The internet is riddled with mixed reviews of Upwork, and I’m here to help decipher them – and to analyze the problems that still exist. But at the end of the day…

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Upwork isn’t the problem, it’s how businesses and freelancers choose to use it.

Here’s how it is supposed to work:  A company crafts a highly detailed job description for a specific project.  Contractors write highly detailed and attractive cover letters to capture the attention of the company.  The company chooses a contractor from the field of highly qualified, well written contractors.  The contractor accepts the job and performs up to spec and within the time frame. The company pays the contractor a fair price for the job in a timely manner. Good reviews of each other’s performances are given out. Everyone is happy.

Here’s how it actually works: Companies cobble together a low balled job description which has been cobbled together using previous job descriptions from other companies.  Contractors send out equally cobbled together job responses because they have no idea what the company is really wanting – and they are forced to lower their standards because of the competition.  The ones who get the jobs are the ones who spent half an hour replying to the job proposal, and even then they might not get noticed because there are so many unqualified applications to sift through.  Because the company wanted such a low price, the contractor feels that they don’t have to offer quality – after all, quality costs money. Company and contractor struggle back and forth to produce the product, and hope that neither party will screw the other. Nobody is particularly happy, but they are willing to accept the ‘good enough’ situation as it is because they don’t want to go through the dance of bidding and selection again.

Upwork Review – The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

Companies who have never hired an IT professional, web developer, copywriter, or graphic designer have difficulty knowing what they should be asking for in the first place.  They have been advised that the Upwork, Fiverr and Freelancer.com’s of the world are the places to go to find people who can do the job, and so they go there.  Being that they don’t entirely know what they’re looking for, they borrow text from the other requests, or simply use the provided generic template in the hopes that the contractors that they find will hit the nail on the head. Another tactic is to write something as vague as ‘I need a website.’  These companies are pressed for time, so they usually do not put the emphasis on specifying exactly what they want, cobbling together a job description from other companies.

The contractors themselves immediately know and understand that the companies didn’t want to take the time to understand what they were asking for.  Being that the contractor doesn’t want to waste their own time explaining and clarifying the company’s needs (both are busy, you see), they use a boilerplate job response which they sincerely hope covers all of the needs that the company is requiring.  Being that it’s easy to copy/paste a boilerplate answer, many contractors, some of whom aren’t qualified for the position in the least, will apply for the job.

The company is forced to read all of these crappy boilerplate responses, and hopes to find someone who is willing and able to decipher what was asked for in the first place.  This takes up more precious time, and is usually found to be fruitless.  After all, who wants to pay a contractor who doesn’t care enough to actually pay attention to the job requests in the first place?  When the company doesn’t find a qualified applicant, they are forced to go through the process again – made to create another job description, and left to feel frustrated that they cannot get what they want.

Because the company has no idea what they want, they have no idea how much the project is really going to cost.  They want to get the lowest price and the highest quality, and read some of the other (what they feel) similar job requests which have low rates, and offer those same low rates because they consider those rates to be normal.  The good freelancers become insulted with the low pricing, and the ‘good enough’ freelancers stay but don’t feel that they have to provide quality because the price is so low.

One person asks on Quora, “How does a business person hire a good developer/programmer/engineer on Freelancer or Upwork?”

Many answers echoed the same sentiments, here are a few highlights:

Yishan Wong, CEO of Reddit answers:

upwork-reviews

Editor’s Note: Elance and oDesk merged to form Upwork

Mircea Goia, another Quora power user adds:

I second what Yishan says…my biz partner, being a business guy and having some ideas in mind, took the eLance [now Upwork] route…lost some money, got some bad days…this mostly with Indian developers (he is trying now Russians).

It’s very hard to find competent AND reliable ones (even if they have 5 stars and lots of projects on eLance – maybe those who gave them projects have low standards?). Reliability and work integrity matters a lot when the developer is 10,000 miles away.

And it’s not just Quora. A question with a similar theme was asked on YCombinator’s Hacker News, “Are Freelancer Sites (eg. Upwork vs Freelancer) useless?”

Like Quora, Hacker News members can vote on answers, “jasonkester” owns the honor for the most upvotes with this answer:

As a rule, you can toss every response you get in the first hour. As you’ve noticed, there are tons on people on those sites who send out the same canned proposal to every single listing. That level of attention is a good indicator of how the rest of your project will go if you’re foolish enough to take one of them on.

Wait a few days. If you’ve written a good project description (and if you’re a bit lucky), you’ll start to see a few qualified proposals trickle in.

This is the main problem with freelancing sites. The race to the bottom finished years ago, and the result is that there are simply no good developers or designers left there. It’s actually an opportunity waiting for talented newcomers, since a single person showing up and acting professionally would get the job described by this poster (and everybody else who goes there seriously looking to build something).

Examples like this are repeated from site to site, where the general consensus is that there is a competition over who can give the lowest price rather than who can do the job with the highest standards of quality at a competitive price.  As the competition continues, both contractors and companies feel that they cannot get what they need and turn to other sources for their work.

Final Thoughts and How to Be Successful on Upwork (and the like)

This leads us to our final thoughts and recommendations, note that this post isn’t designed to dissuade you from using Freelancer, Upwork or any of the other popular freelancing services (Guru, Fiverr, etc.), rather I wanted to give you a clear expectation of what to expect from both sides of the table. It’s not like these companies started with the sole intention of attracting subpar freelancers. But that’s what tends to happen when a marketplace is driven by price, instead of value.

The problems don’t lie within the platforms per se, but rather within the freelancers and businesses, and how they choose to use the platform. For businesses, if you know how to sift through the majority of unqualified applicants you could uncover the goldmine of talented freelancers at competitive prices. For freelancers, realize that Freelancer.com and Upwork, et. al. are just one source of leads. Think about referrals, SEO, PPC, social media and even other platforms.

Don’t rely solely on Upwork, here are a few Upwork alternatives

Another company disrupting the freelance marketplace, Fiverr, started with services from $5. Now freelancers can start at $5-$500 and send custom offers up to $5000. You can also unlock more perks as you increase your “Fiverr level.” I’ve used Fiverr extensively, as both a buyer and seller and you can see my Fiverr review here.

