5 Tips On How To Become A Successful Freelancer On Upwork

So you have finally decided to start freelancing and have found a job on Upwork that looks like a great match for you. But how do you make money on Upwork? This question is one of the most asked by new freelancers but many people never get answers because they don’t know who to ask.

3 Pillars for a Successful Freelance Career on Upwork

Takeaways
1. Specialize: Find your niche and focus on a specific skill or industry to stand out from the competition on Upwork.
2. Optimize Your Profile: Create a professional and attractive profile that highlights your skills, experience, and achievements to attract potential clients.
3. Write Compelling Proposals: Craft personalized and persuasive proposals for each job, showcasing how you can add value to the client’s project.
4. Deliver High-Quality Work: Consistently deliver top-notch work and exceed client expectations to build a strong reputation and secure long-term projects.
5. Communicate Effectively: Maintain clear and prompt communication with clients, actively seeking feedback and addressing any concerns or questions promptly.

Table of Contents

What is Upwork?

Unless you are living under a rock, you have probably heard about Upwork. If you haven’t, let me give you a brief description: it is a freelancing platform. People with skills and people who need skills hire each other on Upwork to get things done. You might be wondering, “How does it work?” I know I was wondering that when I first heard of this site.

Upwork makes it easier to find jobs and make more money. The site allows freelancers to search and post listings for freelance jobs relevant to their skills or expertise, whether they want to do digital design work, content writing, copywriting, accounting or 3D animation. Clients can then search the database, which has been rated by those who’ve used Upwork successfully before in order to find the best candidates?

Here are some tips on how to make money on Upwork as a freelancer.

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Set Up A Robust And Honest Profile

A professional-looking profile gives recruiters and hiring managers the information they need to understand your qualifications. The more complete and fresh your profile is the better chance of being invited for an interview.

Specify the types of jobs you’re interested in, your skills and your expertise. This information is confidential; don’t provide false or misleading information. If you accept jobs without meeting their requirements, your job performance would be low and you won’t be able to get another job in future.

Add a photo of your head and a detailed description of your experience. You can include links to portfolios or samples of your work.

You can also enter your education, the number of hours per week you can work, and your location. If you do not have experience in a particular field, check out the rates of other freelancers on Upwork with similar qualifications.

Once you have submitted your profile information to Upwork, assuming the information is accurate and verifiable, you can expect a quick “congratulations” response from Upwork.

Learn why Upwork keep rejecting your profile?

Choose A Membership Plan

Upwork offers two membership plans for freelancers: Basic and Plus.

Basic

A basic plan is a free tool—but you’ll use Upwork connects to apply for a job. Freelancers on the basic plan use 2-6 connect each time they want to submit a proposal to a client. You can only hold onto up to 200 “Connects,” the platform’s internal tokens, each month.

If you want to attract potential clients, you should make your profile look as robust as possible by displaying your best work and highlighting specific experiences. Volunteering in the past can also help you demonstrate your experience.

The basic plan also includes payment protection for hourly and project-based payments.

Plus

A premium plan costs $14.99 per month and includes all the features of the basic plan, plus these additional features:

70 Connects per month
Knowing what price competitors have bid for a job can give you an advantage
Option to keep earnings confidential
Employees can keep their income information private
The ability to create a custom URL is available
You’ll never have to worry about your profile being hidden due to inactivity

Want to win more projects on Upwork? Learn how to craft compelling proposals with our expert advice. Check out our article on writing a great proposal to enhance your chances of securing freelance opportunities.

Connect With (Legitimate) Employers

Use your Connects to submit proposals for jobs that fit your skills and interests. Each proposal should include a cover letter, the fee you want to charge and answers to any questions in the job listing. You can also include other information that would be helpful to the client’s decision-making process.

Before applying for a job, research the company to get a sense of its reputation. The Better Business Bureau, Glassdoor, and a Google search for news coverage of the employer can provide good information.
Upwork’s rating system helps freelancers and agencies decide who they really want to work with and lets other users know if a particular freelancer is trustworthy.

Like Uber or Lyft, Gigwalk uses a five-star rating system. Employers are graded on how well they pay, the quality of their work, and how quickly they follow through on their promises. Ratings from clients make up your Job Success Score, which is displayed as a percentage on your profile, indicating the number of gigs you’ve completed to the client’s satisfaction. This data helps both parties determine who they really want to work with and lets others see if they want to hire you.

Even if everything looks fine, be careful about payments and work requests outside the site—these tend to go wrong. Duly documented behaviour on both sides discourage scams; client behaviour will be held accountable for making shady payment terms, making work requests without in-site proof, or making claims about your work against in-site proof.

Avoid common pitfalls on Upwork and improve your freelancing journey. Learn from the mistakes of others by checking out our article on 14 common mistakes on Upwork. Enhance your professionalism and increase your chances of success in the freelancing world.

