Liberty S.

Freelancer:

- Says it's free to have an account... and then after you get all set up, a couple days later, notifies you that you must sign up for a paid membership to continue. Nice advertising. They ought to point that out up front.

- Takes a sizable chunk out of every transaction, whether you end up getting paid or not. (Your employer also has the liberty to cancel the project at any time, whether you've done the work or not.)

- Is filled with scammers who waste your time (at best)

- Is extremely difficult and complicated to use

- Charges you a fee to accept a job (!) (A $5.40 fee for a $12 job, in my case)

- Does not explain things well (I accidentally reported a perfectly innocent user because of an unclear button (typical of Freelancer) and spent a good amount of time trying to fix it, only to be brushed off by customer service after complaining that I was notified "Action has been taken against the user you reported." This is NOT the only time a non-explained button or process got me into trouble.)

- Lets you work really hard and finish a project and THEN notifies you that in order to get paid you must "verify your identity" through a complicated process wherein, among other things, you take a picture of yourself holding your drivers license and a special number they give you, plus you must provide a proof of residence (they say a utility bill or a bank statement(!)), neither of which I have since I am 18 and live with my parents. Tough luck! Long and short of it, I was not paid on my first project (which, by the way, is also my last.)

- Is full of low paying gigs that pay anywhere from $2.50-$5 per article (except for the rare high paying gig, more on those below) and these employers want you to work twelve hours per day on this laughable wage.

- Does have nice employers who post projects offering decent wages--but in order to take on these jobs, you must have a LOT of reviews (from toiling away for the slave-labor employers, of course!) AND you might even have to upgrade your membership to get the job!

- Made me get feel like I went gray overnight.

- Told me I had 107 bids I could make--and then when I'd made less than fifty, it said I'd run out and couldn't place anymore. (?)

- Is not a place where skilled, professional writers should expect to make money. Period.
* * *
All that being said, my positive experience with Freelancer consisted of posting a contest for a logo design.

Prize was $10, I received 62 entries, so many great people submitted wonderful designs, and I got the logo I wanted (in the process linking up with a wonderful graphic designer I'm hiring for my website).

Nevertheless, because I'm so disgusted with Freelancer, I'm taking my new graphic designer and leaving. Freelancer won't be getting any more money from me!

I signed up for a free trial for ConvertKit almost two weeks again and I absolutely love it so far!

It's SO easy to connect it with my site, automate emails, create landing pages, and everything else new website builders like me aren't sure how to do.

In addition to it being easy to use, Matt sends helpful emails during your first few weeks in ConvertKit (okay, they're automated (using ConvertKit, obviously) but they're so personal it's like he wrote them to you specifically and he really wants to hear from you if you need help or have any questions.) These emails explain everything, thoroughly acquainting you without overloading you. They're short, too.

The site is so user friendly it's astonishing, especially after dabbling in MailChimp.

And the best part, the part that really prompted me to write this review...

ConvertKit has these awesome tee-shirts, and they offer a free one to users who go through the short (and simple) checklist of getting ConvertKit set up and begin using it on your site.

It's a really awesome, motivating system where you check the box on each item as you achieve it.

I completed the checklist and ordered my free tee-shirt... only to discover that I had ordered the wrong size.

I quickly emailed and asked if anything could be done about it.

Elizabeth replied and said it had already shipped, but she notified the shipping department and they sent me the correct size in the mail. And she told me no problem, keep them both. (I wear CovnertKit everywhere now!)

I feel very valued as a new member of the ConvertKit family. They make themselves easy to reach out to and very available. :)