Online escrow service

A method of optimizing performance in a services exchange medium, comprising:

• maintaining a plurality of service provider profiles in a data store accessible by the services exchange medium;
• maintaining a plurality of job posts in the data store, wherein each of the plurality of job posts is associated with a job to be completed within the service exchange medium;
• providing a networked platform configured to connect a service provider with a buyer of the services exchange medium based on a profile of the service provider and a job post of the buyer, wherein the networked platform includes online resources configured to facilitate completion of a project by the service provider, wherein the project is associated with the job post of the buyer, wherein the online resources include an online escrow service and a private message board, wherein the private message board maintains a written record of communication between the buyer and the service provider, wherein the communication includes internal message board posts that originate from inside of the services exchange medium and external email exchanges that originate from outside of the services exchange medium to improve overall throughput of the computing device by reducing the total number of simultaneous client connections with the services exchange medium necessary for the maintenance of the written record, wherein the communication includes establishment of a plurality of tasks for the job, wherein each of the plurality of tasks is selectably associated with either a standard payment option or an escrow payment option;
• interfacing with the online escrow service to pay for performance by the service provider of at least one of the plurality of tasks designated as using the escrow payment option;
• automatically generating and transmitting to the buyer a request for funding of the at least one of the plurality of tasks designated as using the escrow payment option;
• communicating with a remote account that is located outside of the services exchange medium, thereby resulting in a charge to the remote account, wherein the charge is associated with the request for funding;
• periodically transmitting a status report to the buyer until the at least one of the plurality of tasks is completed;
• automatically generating and transmitting to the buyer a notification of the service provider completing the at least one of the plurality of tasks;
• transmitting an invoice for the at least one of the plurality of tasks, wherein all transmitted status reports are appended with the invoice;
• releasing an asset for the at least one of the plurality of tasks from escrow;
• and
• transmitting a finished work product associated with the at least one of the plurality of tasks via the private message board.

A method of optimizing performance in a services exchange medium, comprising:

• maintaining a plurality of buyer profiles and a plurality of service provider profiles in a data store hosted by the services exchange medium, wherein each buyer profile and each service provider profile is associated with a respective buyer and a respective service provider, and each service provider profile comprises service provider expertise associated with its respective service provider;
• maintaining a plurality of job posts in the data store, wherein each of the plurality of job posts is associated with a job to be completed within the service exchange medium;
• providing a networked platform configured to connect a selected service provider with a buyer of the services exchange medium, the selection based on the service provider expertise of the selected service provider profile and a job post of the buyer, wherein the networked platform includes online resources configured to facilitate completion of a project by the selected service provider, wherein the project is associated with the job post of the buyer, wherein the online resources include an online escrow service and a private message board, wherein the private message board maintains a written record of communication between the buyer and the service provider, wherein the communication includes internal message board posts that originate from inside of the services exchange medium and external email exchanges that originate from outside of the services exchange medium to improve overall throughput of the computing device by reducing the total number of simultaneous client connections with the services exchange medium necessary for the maintenance of the written record, wherein the communication includes establishment of a plurality of tasks for the job, wherein each of the plurality of tasks is selectably associated with either a standard payment option or an escrow payment option;
• automatically generating and transmitting to the buyer a request for funding of the at least one of the plurality of tasks designated as using the escrow payment option;
• communicating with a remote account that is located outside of the services exchange medium, thereby resulting in a charge to the remote account, wherein the charge is associated with the request for funding;
• periodically transmitting a status report to the buyer until the at least one of the plurality of tasks is completed;
• automatically generating and transmitting to the buyer a notification of the service provider completing the at least one of the plurality of tasks;
• transmitting an invoice for the at least one of the plurality of tasks, wherein all transmitted status reports are appended with the invoice;
• releasing an asset for the at least one of the plurality of tasks from escrow;
• and
• transmitting a finished work product associated with the task via the private message board.