Millions of business entrepreneurs across the Internet tap into freelance marketplaces to hire freelancers for their projects. In fact, the freelance/outsourcing model is becoming more popular to do business in the 21st century. It allows all parties (entrepreneurs and freelancers) to work out of their homes. It exposes both buyers and sellers to the choices available in the global marketplace across international boundaries. Best of all, it is a direct trade of skill for money, without all that bogus bureaucracy getting in the way.
For instance, you don’t have to worry about the employee having a green card or providing their tax information, as the freelance site does this for you. While you can ask for evidence of credentials such as diplomas and certificates, the real thing that counts is whether the freelancer you’re hiring can do the work. The freelance marketplace allows you to evaluate freelancers by their work and not their resume.
There are dozens of freelance marketplace websites out there. Some notable ones include:
Rent-A-Coder (http://www.rentacoder.com)
The original and one of the best. Not just for coders (as in programmers) anymore, the site is a thriving resource to find writers, graphic artists, web designers, and any other creative worker whose field involves computer technology as a medium. More…
Of course you can sell your product on the internet. But you can sell your business there, too.
Many business owners looking to sell their business don’t realize they can use the internet to make the selling process go more smoothly. Online business-for-sale marketplaces allow sellers to reach a large number of potential buyers and provide resources for owners considering putting their business up for sale.
Mike Handelsman, general manager of San Francisco-based BizBuySell, the internet’s largest business-for-sale marketplace, answers sellers’ questions about listing a business for sale online.
Q:What should a seller do to prepare for listing a business for sale online?
A: Allowing yourself enough time is key. Too often, people try to rush their business to market and run into complications during the selling process as a result. Allow several months between making the decision to sell and making the business available online. During this time, figure out your company’s financial situation so that you can present this information to prospective buyers.
Once you put the business up for sale, have all of the information relating to potential growth and revenue, past performance and business costs on hand. Putting the time and effort into preparing these figures in advance will tell potential buyers that you know what you’re doing and give them more confidence in you.
Q:How can sellers determine a fair asking price for a particular business when using an online marketplace?
A: Online marketplaces often More…
Network Solutions® announces improvements to their online business directory at ThinkLocal.com. Like an online yellowpages, businesses can be searched and found and now, with improvements including driving directions and an easier to navigate layout, information about local businesses is even easier to obtain.
(PRWEB) November 15, 2007 — Searching online for specific products and services in a local area can sometimes turn into a time-consuming and disjointed process if multiple searches are required to get to the specific information needed. Network Solutions online business directory ThinkLocal™ provides a simple solution for searching for local business information such as location, phone numbers and reviews. With the launch of new enhancements to ThinkLocal, Network Solutions® makes these searches even easier. Enhancements include home page updates such as an easier to navigate layout, the ability to save frequently searched locations and the addition of weather updates, local event information and driving directions.
S
imilar to an online yellowpages, ThinkLocal is a comprehensive online business directory that allows you to search by keyword, More…
Starting in 2008, Verizon Business will be even better positioned to deliver network capacity across Europe for high-bandwidth applications like video and advanced business services with an optical network supported by Nortel(1) (TSX: NT)(NYSE: NT) equipment. The equipment purchase supports 10G services as well as emerging 40G services and will allow Verizon(2) Business to deliver greater capacity to its large enterprise customers to meet their increasing bandwidth requirements.
The ultra long haul (ULH) optical network will carry a large portion of the Verizon Business European network traffic and will be deployed across multiple countries including the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. In addition, the next-generation, ultra-long haul optical network allows Verizon Business to meet the growing bandwidth demand while simplifying network operations. More…
Verizon Business is upgrading network circuits in the U.S. and rolling out an optical transport network to connect major European cities.
Verizon Business moved to expand the speed of its backbone network circuits in the U.S. and at the same time said it will begin rolling out an optical transport network connecting major European cities.Both projects are designed to deliver speeds of 40 Gbps. The U.S. effort will connect traffic among Washington D.C., Chicago, and New York City via Juniper Networks T-series core routers. The backbone routers have been designed to carry Internet traffic between Washington and Chicago and voice, data, and video traffic between Washington and New York City.
Noting that the upgrade calls for a jump from 10 Gbps to 40 Gbps, Verizon Business said it plans to deploy the higher speed spans and circuits on its U.S. network into 2008. More…
Business Objects joins the growing list of software companies offering virtual appliances compatible with the VMware infrastructure.
Business-intelligence software never makes it past the wish list at many companies. Why? Because of the time and commitment it takes to install and get the software working right. It’s an even bigger problem at smaller businesses with limited IT resources.
