"Odesk and Elance. Only hire people who've worked on multiple projects and have high ratings. There are plenty of talented people out there."

I am on Elance, but can't get any work because I don't have any history. Can't get history without any work. The logic in this is flawed. Interview the people who submit bids, don't automatically rule out people without a history on the site, you might be surprised what they've worked on in the past.