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Looking for a freelancer platform beyond UpWork? Consider Toptal, Freelancer, or Fiverr as excellent alternatives, each offering unique features and talent pools. These platforms provide competitive rates, diverse project types, and talent specializing in everything from design to software development—ideal for businesses seeking flexibility and skilled professionals.
Thanks a lot for the post, Joseph!
Your ideas here in this post and earlier at Appsmith freelancing session (a couple of years ago?) are insightful.
I was always allergic to classical freelancing platforms, but you had some strong points in the past that a marketplace can serve as a trusted third-party and also help deal with international clients.
Since the platform attractiveness decrease, something like Deel could be a good substitute: not a marketplace, but a good service for making contracts and handling payments.
As of the incoming leads vs outgoing messages: I thought chasing clients on marketplaces is a road to nowhere. Or better to think about it of a hamster wheel: same routine every day.
That's why incoming leads are number one priority for solo freelancers / small teams of devs. Building some useful stuff and sharing it for free looks a much better time spent. Because at the end of the day, you have an asset that you can give away or put into a CV. "Replied to 100 jobs" is not something you can add into the resume :)