There are a lot of reasons you might want to make a new Upwork account. Maybe you’re looking for a fresh start, or maybe your old account has some information on it that’s out-of-date or no longer relevant.
But before you go ahead and do just that, take our advice: don’t.
It’s against Upwork terms to have multiple accounts, and while you may feel like you’re being clever by creating a new one when your old one is still active, we can assure you that the Upwork powers-that-be will find out. And when they do, they’ll most likely end up suspending all of your accounts—including the new one.
So what should you do if your old account has information on it that’s out of date? It’s simple: just update your profile. You’re allowed to change whatever information you’d like as long as it’s kept updated and is accurate.
| Takeaways |
|---|
| Consider the pros and cons of deleting your Upwork account before making a decision. |
| Evaluate your current freelance career status and identify the reasons for considering a fresh start. |
| Explore alternative platforms or opportunities that align better with your freelance goals. |
| Communicate with your existing clients and colleagues about your intentions to make an informed transition. |
| Plan a strategy for rebranding or restarting your freelance career if you decide to delete your Upwork account. |
What’s The Effect Of Having Two Upwork Accounts?
You would think that I could have an account for working as a writer, and one for working as a virtual assistant or something else. This is not the case.
Upwork will not allow this and will ban your account if they find out.
How can they find out? Well, first of all, remember that when you send proposals to clients, they can see your name, country of origin, and nationality. This information is visible to them in the bid details. If you bid on a job for both accounts at the same time, you are risking being found out by the client who checks your name and profile and sees that it’s actually from another account.
You can also get caught by Upwork itself if you use the same payment method for both accounts. If you use PayPal for example, it will be flagged by their system. They will then suspend both accounts until you submit your ID documents for verification.
Once they verify you are who you say on both accounts (which might take several days), they might permanently ban both accounts.
You don’t have to run multiple accounts on Upwork, you can open an agency account instead.
Building a successful freelance career requires choosing the right platform for your skills. If you’re unsure about whether to go with Upwork or Fiverr, our comprehensive guide on Is Upwork or Fiverr Right for You? can help you make an informed decision.
What Is An Upwork Agency?
An Upwork agency is just like a regular freelancer account—except it allows you to have multiple freelancers working under one account. That means that if you have a friend who wants to write for your agency, or if you are ready to take on some full-time writers yourself, the agency structure will allow that.
But there’s a catch: Opening an agency can be kind of confusing and overwhelming. Luckily, we’ve done all of the hard work for you so that you can get back to writing!
Here are our step-by-step instructions on how to open an Upwork agency:
1. First, you need to make sure you have a personal account. If you don’t, go to Upwork and click Sign Up. Once that account is activated, log in and follow these steps:
2. Go to Settings > Contact info
3. Scroll down to Additional accounts
4. Select New Agency Account
5. Fill in all required information about your agency and click Create Agency Account
6. After you create your agency, the Account Menu will be where you can switch between your personal and agency account views. A person can only “own” one agency on Upwork, so once you have one, you won’t be able to make another one.”
8 Tips For Growing Your New Upwork Agency
Ready for a boost? Here are five tips to help your Upwork agency flourish.
1. Make Sure Your Clients Know What They’re Getting Into When They Hire You
You might be tempted to focus all your attention on looking for new jobs and forget to pay attention to the ones you have. But it’s important to take care of the clients you already have, too.
If they don’t understand what they’re getting into, they might be dissatisfied with the results of your work—which could not only damage your relationship with them but also result in a bad review on Upwork.
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2. Set Goals
Setting goals is one of the best ways to ensure success with any new venture, and it’s no different when starting a new Upwork agency. Write down your goals, both long-term and short-term, so that you know where to focus your efforts on a daily basis.
3. Give Your Agency A Great Description
When you’re starting out, you want to make sure that potential clients have a clear idea of what your business is all about. Clients may be looking for someone who can help them with a specific type of project, so give your agency a clear and concise description so they know what kind of service you offer.
4. Create Strong Partnerships
One of the best ways to grow your agency is by creating strong partnerships with other freelancers. Teaming up with another company can allow you to tap into their audience, which increases your potential size of yours—and therefore increases how many people might see your agency.
If the company you partner with provides a service that compliments yours, it could increase the likelihood that they’ll recommend your agency when they get a client who needs services like yours.
5. Find Clients Who Need These Services
Now that you know what kind of services your target clients need, it’s time to find them! Start by creating an Upwork profile and writing a compelling title for your agency that tells potential clients what type of services it offers.
Next, search for clients on Upwork who have posted similar projects like yours in their feed or have been awarded contracts recently by other freelancers – this will help increase visibility when applying for jobs!
6. Get Featured In Top Talent
The Upwork Top Rated program is an exclusive group of freelancers who have earned a 100% success rate and multiple positive reviews from their clients. If your profile is getting lots of traffic but not getting hired, consider applying for Top-Rated status. To learn more about how to qualify for this honor, head here.
7. Learn About Legal And Tax Considerations
Incorporating has many benefits: it makes it easier for you to attract investors; separates your personal assets from those of the business; and provides tax benefits for small businesses. It also shows clients that your business is legitimate, which helps your reputation and attracts many customers.
Are you passionate about writing and considering freelancing as a career? Discover whether freelance writing & copywriting could be the right path for you and how it can open up exciting opportunities.
8. Protect Yourself With Contracts
Protecting yourself and your team is one of the most important things you can do as you grow your business. One way to protect yourself, your clients, and your freelancers is by having everyone sign a contract before starting work.
A contract outlines expectations for both parties and protects everyone involved in the event that something goes wrong. At Upwork, our legal team has created standard contracts for both clients and freelancers that will help ensure you stay covered while working with freelancers on the platform.
