• Write a short job description that describes exactly what you want. Your job description should convey the objective of the job and the details that may be needed to receive an accurate and appropriate proposal. A well thought-out description will always receive more quality proposals. Depending on the job and your own style, you may want a very detailed description, enumerating every aspect of the work you want done. On the other hand, you may also get good results by including only those aspects that are non-negotiable and allowing the service provider to fill in the details.
• Indicate your timetables. Ask for proposals with milestones and weekly checkpoints to help you and the service provider stay on schedule. Elance allows you or the service provider to create milestones and attach job documents.
• Specify the payment terms, or let the bidders propose terms prior to awarding the job. Elance allows you to specify your budget or choose not to disclose it. Some employers disclose their budgets in order to receive more targeted proposals.
• Mention your communication preferences, suggesting what type of communication works for you (e.g., phone, email, instant message) and how often you want to get updates.  Remember to ask for at least one formal weekly status report through your Elance private message board to maintain an audit trail of the job.
• Communicate during the proposal review process. Communicating with the service provider will help you evaluate professional standards and receive more accurate proposals. Use the Elance Job Clarification Board to post new information about your job.
• Post your job as a Featured or Business to Business Postings.  Featured and Business to Business Posting have better visibility and good choices when you want higher-quality proposals from more established providers  Business to Business Posting is also a good way to target your job if your business is looking to work with other businesses.
• Post your job only once.  There is no need to post your job in every Elance sub-category that applies. All the providers in a category can see all the jobs there. If your job spans more than one category, post in the category that focuses on the key service or skill set.
• Evaluate the quality of the proposals and profiles. A quality provider will submit a well written proposal tailored to your specific job requirements. Provider profiles, portfolios, ratings and feedback will help you compare service providers. Web workers who are new to Elance will have less data in their profiles: ask them for samples and references that relate to their work prior to becoming Elancers.  Some proposals will be submitted as sponsored placement proposals to get better visibility.  Elance does not endorse these sponsored placement proposals, as they are submitted as such by the provider's discretion.
• If your job is large, consider “auditioning” the provider first. If you have a big job that will require a large investment of time and money, think about auditioning providers by conducting a smaller test job first. Some employers will hire two or three providers for the first phase of work and then continue with who they like best.

You can also get started by reviewing the Buyer Guide or by contacting us.