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gazette
Issue # 208 (12-22-2003)
Merry ChristmasHave a safe and happy holiday season .... from everyone here at JimWorld.com! |
| Forum Watch |
|
Beginning the first of the year, we'll be saying "good bye" to one of our forums, the "I Need Some Paid Help!" will be no more, as of January 15. In it's place, we're going to be directing everyone that needs paid help into the JimWorld Marketplace (http://www.jimworld.com/marketplace/). This will most definitely improve every aspect of the process of acquiring and providing rofessional services. In the old forum, you'd post a request publicly, and then wade through forum responses and private messages, even getting contacted long after the work's been done. Having that request out there in a public forum isn't always the best idea, as many people prefer not to disclose all information, and in fact, some folks that needed paid help have told me that they had trepidations about negotiating in front of the entire Internet.
We thought about doing the typical "eLance.com" style of freelance bidding, but that brings up the same downsides as the forums: Public information, public bidding, haggling, etc. So, in typical JimWorld fashion, we've rolled our own solution: The Marketplace. The way that this works is simple. If you need some paid help, simply head to the marketplace, login using your JimWorld user ID, find the category that best fits your needs, and post your request, in great detail. On the actual Web site, only the request is shown publicly, not your name or contact information. Once you have posted, we'll blast out a email to all of the other members that have expressed an interest in being notified when new requests for a given category come in. They'll be able to see your user ID, and will be able to communicate with you using the JimWorld Private Messaging system only. In other words, bidding and negotiating are all done in private. Once you've made your decision on who you're going to hire, simply go back to your posting and close it, which will take it off of the Web site and disallow further contact on it from others. Sweet and simple. Posting a request for paid help is free, just as it was before. We will be charging "Providers" a flat rate of $19.99 per month to be allowed to sign up for the categories/email blasts, and therefore bid on the posted jobs. Between now and January 1, we'll be giving away two free months of Provider Status. Simply sign up as a provider, enter in your payment information, and your first 60 days are free. This offer will expire on Jan 1. In order for this system to work, we need as many providers signed up as we can, so if you want to be in the game, now's the time. |
Read the Forum Watch section from the Last Issue or in the Following Issue
JimWorld Member comments and feedback ...
Posted On: 12/23/2003 08:07
Posted By: artmaker
Posted By: artmaker
I am commenting on the "market place" artical.
I am a provider. I freelance as a fine and graphic artist. I used e-lance when it was free and even when they started charging comission. But... I will NOT pay a fee just to possibly, maybe, after spending countless hours of bidding, land work. Do YOU pay to GO to work? NO! The idea is get paid for services rendered. NOT pay first.
Freelance artists have a rough time finding work especially since 9-11. People looking for jobs to be done are hoping to save some money. But they also have to take a chance on a virtual unknown. And there are freelance artists who don't have a clue which give us all a bad reputation.
People can save big bucks using freelance artists. I can charge far less than a big graphics company only because I keep it all. I am not on salery. BUT!!! I also have to pay my own taxes. I have to have my own insurance. There are no sick days with pay. I keep and maintain my own equipment. It's not all fun and games being "self employed." And I will NOT pay just for the privlidge of trying to land work. It's not fair. Charge a comission on work done! That would cover your costs of providing a place for buyer and seller to get together. That I would gladly pay. (And tack onto my fee.)
Thanks.
[[i]url removed[/i]]
[[i]please place your url in your profile instead of in your post as per TOS[/i]]
[SyStEm][ Message was edited by: JimBot 01/13/2004 08:49 am ][/SyStEm]
I am a provider. I freelance as a fine and graphic artist. I used e-lance when it was free and even when they started charging comission. But... I will NOT pay a fee just to possibly, maybe, after spending countless hours of bidding, land work. Do YOU pay to GO to work? NO! The idea is get paid for services rendered. NOT pay first.
Freelance artists have a rough time finding work especially since 9-11. People looking for jobs to be done are hoping to save some money. But they also have to take a chance on a virtual unknown. And there are freelance artists who don't have a clue which give us all a bad reputation.
People can save big bucks using freelance artists. I can charge far less than a big graphics company only because I keep it all. I am not on salery. BUT!!! I also have to pay my own taxes. I have to have my own insurance. There are no sick days with pay. I keep and maintain my own equipment. It's not all fun and games being "self employed." And I will NOT pay just for the privlidge of trying to land work. It's not fair. Charge a comission on work done! That would cover your costs of providing a place for buyer and seller to get together. That I would gladly pay. (And tack onto my fee.)
