I love when sites that are already doing good things take the time to do things better. That is just what Guru.com did with their announcement of adding Guru Questions & Answers, where experienced solutions and advice are provided by Guru employees and other freelancers in the community. Think of it like adding a Yahoo Answers or LinkedIn questions to an already powerful community of freelancers. Good stuff for sure.

In an email sent out to all current community members this morning Guru announced the addition of three different questions & answer forums to the site: Project Research, Outsourcing Advice, and General Help forums. Guru said they have added the social media tool to “spark discussion and share solutions that can evolve the viability of the freelance sourcing option for business.”

As a long time member of Guru and a fan of their services I was happy to see they started with such a simple yet effective social solution—forums. There is no better way to strengthen a community than to get them sharing ideas and questions in a forum-like interface. We have seen so much excitement around the idea of turning sites social, and I personally think too many sites forget the basic element needed for social success—get your fans to start talking to each other. The momentum of the discussions usually builds organically, enabling the site to then seek out opportunities to open and share those conversations.

For job seekers considering a move into the freelance world, it can often be a very intimidating time. Beyond just wondering if you are the right type of person for a freelance career there are also a number of logistical questions around processes, work set-up, time management, client relationships, etc. Guru aims to open those conversations for public engagement. Rather than provide guide books or “how-to” articles, they are empowering the largest online freelance community to help each other in an experience-based conversation. I love it.

For those of you currently working in-house for a company but are considering a career in freelance someday, this would be a great site to bookmark and start exploring.

For too long now job boards have been leaning toward a conventional approach to the online job search. I see 2010 as the year we will see some big changes. Already this year we have seen SimplyHired.com step up to the social plate with their "share" function addition, as well a site overhaul. I am excited to see what the other boards have in store for us. Could this actually be the year the traditional boards take the social plunge? I mean beyond setting up a Twitter feed. Since...that doesn't freaking count people! rant over.

Needless to say this year will bring some change and I couldn't be more excited to see what exactly those changes will be.