Hi Mark,
Thanks for giving us the opportunity to have a saying on these issues that LS is facing at the moment. I joined LS because I received an invitation. I’ve never received a job offer and I’ve never applied for a remote job position or project (I’m based in Europe). As a freelancer the majority of my work is with local small business and in websites like freelance.com. I personally dislike the freelancer.com model because it expose freelancers to exploitation, but at the moment part of my income come from there and pay the bills.
If I was in charge of LS I would continue to do what you’re doing. I wouldn’t do major investment in marketing and sales, because I think LS can’t compete with the Giants and play at the same level it simply doesn’t have the resources, is a lost battle. I would love LS to stay with his own niche and make this growing, but HOW?
First thing I would read carefully every single post written here. A lot of them have reported crucial points that LS should improve. Lets consider 2 of the issues:
- Lack of Quality of some employers (low rate pays, request of incredible amount of working hours etc.)
- Lack of opportunity for freelancers
I’m sure there are other issues but I don’t have the time to read all the posts and my time is short like for the other freelancers.
First of all I would try to sort some of the issues myself with Stephen if I can, have the time and the necessary skills.
If I can’t I would consider the possibility of hiring a talented person to sort some of the issues. I think one person wrote in a post about hiring a talented HR professional to bridge the gap Quality Employers — Talented Freelancers, excluding Spammers, Amateurs and other Non professional Employers avoiding any sort of possible exploitation. At the same time the HR will network & select only highly qualified employers and agencies. This could raise the level / quality of LS.
I would apply the same concept for marketing and sales. I would do it in a traditional way. Looking for an extraordinary talent that can help the company to improve the brand, promotion and sales but always based on ethics, values and professionally. But I would do this gradually because I don’t have a need to chase Upwork, Freelancer.com and other giants of the marketplace. I have my own unique niche of talented freelancers that will grow if I take a good care. It’s a slower process maybe more expensive initially for me but worth it.
So it’s really up to you understanding how and at what speed you’d like to grow in number and quality.
I would be really careful to charge a fee for membership. Consider that a good part of them (I’m talking for graphic designers & illustrators) just manage to pay the bills & college fees with their jobs for at list the first 5–10 years of their career (if not longer then that) and that potentially would cut the number of your members and talents because simply can’t afford to stay in LS. On the other side, choosing that type of model you’ll probably create a platform where only experienced and succesfull talents will register in LS. So again it’s up to you to decide what system you want to create and what niche of freelancer and employers you would like to have in it.
I hope this help.
Riccardo. Th-Ink Studio Design