Thanks.
[[i]url removed[/i]]
[[i]please place your url in your profile instead of in your post as per TOS[/i]]
[SyStEm][ Message was edited by: JimBot 01/13/2004 08:49 am ][/SyStEm]
Posted On: 12/23/2003 11:46
Posted By: patrickh
Posted By: patrickh
Artmaker, if you are simply going to tack it onto your fee, why not do the same with the monthly fee? If you plan on having your clients pay, I don't see why it would be an issue with you.
When you take comission into consideration, I think it opens up a whole new worlds of complication, most importantly relying on people not trading communications and never 'sealing the deal' on the site, in turn making the site never get paid. Just something to think about.
When you take comission into consideration, I think it opens up a whole new worlds of complication, most importantly relying on people not trading communications and never 'sealing the deal' on the site, in turn making the site never get paid. Just something to think about.
Posted On: 12/23/2003 11:10
Posted By: jcokos
Posted By: jcokos
When looking at this we had/have 3 ways to monetize it:
1. Charge people to post a job request.
I felt it unfair to charge for something that used to be free (the i need paid help forum)
2. Charge providers a commission on every paid job
We don't have the resources to track that, and police what got done, who got paid, etc.
3. Make it simple and change a small fee to be on a sort of announcement list. This like subscribing to the Sunday paper, just to get the want ads.
I felt that simple, cheap was the way to go here, best for all parties, I hope.
1. Charge people to post a job request.
I felt it unfair to charge for something that used to be free (the i need paid help forum)
2. Charge providers a commission on every paid job
We don't have the resources to track that, and police what got done, who got paid, etc.
3. Make it simple and change a small fee to be on a sort of announcement list. This like subscribing to the Sunday paper, just to get the want ads.
I felt that simple, cheap was the way to go here, best for all parties, I hope.
Posted On: 01/05/2004 12:44
Posted By: Matahari
Posted By: Matahari
Couldnt you bring it down to say $5-10?? What is cheap for one ,may not be cheap for the other. You had a free resource for enabling people all across the globe to do business. Now when you have put a price to it, you should also take into account the fact that the dollar is not the same across all countries. Dont you think this is discrimination against some ? The whole ideology of bringing peopel together via the internet is defeated.
Also, there is no guarantee that I receive any email blast at all even if I pay up ( if there are no want ads in my category in the first place).
Would welcome your comments on this.
Also, there is no guarantee that I receive any email blast at all even if I pay up ( if there are no want ads in my category in the first place).
Would welcome your comments on this.
Posted On: 01/05/2004 01:14
Posted By: jcokos
Posted By: jcokos
[quote]there is no guarantee that I receive any email blast at all even if I pay up[/quote]
This is why we decided to make the first couple of months free. The Marketplace is brand new, so there's not a lot of activity there. Once everyone starts to use it, you will get activity in your chosen areas, and yes, an email blast when new things are added to it.
The free resource that we had available before had some major flaws. Most importantly, people don't feel comfortable discussing business in public. That means that a lot of people wouldn't even post a work request at all. By putting together the marketplace as anonymous in appearance, it'll invite more posting. Also, by not making the bidding process a public display as other freelance sites do, we feel that the job poster will get more honest bidding, and more information within the bidding process to make a better decision.
As to the current pricing, it may change at some point. I might even roll it into a more inclusive set of services at a lower rate, an alternatively a yearly rate. It's too early at this point to determine the service a success, or the pricing structure accurate. Let's give it some more time to mature, and then we can re-evalutate it.
This is why we decided to make the first couple of months free. The Marketplace is brand new, so there's not a lot of activity there. Once everyone starts to use it, you will get activity in your chosen areas, and yes, an email blast when new things are added to it.
The free resource that we had available before had some major flaws. Most importantly, people don't feel comfortable discussing business in public. That means that a lot of people wouldn't even post a work request at all. By putting together the marketplace as anonymous in appearance, it'll invite more posting. Also, by not making the bidding process a public display as other freelance sites do, we feel that the job poster will get more honest bidding, and more information within the bidding process to make a better decision.
As to the current pricing, it may change at some point. I might even roll it into a more inclusive set of services at a lower rate, an alternatively a yearly rate. It's too early at this point to determine the service a success, or the pricing structure accurate. Let's give it some more time to mature, and then we can re-evalutate it.
Posted On: 01/13/2004 08:22
Posted By: JimBot
Posted By: JimBot
bump
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