{"id":1317,"date":"2020-06-09T02:36:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-09T02:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifestyletravelkit.com\/?p=1279"},"modified":"2022-01-15T09:04:34","modified_gmt":"2022-01-15T09:04:34","slug":"make-money-upwork","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zeroniche.com\/make-money-upwork\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Make Money on Upwork – Freelancer Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Getting jobs on Upwork is easy. Getting the top paying freelance jobs when faced with strong competition is difficult. Upwork system can sometimes resemble a race to the bottom of the pricing market. This frustrates and disheartens freelancers. No matter how low you bid, there\u2019s always someone who will bid below your price. However, competing on price should NOT be your strategy. Let's take a look at how to use Upwork like a superuser and make money like a boss. These “How To Make Money On Upwork” tips are suitable for beginners and more experienced freelancers looking to get started on the platform. If you're new to Upwork or just starting your freelancing career, this article will save you time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: This post does not contain affiliate links<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting good projects from Upwork takes time, marketing chops, a little patience, and above all, skills. That last one is important. The best strategy in the world won\u2019t help you in the long-term if you're not a skilled writer, coder, graphic designer, web developer<\/a>, or [fill in your niche]. Improve your skills and then ask for what you\u2019re worth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article will focus on finding freelance writing jobs<\/a> for beginners. Bloggers, marketers, coders, designers, and other types of freelancers will find the tactics and tips can be applied to their own situations, with some tweaks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you<\/g> make money that supports a good living on upwork<\/g>? Absolutely. But you can also use it as a side hustle<\/a> or freelance model to see if it works for you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is Upwork Worth It?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I used to hate everything about Upwork. I\u2019ve used Upwork as a client for over 4 years. In that time I\u2019ve dealt with lazy, and dishonest people many times. I\u2019ve received crying letters from freelancers after I refused to pay for unacceptable work. I've wasted hours of my time and lots of money on projects that had no chance of success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I began working as a freelancer the low rates and demanding clients killed my motivation. But I can\u2019t blame the clients. I also used the site to find cheap work. I soon learned that that cheap, quick, and quality work are mutually exclusive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good content creation does not come cheap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upwork For Freelancers – How to Get Work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here's the game plan you should follow to become an in-demand and well-paid freelancer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Price yourself high<\/strong>. But be realistic. Clients willing to pay $500 for a blog post are scarce. Absolute Upwork virgins will need to take a few lower-paying jobs to get a rating. There's no good way around this. Many clients look for freelancers with a good rating and a record of completed jobs. <\/li>
  2. Complete your profile.<\/strong> Make sure upwork gives you a 100% score for your profile completeness. This will help your profile appear in search results. The more eyeballs on your profile, the more chances of scoring work. <\/li>
  3. Update the portfolio section<\/strong>. See How to get Clients when you Don\u2019t Have Feedback on Upwork<\/a>. Work samples are important. Show your work! Most people don't care about your college degree, they want to know what you're working on now. Create a portfolio of your side hustles<\/a>, current project work, or even mock designs or writing work. Show that you can do what you say you can do.<\/li>
  4. Use your credits wisely<\/strong>. Blasting out proposals to every client that looks semi-promising will eat up your credits.<\/li>
  5. Build relationships<\/strong>. Contact clients some time after completing a job to ask how the project went and if they need any more help. Sometimes a little reminder is all it takes.<\/li>
  6. Deliver ahead of time<\/strong>. Anything you can do to impress clients with your speed and efficiency will make them remember you for the next time. Repeat clients are the best clients. Show them you deliver early and consistently. This will help you get hired again and again.<\/li>
  7. Ask for feedback<\/strong>. Sometimes clients forget or are too busy to leave feedback. Ask them politely to help you out if they were happy with your work.<\/li>
  8. Work at least one job per month<\/strong>. This will keep your profile from changing to \u2018private\u2019 automatically. If you're busy, take a quick job that won't eat up too much time.<\/li>
  9. Eliminate grammatical errors<\/strong>. As someone who makes most of their money from writing, I obsess over grammar and spelling. But despite running my writing through Grammarly, errors sometimes remain. It\u2019s hard to spot your own mistakes, especially if you\u2019ve been working on something for some time. Have a friend or colleague (preferably someone who can write well) read your text before you publish. Many of the clients on Upwork are professional writers themselves who need help with their workload. That single spelling mistake on your freelance writer profile<\/a> or application will kill your chances of success.<\/li>
  10. Take tests. But only if you can spare the time<\/strong>. If an Upwork user searches based on test scores you'll need to have taken a test to appear in the search results. See Should You Take Upwork Tests?<\/a><\/li>
  11. Respond quickly to clients<\/strong>. If you travel a lot, it can be difficult to respond to clients in a timely manner. Access to a decent working Internet connection can sometimes be hard to find. If you know you'll be out of reach for a while, let your current clients know in advance. Set your availability to reflect your ability to respond to job offers. If you\u2019re heading to the jungles of Thailand for a week, make sure you set your Upwork profile to unavailable until your return.<\/li>