Set Your Price And Start Working

Upwork deducts a fee for each task your client sets. The fee structure is a sliding scale based on the total amount you bill with that client over time, so the more you work with a client, the smaller the cut taken. Upwork deducts:

20% for the first $500 you bill a client.

10% for total billings with a client between $500.01 and $10,000

5% for total billings with a client that exceed $10,000.

Upwork offers two types of payment arrangements: hourly and fixed price. The Upwork fees are the same regardless of the payment arrangement you choose.

The Upwork fee is 20% of your total earnings from a client. If you list a $20 rate per hour for your first Gig, you can expect to earn $16 per hour after the 20% Upwork fee. Once you have billed $500 with that client, the fee drops to 10% and you would earn $18 per hour.

When you negotiate a flat rate for a fixed-price job, the same theory applies: If you’re getting paid $400 for a job and the job is expected to take two weeks to complete, you’ll be paid $320 after the 20% cut.

When offered a low rate for a job, don’t take the customer at face value. Negotiate with the customer to find a mutually agreeable price for the service or product.

Hourly Projects

Hourly projects require you to keep a log of your activities during your time on the task. Upwork’s desktop app can automatically track your activity with the Work Diary. The app tracks keystrokes, scrolling, clicks and active windows as well as periodically taking screenshots.

You can also turn the Work Diary on and off at any time and log work manually instead, but it is recommended that you use the tool, to begin with. This will qualify you for Upwork’s Hourly Protection service, which ensures that you are paid for work you can prove you completed, even if a client refuses.

Stand out from the crowd on Upwork with an optimized profile. Discover effective techniques and best practices in our guide on making your Upwork profile stand out, and increase your visibility to attract potential clients.

Fixed-price Projects

Fixed price projects have more defined payment schedules than time and materials contracts. The contract specifies milestones or the steps you must complete on the way to completing the project. The client pays some money when you reach a milestone; the remainder is paid upon completion of the project.

Get Paid

Upwork freelancers can choose between secure payment options such as PayPal, direct deposit, Payoneer or wire transfer.

All projects billed hourly on Upwork are paid weekly. The due date for payment is 10 days after the billing period ends. If a project is dropped before completion, Hourly Protection and milestones can help you get compensated fairly. If you believe you were underpaid for your work, Upwork’s Dispute Resolution process is available to help protect your rights.

Fixed-price projects payout as you reach agreed-upon milestones, which can help keep you up to date with your money and accountable to your client. If the client fails to pay for a milestone or refuses to pay for what you believe is completed work, you can begin a dispute.

Are you leveraging Upwork to its full potential in your freelancing career? Unlock the benefits of this platform with our insightful article on using Upwork in your freelancing career. Discover strategies to maximize your success and find lucrative opportunities.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best way to get hired in Upwork?

Vet the client, before you agree to work with a client, look for their feedback history. Check their review pages on freelancer sites and listen closely to the way they talk about other freelancers. If they regularly leave negative reviews, proceed with caution.

Communicate often and deliver on schedule, as a freelancer, you may have the reputation of being unreliable and unresponsive. In order to stand out from the crowd, communicate often with potential clients to make them feel at ease. Try to meet deadlines set by the client so that they feel you are reliable and trustworthy.

The client should have a confirmed payment method, I prefer to work with clients who have a confirmed payment method. Upwork can provide hourly tracking, so you know that you are being paid for the work you perform.

Only apply to detailed job descriptions, before applying for a job posting on Upwork, check the job description carefully to determine whether the client has clearly defined the scope of the project. Be cautious, as you only have a limited amount of connections on Upwork, which can lead to missed opportunities.

How to Get Jobs on Upwork in 7 Days (with No Experience)

Start with small jobs on Upwork
The first step to succeeding on Upwork is to get your first job. But once you get your first job and start receiving positive feedback, you make yourself less of a risk for potential clients.

Focus on positive feedback
If a client’s budget is lower than the amount you would normally charge, let him or her know in your application that you would be willing to take the job at a reduced rate. Include terms for feedback after the job is complete so that your profile will stand out from other freelancers with no feedback.

Optimize your Upwork profile
For a freelancer on Upwork, optimizing one’s profile is key to getting job offers. Potential clients will see your profile before they make a decision about whether or not to hire you.

Beginners Guide to Getting Started on Upwork?

Find the jobs that will actually hire
Search for jobs that have extremely refined descriptions. Be wary of businesses asking for spec work. Look for businesses that have a reputation on Upwork.

Address the client’s needs
When writing a proposal, regard yourself as a plumber. Define the client’s needs and your unique qualifications to address them. This will help you to be very factual, personal and helpful without sounding generic or wishy-washy.

Don’t Communicate Price, Communicate Value
Businesses don’t want to waste money on unnecessary employees who aren’t adding value.

Costantine Edward

Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.