Several tech vendors earlier this year introduced BI appliances; boxes that are pre-configured with business intelligence software and ready to go. But that doesn’t get around the annoyance some IT shops have with that approach — you’re stuck with yet another box to fit into the data center.
Now BI appliances are going virtual. Business Objects, the largest pure-play BI vendor, announced this week its first virtual appliance, which it will sell both direct and through VMware’s Virtual Appliance Marketplace. A business with a virtualization infrastructure in place can install a pre-configured, pre-optimized version of Business Objects Crystal Decisions, including a ready-to-go database, and the proper security protocols, on any available box in its data center. More of the company’s offerings will be available as virtual appliances next year, the company said. More…
Although pending home sales for July are at their lowest levels in almost six years, the current downturn can be just the bargain long-term investors should be looking for.
On Wednesday, the National Association of Realtors announced that the Pending Homes Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator, showed that existing-home sales are likely to decline in the coming months as mortgage turmoil work its way through the housing market.
The NAR, the country’s largest trade organization, represents more than 1.3 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries, said that based on contracts signed in July, its Pending Home Sales Index fell 12.2% to a reading of 89.9 in July from the June index of 102.4.
The level was 16.1% lower than July 2006 when the index stood at 107.1. More…
The search engine stalwart aims to improve its behavioral-targeting capabilities–and catch up to its peers.
Yahoo! announced Tuesday its intention to acquire BlueLithium, an online advertising network provider, for $300 million in cash. The deal, which is expected to finalize before the end of the year, is seen a move by the search giant to improve its own online ad network and to boost total revenue, and comes as the company has been slipping compared to top competitors Google, Microsoft, and Time Warner’s AOL.
“What Yahoo! is looking to do is increase its reach across properties outside of the Yahoo.com world and [purchasing BlueLithium] certainly does help them do that,” says Emily Riley, an analyst at JupiterResearch. While Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo! does have its own behavioral targeting capabilities, which also monitor search behavior, Riley adds that it will rely on the technologies of BlueLithium to help “measure behaviors outside [Yahoo!'s] own network, or serve ads outside [its] network. So this gives [the company] that wider reach outside the Yahoo! properties that [it] was looking for.” With this capability, Yahoo! can even measure online customer behavior of its partner sites. More…
Replacing baby boomers who retire presents a continuing problem for companies in the Pittsburgh region. And there is no easy solution in sight. Our universities and colleges attract many young students to Pittsburgh, but after graduation they leave in droves for jobs elsewhere.
The Coro Report of April 2003 showed that between 1980 and 2000, the population of 20- to 34-year-olds in the 10-county Pittsburgh region dropped by more than 200,000 for a 32 percent decline from 1980 levels. Between 1990 and 2000, the region experienced another 6 percent drop.
Of the solutions offered to this dilemma, few, if any, have focused on the need for Pittsburgh companies to restructure traditional corporate culture to make it more acceptable to younger employees.
In the past 25-plus years, I have consulted with corporate leaders throughout the United States and in more than 30 countries around the globe. I have seen them create corporate environments that attract the most talented, younger people while freeing and nurturing the “inner entrepreneur” among all their employees. I believe more Pittsburgh companies can do the same.
Technology and outsourcing have leveled the playing field in the global marketplace. As a result, corporate culture is now the single, competitive differentiating factor that can neither be copied nor taken away. A corporate culture attractive to younger employees and more mature employees can give our companies a key competitive edge at home and abroad. More…
Photo Stamps are a new and exciting way to turn your favorite photos into real useable U.S. postage! Creating photo stamps is easy, all you have to do is upload your favorite photo to one of the many of the websites offering photo stamps and use their online editing interface to move, zoom or rotate to perfect you photo stamp. Many of the custom photo stamps websites also allow you to choose a border in a color that will match your photo perfectly. Photo stamps come in a variety of postage rates to meet all your mailing needs ranging from postcard rates of twenty four cents to thirty nine cents for regular first class to up to four dollars for packages. Photo stamps can be ordered in just a sheet with twenty stamps to large roll of hundreds for bulk mailing. Photo stamps can be ordered and delivered to you and there are also special packages that allow the consumer to print his or her own photo stamps.
No matter what you are mailing there is a way for photo stamps to add a little extra something special to every envelope that is sent out. One widely popular use for photo stamps are for wedding invitations and the thank you cards after the wedding takes place. A wonderful idea is to use one of the wedding photos of the couple showing their rings or just a close-up of the bride in groom in their gown and tux. Another of the more popular ideas is using a photo stamp of your favorite snap shot of your new baby to send out birth announcements. Holidays are another fun and exciting was to use photo stamps. Christmas cards are just that much more special with a family picture as the stamp. More…
