Toptal Review, My Honest Customer Review 2022

(Editors Note: We’re starting this post with an intro into outsourcing for context, if you want to get straight to the review of TopTal, scroll down to the bolded title, “Toptal Review – What’s this have to do with Toptal?“)

There are plenty of Toptal reviews online, but I feel a lot of them lack context on the outsourcing market, thus spurring the need for Toptal.

The truth is, outsourcing has come a long way. No longer do you have to move your company to a tech-savvy city like Silicon Valley for access to top talent. You can now go online and hire someone from anywhere in the world to write a PHP script or create a brand-new WordPress website, or write a fully blown software application for any purpose imaginable.

How to Hire Online Freelancers (the RIGHT Way)

Most outsourced projects fail, or at the very least businesses settle for “good enough” out of business necessity. I talked about this in-depth in my essay on why most outsourced projects fail on Upwork. I’ve seen it first hand. I’ve seen it with friends. Clients. Business partners. You name it. But, remote work is the future. According to Upwork Research Studies and Statistics, 50% of the American Workforce have worked from home since May 2020. And although I’ve been highly critical of the current state of the freelance marketplace, it’s not because of Upwork or any other freelance marketplace – it’s how businesses and freelancers utilize the platform. Many want to outsource overseas to save money, but the age old adage remains true, “If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.” Read More

18 Side Hustles to Make Money in 2023

We’ve all been there – sometimes the full-time job just ain’t cutting it.

Fortunately, the Internet has opened up new avenues for making money outside your nine-to-five workday. Thanks to the increasing popularity of side gigs, it’s now easier than ever to enjoy an additional income stream.

However, there are so many side hustles available these days that it’s hard to determine which ones will bring you the most profits. With that, here are seven different side gigs that will earn you more than $100,000. I’ll start with mine…

1. Photographer

I am a portrait photographer based in Las Vegas. I shoot primarily headshots and portraits, but being a popular vacation destination, I also shoot a lot of expos, conferences and events.

It doesn’t require a degree, and has a relatively low barrier to entry (basically anyone who buys a camera), but the market is extremely saturated. However, if you’re skilled and talented (and know how to run a business), it’s certainly can be a lucrative business – and a fun one too! If you’re interested, you can start with this post on the 27-Things You Need to Do to Start a Photography Business.

7 Websites I Advertise/Market My Pro Photography Business

I’ve previously covered Side Gigs That Pay Over $100k, with photography being the avenue I chose. After all, if you love what you do, it won’t feel like work.

What started out as a hobby, I’ve traveled the world and now call Las Vegas home as a pro portrait photographer, and I also run 1kCreatives.com, a site that helps photographers (and other creatives) earn their first $1000/mo.

Upwork: Why it’s a Battle YOU Won’t Win (2023)

The internet is riddled with mixed reviews of Upwork, and I’m here to help decipher them – and to analyze the problems that still exist. But at the end of the day…

Upwork isn’t the problem, it’s how businesses and freelancers choose to use it.

Here’s how it is supposed to work: A company crafts a highly detailed job description for a specific project. Contractors write highly detailed and attractive cover letters to capture the attention of the company. The company chooses a contractor from the field of highly qualified, well written contractors. The contractor accepts the job and performs up to spec and within the time frame. The company pays the contractor a fair price for the job in a timely manner. Good reviews of each other’s performances are given out. Everyone is happy.Read More

Thumbtack Pro: It isn’t for everyone, but it is worth a try

The short story – Thumbtack Pro isn’t for everyone… but it’s worth trying to see if it’s profitable for you.

***Important Editor’s Note: This is a review for Thumbtack Pro in 2022, the date is an important distinction as Thumbtack was once free to be listed in the marketplace. Thus be careful of older, dated reviews on the web.***

I love and hate Thumbtack. I get a lot of terrible leads, and I have to pay $10-20 per lead that comes through.

ContentBot – Are AI Copywriters Better Than Humans?

