Water Cooler

The latest product release is here – check out the changes we’ve made to MyElance for Buyers:

1. New ‘Quick Links‘
2. Updated Workrooms
   - Select Action
   - Workrooms menu
   - Payment process
3. Refined Escrow Payment Process

There are lots of ways to describe the US economy. I’ve heard someone go so far as to call it an ‘economic tsunami’.


Rich Sloan, Co-Founder, StartupNation

Economic outlook aside, it is always a good idea to use uncertain times to evaluate your competitive strength and position yourself for success.

Ram Palaniappan is a successful entrepreneur with a special interest in financial markets. His latest venture, Xearn.com, was an idea born out of his own personal passion for the stock market.



Xearn.com is a website community where you can create a mock stock market portfolio based on actual stock prices. There is no real money behind the stocks – but you can choose to charge a subscription fee for others to view your portfolio.

In this morning's "High Tech Talk" segment on NBC-TV, "PC Mike" Wendland discusses Elance from a user perspective.

 
View Video

Here's an excerpt from the story:

"...here’s a site that instantly puts you in touch with thousands..... I put a notice out for development of a logo. The first bid came in less than five minutes after I posted it. Within a day, I had 17 web designers and artists offering their services… from all over the world."

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Jonathan Tenkely (username: jtenkely) is an experienced illustrator and successful Elance Provider. We asked Jonathan to give our readers a few best practices on how to work with an Illustrator on Elance. Here’s what he had to say:


Jonathan Tenkely - Elance Provider

For many people, purchasing illustrations or hiring an artist to create a unique image is a new experience. Because each artist is different and the client-artist relationship is critical to success, it’s helpful to have a few basic tips to refer to when you want to hire an illustrator.