Ever get the feeling that the cry of insult, the tossed gauntlets, the stomping away, and the slammed door was all just for show?
Elance made some changes to its new membership plans after writers spoke up in protest. Writers were upset. They cried outrage. They tossed around accusations and painted Elance administration black. They were going to strike. They were going to do business elsewhere. They were going to revolt and cause an upheaval. They protested loudly, vehemently, and with great passion.
So, the Elance team, being the smart people that they are, ran back to the boardroom to huddle. After a day or two, they came up with more changes to help soothe the ruffled feathers of their writers (and a few others.)
Elance’s changes weren’t anything impressive. They didn’t do anything about the tripled membership fees. They didn’t change their Premier plan. They did waive the $20 monthly fee (that’s $240 a year for a seal of approval, folks) and they did lower the cost to bid on projects (it takes an average of 10 bids to land one job, people) amongst a few other trifling changes.
So I braced for another onslaught of writer fury as the Water Cooler pages loaded. I thought, “Oh man, this is it. They’re gonna blow.”
I read the first comment. “Elance, thank you so much…”
Wait. Thank you? Was that sarcasm? I read on. No, the writer was very pleased. Her faith was restored, all was well in Writerland. Huh. I moved on.
“Thanks, Elance!…”
“I feel so much better now…”
“I’m happy Elance listened…”
I’m stunned. I really am. Elance makes a few quick modifications, doesn’t even touch the sky-high membership fee writers were complaining about, changed nothing about its Premier plan, and writers are suddenly heaping praise?
I have whiplash from that 180 in change of view. I’m also a little disgusted and finding it hard to take writers seriously now. All that fuss and whining about fees was… what, just for show? Are these writers blind? Do they really feel Elance overhauled the new membership? Have they forgotten about the fee hike?
Apparently so. The writers came off looking like prima donnas who complained loudly and conveniently forgot their complaints when Elance gave them a little bit of attention. Elance comes off looking like gold using smart, strategic, corporate moves. They focused attention on bids, conceding in an area that doesn’t cost them much – and kept their huge membership fees.
Next time the writers cry wolf, I won’t be so quick to listen. Next time Elance promises changes based on feedback, I won’t be so quick to get excited.
It is still more expensive, but during this promotional period it’s dirt cheap. My membership fee is actually negative by .92 a month. After the promotional lowering of fees ends, I might leave, though, since the accounts still come with far too few connects. I had suggested to them that making escrow mandatory would probably triple their business and they wouldn’t have to raise rates, but they only have a few paragraphs of responses to give out, none of which cover that. They even popped up on my blog with some of the same paragraphs they’ve used elsewhere, rearranged to suit the occasion. I think they need to hire some writers…
Hmm … I’m not a big Elance user, but I’ve seen this sort of thing happen in other communities.
It sounds to me like the Elance writers just wanted to have their feelings acknowledged and it didn’t really matter what that acknowledgement was. By doing something (even if it wasn’t what the writers were asking for) Elance recognized that the writers were upset and they felt validated.
At least that’s my, very unqualified, two cents.
@ LS – Yeah, I think everyone’s going to have to take a look at their wallet and figure out if the cost is worth it or not. Interesting about the negative .92, though. It was actually very smart of Elance to offer the “try and see if you like” at a discounted rate. Most freelancers who take them up on that will likely not quit after the three months. Elance needs to get writers on board right now or they won’t come back at all. Sales tactics.
@ Laura – Yeah, it’s almost like the perfect scenario of a marriage counseling session
Well, you can count this Elance writer in amongst those whose feathers are still ruffled. I’ve been so vocal about this issue that I was one of those who received a personal phone call from an Elance executive. All of my complaints were pretty much glossed over, both in the phone call and in the “modifications,” which really amounted to nothing for me other than free “premier” status for three months. I WON’T be paying for the elitism when the free trial runs out. I’ve also majorly downgraded until my remaining membership fees run out (at just about the same time my premier status will). If, by then, I don’t see any significant improvements, which I suspect I won’t, I’ll probably downgrade further to free status. It comes with 3 free connects a month, folks, and THAT is the best and only real deal around at Elance now. For the record, I’m still ranting, James, so I hope you’ll keep listening. LOL
@ Irreverant – I always listen.
I think some writers copped out, if you want my very honest personal opinion…
They did cop out. Elance heard everyone, but they didn’t really *listen*.
Harry hit the nail on the head. Elance did something they’ve never done before. They acted like they cared what we had to say, thinking that alone would appease us. Apparently, for a lot of us, their strategy worked brilliantly. Others of us aren’t buying their crap.
Scheez. Always nice to writers standing up for themselves. C’mon folks — the “market bazaar model for finding new clients probably isn’t the path to longevity.
