The growing demand of workers worldwide seeking alternative working conditions has grown rapidly in th last 5 years. From an 8 hour job, many are finding work in the comfort of their homes, having the great privilege to take care of their families and adequate leisure time.

Work at home jobs has proven to be beneficial to many people. Freelancers found the flexibility of time and place to suit their everyday needs. Because online work can be undertaken at home, it does remove the costs of exhaustive commuting, and additional food and clothing allowances.


                                      credits to Kozzi.com

Many reputable establishments such as Elance, vWorker, Guru and oDesk offer and comply to Escrow services. Freelancers, who work for these companies gets the benefits because it gives them the confidence that they always get paid for the hard word rendered. Escrow, by the way, is a service used when a work provider requests money for services up front, but the funds are not released until the end of the project duration. This protects both of the service provider and the service buyer, because money is not actually spent until the buy approves the work, but the provider is assured that the buyer does have the money.

Let's say, the entire project cost is $20, 000. Since most freelance writers ask for a ten- percent deposit, $2000. 00 would be released to you, and $18,000.00 would be placed in escrow. This works especially for large projects, and escrow is the one who ensures the workers that they are protected from fraud and they are paid for the hard earned task.

In many cases, a contract for a project is necessary. You and your client should sign an agreement prior to the commencement of work. If no escrow service was provided, a contact could save you from headaches and malaise of lawsuits.

Despite the enormous benefits of online work at home jobs, there are disadvantages as well. The worker, on the other hand, must prepare and pay his insurance, taxes and pension plans separately. Work in this aspect could be tedious and complicated at times.

Work in this field could be tough as the competition is fierce and high in the market. It might be hard to keep up with workers that come from third world countries (like India, Philippines, Thailand). While many are trying to keep a standard and reasonable fee, payment demands are very low in these places. It is common for many freelances to get abused from their payments, so make sure you know your rights and you have the voice to bid the perfect price.

Many companies are advertised on the internet as sites for finding work at home jobs. Be wary because many of them are scammers. Stay away from sites that require you to pay certain amounts of money upon registration just to get work offers. There may be just a few, but really reliable sites you could sign up. One of them are:

1. Problogger

This is a site run by Darren Rowse. Aside from valuable tips and tricks on how to became a successful blogger, his site features a Jobs Board wherein you could check freelance jobs on writing, graphics and SEO area. Jobs shown are authentic and from reliable companies worldwide.







2. oDesk

Registration in oDesk is free. No membership fee is either required. It is good to know from the start that the site takes 10% fees for what you are paid. Let as say you get 20$ for a job, oDesk will take 2$ from your salary.

It is one of the largest freelancing marketplace on the internet. There are tons of jobs offered here in different work categories but you must use learn how to filter the search area because many jobs offered are outdated already. You may be required to pass certain qualification exams to get hired. This is good for new freelancers who doesn't have much experience and feedback to offer, but are really good in their fields of work. If you fail them, you are given the chance to repeat it after a period of time.
There are two kinds of jobs in oDesk – hourly and fixed price. Hourly work is monitored by a special software (you need to install this on your computer), which allows it to track your activity (keywords and mouse click). The software monitors certain threshold and takes random screenshots showing you are working and not browsing the internet unrelated to the job, a guarantee you get paid from work.



If you choose fixed price assignments, there is no guarantee you'll get paid. Many posts small jobs and they don't pay. And since oDesk doesn't offer escrow services, it is wise to ask for upfront fees and sign an agreement.

I have joined oDesk, as I am a freelancer looking for extra income and to build my portfolio, but I was stunned that educated, professional writers who intend to deliver researched, quality pieces (of any length) would bite on very low work rate (1$ per article or 3 $ for 20 articles). The lesson is, don't bid on projects you think is not worth your time, effort, and credibility.

The feedback system is remarkably good in oDesk. After an assignment is done, both parties (employers and employees) leave comments and feedback on a scale of 5 in terms of quality of work, payment, communication, etc. Feedbacks are posted on both parties' profile, so people see it and could be used as references for future work.

3. vWorker

This is relatively a good site to find freelancing work. Like ODesk, registration is free. But be reminded that vWorker gets 15% commission on fees, the highest among other sites that hire freelancers jobs worldwide.

The site was formerly known as RentACoder (RAC). They use the bidding system for finding projects. The Buyer (employer) chooses the best bidder (which is called the Seller), and the winner gets the opportunity to work on the project.

The projects offered are more standardized in payments, which means you get paid more for your bids. Although 1$ an article appears in most contents, there are still more well monetized projects available. Escrow is applied in most transactions so you are guaranteed paid after tasks are accomplished.



Payments for projects are handed over in many different ways. The usual mode is the 'pay-for-deliverable', which means payment is rendered when the finished project is handed over to the employer. There is also the 'pay-for -time' which uses a time-card system. This is similar to the software the ODesks uses to track the work time of employees, who gets paid by the hour rather than by projects.

At other times, employers may agree to pay 2.5% of the fees twice a month. This is rendered through escrow until you reach the amount agreed upon the completion of work. Ideally speaking, this is the best way to get payed for long term projects.

Arbitration emanates widely in the company. This is the process to settle problems between the employers and workers. I heard many horrible stories behind it which ended up closing the accounts of many clients, many of whom are the bidders or workers. As many are unjustly reprimanded by vWorkers arbitration process, be wary.


4. Freelance.com

Don't get confused, but this was known before as GAF (GetAFreelancer) until 2009. Some say that those were the peak and golden days when escrow services used to protect the rights of the workers. They still do nowadays, when your money is held by freelance.com itself and release thereafter upon completion of work.



Membership is required to acquire an account and may be upgraded through time for gold membership. Basic members are allowed 30 bids per month while the gold members are allowed more, they can make 150 bids per month.

Basic members are charged 10% transaction fees while gold members get 3% commission fees. Please take note that a withdrawal fee of 1$ is charged when using Paypal to cash out payments.

There are numerous projects to choose from this site, but just like the others, many are ripped off by cheap contractors who are willing to take a meager amount of payments in exchange for long and quality paper work.




5. Guru.com

This is not just your ordinary freelancing site, it is one of the reliable ones in the outsourcing market. With escrow services, you are guaranteed to be paid on your signed projects.



It's free to sign up for an account and has the option also to upgrade to a paid membership. A 5-10% commission fee (depending on the scope of the project) is taken on every transaction.

Ease of use of the site is rather a big plus. Numerous offers are existent, make sure you have valid portfolios and sample project to show your potential employers.

6. Elance.com


Known as the 'King of Freelance Jobs', they may have all the required tools for a successful outsourcing network (including escrow services) but finding projects and getting accepted into the bidding system is rather quite difficult.If you are a novice, who has just started in the field of freelancing, Elance.com may not be the choice for you. You could build up credibilities on sites like ODesk and Freelance.com instead A proficient and valuable portfolio is your key to get well paid clients in this network.



Membership is free and could also be upgraded. A 8.7% transaction fee is taken on every accomplished project.

Conclusion:
While most people find freelancing as something out of the ordinary, it is reassuringly an opportunity to develop your skills, build networks and earn a solid income. The benefits are eminent, you just can't ignore it.