Upwork getting started (my experience)

[dakz0r]

So this covid 19 virus pretty much stumbled my job and generally i started as full time freelancer this year (not a best time eh?)
Basically i am doing freelancer stuff for almost a decade, but here and there besides my regular job. Was working a lot of designs for local stores/coffee shops/restaurants etc...
And i decided to sign up for upwork since local business in my country is pretty much screwed and nobody want to invest in digital marketing/graphic design/new website - this is all things that i am capable doing.

Signed up few days ago on upwork, filled all needed information, and started bidding on jobs. To all who started and is in same position as me - ITS HARD to get a job as new cake there, that is for sure. I even found free 10 connect voucher here on bhw, i bid on really lowest stuff in all areas of work. Started to losing hope that i am gonna be able to get a work as person who have 0 reviews, ofc i was searching here for suggestions, reviews exchange etc (pretty much what everyone else is doing)

Today i got a response from company who searching graphic design for catalogue - i signed up on upwork few days ago for that particular job when i created account.
I got a job and i am happy as a child who got his present from a santa, really!

+ the moment when i get contacted by them i got free 80 connect from upwork. So now i can bid on more jobs, and hopefully get more things done in near future.

My point to everyone out there, dont give up in this hard times!

 

[HustleTong]

Sounds inspiring. Glad you made it on a platfrom where most people struggle to take off. Have you considered driving clients off the platform via skype/mail to maximize workflow?

 

[dakz0r]

Sounds inspiring. Glad you made it on a platfrom where most people struggle to take off. Have you considered driving clients off the platform via skype/mail to maximize workflow?

Most definitely looking forward doing that. At the moment i am just hoping to get more clients to build up my reputation there, and hopefully some of them will be long term.

 

[Cryptology]

Good job!

I've been working on Upwork for two years now. Until February, I was making roughly $200 dollars each month (besides my studies). It was just extra "pocket money".
COVID skyrocketted my activities as I am now making between $1000-1500/month. This is still not enough to make a living out of it in my country, but it's already a nice start as I never expected to reach these earnings as a freelancer.

Here are some advices for you op (and for everyone new on Upwork):

• Start slowly with small tasks to get reviews on your profile. Small jobs are better for beginners.
• Don't be afraid to do small tasks that don't require particular skill (for e.g. writing fake reviews for clients. These jobs are popular up there). Easy way to get 5 stars
• Do not work with ANY client with "Unverified payment method". I've done it once, it was obviously a scam. There are enough good clients with verified payment methods, go for them.
• When you're bidding, try to put a few dollars less than client's budget. (50->40). Don't lower it too much as it might scare the client though. Just a few dollars under.
• When you submit your cover letter, try to add your portfolio. It might sound like common sense but believe me many people just copy and paste their letters and don't personalize the messages.
• Your description on your profile (and profile photo) are more important than you might think. Polish them!

I'd say try to reach 10-15 "small tasks" to get your profile started then start looking for long term clients. It will save you a bunch of connects in the beginning.
You only need one or two long term clients to start banking hard.

Upwork is really competitive but if you can bring value and something different to your clients, you'll make it!
Good luck

 

[FIREBOSS]

Good job!

I've been working on Upwork for two years now. Until February, I was making roughly $200 dollars each month (besides my studies). It was just extra "pocket money".
COVID skyrocketted my activities as I am now making between $1000-1500/month. This is still not enough to make a living out of it in my country, but it's already a nice start as I never expected to reach these earnings as a freelancer.

Here are some advices for you op (and for everyone new on Upwork):

• Start slowly with small tasks to get reviews on your profile. Small jobs are better for beginners.
• Don't be afraid to do small tasks that don't require particular skill (for e.g. writing fake reviews for clients. These jobs are popular up there). Easy way to get 5 stars
• Do not work with ANY client with "Unverified payment method". I've done it once, it was obviously a scam. There are enough good clients with verified payment methods, go for them.
• When you're bidding, try to put a few dollars less than client's budget. (50->40). Don't lower it too much as it might scare the client though. Just a few dollars under.
• When you submit your cover letter, try to add your portfolio. It might sound like common sense but believe me many people just copy and paste their letters and don't personalize the messages.
• Your description on your profile (and profile photo) are more important than you might think. Polish them!

I'd say try to reach 10-15 "small tasks" to get your profile started then start looking for long term clients. It will save you a bunch of connects in the beginning.
You only need one or two long term clients to start banking hard.

Upwork is really competitive but if you can bring value and something different to your clients, you'll make it!
Good luck

Any tips to get appvoed?

 

[Cryptology]

Any tips to get appvoed?

I think I was approved two years ago. As far as I know they changed their approval system (and requirements?) earlier this year.
Before, it was possible to be approved AFTER completing your profile. If this hasn't changed, then I'd say to complete as much as you can before asking for approval.
Experience, education, description, photo, languages, availability, etc.

 

[dakz0r]

Good job!