Fiverr differentiates by allowing freelancers to post their services as a “gig” (eg. 100 word article for $5, Illustration for $5, etc.) and let businesses come to them, albeit at a higher fee (20%). Fiverr does boast millions of services, and they’ve raised over $20M to date (Update (1/2016): $116M Funding) they’re now publicly trading ($FVRR) at a $11 billion cap as of 2/2021.

In the early days a quick glance at their home page, and you’ll see that most offerings aren’t related to business services. You’d see silly services like, “I’ll a hot female, I’ll post whatever you want on your Facebook page” or “I’ll make you look like Borat for $5.” Thanks to the Wayback Machine, here’s the Fiverr.com homepage from 2010:

Fiverr's Homepage in 2010 Certainly Featured Interesting Ways to Make Money

Fiverr’s Homepage in 2010 Certainly Featured Interesting Ways to Make Money

They have pivoted to focusing on business services as we can see from their homepage today:

Fiverr's Current Homepage in 2021

Fiverr’s Current Homepage in 2021

Fiverr shift to business services wasn’t easy. Back when gigs were limited to $5, it was a cess pool of spam, plagiarism, and it was the source for “Black Hat SEO.” Tactics shady enough to bring down an entire website, essentially destroying a website’s search traffic (I detail this a little more on my post on Fiverr SEO).

The rise of such tactics caused Google to change their search algorithm in an attempt to ignore “negative SEO”, and they added the Disavow Tool to manually disavow the links if Google couldn’t catch it.

But again, if you pay peanuts – you get monkeys. There are still limitations to pricing, thus you’ll get what you pay for with business services, but there are many business gigs worth checking out.

Upwork Alternative for Design – The Crowdsourced Model

For design related projects, there’s the crowdsourced model and leading the forefront in that category is 99Designs and DesignCrowd. Where you can submit a project, such as a logo or a website, and dozens of designers submit designs and the winner is selected by you. This is a win/win for businesses and talented designers. Keep in mind that only the selected winner is paid, thus freelancers considering this platform should make sure they have the skills necessary to win enough contests to generate a respectable hourly rate. We’ve already tested and went in-depth on both 99designs and DesignCrowd. Overall, if you have a design related project this is by far the best option. For freelancers, the best ones are getting paid. For businesses, you’re getting the best designs – or your money back.

Here’s a logo we received from DesignCrowd for a client. Their company name, “Mazzulo” was Italian for mallet, thus they wanted to incorporate a mallet/hammer, or even a hammerhead shark. They loved the end result…

99designs review - winning logo

How to Find Highly Skilled Talent

(Software Developers, Designers, Finance Experts, Project Managers, Product Managers, etc.)

Unfortunately, you can’t crowdsource web development. Thus you’re going to have to find a talented developer that you can trust. That’s where it gets interesting. I believe that the majority of complaints towards Upwork are from businesses who are trying to hire for under $10/hr. Seriously, what are you expecting when software developers average a salary of over $100k? It tech savvy cities like Silicon Valley, $150k-$250k isn’t atypical. Most people that look for software development are non-technical, thus you don’t understand code… and now you’re looking overseas where you’re introducing another language barrier. Most of the time, it’s disaster waiting to happen. If you go the Upwork route, start your search for developers within the $20-50/hr range… or breakdown tasks into milestones (refer to the aforementioned guide). Another route you can take is to use Toptal, a marketplace of designers and developers featuring “the top 3% of freelance talent.” Similar to the reason why top developers head to Silicon Valley, the best head to Toptal. Why? Because your clientele is thinking about value over price.

I run SorianoMedia, a digital agency focused on web design, marketing and SEO. We’re based in the United States, and as such we have a higher cost of living than developing countries – I tend to stay away from Freelancer and Upwork as a contractor. The only time I use them is to locate companies who are posting jobs out of my region (Maui, Hawaii), businesses tend to appreciate a local contractor and are more apt to hire if I can explain to them in a local setting why I’m better than the other applicants who are offering services as low as $2/hr. And when it comes to marketing and SEO, you should really be thinking about value, not price. Whether it’s $100/hr, or $5/hr, you don’t want to pay someone to twiddle their thumbs. Marketing and SEO is an investment, which should have a ROI. When looking for a marketing or SEO consultant, look for one who can convey their thoughts on how they’re going to help achieve a ROI versus someone who’s selling selling their services for their time.

Lastly, another option is to hire a project manager. This is for companies with a bigger budget, because there is a middle man per se, but it could save you a lot of time and money in the long run. You can do this on both Freelancer and Upwork, or locally. A project manager allows you to capitalize on the lower cost of labor in developing countries, while leaving issues commonly found in freelance marketplaces (communication, negotiation, management, etc.) up to a project manager. I think anyone who has used outsourced (even successfully) can agree, there’s a process of trial and error. And it isn’t until you’ve wasted a lot of time and money, that you realize that you could have used a project manager. This, on paper, should eliminate language barriers and ambiguity in assignments with a good project manager. The project manager model is best if you’re a non-tech entrepreneur looking to outsource development.

On the surface, Upwork and similar websites look like they’re great places for quality contractors to make money. They also seem like they’re great places for businesses to save money and get the services that they need.  Yet there are a lot of horror stories out there about these sites. In many cases, each party is having to accept “good enough” because of business necessity. But that doesn’t have to be you. Hopefully the tips outlined in this article can help you avoid the common traps and pitfalls, and can help you find a talented freelancer, or a great long-term client.

The last piece of advice I can offer when it comes to hiring freelancers, is to think less about price, and more about value.

How Much Can You Make on Upwork? [Real Examples]

For one to become successful in the world of freelancing, he or she would need to acquire experience and also the right clients who will be willing to pay a proper rate for the services that are provided.

And with over 59 million freelancers you are going to compete all over the United States alone, it’s definitely a challenge worth trying.

And that is when Upwork comes into the scene.

Upwork is one of the most popular platforms for freelancers around the globe. And yes, it is possible to make great money with it, too.

According to Upwork itself, some experienced freelancers could earn $20 up to $60/hour or $32,000 up to $120,000/year.

