Overview
The Hive is Beeswax's directory of people and businesses. Use it to find contractors, freelancers and service providers, see their skills, rates and recent work, and get in touch.
Key features include:
- Browse profiles of people and businesses, as cards or on a map
- Filter by category, skills, location, profile type, position, experience, availability and rates
- Search by keyword
- Read a profile's skills, rates and Recent Work
- Send a message, or add the person or business to your contacts
- Star profiles as favourites to find them again
Only profiles that are switched on and verified appear in the directory. A business profile also needs a paid (not trial) subscription.
Finding The Hive
- With a business account: open the Contacts menu and choose The Hive — Discover People & Businesses at the foot of the menu.
- Without a business account (a freelancer profile, or browse-only): The Hive is in the top bar.
Profiles appear as cards, nine to a page. Use the grid and map buttons at the top right of the page to switch between the cards and a map of where everyone is based.
Searching & Filtering
Use the Filter card on the left, then press Filter to apply it:
| Filter | Description |
|---|---|
| Categories | A service category. Choosing one narrows the Skills list to match |
| Skills | A skill within the category |
| Location | A city or country |
| Profile Type | People & Sole Traders (people, and businesses marked as sole traders) or Businesses |
| Position | A person's position (hidden when Businesses is chosen) |
| Experience Level | Entry, Intermediate or Expert (hidden when Businesses is chosen) |
| Availability | Available, Busy or Open to offers (hidden when Businesses is chosen) |
| Hourly Rate | A range from $0 to $500+ |
| Day Rate | A range from $0 to $5,000+ |
| Show Favorites | Show only the profiles you've starred |
To search by keyword, type in Search profiles by keyword... at the top. The search looks through names, headlines, bios and locations, and keeps the filters you've already applied. Apply your filters before you search: pressing Filter again clears the keyword.
Reading a Profile
Choose View Profile on a card to open the full profile.
- Left card: availability, experience level, skills, categories and location (with a map). If the person has added a LinkedIn profile, Connect links to it. Business profiles carry a Business ribbon.
- About: a short description.
- Rates: a person shows an hourly and a day rate. A business shows a Rates Card: the products and services it has chosen to publish, each with its price and unit.
- Recent Work: posts showing what they've been working on. Open one to see its images and full description.
Connecting with Professionals
Every profile has an Actions menu (the dots at the top right of the left card):
- Send Message starts a conversation with the person who looks after the profile. If you've talked before, it reads Continue Chat, and the profile's card in the directory shows a chat icon.
- Add to Contacts adds them to your own contacts. A person is matched to an existing contact by email address, or added as a new one. A business is matched to an existing business with the same name, or added as a new client. A business added from the Hive stays linked, so its details update automatically. Afterwards the menu shows View Contact (a person) or View Company (a business). You need a business account to add contacts.
To save a profile for later, choose the star on its card in the directory. Tick Show Favorites in the filters to see only your favourites.
Joining the Hive
You need a Beeswax login to be listed, but not a business account. When you sign up, the page What do you want to do? offers three choices:
- Find Talent — browse the Hive only, without a profile.
- Create a Profile — set up your own personal Hive profile as a freelancer, sole trader or contractor, without a business account.
- Create an Account? — set up a business account, with project management, invoicing and accounting.
To manage your listing:
- A personal profile: open User Settings > Your Hive Profile.
- A business profile: open Account Settings > Hive Profile. The Owner, a Super Admin or an Accounts user can manage it.
See Hive Profile for setting up a profile, verification and Recent Work.
Switching Between Paths
- Freelancer to Business: if you start with a personal profile and later set up a business account, your profile details (headline, bio, location, rates, social links, skills and up to two categories) are copied to the new business profile. Your personal profile is unpublished, and the business profile starts unpublished: publish it from Account Settings > Hive Profile. Recent Work posts, experience level and your photo aren't copied.
- Business member who loses access: if the business account you belonged to is cancelled or its subscription ends, you aren't locked out of Beeswax. You'll see the same three choices: browse the Hive, create your own profile, or set up a new business account.
Permissions
- Owners, Super Admins, Managers and Accounts users see The Hive in the Contacts menu.
- Other roles (Basic and Client) don't have the menu link.
- Freelancers (no business account) and browse-only users find The Hive in the top bar. Freelancers can also manage their own profile.