When the recession hits you badly, outsourcing/freelancing is one way to rescue yourself. Recession can hit freelancing too, but there is no better time for small-scale freelancing as there are more projects being outsourced to India during this time. Even though there are projects being pumped this way, the pay has become too low because of the cheap bidding by service providers. This low-standard way of bidding has made it almost impossible for quality service providers to survive in the business.
The websites like Scriptlance or Elance offer projects on a bidding basis. It is not an easy task to learn the effective bidding tips and tricks, but once you get hold of it, it is a good way to make money. But never leave the place after you build a good reputation and earn some good feedback, even if you get jobs/clients outside these websites which would need your full time attention. Say for example, you get a client who pays you some good money but needs you during your whole available time. It is very likely that you will accept the offer and stop working at the websites from where you used to get freelance projects. But after a certain period of time, your contract with your private client ends and you have to get back to the freelancing websites. The time line of your absence of activity in the website could be long. Say, two or three years. During this time, there could be new service providers in these websites who have more feedback than you. You comes back, only to realize that you have been pushed to the backseat.
Worse, when you bid on new projects, the clients would suspect that you have either been disputed at the website, or you are not capable as much that you did not receive any projects during this time frame. You may try explaining to them, but most of them are not going to believe it until someone else awards you a latest project. So it becomes a nightmare for your freelance ambitions.
So what I would suggest for those online service providers is that you should not stop continuing your business activity in freelance websites even after you get a good private client. You should keep working out there so that it will help you during the troubled times. i.e. when you suddenly run out of clients. I learned it the hard way. 🙂
(Image source: Internet)