PART TWO: Guide to Elance - Setting up Payment while Freelancing

Welcome to part two of the Work from Home Blog Series. I'm focusing on Elance and how you go about setting up being paid, which is really at the centre of being able to work from home, unless you're not like me and, ya'know, don't like being paid. If you have never heard of Elance then click here for the full Elance series or go to the first post that explains what Elance is all about.

As you know, I recently left full time employed work with the goal of working from home, having more flexibility and a healthier life. It really wasn't all that easy, but then I stumbled across Elance, and it became really easy, really quick to work at home on a schedule that suited me.

I tried to spread the joy to other friends and family who were finding it difficult securing a permanent job but I was constantly told that they didn't understand how it worked or how to set it up, so it made sense to write this little guide, which should go some way toward helping you start working freelance. 

So, let's look at how you can get paid!

Get Paid on Elance

1. If you have the time, familiarise yourself with the website home page, click on things and explore options. If you get lost in your journey to freelancing refer back to the little tab on the top left that says "My Elance", should this icon ever be unavailable then your username on the top right will take you back to this screen when you click on it.

2. The manage button is where you want to look for anything relating to payment, setting up methods of payment, withdrawal of funds, accessing files, sending status reports to clients and staying on top of billing and any monies you have made. Yay for being a freelancer, when looking after your own taxes becomes even more complex!

3. Set up your financial accounts, once you're there it becomes self-explanatory. This is an easy area to navigate.

4. Follow the instructions for set up. This is a great little area of Elance but it's also important to remember that many of the financial accounts are options for payments only, e.g. if you hired someone via Elance then you could only pay them through this financial account. Other accounts, like paypal allow for payments to and from Elance, which Elance refers to as 'Payment only' or 'Withdrawals only'. 

If you get stuck look at their guide to Billings and Payments. 

How do I bill clients for the work that I've done?

5. Every week, Elance will send you a message reminding you to submit a time sheet. It's important to submit them weekly. If you are late or delete the message, you can always access them under "Manage>Billing".

And you're all set for working

So what happens when you've finished working, you've earned money and you want it in your bank account? Elance does not pay you automatically and you have to request it from them. If you've set up your bill payments then you should be all set. However, deciding what withdrawal method to use can be tricky. Have a look at Elance's Withdrawal guide.

6. Click on withdraw. It will take you to a page, which details how much money you have in your Elance vault (it's just called 'withdraw', but I think vault has a nice ring to it, plus, only those that have lots of money have vaults and, obviously, you will have money amounting to millions! Or, if you're more like me, you'll probably have it emptied most of the time - a girl's gotta eat). 

7. Say that you have $200 and wish to withdraw that amount fill in the appropriate details, choose the correct withdrawal method for you. The withdrawal methods available in the drop down box will be the ones that you added in your 'Financial Accounts' tabs, so if you want to withdraw monies in a different way you will need to add it to the Financial Accounts first. It's important to read through the options on the right, and note that there is a $25 fee for Elance to deposit the money directly into your account. In my opinion, that's far too much, so I have never used it.

Click on Withdraw and expect a deposit/cheque (or 'Check' for you Americans!) within the amount of time specified in Elance's withdrawal guide.

And that's it.

I promise the payment section is actually the most complicated part of Elance, after that it gets much easier. 

Keep looking back at the rest of the guide and I'll see you on the 'Elance Side'. Sigh, I should really stop with the dreadful jokes!

Other parts to this guide:

Part 1: Setting up an Elance profile

Part 2: How to set up payment on Elance

Part 3:How to apply for work on Elance

(coming soon) 

Part 4: How to monitor work on Elance

(coming soon)

PART ONE: Guide to Elance - how to set up an Elance Profile.

When I left my job in Edmonton, I found myself getting a bit antsy. I was working hard at learning all kinds of things online, but the thing with not working for money is that you end up with no money, which is all a bit rubbish and makes continuing a certain standard of living somewhat unattainable. 

I did some googling and looking around for freelance work. I have mad skills but I didn't have a clue how to be freelancer. How does one become freelance and work online? How do you develop a client base? 

This is when I discovered Elance (get it it's like freelance for e-folk...noo?). I developed my profile and read up on all their terms, tutorials, guides and FAQs and it quickly became a viable, flexible option for freelancing.

I have made quite a bit of money freelancing in my own time, on projects that suit my personality, educational goals and direction. It's worth signing up for. 

If you have Google App, Microsoft Office or even research skills there will be jobs for you on Elance for sure!

Here's how to do it:

1. Visit Elance and click "I want to work" under create an account, you can sign up via Facebook or LinkedIn. Follow the directions.

2. It'll ask you about your skills, this can be re-edited later on, but it's worth knowing now that Elance will later ask you to complete tests to verify your skill level on these subjects, so only enter skills with which you are confident.

3. On the next step, it will ask you which category you wish to find jobs in. This is the part where a little thought is beneficial. Once you choose a category it can only be changed once a month, unless you opt for Elance's paid option.

4. Once you have finished with all of this, you will be taken straight to job opportunities. I do not recommend this, I recommend that you, instead click on your username right on the top, then on the drop-down menu click on profile. Now you can edit your profile to your hearts content. There are lots of directions on here but if you get stuck you can read up more on profile set up here:

Elance's Freelancer Guide

If you can't be bothered with all that, because it is a bit wordy, just keep an eye out for the next post in this series.

5. There is so much more to learn about Elance. However, it's worth knowing that Elance can pay you in multiple ways and that their cheques are valid (I just cashed all of mine, so I know for sure they're legit!). I will tell you more on that later on.

Fancy hiring me or checking out my Elance profile? Here it is:  

Other parts to this guide:

Part 1: Setting up an Elance profile

Part 2: How to set up payment on Elance

Part 3:How to apply for work on Elance

(coming soon) 

Part 4: How to monitor work on Elance

(coming soon)