Freelancer Trading Post

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Freelancing is about outsourcing; hiring workers and services outside of your company and sometimes outside of your country. In today's computer age many tasks and professions use the Internet and computer technology to produce and market their wares, making it possible for all types of services and professions to not only operate with lower overheads, especially if working from home, but also to tap into a global market without any fuss.

Today many services have tapped into the freelancer market and some have grown fast and become most profitable. While they can offer a good starting point for anyone new to freelancing, either as a worker or a client, can depend on individual preferences.

Talent and opportunity at your fingertips

So many services can now be delivered via the Internet:

Freelancer Agencies

There are many freelancer agencies available to choose from. Some have been trading for many years and some have changed ownership several times as they have grown or their founders retired. Most adopt the similar trading policy and principles to serve both freelancer and client equally, even to the extent of arbitrating differences and holding project funds in trust until the job is completed. For anyone just starting, those agencies can be a safe bet.

However for anyone who has been hiring freelancers for some time, the rigidity of some agency procedures can be tedious. For example being required to set a price for a job does not an indication of what the job might be worth, whereas inviting bids without setting a budget can be more interesting and give a better indication of what the task is really worth.

Another issue to consider is privacy and confidentiality. Some of the larger agencies employ numerous freelancers at low hourly rates to monitor and provide customer support. So messages between freelancer and client can be eaves-dropped and resources and source code uploaded to their repositories can be shared without your knowledge or approval.

Freelancing Outside Of Agencies

The usual fee charged by agencies is 20% commission that is deducted from the freelancer's earnings. That is expensive when compared to the 5% transaction fee charged by PayPal. So dealing direct can be more profitable for the freelancer. For the client the benefit is in privacy and confidentiality.

What Does Addmine Offer?

Addmine provides the means to connect client with freelancer. Clients can post job opportunities and freelancers can search and negotiate until an agreement is reached. During that course both parties are protected by the privacy provided by Addmine's online messaging service.

Addmine does not charge a joining fee or charge commission on any work contracted via this service.

Freelancer Requirements

To operate as either a Freelancer or as a Client in the Freelancer Trading Post you first need to join as an Author and select the Freelance option, select that option later by editing your Account Settings. After submitting the join form, check your email (including the spam folder) for our email requesting that you validate your email address by clicking the given link. After clicking that confirmation link you will be able to login and submit software and press releases straight away. All new submissions, and any changes thereof, require approval before they are shown live on the Addmine web site.

Freelance accounts require additional validation by our editors and proof of identity may be required. When approved as a freelancer you will be notified by email.

Addmine Message Service

The Addmine Message Service is used for messages between client and freelancer with some subtle differences in comparison to other web mail and freelancer message systems in that it is designed to be secure. For example the message body itself does not leave the Addmine server. Only a notification that a message has been posted is sent via the Internet to advise the recipient that they have got mail.

Authors have additional options for deletion of the message after the recipient has read it, expiration after a set time, and the option to secure the desktop so that nothing can be copied or printed while the message is on display.