But the questions are: What jobs earn the most? And how much can I specifically earn from Upwork?

A study shows that developers, marketers, consultants, and copywriters are one of the few jobs that are paid the highest. This is based on 2 million freelancer profiles earning at least $1,000 a month on Upwork.

And if you also want to know about the secrets of the successful freelancers on Upwork, then below you can find nine (9) successful Upwork freelancers and how much they’ve made on the platform.

#1 Morgan Overholt

Believe it or not, Morgan made $600,000 in 5 years as a graphic designer on Upwork.

She made it clear that it is indeed possible to make good money on the platform, but it is likely going to take some time, and probably some trial and error along the way too.

For Morgan, a stable freelance career is never going to be an overnight success.

“I’ve been at this for a long time. It required a lot of hard work. And I’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way,” Morgan wrote.

Morgan is proof that if you keep your discipline and dedication to a role you want to be successful in, then you can really do it.

Below are some of her suggestions to start off your freelancing journey.

  • Completely fill out your profile.
  • Build a landing page or an off-site portfolio
  • Apply for multiple jobs and don’t be too picky yet
  • Write a proposal that sells
  • Treat your clients like gold

#2 Jake Jorgovan

At the beginning of Jake’s freelancing career, he looked down on Upwork as he thought this is a platform to just outsource tasks overseas. But little did he know, he could also use Upwork to actually start his freelancing career and have a continuous flow of clients and projects.

Jake only started with small projects for a few hundred dollars until he was already able to generate $1,000-$1,300 per week all just from Upwork.

“While this isn’t retirement income, this is enough income for most creatives to take the plunge and dive in full time,” Jake mentioned.

Some tips from Jake to become great at your craft:

  • Take the Upwork tests
  • Start with a low rate and gradually adjust
  • Learn how to write an attractive cover letter
  • Communicate with your clients well

#3 Danny Margulies

When Danny celebrated his 2-year anniversary as a freelance copywriter, it was also the date he marked his $100,000 per year milestone, all from Upwork.

Danny believes in the power of focus.

For him, to be a successful freelancer is to continuously solve people’s problems and always provide value to their business.

In fact, when Danny started in Upwork, he had:

  • No college degree
  • No experience in copywriting
  • No agency experience
  • No experience in freelancing
  • No other income stream

He only had focus. He had a goal and he’d do everything to be successful in it. And it’s true enough that if you believe in yourself, you could really make things happen.

Even with all the competition out there, his focus and dedication won him lots of jobs, and had many repeat businesses as well. His feedbacks were great too which made his journey as a freelance a huge hit.

#4 Paul Mendes

Paul was able to make his first $10,000 on Upwork as well.

He recalls that his first job when he landed on the platform was an interview with a marketing lead generation expert on call-tracking. His first project on the platform is worth $30.

For Paul, creating success on Upwork takes time and you just have to take the first step in order to start the momentum.

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step,” he quoted.

As per Paul, leveraging Upwork’s opportunities will depend on:

  • The importance and value of your services
  • The hours you are putting in
  • The weight of your experiences
  • The kind of skills and abilities you have developed

#5 Jyssica Schwartz

It’s incredible how Jyssica made $10,016 only in the month of October with just Upwork. She used to make around $1,000 per client in the previous years through blogging.

She believes that all businesses are evolving, and so does freelancers. As her experiences grew over time, her love and passion for editing books have definitely grown too. And together with that are all the better opportunities that came knocking on her door.

“My monthly retainer prices and my per-word editing rates specifically have gone up,” she says.

Currently, most of her clients are referrals and repeat clients.

#6 Dean Woods

Dean was able to make $50,000 on Upwork in a span of 6 months. And just like the rest, it didn’t come in a blink of an eye.

As he went back through his Upwork history, he found out that his first payment was $30 only, made on June 16th, 2019. But in the last week of June 2019, he made a total of $694.87.

He also shared a trick that he used effectively: Apply for jobs that need to be filled immediately. (Example: search for jobs with the words – immediate, ASAP, today, tonight)

He also specified to swallow your pride at the beginning and get good review scores first. And when you have those scores at your hand, you can go ahead and increase your rates.

#7 Michael Wight

Michael made more than $100,000 freelancing on Upwork as well. He has over 15 years of freelancing experience before he was able to truly pinpoint the process of making money and being successful on the said platform.

If you’re just starting, then Michael’s tips would certainly help you a lot!

  • Create a kickass Upwork profile
  • Know your worth and your rate
  • Be sure to send an impressive proposal
  • Always add your portfolio
  • Communicate well with your clients

#8 Desiree Peralta

We’re lucky that Desiree is generous enough to share with us the strategy she used in order to become a successful freelance Software Developer on Upwork.

For the longest time, she’s been working full-time for different companies as a Software Developer. And it was only until recently that she thought about starting to work as a freelancer.

She shared that she earned her first $1,000 by using these three strategies.

  • Be flexible with the payment rate
  • Go for offers that you are completely sure you are going to do well
  • Always have a good communication

#9 Brendan Lee

Last but not least, Bren made over $4,000 in his first month on Upwork.

When he first learned about Upwork, he immediately signed up and created a profile. He used to be an accountant so he was browsing jobs more in the finance section.

But then, most of the jobs he found have hundred of bids from other nationalities offering as low as $2/hour. There were also articles everywhere that say it’s hard to compete with these nationalities as they are skilled, dedicated, and would bid at any job at a very low price.

Good thing Bren didn’t surrender at that.

“When someone tells me I can’t do something it really annoys me, and no matter how stupid it is I’ll generally do everything I can to prove you wrong,” he wrote.

And he did.

Below are his main pieces of advice:

  • Bid for jobs within your expertise
  • Take whatever jobs you can get at the start
  • Look at other successful freelancers

Like any other thing in life, it is never easy to start freelancing. What makes it more challenging is that what you want looks easy to others. And what you desire looks unachievable for yourself.

But if you come to think of it, these successful people also started from nothing. So if they can do it, then so can you.

Once you get your first client, do an unbelievable job. Exceed their expectations. Let them know you are very committed to providing quality work to their business. Ace that first 5-star review. And never, ever stop improving.