In 1996, the computer known as “Deep Blue” beat Garry Kasparov marking the first time a computer beat a human in a formal chess game.

Just recently in 2019, computers are starting to beat humans at poker, a game with many more combinations and possibilities… and of course the element of “bluffing.”

So can a computer write better than human?

In short, no. But it’s still a powerful tool for writers.

Chess and poker have a great deal of mathematics involved, and thus statistically speaking there are situations where there’s an absolute best decision. Not so much with writing (though I’m sure math plays a role in the algorithm).

Robots lack a personal touch. Empathy. Ambition. An expertise on a certain subject. A lot of things are human constructs and an AI won’t quite match the personality of their human counterparts.

AI Copywriters – Which are the best?

There are a myriad of AI copywriters on the market, but they’re all very similar because they’re based on OpenAI’s GPT-3 state-of-the-art natural language processing system. The difference between them often lies in the feature set.

I elected to use ContentBot because it has a couple key features that differentiates them from the competition:

The only AI copywriter with WordPress integration
Plagiarism tool built-in
Allows for long form content (up to 2000 words)

My Review of ContentBot – Learning and my first few experiments

This is my first experience with an AI copywriting tool, and as a photographer I wanted to see if could write a post on, “The Best Wide Angle Lenses for Micro Four Thirds”

The results?

Nope. Not even close. Granted, they do mention that output quality is heavily dependent on input quality. But it couldn’t handle technical photography terms and even switched around numbers on lenses, etc.

But I wasn’t deterred, and I still wanted to challenge ContentBot. So I looked through my task list of articles on schedule and saw, “What’s the best rep range for hypertrophy?”

And it actually didn’t do too bad, there was some usable content there if my goal was to add words to a blog post, which a lot of us marketers do considering the optimal blog post length for SEO is 1700-2400 words. But it still lacked the expertise in fitness that a quality post on the 1st page of Google would have.

And I know you guys want examples, so let’s experiment on how AI would write this very article.

You’re reading it. Everything that you’ve read so far is a result of AI copywriting.

Nah, I’m just f***ing with you. But I’ll show you how it would write this article:

For my inputs, I entered the title: ContentBot Review – Are AI Copywriters Better Than Humans?

What is AI Copywriting?
Will AI replace copywriters?
Will copywriting be automated?

For every input, it spits out three outputs, and an option to generate more if you don’t like any of the choices:

ContentBot – AI Copywriting Outputs

I don’t see the need to add bloat to this post by posting the entire post here (which would in all likelihood help SEO, but more on that later), but you can find it in this Evernote note here.

Here are a few standout sections, all unedited (and my notes will be in italics):

Will AI Replace Copywriters?

There are so many articles in the media today that are talking about the dangers that AI will bring to the workplace and how humans will lose their jobs in the meantime. While this is true, I’m talking about one specific job where AI has the potential to eliminate the human component: Copywriting.

That’s a really good intro, I could have potentially used that for this post.

While Content Writing, Copywriting and Content Editing are all a part of the content marketing world today, there’s a different aspect of digital writing being introduced. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now being introduced as a part of the Content Writing market. More so, they are using AI to predict the future in order to create a better writing system.

These Artificial Intelligence Content Writers will now try to use artificial learning techniques to predict the future to create a content strategy. Not only is this technology the future of writing, but will also be the market leader to come. This will make it possible to automate more things in digital marketing, and will create a future that we are not looking.

Is AI Copywriting Better Than Human Content Writers?

When we talk about Content Writing, most of us will often go back to content marketing when discussing this topic. The most obvious reason is because it seems the easiest to learn, right? The truth is, human writers are not any better than an AI Content Writer. It is true, in some ways AI is superior, but only up to a point.

The AI is a little confident, eh?

Back to me, the human

Not bad at all. But I just want to make note of one thing, AI copywriting tools shouldn’t be used to generate mass long form content (because it could help with SEO, albeit a little unethically). ContentBot does acknowledge this marketing it as an AI assistant to “overcome writers block.” And that’s the best way to use it. To overcome writers block, to help you generate new ideas. It’s a fantastic tool for SEO, even better when you combine it with a tool like MarketMuse or Surfer SEO.

