When you’re starting out as a freelancer, it can be tough…
You have little to no experience.
You don’t have any testimonials to rely on.
And you’ll most likely not be charging what you’re worth.
But…
If I’ve just described you, Upwork can be the perfect place to get your foot in the door.
Because the main objective of this blog post is this:
To provide you with enough information and insight so you can land your first freelance client on Upwork this week and go on to make your first $10k online.
So, let’s begin:
Setting up your profile
We’ll keep it simple and easy, to begin with:
You’re going to go to Upwork and begin setting up your account:
And once you’ve done everything you need to do, the next step is to set up and optimize your profile…
Setting up your profile
When creating your account, you want to create a robust and solid profile that promotes your skill set and demonstrates competency, confidence, and testimonials (If you have any).
If you’re struggling to create a profile, I recommend going to people in your niche who are successful and taking inspiration from their profiles.
And just a reminder: You cannot plagiarize but can definitely see what they’re doing and take elements and add them to your own profile.
As Picasso says –
“Good artists copy, great artists steal”
But don’t flat-out plagiarize.
So, once you’ve done all of this, you want your profile to have the following:
- Clear profile picture of your face
- A persuasive and robust bio.
- Showcase testimonials from previous clients
- And if you have any, samples of prior work.
Expenses
Unfortunately, Upwork isn’t completely free and there is some expense that you will have to pay.
Here’s what they are:
When applying to projects, you have to use ‘connects’.
And these cost money.
Here’s what the cost for connects looks like if you were to buy some on your profile:
As you can see, not too expensive…
But nonetheless, it’s still an expense.
Then you have transaction fees.
These transaction fees are taken when you’re getting paid by a client.
Here are some of the transaction fees look like:
- $0-$500 in earnings from a client: 20% service fee applied to earnings
- $500.01-$10,000 in earnings from a client: 10% service fee
- $10,000.01 or more in earnings from a client: 5% service fee
And if you work for the same client and your lifetime billings go into the next bracket, all future payments to you (even if below $500) will go to a 5% or 10% service fee your payments.
What services are you providing?
Now that is out of the way, let’s focus on some of the needle-moving activities to help you land clients and reach your first 10k…
Choosing what service you offer is possibly one of the most important decisions you’ll make when starting your account what service are you going to provide?
Because when you start out on Upwork, a surefire way to fail is to try to offer every service under the sun.
You want to specialize in a specific service and dominate it.
For example, if you’re trying to be a web designer, copywriter, and front-end developer, not only will you spread yourself too thinly…
But you’ll also have no authority and won’t be able to go deep within one service and become that ‘expert’ that can demand those big fees down the line.
And the people that do niche down will run laps around you.
Pick one service delivery and stick to it.
Picking your niche
Going off the last point, you want to niche down as quickly as possible.
Whether that is within a service delivery (Example: VSL copywriter for health products) or going super niche within the kind of clients you deliver services to.
There are so many ‘copywriters’, ‘media buyers ‘, and ‘graphic designers’ out there that it’s hard to stand out if this is all you do.
So, in order to get around this, you need to have a niche within a niche.
See the image below:
As you can see from the above image, there are so many ‘copywriters’ out there.
But as you go down the pyramid and niche down, there is less competition.
Not only making it easier for you, but when you do this you can become an authority in the space and command those higher prices.
Sending out proposals
Sending out proposals is something that I see a lot of people get wrong when starting out on Upwork…
They make them too long, not specific, and too self-centered, amongst a number of other things.
So, here’s what you’re going to want to do when creating a proposal:
- Show that you’ve read the proposal
- Prove that you have competence in that area that they’re needing help with (Provide samples of past work)
- Suggest a few points on how to make the project run successfully.
- Ask if they have any other questions.
- Sign off.
As my philosophy with a lot of things, simple is oftentimes best.
And another point worth mentioning –
You want to get to the point and be concise.
People posting on Upwork are literally getting anywhere from 20 to 50 applications for each job they post.
And they do not want to read long and drawn-out proposals.
Keep it simple. Do a lot of volume. And continuously iterate.
Here are a few samples of my proposals that have landed me paying gigs;
As you can see, all of these proposals follow a similar layout.
Short, to the point, proof of past work and a question at the end so I’m leaving it open-ended.
