Freelancer

Freelancer.com is a site that hooks up content providers (freelance designers like me) with clients looking for cheaper solutions than a design studio etc.  Its Great.  It has a huge range of jobs available and its free to become a content provider.  The screenshot below shows the wide range of categories available.

Listing of Available Job Categories

There are limitations to a free account - mostly the number of jobs you are able to bid for in a given time period, but aside from that it costs nothing.  The best thing even with a free account on Freelancer is the option to view 'Contests' held online where a client or seller hosts an open contest, has options to upload funds so the winner is guaranteed to get PAID ( leading to better design submissions ) and is open to providers to upload their best designs.  These contest are free to enter (doesn't require any bidding), is structured as far as what the seller is looking for, has an Public Clarification section where you can have an open dialog discussing job requirements with the Seller, and probably most importantly for me has a time limit to submit.

The time limit doesn't allow me to procrastinate, its a firm deadline and if I want to get my work in its got to be done on time.  This is advantageous for a few reasons, 1) even though my job is super sweet I love what I'm doing, I rarely have any pressing deadlines.  I know, boo hoo right?  But it is important to challenge myself with deadlines to stay on top of things as far as producing quality work within a set timeframe.  Its crazy now I actually need to take on extra work to get my 'deadline fix', quite the opposite of a print shop.  2) Whether or not my design wins, its still practice and experience that adds to my overall skill in design, pitting me against other designers and providing a little healthy competition.  Seeing other designer's work can be inspirational, plus seeing what has already been submitted often forces you to think outside the box to come up with a fresh take on the request.  3)  Once the contest is over, move onto the next challenge.  There is such a diversity of jobs and having the ability to pick and choose what contests to enter really makes this fun.  At the very least I aim to enter one contest a week to keep sharp & challenge myself with the deadline aspect, work on a range of concepts, medium, and job requirements.  The key to this is keeping busy.  The absolute hardest part of contributing regularly to iStock is there is no deadline - its too open and I really need to be 'forced' by the looming deadline to get my ass moving.  I'm a procrastinator by nature, so Freelancer.com thanks for being a dick and making me work on the weekends.  I appreciate it ( really I do! )