No doubt the most popular feature will be to generate blog posts, but here’s a few other things you could do with ContentBot:

Craft Ad Copy – perfect for testing different variations to see which ad copy has the best CTR
Sentence Rewriter – This is great for local citations, the AI writer can rewrite your “about me” can provide unique content.
Blog Outline – Great for subheadings, topic ideas
Blog topic intros – A great AI tool for generating a good intro paragraph for your blog post.

Final Verdict

Overall, the decision to use an AI copywriter depends on your content. It won’t work well on subjects that are highly technical, or require a great deal of expertise. But it could help with content generation on simpler topic ideas. It’s a valuable SEO tool to add to your collection.

What do you think of Content Bot? Is AI generated content the future, or will you be sticking by your copywriter? Will this be apart of your marketing campaigns? Let us know on social media, or in the comments below!

10 Most Popular Things to Outsource

An important component of business is being self aware. Many entrepreneurs tend to want to be a jack of all trades, but if you really want to scale your business you’re going to have to find out what you’re best at and delegate the rest.

“Musicians play their instruments, I play the orchestra.” – Steve Jobs

Whether hiring in-house or outsourcing, the real problem lies in hiring good talent. We’ve detailed this in one of our most popular posts about Upwork, the most popular place to outsource.

Of course, this all depends on what you want to outsource. Outsourcing development for an ambitious technology startup is vastly different from outsourcing data entry or even personal tasks. Though this list is designed for businesses, USNews.com also has a list of tasks to outsource for your personal life which include hiring someone to clean your home, run your errands, mow the lawn, etc.

Today, we’re going to be covering the most popular and best things to outsource for your business.

We’ve polled our readers, and we’ve utilized external data from Entrepreneur and Investopedia to compile a list of things that you should consider outsourcing:

Virtual Assistants
Graphic Design
Web and App Development
Manufacturing
Bookkeeping and Taxes
Legal
Marketing
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Customer Service
Writers

1. Virtual Assistant

The most popular hire is a virtual assistant (VA), perhaps perpetrated by one of the best selling business books over the last decade, The Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss. Most virtual assistants can be hired for under $10/hr, even as low as $3/hr. Though most of these options will be overseas, where language barriers may be an issue. Ferriss’ detailed his experiences in his book, from good to bad, thus his book would be a good place to start for a guide to hiring and working with virtual assistants.

My advice for hiring a virtual assistant is to find simple tasks that you can outsource. Do them yourself first, thus you can break it down in explicit detail and you know about how long the task takes. You have to make it so easy that a child can do it. And if you’re hiring overseas, excellent (not just good) English is a must. In my experience, many have stretched their tasks for hours, visible through Elance/oDesk (now Upwork) screenshot software… and these are VA’s with “good reviews.” Thus if you do hire an assistant, do it through Upwork, where they have software that takes a screenshot of their computer at random intervals to ensure they’re working on the outlined tasks.

Personally, I’ve hired multiple virtual assistants over the years on various freelance marketplaces and couldn’t find the right fit. Mostly because I don’t have recurring tasks that I need done and didn’t want to keep a VA around for a couple hours a month.

Nowadays, I use FancyHands, a service that allots you a certain number of tasks per month for a monthly fee. Unused tasks are rolled over to the next month. A perfect fit for me.

A few things I’ve had them do lately is call mechanics for quotes for my car, call in to my insurance or phone company and patch me in so I don’t have to be on hold for 30 minutes, etc. Most of the tasks are personal, but occasionally I do have them do a few simple business tasks like research for a blog post, sales leads, data collection, etc.

FancyHands employs thousands of virtual assistants that are waiting for requests, however this means that you can’t build a relationship with your assistant. If you’re running a business and you want your assistant to learn on the job, than you might opt for hiring a virtual assistant on UpWork.

