All figures relate to 1st January - 31 December 2010 and are based on figures supplied by the top 10 freelance marketplaces or that were found in public sources.

The WhichLance website has been listed for sale on Flippa.com for the 2nd time in the past 12 months. Since launching the site, the founder has taken on a full time position with Freelancer.com one of the world's leading and the largest outsourcing marketplace. This poses a significant conflict of interest between the aims and objectives and impartial nature of WhichLance and the owners new role at Freelancer.com.

Starting out as a freelance writer can be rough. You immediately find yourself caught in a catch-22. You want to gain experience, but it seems like no one wants to give you any unless you already have some! That’s a frustrating spot to be in, especially when you know you have it what it takes to make it as a writer if someone would just give you a chance.

Our final quarterly review of freelance marketplaces in 2010 is due to be released in the next 7 days. Marc Morgan, the new Author of our Special Reports and Quarterly Reviews has been fervently working away on it and we are looking forward to publishing it. Hot on its heels will follow a review of 2010 on the whole - this will include data and analysis of a much broader range of marketplaces, not just the top ten - and we are excited about getting it online soon.

I am pleased to announce that since Saif Bonar stepped down from Editorial input to the website and I took over as Editor, we will be expanding the editorial team at WhichLance over the coming weeks. You will have noticed our homepage has changed dramatically to provide more of a highlight of our news and other content. Our team is buys building a back archive of news from freelancing, outsourcing and crowdsourcing marketplaces going back up to 10 years.

Our sources tell us that Freelancer is currently running a massive ad campaign in the UK for the launch of Freelancer.co.uk - plenty of jobs being posted as a result - so if you haven't already registered, now would be a good time to do it - they are experiencing huge growth from buyers in the UK right now and by all accounts their campaign is only just beginning! Check out their Alexa trends for freelancer.co.uk for living proof!

I am stepping down from my editorial role with WhichLance, effective immediately. San Francisco-based Carey 'Trip' Giudici, will be taking the reins as Editor and will handle all areas of editorial development going forward.