14 DAY TRIAL // Since our last report on online work based on Elance statistics, a full financial quarter has passed. The result on Elance: $20 million more for freelancers. Boosting over $260 million since its birth, Elance has risen above any other online new-media-related marketplace, hovering around the #550 position in Alexa's global Internet traffic rankings.
With 40% more earnings than over a year ago, and almost 32,000 new jobs just in the month of March 2010, Elance dominates the competition due to strict job posting rules and a safe bidding system, allowing only proven professionals to acquire work contracts.
This year, India has become the major work force on Elance, topping 3 out of 4 important job categories. It currently leads sections like Information Technology, Operations and Marketing, while the United States is the number one provider in the Creative category.
The top 10 most in demanded skills for each category are as follows.
Information Technology: PHP, HTML, MySQL, CSS, WordPress, JavaScript, AJAX, Flash, Joomla and iPhone (hot categories: iPhone and Android).
Creative: Graphic Design, Article Writing, Content Writing, Photoshop, Web Content, Illustrator, English Translation, Creative Writing, Copywriting and Logo Design.
Marketing: SEO, Internet Marketing, Lead Generation, Social Media, Advertising, Sales, Marketing Strategy, Email Marketing, Market Research and Direct Marketing.
Operations: Data Entry, Administrative Assistant, Research, General Computer Skills, Microsoft Office Excel, Email Handling, General Office Skills, Word Processing, Typing, Customer Support.
As a pattern for all these categories, several countries appear as top 10 providers in all of the aforementioned categories. Places like India, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Pakistan and, surprisingly, Romania, provide versatile experts in most of the job domains covered by Elance.
Meanwhile, US-based statistics reveal California, Texas and New York as the most active states, and New York, Los Angeles and Dallas as the top expert cities in the US.
The full report can be consulted by following this link.