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Important Web Sites
for the "Self Employed"
by Enrique de Argaez
With over 13 million people claiming the
status of "self employed," websites have sprung up online to fill
this niche and offer help through a variety of services. From
helping you find work projects to offering advice and coaching,
these sites can be a real asset to anyone striking out on his own
and for the "free lancer" work crowd...
Job categories range from writing,
management, legal, Information Technology, marketing, and more.
The primary focus of these "Business to Business" (B2B) sites is
to match your skills with companies who have projects for someone
with your talents. Some charge for membership, some are free, and
some take a percentage of each job that is awarded (usually from
the employer).
Each of these sites requires you to fill
out an online profile specifying your experience and skill level.
Some allow you to list examples of your work.
Let's take a closer look at the main
freelance sites:
1) Guru: http://www.guru.com
This is probably the most popular, likely due to their large
advertising budget. You'll find their ads in all of the more
popular magazines and pasted everywhere online.
Like most of these services, you must first
create a profile that details who you are and what you do. The
site currently claims over 32,000 members with over 7,000 job
listings. They also offer a variety of backend services such as
articles, and an ezine and other goodies that will help you run
your home business more efficiently.
2) eLance: http://www.elance.com
This site is set up in an auction setting where you bid on
projects that interest you. Use of an online rating system allows
buyers and sellers to make comments about each other which are
then publicly shared. eLance covers all business categories you
can possibly think of.
3) eWork Exchange: http://www.ework.com
Registration includes building your online resume, which can be
added to by creating a skill profile to go with it. Searching for
projects is simple. When you see something you like you can
e-mail the project owner with your comments through the use of a
private profile number. You won't receive any direct contact
information until you accept the project. eWork boasts they have
over 170,000 members.
4) Self-Employed in the U.K.: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/selfemployed/
When you are self-employed you have to take care of your taxes and obligations.
Not to do so on a timely basis is to invite disaster. In all countries, you must
get tax information and register. Here is the tax information for the United
Kingdom.
5) USA Gov for the Self-Employed: http://www.usa.gov/Business/Self_Employed.shtml
Self-employment was considered in the past as one secondary means
of bringing a person into the mainstream of society as a
productive and contributing individual. Growth in self-employment
over the last two decades in most western economies has changed
this perception. Self-employment is now considered as a full and
viable alternative to traditional wage and salary employment.
Self-employment is used to reduce unemployment and foster
entrepreneurship. Here is the U.S. Government's official web portal for the
Self-Employed. It is structured like a table of contents listing the various
subjects and/or issues related to self-employment.
6) Small Business and Self Employed Tax Center: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/
If you are an Independent Contractor (Self-Employed), here is a collection
of links to U.S. State government Web sites with useful information.
7) Office Depot Information: http://www.officedepot.com/content/
Last but not less, the Office Depot has a good information and tips for the Self-Employed,
here is a collection of links to articles with useful information for running your own business.
So next time your business is slow and
you're not quite sure where your next paycheck is coming from,
browse through these sites and you'll have an "online job" in no
time at all!
Likewise, if you need to outsource work
check these sites to get good prices and save money outsourcing
your company work projects.
About the Author:
Enrique de Argaez is webmaster of several Internet
websites and author of several newsletters. He is active in
Internet Global Marketing, Internet
Publishing, and Internet Usage Research. Visit his main English
website at http://www.internetworldstats.com