Should You Close Your Upwork Account?
Here are some reasons why you might be ready to delete your Upwork account:
* You’re switching to other freelance platforms
* You’re not getting any jobs on Upwork
* You’re not happy with how Upwork works for you
If one of these is the reason that’s making you want to leave, then maybe just try taking a break from using the platform for a little while instead.
How To Delete The Upwork Account
If you still find yourself wanting to delete your account after that, here is how to.
1. Freelancer Or Agency Member
How to delete an Upwork account, as a freelancer or an agency member.
To close your account, all you really need to do is go through a few simple steps:
Close all open contracts with your clients. You don’t want them to be left hanging, and it also makes it more likely that you’ll get paid for the work you’ve done! After all, nobody likes a deadbeat.
Ensure that all payments have been received and withdrawn from your freelancer account. It’s always better to have money than not, right? And after all, it was money well-earned.
Once those two things are taken care of, all that remains is actually closing your freelancer account! To do that, go to Settings › Contact Info and click the Close my account link. Click Confirm and boom! Your freelancer account will be closed immediately—no muss, no fuss
Balancing your passion for writing and the demands of freelancing can be challenging. Learn how to pursue a full-time writing career while maintaining your authenticity with our guide on becoming a full-time freelance writer without selling your soul.
2. Client (Company Owners)
Only the company owner can close a client company. First, you must:
First, you must remove all other team members from the company. This is done in the Team Members section of your Settings tab.
Next, you’ll need to close all contracts associated with the company. Go to My Contracts and click on the Close Contract button for each contract on your team. You can also refer to this article for more information about closing contracts.
Then, all open jobs associated with the company will need to be closed. Go to My Jobs and click on the Close Job button for each job that is part of the company. You can learn more about closing jobs here.
Finally, ensure that all outstanding billing is paid within Upwork itself; a simple way to do this is by going through your Open Invoices tab under Billing & Payments and ensuring that everything has been correctly processed as paid or unpaid (but not as pending).
Once you have processed any outstanding invoices, you’re ready to go! Simply navigate to Settings › My Info and click the Close account.
3. Client Or Agency Admin / Manager / Team Member
But before you do, be sure to leave all of the teams you’ve been on. If you have an account that’s both a client member and a team member for an agency, be sure to leave both teams before closing your account.
To leave a team as an admin or manager, just go to Settings › My Teams and select Leave Team under Actions. Repeat this for every team you’re on, and once you’ve left all of your teams your account will be closed!
4. Agency
If you need to close your agency, you will have to go through a few steps in order to make sure all projects are closed, members are removed, proposals are withdrawn, and payment has been received. The good news is that we’ve written this article just to walk you through the whole process!
Step 1: Withdraw all proposals
Go to Proposals > My Proposals.
Select the proposal you’d like to withdraw. (If it’s not there, then it’s already been withdrawn.)
Click Withdraw Proposal.
Step 2: Close all contracts associated with the agency
Go to Contracts > Active Contracts.
Select the contract(s) you would like to close. (If they don’t appear here, then they’ve already been closed.)
Click Close Contract at the top of the page. You’ll be asked if you want to withdraw from this contract or cancel it. You can’t cancel a contract that has any paid work on it—you have to withdraw instead. Withdrawn contracts will still show up on your profile for clients who would like proof of your work history!
Step 3: Remove all members of the agency
Go to Settings > Agency Settings > Members & Roles and select Remove next to each member
Select Close my agency at the bottom of the page
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5. Enterprise Customer
If you are an Enterprise Customer, please contact your account team to close your Enterprise company account.
Wrapping Up
A decision to delete or deactivate an Upwork account should be based on your needs as a freelancer. There are many tools that have been created by Upwork in order to help freelancers with their business in a variety of ways.
Therefore, you should choose the tool that works for you, whether it is Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer.com, or any other company. There is no need to close your account if you are using only one tool from a company because the problem will arise if you have accounts on more than one of these platforms.
Further Reading
How to Delete Upwork Account: A step-by-step guide on how to permanently delete your Upwork account and discontinue using the platform.
Deleting Your Upwork Account: A Comprehensive Guide: Learn the necessary steps to delete your Upwork account and explore the reasons why some freelancers choose to do so.
Saying Goodbye to Upwork: Deleting Your Account: Find out how to close your Upwork account and the potential implications of doing so for your freelance career.
People Also Ask
Should I Delete My Upwork Account And Create A New One?
No. You don’t have to delete your Upwork account and create a new one.
Can I Edit The Information In My Upwork Account?
Yes. You can edit your name, password, email address, and other information in your Account Settings. You can also add or remove skills in the Skills section of your profile.
What Is A Violation Of Upwork’s Terms Of Service?
-You can find our Terms of Service here. The most common violations include:
-Creating multiple accounts, is not permitted. You are only allowed one account on Upwork.
-Using an unapproved payment method for payments to freelancers.
-Posting personal information such as phone numbers or email addresses in job posts or proposals.
Do I Need To Delete My Account And Create A New One?
Nope! You don’t have to create a new account. Just log in and select the option to update your profile.
Do I Need To Be A Us Citizen To Be A Freelancer?
No. You can be a freelancer whether you’re in the US or not, as long as you fulfill any local tax requirements of your home country.
Am I Allowed To Have More Than One Profile?
No. If you have more than one profile, they will be merged together into one profile (Specialized profile) with all of the work history/experience present on both profiles combined into one.
Do I Need To Pay Taxes?
All freelancers must file their own taxes. Make sure you set aside a percentage of your earnings throughout the year so you don’t get stuck paying more than you should come tax season!
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.