I've been working on Upwork for two years now. Until February, I was making roughly $200 dollars each month (besides my studies). It was just extra "pocket money".
COVID skyrocketted my activities as I am now making between $1000-1500/month. This is still not enough to make a living out of it in my country, but it's already a nice start as I never expected to reach these earnings as a freelancer.

Here are some advices for you op (and for everyone new on Upwork):

• Start slowly with small tasks to get reviews on your profile. Small jobs are better for beginners.
• Don't be afraid to do small tasks that don't require particular skill (for e.g. writing fake reviews for clients. These jobs are popular up there). Easy way to get 5 stars
• Do not work with ANY client with "Unverified payment method". I've done it once, it was obviously a scam. There are enough good clients with verified payment methods, go for them.
• When you're bidding, try to put a few dollars less than client's budget. (50->40). Don't lower it too much as it might scare the client though. Just a few dollars under.
• When you submit your cover letter, try to add your portfolio. It might sound like common sense but believe me many people just copy and paste their letters and don't personalize the messages.
• Your description on your profile (and profile photo) are more important than you might think. Polish them!

I'd say try to reach 10-15 "small tasks" to get your profile started then start looking for long term clients. It will save you a bunch of connects in the beginning.
You only need one or two long term clients to start banking hard.

Upwork is really competitive but if you can bring value and something different to your clients, you'll make it!
Good luck

Wow, thanks for amazing tips mate. I really appreciate it! I am doing exactly what you did mention in post, and hopefully i will be able to catch few more clients in upcoming days. I will be more then happy to be able to earn few hundred $ each month. It would cover my living expenses in total. So i am looking forward for more tips and "tricks" from old school upworkers. And i will keep this post updated as soon as i grab new job. Maybe i will inspire someone else.

 

[Cryptology]

You'll make it, hard work really pays off there! I'll gladly follow this thread

 

[stepdub]

So this covid 19 virus pretty much stumbled my job and generally i started as full time freelancer this year (not a best time eh?)
Basically i am doing freelancer stuff for almost a decade, but here and there besides my regular job. Was working a lot of designs for local stores/coffee shops/restaurants etc...
And i decided to sign up for upwork since local business in my country is pretty much screwed and nobody want to invest in digital marketing/graphic design/new website - this is all things that i am capable doing.

Signed up few days ago on upwork, filled all needed information, and started bidding on jobs. To all who started and is in same position as me - ITS HARD to get a job as new cake there, that is for sure. I even found free 10 connect voucher here on bhw, i bid on really lowest stuff in all areas of work. Started to losing hope that i am gonna be able to get a work as person who have 0 reviews, ofc i was searching here for suggestions, reviews exchange etc (pretty much what everyone else is doing)

Today i got a response from company who searching graphic design for catalogue - i signed up on upwork few days ago for that particular job when i created account.
I got a job and i am happy as a child who got his present from a santa, really!

+ the moment when i get contacted by them i got free 80 connect from upwork. So now i can bid on more jobs, and hopefully get more things done in near future.

My point to everyone out there, dont give up in this hard times!

Ive made a fortune on Upwork in the last one year. Don't treat this as a replacement for your job, but a full time business, and you will make fortunes too. All the best budd.

 

[TeslaFan]

I'm not making much on upwork but I'm trying to take the clients off upwork after the test run if they are happy. It's very competitive out of 100 bids i get maybe 5 jobs and I'm offering cheap rates. It could be me or the work I offer but if you have a good niche and a good pitch you might do much better then me.

 

[ppcsauce]

Happy to hear it's working out for you.
I don't understand why so many people shit on Upwork, if you know how to sell your services it's a great place to start and make your first few thousands.

Not to mention that you can branch out with clients you've met on there.

 

[dakz0r]

I'm not making much on upwork but I'm trying to take the clients off upwork after the test run if they are happy. It's very competitive out of 100 bids i get maybe 5 jobs and I'm offering cheap rates. It could be me or the work I offer but if you have a good niche and a good pitch you might do much better then me.

Yeah, bidding is one of the biggest problems for me so far... But keep bidding on cheap jobs. And hoping that i can get more out of it. My main goal is wordpress, graphic design, instagram marketing. But also bidding in reviews (looking for more jobs like this that doesn't require any skill)
Maybe someone help with this and recommend something?

Happy to hear it's working out for you.
I don't understand why so many people shit on Upwork, if you know how to sell your services it's a great place to start and make your first few thousands.

Not to mention that you can branch out with clients you've met on there.

Agree with you, well ppl shit on everything to be totally honest so it's not a surprise.

 

[nobodysHero]

My first 2 months on upwork was hell, I couldn't get a single job. I spent like $50 on connects bidding on development jobs.

The day I decided to give up and stop looking was the day I got my first job, then in the next 2 months I was able to make around $900.

I'm taking a break from upwork right now, since I'm busy with other stuff, but I can go back anytime, my profile is still there with the good reviews.

My advice is, be honest with the clients, don't promise things you can't do. And do everything you promised you will do.

 

[developer1989]

@nobodysHero @dakz0r @ppcsauce @TeslaFan @stepdub @Cryptology
I'm PHP developer having very good knowledge on API integrations. Can I try Upwork? Or PHP is competitive?

