. You also cannot add more categories to submit proposals in, and you do not have the preferred placement option.

Finally, in the basic account only a limited number of keywords are available for clients to search for your specific services. This can matter because a keyword is the intuitive word a client will use to search for contractors. Think of using Google or some other search engine. The words you type in to start your search are keywords. With Elance you have the opportunity to list keywords that will bring up your profile when clients type the same word(s) in the search box.

Individual Accounts

The next step up from a basic account, individual accounts give you a surprising amount of extra features for only $10 a month. The number of Connects you receive every month is doubled, from 15 to 30, as are the number of keywords clients can search by, from 5 to 10. You can add more Connects at any point if you run out, and you can sign up for more than one category. The preferred placement option is available for your proposals.

For single operators, this is a great option. If your business includes more than one person, however, you need to look into business accounts.

Business Accounts

Three options for business accounts exist: the basic account, which is free of a monthly account fee, and both small and large business accounts.

The drawbacks of the basic business account are the same as with the individual basic. You cannot add Connects, register in more than one category, or use preferred placements for your proposals.

The main attraction for a paying business account is that more than one person has access. As well, the number of Connects you receive each month is increased, as are keywords and storage space, and preferred placements are available. For a busy team, this is really the only viable option. The large business account has a whopping 60 Connects, 20 keywords, and 2 GB of space per workroom. Not bad for only $40 a month.