2. Graphic Design

Virtual assistants are popular because even though we can often do those tasks ourselves, we really hate doing them. Graphic design, on the other hand, is a different story. Not everyone is an artist and that’s why graphic design is #2 on the list. Here are a few recommendations based on budget:

Broke – If you’re broke, you have one option, Fiverr. Where a logo will set you back $5. Though you get what you pay for and buyer beware as some sellers are selling you stolen artwork. But hey, what can you expect for $5? See our list of The Top 7 Business Gigs on Fiverr. Another option is buying a template from GraphicRiver for a few bucks and modify it to your needs. Others might have the same logo, but it’s better than Times New Roman with Clip Art from the 90’s. Both Fiverr and GraphicRiver have more options than logos, just using that as an example as it’s the most popular thing to outsource for graphic design.
Best Bet – Go with the crowdsourced model, essentially a logo design contest where designers compete for a prize. $300 will save you a ton of time and net you dozens of designs to choose from. It’s a win/win situation as they offer a 100% money back guarantee if you don’t get a logo you love. Another crowdsourced option is DesignCrowd.
Scrooge McDuck Rich – Some companies have invested $10000+ on a logo. Sometimes there’s a lot that can go into a logo, such is the case with AirBnB who hired DesignStudio for their redesign.

3. Website and/or App Development

This will be the toughest thing to outsource because developers write in another language that you probably don’t understand. But it can be done successfully and I recommend checking out our guide on How to Hire Online Freelancers on UpWork. Here’s a couple options I recommend:

For Short Term Projects (eg. less than 60 hours, small tasks, simple websites or plugins, etc.) – Upwork is going to be your best bet. The problem with Upwork lies in the businesses who try to hire for under $10/hr. Remember that good software developers in the US command salaries over $100k, over $200k in tech driven cities. So though there will be plenty of options thrown your way, outsourcing for $10/hr will be really tough to do. I advise looking for developers in the $20-$50/hr range who’ve had a long work history with good reviews. And this might sound counter intuitive, but for the first project(s) don’t hire on a per hour basis. Breakdown your tasks into milestones and release payments accordingly.
For Long Term Projects (More than 60 hours or something where you’ll need ongoing support such as building a startup, an app, etc.) – Much like the best software developers head to Silicon Valley, the best head to TopTal because of the clientele tends to think more about value than price. Toptal promises the top 3% of talent, and I’ve seen first hand that is true. With UpWork, you have to sift through and screen the talent yourself… and if you’re non-technical that’s almost an impossible task. With TopTal, they’ve done the work with screening designers and devs through coding tests, interviews with other developers, etc. And a proposition of value is built into the platform with a no-risk trial:

All of our engagements begin with a trial period of up to two weeks. This means that you have ample time to ensure the engagement will be successful. If you’re completely satisfied with the results, we’ll bill you for the time and continue the engagement for as long as you’d like. If you’re not completely satisfied, you won’t be billed (and we’ll pay the Toptaler out of our own pocket). From there, we can either part ways, or we can provide you with another freelancer who may be a better fit and with whom we will begin a second no-risk trial.

4. Manufacturing

Local is always an option, or you can go with Alibaba, the global marketplace who in 2014 claimed the title for the largest global IPO ever. I’m not a physical product guy, but have had clients who have used Alibaba with success.

5. Bookkeeping and Taxes

Another popular thing to outsource, it’s best to find a specialist with your software. In other words, if you use Quickbooks, find a Quickbooks specialist. Personally, I use Wave (free), and have a specialist that helps me with bookkeeping. Wave has a directory for locating specialists. Everyone else can check on Upwork.

6. Legal

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice.

There are many legal services online that can help you save thousands of dollars from hiring a lawyer. Most lawyers online will tell you that you should never attempt to DIY when it comes to legal, and they’re probably right for most situations. Let’s take incorporation for example, if you’re a single member LLC, that’s relatively simple to incorporate yourself in my experience. You need legal documents drafted? Chances are there are templates online. Starting a bootstrapped business is hard enough, if you want to plunk down a couple thousand on a lawyer before you make a single dollar, that’s your prerogative.