Because great clients are everywhere, and they’re just waiting for you to start.

Upwork Tips: Beginners Guide to Getting Started on Upwork

We have plenty of posts on what to outsourcehow to hire online freelancers, and how to start freelancing… but we have little on getting started on Upwork. And what better way to find out, then to use my favorite writers that I’ve hired from Upwork.

I’ll also chime in with my views from a hiring perspective, I’ve spent $50,000+ on sites like Upwork. I was an OG on Elance and oDesk. Most don’t know Upwork was the result of a merger from those companies, who were already the biggest players in the space. I’ve certainly had my blunders early on, but I’ve found a hiring process that works, and understanding that is invaluable to freelancers looking to get started on Upwork.

First off, Upwork or any other freelancing platform is not for everyone. Sure, there are plenty of reasons to outsource, but price tends to be the main one… and that rings true for a lot of businesses looking to hire. That’s part of the reason why a business like Fiverr has grown exponentially. Or crowdsourcing marketplaces like 99designs and DesignCrowd, where you’re guaranteed a design you’ll like, or your money back.

Unfortunately, from my perspective, that tends to squeeze out the middle. Because all these marketplaces tend to drive down the price, and then on the opposite side of the spectrum there’s still a strong desire for the the very best talent, for example a marketplace like Toptal, who promises the top 3% of design and development talent – but consequently, also command top dollar. A small premium often worth paying for non-technical business owners, whom I feel greatly underestimate how hard it is to hire technical talent. Heck, even Google goes through great lengths finding engineers:

One of Google's Unconventional Methods of Hiring

One of Google’s Unconventional Methods of Hiring

Most of the problems lie within complaints between poorly paid freelancers and the businesses who hire them. I’ve personally found good success when looking in that $15-50/hr range, and even better success when you find the right players on the rise, think of it as the NBA or NFL draft. I’m looking for the right up-and-comer who isn’t commanding LeBron James or Tom Brady money.

I’ve spent $50,000+ hiring on sites like Upwork, here are 7 Tips that will help you get hired

  1. Find the jobs that will actually hire – Find the jobs with extremely detailed job descriptions. Be weary of businesses using Upwork’s generic template, or even worse, plain out asking for spec work. . Look for businesses with a razor concise job description, in an ideal world they already have a reputation on Upwork.
  2. “The Brown M&M Tactic” (and actually reading the job description) – I talked about this in-depth on How to Hire Online Freelancers on Upwork, essentially David Lee Roth of Van Halen had a clause in contracts specifying that he must have a bowl of only brown M&M’s in his dressing room. If they skipped that detail, who knows what other details they skipped in the contract? So I’ll commonly add a line to the end of my job description that can ensure that the description was read, “Write I love writing as the first line in your cover letter.”
  3. Address the clients needs – When writing a proposal view yourself as a plumber fixing a leak. Your proposal should be about their needs. The client has needs and problems and you ought to be all over how it is that you can fix that. If you approach it hypothetically it takes much of the mystery of how to write a proposal out it. Focus on your specific experiences and achievements that give you unique skills to help you be the solution. This helps you to be very factual, personal and helpful while avoiding being generic or wishy-washy. Your thoughtfulness creating a customized approach instead of a stock response matters.
  4. Don’t Communicate Price, Communicate Value – Even if it’s $10/hr, businesses don’t want to pay someone to twiddle their thumbs. They want to see a return on investment. Your bid should probably not aim to be the cheapest. People know and firmly believe that you get what you pay for. Be sure to ask for the appropriate pay rate. If they know the industry then they won’t be surprised. You should at least bid the budget amount and if you have a decent amount of experience easily 10% over it.
  5. Screencast – I’ve only seen it a handful of times from applicants, but it’s an easy way to stand out. If you’re a freelancer copywriter, record a 5 min screencast of the potential clients website, commenting on the website’s copy and how a few improvements could dramatically increase conversions.
  6. Profile Picture – Your image is what they are going to use to envision you. Be sure to use a profile photograph that is professional and suitable. Smiling in it is also important because they may only have this to go off for gauging your personality. Here are numerous tips to improve your headshot. Sites like PhotoFeeler can help you select a profile picture, because it allows people to rate your confidence, likability, etc. based on your picture.
  7. Finishing Touches on the Cover Letter – Don’t be one of those that just copy/paste, spraying and praying on 100’s of jobs on Upwork with a hope to get hired. Your cover letter is your one chance to stand out…

Upwork Tips – A Winning Cover Letter

Your cover letter is your very first conversation with someone. A professional tone with samples or examples of your work will make a refreshing and positive start. Don’t just reference your portfolio. Tell them which specific pieces of work they ought to check or reference to prove the skills needed for their project. Do not talk about you or the “I” involved as the main focus. You should have as much of a spotlight as a wrench does on a workbench. As a wrench, if needed your function and usefulness takes center stage but in an impersonal manner.

If this is an email specifically consider including an introduction video of yourself. Even a short video will give them a much better personal sense of you than a mere photograph. They will be able to gauge if they want to work with you and it kickstarts your working relationship.

Specifically, in a cover letter, you should spotlight your unique skills, personal and experience. Realize this is a real person reading this and design it with that in mind. If you were hiring someone what would you want to see? What would stand out as exceptional on your resume? Be sure to highlight those items. And when you begin the cover letter address it to the client specifically by name.

Praising yourself is awkward and weird. That is all without mentioning that nobody believes things we say about ourselves. So as a rule if you want to highlight a good point about yourself in a cover letter then include a testimonial or reference. If you don’t have much experience then get references from those you know such as a teacher or friend. This all lets you state positive facts about yourself in a more verified non-braggadocios way. Don’t make silly statements like “I think I am a good _____ for this project”. It is the same type of nonsense as praising yourself. They are the only ones who will be deciding that and stating otherwise comes across as presumptuous.

Be sure to end your cover letters with a clear cut next step for following up. Say you would love to get an email from them, do a five-minute consultation or so on and so forth. This means they will have an easy understanding of how to move forward professionally. It’s a way of streamlining from the proposal and cover letter stage into the next step of negotiations. And when you include those details in the cover letter it is not pushy as sending a follow-up email with the same message might be.

