Comments on: Using Guru.com for Our Freelance Business

By: A Step-by-Step Approach to Writing To Fund Your Travels | writingandtraveling

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:18:35 +0000

[...] a bulk of my revenue comes from a steady flow of clients, repeat work from previous clients, etc. Lorna Doone Brewer and Tamarra Berry at Freelancing Parent have found success with guru.com, as yet another example. Let the world yap; but donâ€™t sit at home [...]

By: Lorna Doone Brewer

Lorna Doone Brewer — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:33:16 +0000

@Kathleen – Congrats on making the freelancing leap. Starting out low seems to be the way most people go. We got a Guru account immediately, as it gave us a place that we at least knew people were looking for writers. We bid on all the jobs we thought we wanted and within a short time had made back our investment for the account. If you’re hesitant, you could try getting an account for a month instead of a whole quarter. It costs less, and you can get a feel for the site. We did that with Elance, and when it didn’t work well for us, we just didn’t renew.

As for how clients choose writers: I assume that start by looking at bids that are in the price range they want and then go ahead and compare the profiles and feedback of those who have submitted. Some employers will also invite you to bid on a project based on your profile alone.

Best of luck to you!

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:41:49 +0000

I just started freelancing 4 months ago. I started out with low paying work but little by little I am starting to get higher paying jobs in new areas like ad copy, etc. So far I have gotten every single job by applying to Craigslist ads but competition is fierce and I get tired of applying to so much stuff.
I am wondering if my next step should be to join a place like Elance. I want to create multiple income streams but I worry about paying the $250 and not finding any work after that. How do clients choose writers on Guru? $250 is a lot of money to pay if you’re not even sure it will be worth the investment.

By: solomonsydelle

solomonsydelle — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:42:14 +0000

Thanks so much for sharing this info. I am doing some research on Guru.com and this was very helpful. solomonsydelles last blog post..YAR'ADUA TO SUE NIGERIAN NEWSPAPER

By: Keeping Trade Secrets, Well, Secret | Freelance Parent

Keeping Trade Secrets, Well, Secret | Freelance Parent — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:10:51 +0000

[...] Using Guru.com for Our Freelance Business [...]

By: Lorna Doone Brewer

Lorna Doone Brewer — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:28:01 +0000

@Drew – Thanks for your thoughts. We’ll be watching for your new service to see how it compares.

By: Drew Sire

Drew Sire — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:52:19 +0000

Yes, they are totally illegal. Ebay tried to start forcing people to only use Paypal but had to back off it. It goes hand and hand with anti-trust monopoly law. Coercive selling is an extension of this ethic. Coercive selling means the same company is trying to force people to buy several products. A monopoly anti-trust is the same thing, just different companies working together to force people no choice. I am working on a new service that will be 10 times better for freelancers, especially writers, that actually offers real value and doesn’t base its whole system on some competitive industrial age mentality of scarcity.

By: Lorna Doone Brewer

Lorna Doone Brewer — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:36:43 +0000

@Drew – That’s really interesting. I know that some of those practices are incredibly annoying, but I didn’t think they were actually illegal as well.

By: Drew Sire

Drew Sire — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:33:06 +0000

Guru practices unethical behavior. They are using a form of coercive selling when they require you to use their feedback payment system on top of the membership fee. That is unethical and against banking and finance law. They also break employer law by allowing employers the ability to post negative remarks on an employee. The law does not allow employees to make negative comments when someone calls for a referral. Guru is facilitating unethical behavior. Drew Sires last blog post..Writers

By: Blog Picks for Work at Home Moms | WAHM 2.0

Blog Picks for Work at Home Moms | WAHM 2.0 — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 20:59:47 +0000

[...] How freelance writers use Guru.com [...]

By: Lorna Doone Brewer

Lorna Doone Brewer — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 17:16:46 +0000

@Sarah - We haven't tried it without being a vendor, so I'm not sure. If you're just looking for *anything*, that might work. Still there are a lot of other great places to look like Freelance Writing Jobs and The Golden Pencil. Also, Craigslist.org is a decent place to look for gigs. Best of luck to you!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:52:32 +0000

Would you suggest using Guru for a beginner like myself…if I can’t afford to be a Vendor? Or would it be more worthwhile to spend my time finding jobs elsewhere? Thanks for your time! Your blogs are always informative and helpful!

By: Tamara Berry

Tamara Berry — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:15:35 +0000

Allena -

I think your list of possible answers is spot on. Every single one of those is a contributing reason to our extensive use of Guru.

I would only add that we also use it as a starting point with many of our clients. Once we finish the initial job, we typically move on to a more direct relationship. There is incredible value in that, as well.

By: Allena

Allena — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:52:38 +0000

I do have a question- bear with me here.

Ok, in front of me right now I have a document of about 40 PAGES of freelance writing and editing jobs that I have collected over the past couple months- since, let’s say, end of july. Forty pages of freelance jobs.

Some I’ve applied for, and others I just copied and pasted as a kind of experiment (I always get the question “Are there really jobs out there?”)

S I guess my question is, if writers can find 40 pages of freelance jobs to apply for (and these are ONLY ones I like- I didn’t collect, say, financial writing jobs, tech writing jobs), then why bother with Elance and etc, when these are free to apply for.

Possible answers (some I agree with- keep in mind that I use elance once in a great while):

1. Thins the herd. One client said she got 212 responses to a job on Online Writing Jobs

2. Don’t know where to find the jobs above.

3. Cause it works.

4. Because it’s too much of a gamble of your time- you know you’ll get Guru jobs.

Thanks guys. Great discussion, ongoing discussion in the freelance writers world.

Allenas last blog post..What Kind of Writer Are You?

By: Susan Payton, The Marketing Eggspert

Susan Payton, The Marketing Eggspert — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:11:11 +0000

Ha ha. Ask and Lorna and Tamara will write about it!

One thing I do on the few jobs I’ve gotten through Guru or Elance (another good site) is if it’s ongoing, make the first month or part payable through their system and subsequent payments direct to you. Saves a little.

Thanks for covering this so quickly! Rock on.

Susan Payton, The Marketing Eggsperts last blog post..Cold Calling is Evilâ€¦and a Waste of Time