There are plenty of options out there, with LegalZoom as the most popular option for incorporation.

Also See: 50+ Must Read Resources for Starting and Growing a Business

7. Marketing

You don’t want to pay someone to twiddle their thumbs, whether for $10/hr or $50/hr. You need a marketing consultant that can show you that for every $1 you invest that you’re getting $5 in return. Think about value, not price.

8. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

I’ve worked for the last few years as a SEO consultant. This industry is filled with snake oil. You don’t need a degree, or any accreditations. You could read a Wikipedia page on SEO and the next you’ve decided you’re the next big SEO consultant.

My advice, 99% of the industry makes money selling SEO… not utilizing it. The best hire is someone who has their own websites that are generating at least $1000/mo in passive income. Find the 1 percenter. They’re out there, I know I can’t be the only one.

9. Customer Service

Another popular thing to outsource, such that their are entire companies dedicated to helping businesses outsource their customer service overseas. My advice, and I might be bias, is to go with call centers in the Philippines.

10. Writing

Again, like with hiring a SEO consultant, you want to find the one percenters. If it’s for content for a blog, find writers who have successful blogs. If it’s for a book, find a writer who has experience as an author or ghost writer.

And make sure to hire a writer with an expertise in the subject you want written about. For example, if you’re a tech startup focused on security you’re not going to want to hire a fashion blogger and vice versa.

What are your favorite things to outsource and what tips do you have? Let us know in the comments below!

Toptal Freelance Rates: How much does Toptal pay developers?

So you’re tired of hunting for jobs on Upwork and now you’re wondering “How much does TopTal pay developers?”

Since you’ve found this post, I’m guessing you have a broad understanding of Toptal. If not, checkout our guide to Toptal, where we cover reviews from both businesses and a freelancers.

Toptal differs from Upwork because there is no need to constantly look for clients. With Upwork, you could spend hours a day pitching for a chance at a project, which would effectively lower your hourly rate as a freelancer. And then there’s the time spent billing, marketing, etc. also lowering that rate. So Toptal’s rate is more encompassing than the ones for other platforms. This all means that a lower rate on Toptal might still be a better option because there are no other associated time drains. For developers who are perhaps tired of how most freelance work is done this might be a refreshing change. But it’s all subjective, right? Because a developer’s personal hourly rate could range anywhere from $20/hr to $200+/hr. What country people are based in certainly forms their thoughts about a reasonable rate. A developer from India is unlikely to ask the same rate as someone from California.

But let’s be clear, Toptal only accepts the top 3% of talent. And I’ve seen that first hand working with them. So for this post to be relevant, you’ll have to pass their interview process and tests, which we covered in the aforementioned review.

Rates on Toptal just like other platforms are truly variable because they are so individual. Also, the detailed mechanics of the pay rate and commission system for Toptal are not publicized. On average Toptal developers seem to earn between $800 to $3000 per week. This difference is mainly based on the number of hours worked. I know you might be more interested in hourly, but this data is very relevant. Because it shows how much the average active developer can earn on there.

The average salary of a Developer on Toptal as stated on the website Paysa is $83,970. This comes out to around $43/hour for a full-time worker. The 25 percentile salary data is $73,970 and the 75 percentile data is $90,893. This, of course, ignores any number of factors, however, is a decent data point double check. Another aggregator, the website Hellobonsai had some interesting data on the rates for Toptal. For example, developers with over ten years of experience have rates from around $100 to $180 and upwards in America. People with three to five years of experience had rates of $100 to $150 in America mainly.

I’m not sure how they collect their data, so I’d rather take personal anecdote and reviews from developers who are actually on the platform instead.

Developers share How Much does TopTal Pay?

From a Quora post on “How much do freelancers earn on Toptal?” we know this:

There are 3 types of engagement – part-time, full-time and hourly.
Freelancers may set their own rate.