It will be difficult at first building your Upwork profile, but remember that no one has had success without failure.

Upwork Tips - Finding Success on Upwork

Finding Success on Upwork

Upwork Tips from Successful Freelance Writers

Enter John, on How to Get Started as a Freelancer and Make Your First $1000 on Upwork

Upwork is a popular option for freelancers looking for extra cash or even full-time work in the comfort of their home. Upwork offers secured payment solutions, not to mention a great number of skilled freelancers with competitively priced services.
I’ve used Upwork to earn a steady income. If you are somewhat new in the world of freelancing, it isn’t surprising to get frustrated by how the platform works. In this article, I’d like to share how I managed to make my first $1,000 on Upwork.

Learn the platform

Every freelancing platform is different. If you don’t have the patience to learn the platform, consider it as a big mistake. You want to make sure that you know every detail of Upwork.
From how you are getting paid to how much is going to be deducted from your contract, these are things that you should know as a freelancer working on Upwork. And once you already know these details, be sure to take the Readiness Test.
Once you’ve completed the readiness test, your profile will not only look nicer, you can even apply to more job opportunities for the month.

Build a portfolio

A portfolio increases the chances that you are getting hired for the job that you are applying in. What I did was to find relevant websites where I can showcase my work. I produced informative content on a free WordPress site (Related: How to Launch a WordPress Website). These helped me build my starting portfolio just to showcase what I am capable of, at least in terms of my writing skills and my knowledge on certain niches.

Take the relevant tests

The good thing about Upwork is that they provide different tests that can determine the capabilities of freelancers of different trades. Writers, SEO experts, online marketing managers, and other freelancers can find different tests to further prove their abilities to prospect clients.

Jay’s Note: I don’t typically place a huge emphasis on tests, instead relying on their body of work. But they’re really handy if you’re hiring a specialized skillet. 

Read every job opening thoroughly

It is important that you are reading every job post carefully before deciding to apply. Also, make sure that you avoid spam applications. These days, Upwork only provides a maximum of 60 connects monthly, which is equivalent to 30 applications every month. That means that you should use every application wisely and make the most of it.

Jay’s Note: I always implement the Brown M&M technique, which John passed because he read the entire description. Learn more on my guide on how to hire online freelancers.

Learn the art of writing a cover letter

A good first impression goes a long way. A lot of times, freelancers forget the goal of writing a cover letter. Its initial goal is to have an interview with your prospect client.
What are the basic rules that you need to follow when writing a cover letter? The most important rule that you should follow is to write in a professional tone. Also, it is important that you effectively market yourself. Show a couple of past works that are quite similar to the requirement needed on the job posting.

Jay’s Note: This is very important. When I actually see a cover letter that was thought out, versus something that was copy/pasted, it’s a huge plus in my book. 

Keeping the asking price competitive and reasonable

If you are starting as a freelancer on Upwork, always remember that you are competing with a good number of freelancers. One way to get hired is to keep the price of your services competitive and reasonable.
To know the right price, you want to research the average asking price for the services that you offer. Consider a number of things when checking the price of the service. Skill, experience and quality of work are the most important things that dictate the asking price of a contractor.
The first couple of gigs play an important role in building an impressive rating on your Upwork profile. One trick that I used in attracting higher-paying gigs is to first settle for the cheaper and easy-to-do projects. The quicker I finished the first few projects, the faster I secured a decent rating from clients. After a few months and a couple of good five-star ratings later, that’s when I decided to increase my asking price.

Jay’s Note: If you’re just getting started on UpWork, one thing that a freelancer can do to catch my attention is say something like, “Hey Jay, my name is Bob and I won’t be your average marketing consultant. I’ve done X, Y and Z for some of the biggest companies in the world. I’m just getting started on UpWork so I’d be happy to work with you at a reduced rate of $25/hr to build my portfolio on here.”    

Stick to what you know best

On Upwork, once you end up with a good rating and a good portfolio, it becomes easy to attract potential clients trying to avail of your services. But keep in mind that it is important for you to only stick things that you know by heart. It is hard to do a job that you are not confident with. The most important rule that I follow until today is to know my boundaries.

Establish clear communications with clients

Often times, a lot of clients forget about the contractors who they hired on Upwork. Make it a habit of messaging them every now and then. Ask for a job and clarify if the work is already done. This gives you the chance to either mark the job complete, which then reflects on your profile, or get another job from the client.

Target at least 40 hours’ worth of work per week

Making your first $1,000/mo is all about consistency. Over the years, I made it a habit of making sure that I set the number of work hours every week. Typically, I make sure that it reaches at least the 40-hour mark. This is especially handy if you are taking in contracts that pay by the hour.

Don’t take work that you can’t cover

Another important rule that you should always practice when working on Upwork is to never bite more than what you can chew. Always consider your current workload before ever accepting additional work. Lagging on your deadlines can be detrimental to your reputation as a freelancer.

You also have to be aware of the deadlines with fixed-priced work. This way, you are aware if you can still accommodate extra work.

Use tools that help organize your work

There are a lot of tools designed to help freelancers with their jobs. Tools such as Trello to help organize work with other team members, and Grammarly to help fix your grammar when writing those cover letters, are just some of the things that you can utilize. These tools help overall productivity and even boost the quality of your output.

Enter Michelle, on Finding the Best Clients on Upwork and Avoiding Scams

The single biggest complaint from companies is freelancers who are incompetent. A contractor may give excellent letters and samples, but then turn out awful work after the job is accepted, or worse commit fraud. It’s very difficult for clients to reject work once the contract terms are accepted on either site.

Companies often turn to freelancing sites to take advantage of lower currency rates in foreign countries. Unfortunately, they tend to quickly learn that they get what they pay for. The US dollar goes so far in many countries, especially in Southeast Asia. Freelancers in those areas will pull many different tricks to get your cash or to get your good feedback.