Suggest me any other places to get fee jobs.

 

[dakz0r]

@nobodysHero @dakz0r @ppcsauce @TeslaFan @stepdub @Cryptology
I'm PHP developer having very good knowledge on API integrations. Can I try Upwork? Or PHP is competitive?

Suggest me any other places to get fee jobs.

Hey man i saw A LOT of ppl that are searching development. You should definitely join upwork, and keep trying to get jobs there. Once your account is filled with reviews i think that you will be getting really good payouts.

 

[Mukiwa]

It is good to read that there are some people who are able to crack the Upwork code and make a bit on the side.
At the moment any good news shared is inspiration to others to keep on going through tough times.
It does not matter where you live or what you do - everyone deserves to succeed if they try - as you have started.

 

[dakz0r]

It is good to read that there are some people who are able to crack the Upwork code and make a bit on the side.
At the moment any good news shared is inspiration to others to keep on going through tough times.
It does not matter where you live or what you do - everyone deserves to succeed if they try - as you have started.

This is exactly why i posted this thread, and hopefully more people will be inspired with my story.

UPDATE: I submitted 10 more jobs (some basic photoshop stuff, reviews etc...) I am using 80 connect that i got for free from upwork. So far i didnt get any response. But i will keep an eye on new jobs, and hopefully something will come up.

 

[nobodysHero]

This is exactly why i posted this thread, and hopefully more people will be inspired with my story.

UPDATE: I submitted 10 more jobs (some basic photoshop stuff, reviews etc...) I am using 80 connect that i got for free from upwork. So far i didnt get any response. But i will keep an eye on new jobs, and hopefully something will come up.

From what I gathered, there's a lot of fake jobs, most probably for people to boost their profile. When submitting for a job, make sure the poster is verified or has awarded different jobs to different people in the past.
There are many many jobs that you won't get a reply for no matter how good you reply.

You might have to start with low fees at first to compete with all the east asians countries out there (India, Philipines...) that literally asks for $3 an hour. I personally started with $8 an hour, and eventually made it up to $15 an hour. On the other hand, many clients did admit that they don't wanna hire someone from India or Philippines due to some bad experience in the past, so if you're not in one of these countries, you might have a good shot at it.

Another thing is, don't copy paste the same proposal for everyone, read what they want and try to offer them what they are looking for by using the keywords they are looking for. For instance, if they are looking for someone to do an illustrator job, don't just say I'm a professional graphic designer, instead say something like I have worked on many illustrator projects for different clients and did this and that....

If you're good with a niche, try to start there, so in my case, instead of searching for let's say PHP or Wordpress, I was searching for "Yii2", "payment gateways", "shopify APIs", and that's how I landed my first couple of jobs.

If you end up doing a great job, they will message you back for another job. One guy I fixed a Yii2 website for him, and he still to this day have an open contract with me, and he messages me every month to fix a bug in his Yii2 or WP website. Another client I migrated a website for, and she's been messaging me every now and then to migrate a new website.

If I wasn't making more money on the side, I wouldn't have stopped using upwork, I wouldn't say I'm a pro in this, but I believe if I had kept getting more contracts, at some point you won't even have to login to upwork, they will message you and give you a job. That's also based on the experience in my previous company, where we would hire developers and eventually make a deal with them outside of upwork, we were paying an Indian dev around $2K a month, and for someone in India, that's a hell lot of money.

 

[slager889]

So this covid 19 virus pretty much stumbled my job and generally i started as full time freelancer this year (not a best time eh?)
Basically i am doing freelancer stuff for almost a decade, but here and there besides my regular job. Was working a lot of designs for local stores/coffee shops/restaurants etc...
And i decided to sign up for upwork since local business in my country is pretty much screwed and nobody want to invest in digital marketing/graphic design/new website - this is all things that i am capable doing.

Signed up few days ago on upwork, filled all needed information, and started bidding on jobs. To all who started and is in same position as me - ITS HARD to get a job as new cake there, that is for sure. I even found free 10 connect voucher here on bhw, i bid on really lowest stuff in all areas of work. Started to losing hope that i am gonna be able to get a work as person who have 0 reviews, ofc i was searching here for suggestions, reviews exchange etc (pretty much what everyone else is doing)

Today i got a response from company who searching graphic design for catalogue - i signed up on upwork few days ago for that particular job when i created account.
I got a job and i am happy as a child who got his present from a santa, really!

+ the moment when i get contacted by them i got free 80 connect from upwork. So now i can bid on more jobs, and hopefully get more things done in near future.

My point to everyone out there, dont give up in this hard times!

Good luck. Made over $70k on Upwork. It's a great site if you deliver quality work. Upwork even contacts me when they get new high-end clients they want to make a good first impression with. You want to be one of the providers they view that way. The key, always deliver good work. If you know you can't get the job done properly, don't accept the contract.

 

[Elvlin]

Good luck on the journey OP.
There are many member here that earn a lot from upwork.