From marketing to software development, work-from-home projects are on the rise as businesses downsize and more people look for work online. Over the past few years, work from home projects relating to social networks and social media have become an increasingly important part of this market. And the latest report on the state of the work from home job market released by DoNanza, the world’s leading work from home job search engine, shows that this market has diversified to include not only projects for Facebook, but also the up-and-coming new location-based social network Foursquare as well.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Facebook dominates the “traditional” social networks when it comes to demand for work from home projects. Developers are asking for three times the number of projects for Facebook than the next nearest social network, Twitter. Budgets for Facebook projects are also higher than Twitter, averaging $847 next to Twitter’s $797. However, demand for both social networks is increasing, indicating that social media campaigns, regardless of the platform, are still a major part of many business strategies.
In terms of growth, however, Facebook and Twitter simply do not compare to location-based social networks. Both Foursquare and Gowalla have seen 150% and 70% growth, respectively, compared to Facebook’s 27% and Twitter’s 5%. And Foursquare far outstrips the other social networks in terms of how much is being offered per project, with an average of $1,100. Foursquare is in high demand, and while the volume of projects may not be as high as Facebook due to Foursquare’s still nascent development and the related shortage of developers who truly understand the platform, the hefty price tag for projects indicates that it will grow.
Time will tell if geolocation networks have staying power, but considering that mainstream networks like Twitter have integrated location-based features, it’s likely to be around for a while. And if Foursquare can keep its position as geolocation network of choice, those work at home professionals with Foursquare development skills can look forward to enjoying the high price and high demand that DoNanza reports for quite some time.