  12. Make sure your cover letter is tailored to the client. Don't use the same generic cover letter for everyone. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    What to Know About Upwork<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Upwork takes a fee of 20% for jobs of less than $500. Factor this 20% cut in revenue when sending a proposal. If you receive payments via PayPal, calculate the extra costs involved in transferring from PayPal to your bank account too. Once you find a client you like working with and that pays well, do everything you can to keep them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Client prospecting takes time and doesn\u2019t create revenue. Customers that pay on time and provide reasonable expectations are worth spending extra time on. Think about the time you\u2019d need to spend looking for a new job. If it takes an hour of your time to prospect for jobs and crawl through lousy offers, it's worth investing a half hour extra on your current client\u2019s project. They will thank you for it. They might even give you a bonus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The other advantage of relying less on new clients is that you use up less Connects<\/em>. Connects are like tokens that you use to contact potential clients. It's Upwork's way of reducing spam and it's also a way of charging you more money for the service. You've got limited Connects. Make the most of them because when you've exhausted your monthly quota you'll have to pay for the privilege of applying for more jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Charging higher fees is a way of ‘beating' the 20% cut that Upwork takes. Becoming profitable as a freelancer is about increasing revenue and reducing expenses. Get paid what you're worth by factoring in fees. For jobs priced over $500, the fee for the amount over this threshold is 10%. It's worth talking to your current clients and asking if they can bunch some upcoming jobs together into a single project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Instead of three separate jobs at $300 per job, one job at $900 will save you money. The fees are only 10%. Above $10,000 the fee drops again to 5%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Searching for Jobs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    When I\u2019m looking for writing jobs I use a search string like this \u201cContent Writing Article Writing Blog Writing\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"upwork<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Next, I set the Experience Level to Expert<\/strong> and the Minimum Budget to $100<\/strong>. This isn\u2019t perfect as there are plenty of quick-win sub-$100 jobs I\u2019d gladly work on. But it's hard to find them. Many clients set the Experience Level to Expert, yet offer $5 for 1000 word articles. Don\u2019t do these jobs! Ever. Even if you roll out low-quality content to save time, clients paying this low will ask for a rewrite, complain or refuse to pay. They're also more likely to give bad feedback. Avoid “$5 for 1000 word” clients. But you knew that already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Experiment with the Client History filter<\/strong> to find people who understand how the hiring on Upwork process works. Experienced Upwork clients will leave you alone to work. Inexperienced clients often need to be managed. The Client Location saves me a lot of time and stress. I don\u2019t want to work with clients (or freelancers) from certain geographical locations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Personal experience has taught me that my life will be hell if I take their job offers. The work ethic is so different from mine that I always regret my decision. I\u2019m not recommending you do this but I want to give my personal experience in case you encounter something similar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How to Get Jobs When You Don\u2019t Have Feedback<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Create a portfolio of projects. The portfolio doesn't have to limit itself to one place on the internet. Write for free for friend\u2019s blogs. Better still, write on your own blogs. Get your writing published on the Internet. This will make it easier to get work with your first job on the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Publishing content has been the most important step in client acquisition.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Start a blog in the niche you understand and love. It doesn\u2019t matter if the site doesn\u2019t perform well. Ignore keywords if you must. The plan is to get your posts published and to show how well you can write. If you\u2019re just starting out this is also great for honing your blog writing skills. It\u2019s easy to think you\u2019re a great writer when you\u2019re jotting down notes on your computer or in a notebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Publishing on the web means opening your work to the entire world. Do it often and do it well! Offer to write for free for a blog in a niche you'd like more work in. Be specific. Niche down and target a few areas. If that fails, write in whatever niche you can find but put try to put your own voice into the work. Don't make it look like a generic newspaper article. Writing about furniture (which I\u2019ve done), for example, when you haven\u2019t a clue about furniture (which I don\u2019t) can be tiring and tedious. Clever writers learn how to put a new angle on the \u201cbuy my great product\u201d sales pitch and make content more interesting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I always try to approach subjects I know nothing about in a new light. Try to use the experience you already have in another niche to create original content on the topic you\u2019re writing about. But this should be an exception, rather than the rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Write About What You Know<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I can write 2000 words in an hour on topics I understand well and that doesn\u2019t require lots of fact checking. I wrote the first 1200 words of this article in under 30 minutes. This doesn\u2019t include rewriting, researching to add links, formatting, etc. But the hardest step is producing the first body of content. My advice is to write about things you\u2019re interested in, and that you\u2019ve already written about (or plan to write about). It makes the entire process much easier, requires less research, and the resulting content will help you find work on Upwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Cold Writing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you know how to do keyword research, for example, then you have another marketable skill. Find a website in your niche. Find keywords that the site isn\u2019t ranking for but has the potential to. Write the article around your target keyword and then contact the owner. Explain that you\u2019ve done the research and written a traffic generating beast of a blog post for their website. All you ask for is that include your bio. You don\u2019t even need a backlink at this stage (but that would be nice). What you need is proof that the article is your work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It might seem like a lot of work for nothing but believe me, your online portfolio is valuable. I\u2019ve secured lots of jobs on Upwork by showing potential clients my portfolio projects. Hours spent crafting blog posts that bring me zero revenue are rewarded with jobs that bring in the money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Add Projects to Your Portfolio<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You might think that this section is only for designers but the portfolio section is free-form so you can add whatever you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n