TwineHere’s the thing:
Freelancing sites are some of the best platforms for finding regular and relevant work as a self-employed creative.
In fact, they’re so reliable that 73% of freelancers use freelancing sites to search for work on a regular basis.
But what are the best freelancing sites? Is it better to go with an industry-specific platform? Should you focus more on platforms where pitches are manually vetted & curated?
To help you get started, we’ve once again brought together our incredible global freelance community to give you the lowdown on the best freelancing sites.
Ready? Let’s dive in!
What are the best freelancing sites?
Our freelance community noted the following platforms as being the best freelance sites:
- Twine (43.5%)
- Fiverr (13%)
- Social Media (13%)
- Soundbetter (8.7%)
- PeoplePerHour (8.7%)
- Freelancer (4.3%)
- Behance (4.3%)
- Upwork (4.3%)
Interestingly, while not a dedicated freelancing site, 13% of freelancers noted social media as an effective platform for finding freelance work.
As a freelancer, you never know where your next job is coming from.
While dedicated freelancing sites are one of the most effective ways of securing work, it’s well-worth keeping your social media pages up to date and keeping an eye out for freelance work opportunities.
A great tactic is to join a Facebook group such as this one for finding freelance writing work.
You can also follow Instagram accounts such as JoinTwine, where we advertise freelance work from the Twine platform on a daily basis.
Freelancer Responses
Twine!
Kyle Misko, Composer in New York
Social media, as well as websites like Twine of course!
Nikki Jain, Graphic Designer in India
PeoplePerHour, UpWork and Twine. These three worked out for me pretty well.
John Meiring, Animator in the UK
For me and my industry (illustration and animation), the best sites are LinkedIn, Twine and Behance.
Justin McPhee, Animator in Australia
Twine is a good place to start, as you can create your folio and search for jobs in the one place.
Social media sites like Facebook are useful; they have communities of freelancers and people looking for freelancers just like you!
Yevgeniya Tyumina, Videographer in Spain
Honestly, I like Twine the most. Competition for freelancers is smaller on Twine than on other websites, and it’s free to make a pitch.
Florence Hill, Musician in the Dominican Republic
Speaking from my own experience, I’d say Twine, Fiverr and SoundBetter. They’re more elite and professional than other services I’ve used.
Jake Schneider, Music Producer in the UK
Twine, Fiverr, PeoplePerHour and Freelancer!
Miloš, Music Producer in Serbia
I’m not trying to be biased, but Twine is the easiest freelancing site out there. Finding jobs on the platform is insanely easy and fast, unlike many other sites.
What Makes A Freelancing Site Good?
We get it:
It’s all well and good knowing what the best freelancing sites are…
…but what makes a freelancing site good?
Jelena Vukolic, Designer in Serbia
Any site where you are protected and you are not encouraged to work before you get employed is good.
Here, Jelena stresses the importance of valuing your worth as a freelancer and avoiding platforms that encourage you to work for free.
She goes on to explain that finding the right freelancing platform usually requires some trial and error:
There is no ultimate site for freelancers; you’ll have to experiment and find a few that are good for you. You’ll also likely have to work on multiple platforms at the same time. However, to stay away from platforms that encourage open competition between freelancers.
Matt Banky, Songwriter in the UK
For a musician like myself, they all have strengths and weaknesses. You have to see what suits you best.
Similarly, Matt notes the importance of trying out a variety of platforms and finding which one suits you best.
He goes on to highlight some examples of his favorite platforms, along with their merits and drawbacks:
Twine is the most fair platform in how it treats freelancers but doesn’t really have customers finding an artist page to enquire about work, lots of pitching needs to be done.
SoundBetter is probably the best for having lots of enquiries to your door from musicians and publishers needing professionals to help them. However, it takes a chunky commission and for full access requires an expensive monthly subscription.
Fiverr is good for beginners to learn the trade as there is lots of potential work. However, you have to work hard upfront to build your profile and get good ratings. This often means working long hours for very poor pay.
And there you have it! A full account of the very best freelancing platforms, as well well as what makes a freelancing platform good. If you enjoyed this post, why not check out some of the other posts in our Freelancers’ Corner series?
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