Some of these tactics include:

  • Making a false profile (even profile picture!) or stealing from others.
  • Misrepresenting their country of origin.
  • Withholding completed work until good feedback is given.
  • Never completing work at all.
  • Dragging out deadlines (a big problem in countries with a lax “time sense”)
  • Claiming skills they don’t have and backing it up with fraudulent examples
  • Complete lack of communication
  • Giving out completely shoddy work and demanding payment for it.
  • Asking for an upfront payment, then bailing on the job.
  • Getting an hourly job, then taking advantage of it to surf the net on the clock.

It’s enough to give any company a headache, and sometimes a lot of wasted money. To get a sense of what sort of scams are out there, take a look at some of these complaints. Alex James Brown said:

Same story here. I hired a contractor to do some lead generation at $5/hour. They hadn’t produced much of anything after 20 hours of work, so I cancelled the job, paid them for the work done, and looked for others to help instead.

Lo and behold, a few months later the contractor came back and created a job on my behalf… at $50/hour and authorized for 30 hours/week, then went ahead and immediately submitted time sheets, for a nice chunk of change of several thousand dollars. Elance was all set to auto-approve, but I was able to go in and dispute it before it was paid. I am now going through that process now.

This lack of control is a serious problem.

These next two are from Upwork community forums:

I have had nothing but problems with people claiming to be SEO experts.

They will not work to get relevant links and keywords are non existant. One even linked my site with a porn site. I have used about 5 and still no success. Anybody else have this problem. Upwork should have some better screening.

Upwork is interesting as they offer software that allows them to take screenshots of the contractors screen to ensure that you only, “pay for hours actually worked.” But does it work?

I hired this guy about a week ago… because we had an email convo and he said he has done projects similar to this before. He ended up logging over 25 hours of “internet surfing (watching videos) and projects he did for other Buyers” and I had to pay for it.

The screen shots Upwork provided also showed that he was watching tv, gaming and talking to other providers. I can attach all the screens that Upwork took in that 25 hour period and none of which was related to my project. He worked on it for 1 week, without providing anything and in the end I had to hire someone else to finish it in 1 hour. The rate he provided was around $17+/hour and my VISA was billed $400+.

An update posted by the user details that Upwork only refunded about half of his money. You may think that Upwork would step up to help prevent scams like these, but you’d be very surprised…

What is Being Done About This?

With all these problems, what is Upwork doing about it? The short answer is “very little.”

The two biggest problems that people report about Upwork are its escrow system and its conflict resolution system. The escrow system is designed to give contractors peace of mind about the funds they’ll receive for a particular job. You’ll find that many contractors won’t start work until the escrow is funded. This is due to a history of companies putting up scam entries, getting the work done, and then canceling the job. It is a safety net.

The problem for companies is that once the escrow is funded it’s nearly impossible to get the money out again if there is a problem with the end product. Upwork’s arbitration system is very slow, and very heavily weighted to the contractor. Why is this? Upwork gets its fees from the job poster when a job is successfully completed. If they have to refund the money to the poster, they lose money.

Companies and contractors are given a week to settle things on their own. If things still are sour then they’re sent to a third party for arbitration and charge another fee for this “service.” There are several reports online from people who have had their money locked up because of these systems.

It’s just as bad for the contractors as well. They have to go through the same arbitration process if they have an issue with their client. If a company refuses to fund the escrow or release funds, it can be quite a challenge to drop the client from their working list or to get paid. They have also been known to remove contractors and job listings for violating their quite large and complicated terms of service, especially if a company and contractor collude to work outside of Upwork’s system.

But the real complaint is about the near-total lack of protections for either side. Hourly jobs favor the contractor, because once you’ve put in your credit card information into Upwork, they can claim as many hours as they like if you don’t deliberately set a limit. Upwork does take screen-shots of the contractor’s screen while they’re on the clock, but it’s up to the company to confirm that the work is being done. From the site’s perspective, screen shots are proof that the contractor was logged into their system for billing purposes.

Jay’s Note: I prefer fixed price projects, I’ve had too many freelancers take advantage of the system. One example, a freelancer can just work really slowly and essentially be guaranteed the money by Upwork. 

Upwork takes a completely hands-off approach to any complaints. As long as an hourly job looks good within their system (properly logged time, and evidence of notes and activity), they consider that the work is done and charge the account. Needless to say, you’re not going to get a lot of help from the portal itself. It’s completely up to the participants of the site to fix their problems. To be fair, there are many good freelancers and clients on these sites, but the quality of the jobs keeps lowering and the number of scammers keeps rising. What can be done about this?

Companies and contractors have both tried to scam each other through online freelance marketplaces, this is perhaps where the majority of online complaints lie. There are many reports of shoddy workmanship, clients who have glowing reviews but turn out trash, and companies that use misleading language or outright trickery to make a contractor do work for way too little or beyond the scope of the job. Here are some of the things to watch for from either side so you don’t get burned:

Contractors love clear job descriptions. They also love descriptions that don’t involve a lot of boilerplate text. They look for things like:

  • Type of job (ebook, white paper, logo creation, programming)
  • Scope of the job (word count, image size, video length)
  • Subject of the job (fiction, non fiction, pressure washing)
  • Expected turnaround time
  • The amount they’re willing to pay
  • The types and amount of samples they want
  • Anything that is unreasonable or speaks of a client getting burned in the past

They also want to examine the previous jobs they’ve awarded and the sort of feedback the company has received. If a client is evasive about any of these things, that should send up a warning flag. Unfortnately, sometimes you find a job posting like this:

“Hi, i want to SEO my site.”

No joke. This was a proposal placed on Upwork. Only an extremely experienced freelancer who has an interest in educating their clients would want to take this sort of job. Probably not for cheap either. Time spent educating clients about the niceties of writing, programming, or whatever service your providing reduces billable hours.

One outright freelance writing scam that happens often is when a customer requests a special sample that’s similar to the work being requested. This is called “writing on spec”, and it’s a sign that your potential client is trying to get you to do the work for free. Keep an eye out for this!

Here’s an example of a client asking for spec work:

Hello Writers! Need some unique article writers to join my team… You must be ready to write a given sample article to prove yourself. So please bid accordingly because I am going award this job to multiple writers if found good skills. Only serious bidders please because I don’t want to waste my time not even yours. Thanks.