Pick out an industry and go after the organizations in it.
@Irreverent: Occasionally I do hit the nail instead of my thumb. Thanks!
@Tom: If I understand you correctly, I agree, eliminate the middleman and go right to the source. Thanks for stopping by. I took a look at your blog after James told me who you were and I’m enjoying your posts already.
I was a bit demoralized at how quickly the writing community caved on this one. I got one of those phone calls too. This entire debacle, however, has made me rethink using Elance at all–so I’ve pretty much made my decision to wean myself off after my funds run out. I’m not sticking around to pay for Premier status–it’s just getting too expensive.
It is not just the writers suffering it is everyone. eLance is now taking on average 13% (calculating the connect costs/average bids to get a job/and commission) of every project awarded on top of their membership fees. Also don’t forget the $20 a month (per category) for a star next to your name – the “premier”. It is ridiculous.
Yeah, I was wondering how many other service providers saw their fees go up. The writers were the most vocal at Elance, but we couldn’t be the only ones hit hard.
Example: A friend of mine who uses eLance bids on two jobs per day, each day, and averages one awarded project per week (that’s a 1:14 ratio just to maintain a living, folks). At that bidding rate under the new membership plan, it will cost her $1,500 per year to be on Elance.
She hasn’t made a penny yet. And each penny she makes has 8.75% raked back in site commission fees.
Think about how long it takes you to not only earn $1,500 (that’s what you have to gain *in profit* to pay off your ROI) and then make the same amount again (you have to eat, don’t you?)
Ironically I had a whole post to this on eLance (the water cooler) and they were magically deleted.
I am a member of the Administrative Support Category & the Management & Finance Category (the two categories with Bookkeeping/Accounting related jobs).
I used to pay $449 a year for the Admin Support and $379 a year for the Mgmt. & Finance. This was a total of $828 year and I had 120 bids per month per category and was a “select” member.
Now, I am paying $71.09 per month for both categories as a premier member (this will go up to $111.09 per month after March where they begin to charge me $20 per category to be premier) and I only have 60 connects a month (which is 15 – 60 bids depending on the project) for both of the categories combined.
Therefore (using the normal price – after March pricing) It will cost me $1,333.08 per year for 15 – 60 bids per month. My price increased by 61% and my bids decreased by 75% – 93%.
So you tell me how the math calculates!
-Heather
Ouch. That hurts. I can’t for the life of me figure out how Elance shows respect that people need to eat and breathe.
Another thought that strikes me: Higher fees equals higher rates equals buyers believing they’re getting higher quality. That may be so, honestly, but in truth, I don’t think that logic adds up. High-quality workers doesn’t mean those people have tons of disposable income.
So. Higher fees, the perception of higher quality… And we all know how tough we are when we expect only the best. Does this mean that buyers will now expect more from providers, even though nothing from the workers’ perspectives has really changed?
I am sorry – but the truth of the matter is the people go to Elance to get a bargain. They know that Elance projects are below market value and they go there for that reason. Just like eBay! Of course you can go to Dell and buy a laptop for $999, but the same one is most likely going on eBay for $899 – so buy it there.
I am an accountant — CPA Firms charge $65 – $155 per hour. I charge a measley $25 – $45 per hour because I am very picky about the clients I take and I don’t have the overhead of a 20 story office building and Armani suits. I work out of my 4 office suite on the second floor of a beautiful building in Miami and come to work in my pijamas. However, on eLance people want me to work for $10 – $15 per hour?
I don’t think that they differ between quality – this is shown more in the writing category than anything – they want to pay $2 – $3 per article (?????) You can’t get a meal for $2, what makes anyone think they are going to get something of quality for $2?
Somewhere between Mom and Pop shops in the 60′s and Elance in 2007 the concept of “you get what you pay for” has been lost.
-BAH HUMBUG
Actually, Heather, I think you have only 30 connects per month. Elance gives NO extra connects for maintaining membership in two categories. You have to split them between the two. That’s why I already let go of my second category. There’s no way in he!! I’m paying Elance extra money each month to what virtually amounts to nothing.
Hmmm – how wierd – I have 60 connects! Just checked I used 3 today. and now have 57.
Don’t forget: It costs money to ask a buyer a question. They’re unclear, and providers have to pay for that. Logical? I don’t think so…
This writer’s feathers weren’t soothed. I left a comment on the water cooler and I know of 2 other people who did, but elance DELETED them. They told us they weren’t relevant to the whole elance community. Meaning, we didn’t agree with elance so they erased our posts. They didn’t like all of the dissenting views, so they erased them.
We quit posting on the water cooler and have taken up on an elance provider Yahoo group.