Hi, no, I don’t think I’ve really received this question! 🙂
I’ve used Internships:
http://www.internships.com/student/show/Stephanie-T-N181759
I have several repeat clients on Fiverr:
https://www.fiverr.com/bibliovalkyrie
And a lot of my money comes from Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/~01a0816e4e575f507b
The trick to it is less about the platform and more about your connections with people.
Internships doesn’t have any fees at all, and Fiverr and Upwork only have fees when it comes to you getting paid.
Upwork has greatly increased its fees for different types of users, but my biggest Upwork client was a client of mine on Elance, so Upwork has been generous enough to allow me to keep the same fees on there.
Fiverr is one you’d think would only bring you one-time clients, but the fact of the matter is that providing good quality work will bring you repeat clients. I’ve done $100+ projects with one of my clients on there.
If you take the time to work carefully and thoroughly with people, then they will be more than happy to work with you again. Many clients need someone consistent to do work for them. For example, one of my big Fiverr clients has a company where all 3 women who write their posts and e-mails don’t speak English as a native language. However, they send several e-mails a week and multiple posts every week–on Facebook, YouTube, etc. Because they want to ensure that their work is readable to a native English speaker, they need someone to proofread their work.
Can you imagine having a long-running company where all of your e-mails sound like they were edited by different people?
If you work your hardest to make your clients’ lives better, then they will eventually come to you. But you have to communicate with them and build that relationship first.
Worry more about finding good clients first! I also made good connections through Twitter and Tumblr and have found work through those. 🙂 Good jobs can come from anywhere!