Elance: Economic Equalizer

Where was a site like Elance when I was growing up in cold and depressing Utah (as an aside, it's now officially the most depressed in the Union)? For that matter, where was the Internet? Back then it was just a plaything of generals and academics.

Anyone who grew up in or now lives in a rural area knows how constricted job opportunities can be (I milked cows, bused tables, and worked a cookie factory line, all of which were character building perhaps, but not necessarily skill building).

I posted a quick request to Elance for some illustrations for this blog: Ghengis Khan on horse back with a tablet PC as opposed to a bow and arrow. (Yes, corny I know, but I'm going with that theme.) Within a few minutes I was looking at some impressive portfolios for some very reasonable rates. Some of the illustrators hailed from rural states (and for all I know are 14 years old).

Though I'm sure the bidding wars can be fierce, sites like Elance make metropolitan (i.e., higher paying, chic-er, hipper, cooler) work possible in the rural setting, which would have been a great boon to me back in the days of getting kicked by cows while stealing their milk fro $2.75 an hour.