Notice that the client is trying to hire multiple writers, and is giving a writing test using a topic of his own. While this is sometimes a legitimate response to getting burned, most of the time it’s a scam.

Freelancing sites run on reputation. As contractors complete jobs they get ratings and reviews. This makes them more attractive for future jobs. Landing that first job can be quite difficult. Unfortunately, some companies know this and take advantage of a new contractor’s naiveté and eagerness to get their foot in the door.

Here’s a good example of this:

Hello. If you are new to Upwork but not to article writing, then this might be your chance to make quick money and gain positive feedback! I’d prefer Native English Writers for obvious reasons. I’m looking for newbies from any part of the world capable of writing in excellent English with a fast turn around… In your proposal, please state how many 500 word articles you can draft in a day (strictly 24 hour time limit)… Please do not bid if – you cannot adhere to deadlines set, you tend to back off from projects at the last minute, cannot write in impeccable English and use spinning and automated software. I’m potentially looking for a long term contractor i can trust. I’m on a budget and cannot afford for more than $1 an article, inclusive of Elance prices.

This job poster wants a native English speaker to write as many 500 word articles as they can in a day for a dollar per article. That’s an absolutely insulting rate. Even semi-pro prices normally run for 2.5 cents per word, or $12.50 per article. The fact that they won’t even cover Upwork fees, normally 8.75% of what the contractor would get, is just icing on the cake.

Notice that this company has a laundry list of things to avoid. This shows that the company has been burned in the past by bad contractors, but with that rate the company will never get the level of writer that they’ll need. Many companies hide their “screw you” card up their sleeve until after you’ve accepted the job. The big reason why these companies treat freelancers like this is that they don’t understand that it’s not a boss-employee relationship, but a meeting of equals. They also equate outsourcing with “cheap exploitable labor” and act accordingly. What else can go wrong? Here’s a story of a freelance writer who got burned by three different clients.

As a contractor, it’s depressing to see insulting, low-wage, and unclear jobs being offered again and again over these freelancing sites. But the sad state of freelancing on the big sites isn’t just the fault of greedy, ignorant companies. It’s a two way street and people just need a little proper navigation.

There are hundreds of open jobs on Upwork at any given second, make sure to evaluate potential clients carefully. Personally, I’d think about finding long-term clients as you aren’t getting paid by sending proposals. It won’t be easy, especially if you’re just getting started, but it will pay off once you have a solid Upwork profile with solid reviews.

How to Make Money on UpWork – 10 Pros Share Their Secrets

Upwork, the most popular freelance marketplace, yet often the most controversial. But the problem doesn’t lie within Upwork, rather how businesses and freelancers choose to use the platform. When most businesses (at least in the US) think outsourcing, they’re thinking finding talent in other countries for the fraction of the cost. Though they often find talent that isn’t up to par, hence the age old adage, “If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.” This discourages the talented freelancers because they often have to compete against that.

But the beauty of the system is that if you know what you’re looking for, you won’t have to compete against that. Danny Margulies, despite having no formal experience or training, managed to personally pull in six-figures in just his second year alone freelancing. He has a great argument for letting the platform work for you. The idea is to pour your time, focus and everything into it without being distracted by outside work. He had an excellent point when he said, “Sure, some clients come to Upwork looking for a good deal. Guess what? Some people walk into a Mercedes dealership looking for a good deal too. They can drive off in a brand new Benz for less than the price of a Camry. This doesn’t change the fact that there are plenty of others who are happy to spend 2-10x that.”

Tip #1 is let the platform work for you. Eventually, you’ll have businesses sending you invitations versus spending hours culling through job descriptions. In an ideal world, Upwork is an excellent stepping stone to an independent freelancing business. Everyone has to begin their own business and earn their reputation somewhere. Upwork is an excellent choice of platform to do so. Let it work for you and grow your business, eventually you’ll likely outgrow the platform and earn more money outside of Upwork:

John Morris is a freelancer who in his own words about his freelancing success said, “About a year later, I was doing well enough to leave Upwork forever and get all my clients through repeat business, referrals and my own website… charging what I wanted and clients seeking me out.” He said that Upwork seems to mystify some people. But, that it is relatively simple. On Upwork trust is a commodity and the entire website is designed to measure that. You have to work to be relevant and build your credibility. There’s no way around this. You put in the work and do a good job. You stay relevant by having specialties. It is important to research and craft your own brand or niche. But first, you’ll have to learn how to be successful on Upwork…

Tip #2 – Start earning money on Upwork by building out a complete and eye-catching profile:

Jake Jorgovan is a creator and entrepreneur. Prior to starting the business Lead Cookie, he ran business development for a video production agency and won the business of multiple Fortune 500 clients and A-List touring artists. Jake said the first hurdle is taking several hours to get your profile 100%. On Upwork the completion of your profile helps you get more work by moving you up in the search engine. Go through everything thoroughly and fill it out in detail. When doing this Jake specifically recommends you position your profile around a few specific skill sets. For example WordPress Development, not Web Design. The other thing he said you need is great skills and a great portfolio. If you don’t’ have either of those things then work to improve your skills and create an amazing portfolio. Jake said, “A good quality portfolio and body of work is essential to success on Upwork.”

To add on to that, Tip #3 would be to get a headshot, and craft a tagline with stopping power

James Johnson is a full-time, location free Copywriter from England. He quit his retail job last summer and decided to pursue writing as his new career. His first recommendation is quite simple and brutal, “You won’t get work without a headshot. In the same way, you wouldn’t accept a friend request off somebody without a picture.” Another tip he had was about your basic description, “See where it says, ‘Expert Content Creator, Trojan Horse Thinker’? That’s your strap line. Think of it as your first impression on clients.  You need to make a good first impression. A little trick I like to use here is, Sell it in six. If you had to sell yourself to someone in only six words, what would you say? When you can answer that, you’ve got the perfect strapline.” You have to be able to distill everything pertinent into a mere few words.

The final step to building out your profile, and probably the most important thing to getting started on Upwork is Tip #4, building a portfolio on Upwork and generating reviews and feedback.