Of the engagement models, Toptal states these average rates on how much it will cost for businesses:

Hourly: $60-$95+/hour
Part-time: $1,000-$1,600+/week
Full-time: $2,000-$3,200+/week

Again, that is how much Toptal is charging, and of course they’ll make their cut too. And developers won’t know what Toptal is charging the client for your services. So if we know that freelancers may set their own rate, $50-85/hr might be your best bet (though there are a lot of other factors I’ll list below). Also with freelancing, it’s all supply and demand, so lowering your rate could lead to more jobs.

Anecdote from many developers on the internet tell us this:

You can set your own rate, but to be in the $100/hr range you should really be the best of the best with a very specific skillset.
The amount of projects you receive will depend on your set rate.
You don’t have to spend hours pitching, and you’re not playing the $10/hr price war like many do on UpWork.

The truth is, there are a lot of factors that contribute to your hourly rate and Toptal, as a private company, does not have anything published. So in many ways, this is guesswork. Stories and experiences from other developer peers can be the best way to get clarity when a more encompassing view is unavailable.

We do know skill, experience, and location factor in your rate as well. And then of course Toptal (like any other platform) charges a commission on your personal rate as well. One developer said they charge $120 per hour on Toptal which is about four times the rate in their area. Another developer said that $50 or $60 per hour would be on the high end of an hourly rate in Europe.

The first main pay rate factor will be the language. Developers must communicate with their clients and be able to understand precisely what they are asking for. If someone wants to tap into the market in Australia or America they will need to be fluent in English. This is the biggest limiting factor and one reason why pricing is still localized in a digital world. The localization is actually language and culture based.

Your timezone can matter as well. If you live in diametrically opposed time zones it makes it harder to conference and confer unless one of you happens to be a dire night owl. It can particularly be a factor if you are intended to work on a group project with a team of people over a period of months. What might be sustainable for a week is less viable over several months. If you end up exhausted trying to do meetings at three in the morning for six months it will probably slow down your productivity in general. That is all disregarding personal stress levels when working with someone in a very different time zone.

Also, feedback from clients is quite essential. They can explain how you came across or any additional skills that would be helpful to have. Proper critique is invaluable and immensely useful so developers can continually improve until they reach an impressive standard of excellence. If there are any skill shortfalls you might have then a client could point it out. This would let you rectify the gap promptly and potentially enable you to get more or better-paying projects as you gradually improve.

All in all the mystery of Toptal rates is going nowhere. But it is rather like darts. Just because we can’t hit the center doesn’t mean we can’t get close. There are clear practical factors beyond marketing and presentation that play major roles in the pay rates for developers on Toptal.

50 Freelance Websites to Hire Freelancers or Find Online Jobs

The best piece of advice I can give when it comes to hiring freelancers, is to think less about price, and more about value.

Freelancing has changed the way businesses operate and how people work. These days, you can build a career without leaving the comfort of your home. You can even operate with other freelancers to make your own agency. For freelancers, it makes sense to join as many as you can and find the ones that work best for you. It really just takes a few minutes to signup and complete your portfolio, and who knows, you might land a few leads without any additional work. Granted, most of these platforms you’re going to have to spend some time with and develop a reputation. And the best freelancers are really good at reverse engineering what it takes to be successful on a specific platform. Below we’re just going to briefly talk about 50 of the best websites for online jobs, it’s up to you to delve into case studies and other reviews to see how effective it is for you.

For businesses, the benefits are clear, outsourcing can save you money and you’re not restricted to talent within your city. You now have access to a global pool of talent among a myriad of different freelance marketplaces. It keeps operational costs down and you can opt for freelancers instead of employees in a lot of situations. With online communication tools on these platforms or off (eg. Slack), hiring freelancers and letting them operate remotely from their own home can be a win/win. As a business, I use multiple platforms and I’ll delve into why below, so without further ado here are 50 of the most popular websites to hire freelancers or find online jobs: