There are lots of side hustle ideas that allow you to work remotely and earn a decent amount of extra income. As Elizabeth, Founder of WoMo, mentioned in one of her recent posts here, 45% of employees have a side hustle. I’m not a WoMo yet, but I have an online side project -- TheSkiGirl, a skiing blog that I created to gather like-minded skiers by writing useful tips and guides.
Running an online business is exciting, but only after I got started that I realized how hard it is. One of the challenges is hiring, in other words, how to build a remote team to help you grow as you have limited time working on it. That’s why today I’m here to share a few popular freelancing platforms so you can find the right people.
1. Upwork
Two of the largest online freelancing sites, oDesk and Elance, merged to form Upwork in 2015. The updated site offers talented specialists for all your online business needs, from web development to marketing. Upwork also offers a more upscale 'Pro' talent service featuring handpicked freelancers so that you can match your needs to your budget.
The only downside to the Upwork model is that both clients and freelancers are charged percentage fees for using the service. Avoiding the Upwork payment system to pay your hires directly can get your account suspended, so be sure to follow the rules.
2. People Per Hour
People Per Hour is one of the smaller freelancing platforms on this list, although they are growing fast. PPH is based in the UK but they have freelancers from around the world. If you've got a small job or a very tight budget, PPH may be the best place to search.
Despite the name, PPH also offers fixed-rate jobs for as little as $10 — but remember, you get what you pay for. A website that costs $100 isn't going to be well-designed or reliable when compared to a $5,000 site.
3. Guru
Guru offers a wider range of available skills than most of the other freelancing platforms. They cover all the usual online business needs as well as lawyers, engineers, and architects.
Guru has the most flexible payment options of any freelancing platform. You can pay your hires per milestone, per job, per hour, or set up a recurring payment system for your favorite freelancers. You can post jobs for free, but you'll wind up paying a percentage of your total job cost in listing fees once it is completed.
4. Toptal
Unlike the other platforms in this list, Toptal doesn't have a “basic” skill category. Instead
Toptal claims that it only provides access to the top 3% of all freelancing talent in design, development, finance, project management, and product management. They achieve this through a careful screening process that only allows verified industry experts to reply to job postings. This can be a huge help if you're posting a demanding job, but it also makes Toptal one of the most expensive services on this list.
By Christine, founder of theskigirl.com and reader of WoMo Network.