So make sure you take inspiration from this and follow a similar layout in your proposal.
Pros and Cons of Upwork
Pros:
1) People are looking for your services:
One of the best things about freelance sites like Upwork is that you have 100s if not 1000s of people specifically looking for your services.
And these warm leads are so much easier to close that a cold prospect.
2) Once you build your profile up it can be a powerful lead-generation tool:
When you build up a solid profile, it can do wonders for your business.
Because when you have a solid profile, there is proof of concept. You’ve shown you know what you’re doing, are competent, and deliver on your promise.
And when this is the case you get a number of inbound leads, in fact, some of the best clients that I still work with today came from inbound leads on Upwork.
3) The escrow service protects you:
This has to be one of my favorite features of Upwork.
There have been times in the past when I’ve been working with clients (Not on Upwork) and chasing up invoices to be paid.
This has to be one of the most infuriating things about being a freelancer.
But, one of the benefits of Upwork is that the money you’ve agreed upon with your client goes into an escrow that protects you.
So, even if you’ve done the work and the client ghosts you, you’ll still get your money paid.
Cons:
1) It’s a competitive marketplace:
When you’re on Upwork, it’s obvious that it’s a competitive marketplace.
There are 100s (Maybe even thousands) of the same people offering the same service.
So, you need to think outside the box about how to differentiate yourself from everybody else.
2) You’re at the mercy of your clients when it comes down to your JSS score:
Something that I’ve personally experienced before is when a client is happy with your work or you go above and beyond and they don’t leave a 5-star review.
When this happens, unfortunately, it will affect your JSS score (Job success score).
And a lot of time, these reviews are simply down to opinion rather than results which can be frustrating.
3) Fees:
As mentioned earlier, one of the prices you pay when working with clients on Upwork is the fee.
Yes, it does sting…
But in my opinion, it’s the price you pay for the escrow services which is worth it in my opinion.
Extra Tips
It’s a numbers game:
When it comes to sending out proposals, like many other things in life, it’s a numbers game.
And as you’re sending out this proposal, you must constantly be tweaking, iterating, and refining your process for what works and what doesn’t work.
Just for reference, here are my archived proposals:
So, if you’re sending out proposals and don’t feel like you’re getting any replies…
Chances are, you’re not doing enough volume.
Set boundaries:
This is a big one.
To be honest, it’s completely unrelated to Upwork, but I want to talk about it because you’ll benefit from it.
Never, ever take sh*t from a client. Ever.
Make payment dates clear.
Form relationships with your clients and not an employee/worker dynamic.
Set boundaries for reply times.
Because the worst clients out there are the ones who think they’re entitled to your time.
When they are most certainly not.
If you feel this toxic relationship is beginning to form, cut it loose and find a better, more qualified client that you want to help.
Constantly tweak and iterate:
When it comes to your Upwork profile, your outreach messages, and your niche, the chances are it won’t be good the first time around.
But don’t worry.
Nobodies are.
But what you must do is this:
As time goes on and you gather more reference points, you must constantly tweak and refine your approach to optimizing results.
It’s not 1,000 reps. It’s 1,000 iterations.
Go the extra mile:
You may have heard me say earlier that Upwork is a crowded marketplace.
And it is.
But, that shouldn’t stop you from making a killing on Upwork, and here’s how:
Go the extra mile.
And going the extra mile could be something as simple as doing what you’re saying you going to do.
Meeting deadlines.
Giving the client a bit extra.
You’d be shocked at how low the bar is on some of these freelance sites.
It’s incredible.
So, an easy way to stand out – go the extra mile.
Conclusion
I hope this has helped.
If you have any questions that I haven’t answered, simply leave a comment below or email me at Jamie@EmailMaximalist.com and I’ll get back to you.
Please remember, when it comes to places like Upwork, it’s a numbers game.
You have to show up consistently and put in the reps.
And once you begin to build up that solid profile and a solid amount of testimonials, it can really be a game changer for your business.
Before you go...
If you haven’t already seen it, I recently put together a guide on how I create emails for myself and my clients.
It’s everything I’ve learned over the past couple of years distilled into a simple and easy-to-consume guide.
You can get it by clicking here.
And, if you have any questions that I haven’t mentioned, either send me an email at jamie@Emailmaximalist.com
Or Just send me a DM on Twitter @EmailMaximalist
