Water Cooler

Elance provider and graphic artist Jon Tucker discovered Elance in June of this year, and despite the current state of the economy, he successfully launched his design company – Alabama Design Studios (A.D.S.).

What’s his secret? It’s simple, Jon provides his clients with a combination of high quality work and frequent communication.

Frustrated with his full-time office job, Jon decided he needed a change. “Between childcare, gas, car expenses and other miscellaneous costs - I was spending about $25,000 dollars a year to keep my full-time office job,” Jon said. “I knew that if I could find a way to work for myself from home, I would eliminate a large amount of my expenses – and as a plus – get to spend more time at home with my children.”

While some people have been conducting remote work for years, others are very new to this idea. Last week we received a request for tips on conducting business on Elance. So, we've put together the following tools and tips for great results when managing remote work on Elance:

Meet Abbas Ali Khan, a talented Elance provider and motion graphics expert. Abbas shares his thoughts on the boom in the motion graphics industry, and the success he’s experienced by working on Elance.

Abbas has a background in static graphics design, but was always interested in animation. It was a natural transition for him to move into motion graphics. He believes that like any other form of art, animation is a great way to express your feelings and ideas. “I’ve had 15 years of experience working in design and animation. I believe that where a picture is worth a thousand words, animation is worth a thousand pictures,” he said.

Monita Mohan, an Elance provider in the Admin Support and Web & Programming categories, has maintained a home office in her Bay Area home for more than 15 years. Recently, I sat down with Monita to learn her work-at-home secrets.

From the physical workspace to the psychological and family aspects of working from home, Monita shares how she’s become a work-at-home pro:

Providers on Elance come from all over the world and from a wide range of industries. Today we're highlighting three newly hired providers: Xander Bennett, Maria Fernanda Cassias and Ross Glenn, who hail from Australia, Brazil and South Africa.