I’m always out there trying to find the most interesting new products that web 2.0 has to offer. By little more than chance, I recently happened upon this beautiful Web 2.0 variant on the traditional job board. I was so impressed I tapped one of the Co-Founders, Brett Innes and asked him to sit down for an interview.

What Is Gizfolio

I’m a co-founder at Gizfolio Ltd, a startup company based in the North of England that aims to match freelance portfolios with contract work through our website. After working as a freelance consultant to a software publisher for about 2 years, I had a chat with my brother Calvin, who works as a freelance illustrator, about the ways we could improve the process of finding freelance work, and Gizfolio was born. Collectively, we’re involved in a number of local ventures and partnerships that deal with everything from illustration to books and clothing, so we have a good starting point for understanding the needs of different creative industries.

So Brett, tell us something about Gizfolio. What was the problem you were trying to solve and what made you come up with the idea?

The idea for Gizfolio came about during a conversation about the pitfalls and difficulties faced by many freelancers, especially in the first year.

Despite working freelance in very different areas, we shared similar experiences with early mistakes, project management hiccups and the all important question of how to find a steady stream of contract work in the early days.

We talked about how current freelance sites reduce freelancing to a bidding war, that drives down the value of the work involved. We believe we can do much better than the current offerings by allowing both freelancer and client to interact on equal terms. With Gizfolio, matching clients to the right freelancers will be much more like a conversation than an auction. A client posts a job listing with a maximum budget and the conversation begins, which allows users to build trust long before a job is accepted.

Have you found that blogging has helped to develop your business, if so how?

Absolutely. Our blog has allowed us to connect with all kinds of people, without having to hard-sell our idea. We try to keep it light and as far away from corporate as possible, and people tend to approach us more because of this. Because we’re reaching out to freelancers from the blog, we’re able to build a membership, and add content to the main site before it even goes live.

Ideally, what would you like to see Gizfolio become?

As freelancers ourselves, the long-term goal for Gizfolio is to change the way freelancers interact with clients, by making the process much more natural and people oriented. We have plenty of ideas kicking around for later this year, which will expand our services into different areas, but it’s probably too early to talk about that stuff.

I try to ask all of the entrepreneurs that I interview this. As entrepreneurs, do you have any advice for people who have an idea but just don’t know where to start or how to get it off the ground?

I’d say jump right in, don’t talk yourself out of it as there’ll be plenty of people to do that for you. Also, don’t try to do it alone - bring people in who have the skills or experience you lack yourself. Finally, have clear goals in place for everyone involved - it’s easy to lose track of what’s happening with a project, especially at the startup stage.

Web 2.0 Roundup

If you like what you have just heard, or are just interested in seeing one of the prettier job boards I have ever seen, contact Brett or visit the website. In fact, I would suggest doing both.

Contact Information:

Name: Brett Innes
blog: http://www.gizfolio.com/blog/

email: mail@gizfolio.com
skype: gizfolio.brett