Bren quit his job to travel and made his own website. He said that after six years it has been a wonderful adventure. He tries to help others reach their own dreams. He has an interesting story about when he started working on Upwork. He was doing bids and trying to get jobs and failing. However, he realized that because there was no feedback or ratings he had trouble getting accepted. So for his first accepted job bid, he went the extra step. He wrote a little bit for free. However, he also did not place a low bid. People believe you get what you pay for. And doing this approach he stood out and got his first job. Bidding higher shows you aren’t desperate. A five-star review is also exactly what you need. Bren put it well when he said, “Firstly, strive to be the best freelancer your client has ever worked with. Submit work before the deadline. Write 700 words when you only needed 500. Make it clear that you will rewrite and edit your piece until they are 100% satisfied. Put effort into your writing and make your articles the best your client has ever read. In other words, exceed every expectation.”

Think about it. Imagine you’re browsing Yelp, would you rather eat a restaurant rated 5-stars by your peers, or a similar restaurant with no reviews at all? Look for a few inexpensive fixed price jobs in your field, or look for short article writing, admin work, etc. Your hourly rate might not be where you want it at these first few jobs, but think of it as advertising. You’re spending money (or time) to build a profile and reputation.

Tip #5 comes from Laura Pennington:

Her passion is teaching people exactly how to fast track their freelancing career, skip over the trial-and-error stage that can last for years, and build a fulfilling lifestyle business as a freelancer. She says that “There are three different things you need to succeed on Upwork, and focusing on each of these can help you grow your freelance business faster than ever and increase your chances of being successful over the long run.” Those three things are quality work, quality communication, and consistent work and happy clients. For instance, if people do not submit quality work samples then you may be seen as not good enough. Being flaky or not meeting deadlines will also reap unpleasant rewards. Your constant quality and it is shown in reviews and with clients is the third important element. Her pithy take on reviews is as follows, “What most individuals do not realize is that if they have consistently poor proposals or poor completed jobs on Upwork, clients will not even see their proposals anymore. This is because the site uses a feature known as hidden proposals wherein those individuals who are deemed to be less qualified for a particular job are actually hidden out of the client’s mainframe when it comes time to select a proposal.”

Tip #6 – Finding Clients on Upwork with Filters:

Megan Nicole is another millennial freelancer who wants to share what she has learned with every other millennial who could possibly benefit from it. Megan has a number of specific criteria she uses to consider a job on Upwork. Megan specifically said that she uses the filtering options to look for work that is based in the USA. This is because the budget will more likely match what she is looking for. You can also filter based on the client’s budget. Paying attention to the clients rating and reviews is also important. For a client look at what they say about freelancers and what freelancers say about them. Another data point to consider is the client’s average hourly pay rate. Their previous hourly rate is a good indicator if they are a match for you. You can see how your typical rate compares.

Tip #7 – Finding Clients on Upwork by Focusing on a Niche:

Carisso Linato is a freelancer who describes her career as, “I’m also a Top Rated freelancer with a 100% job satisfaction track record. Over the past four years, I’ve learned a few tricks and tips along the way.” And the first thing she says is to get a niche. In fact, she says it is the most important thing to do. As she puts it, “This market is so saturated, it’s almost impossible to stand out. Okay, you’re a “social media marketer,” now what? Do you just upload curated pictures? Handle PPC campaigns? Come up with the initial strategy? There are a million responsibilities that fall under being a social media marketer, are you capable of handling everything at a professional level? Probably not.” In other words, finding a niche takes you from an oversaturated market to a smaller fish bowl. It makes more manageable. Another thing she emphasizes is finding a unique job title not using a generic one, “Everyone does it and you’ll get lost in the sea of thousands of other freelancers. Aka: you won’t make money. Instead, put yourself in your ideal client’s shoes and figure out what they’d search to find you.”Also, take the time and invest a little money in an intro video.

Tip #10 – Once you found your niche, save searches with the best search terms for your niche.

This tip comes from Nicki Martin, her advice is that when you use the “save search” button when you start, the algorithm works to show you the most relevant jobs. Think of it as how Pandora or Spotify builds playlists for you depending on your likes/dislikes, how long you listen to a song, etc. Nicki saves his favorite search terms and he earns about $1000/mo doing what he loves – writing! And saving searches allows him to write on his favorite genres, like fiction.

Tip #9 – Carefully read job requirements comes from Heather K., who commands $45/hr as a project manager and virtual assistant:

Heather is an ordinary person who started freelancing after her father became ill and needed around the clock care, necessitating my not working. She has 3 children ages 20 months to 12 years and decided to take her circumstances and carve out a new life. She had several specific tips for people. The first one to be sure to carefully read the requirements before your bid. If they require a certain number of hours and you don’t include that they won’t see your bid. Also, she said to only apply for payment verified clients. And of course, patiently build your reputation.

Tip #10 – Don’t give up! 

Rachel from “This Crafty Home” landed her first job on Upwork as a marketing consultant paying $27/hr. She ultimately used Upwork as a side hustle that helped her pay off $32,000 of debt in one year! She said that on Upwork there are three general things that set you up to be successful: building your Upwork profile, finding the right jobs, writing a proposal that sells. For example, when you are starting to choose to save all the jobs you are interested in. Then sift through them and apply for a few new ones every day. Another reminder she had was not to be discouraged, “As one last sage piece of advice for your new Upwork career I will leave you with this, do not give up! You will absolutely be denied 9 times out of 10. I probably got denied a lot more than that before I finally got my groove.”

 

Update / Revision Guide:

My goal is keep this most as evergreen as possible, and I update this post as often as I can. If there’s something about Upwork that I missed, please let me know.

Update: 4-2020: Upwork Increasing Fees

Fees have been increased from 10% to 20% per the first $500 billed by the client. Here is the new commission schedule via Upwork:

  • 20% for the first $500 billed with the client
  • 10% for lifetime billings with the client between $500.01 and $10,000
  • 5% for lifetime billings with the client that exceed $10,000

Rather unfortunate for many freelancers on Upwork, forcing them to review other alternatives for online freelancing. With the heavy commission on projects under $500, the ideal scenario for freelancers would be to pursue larger contracts. For more tips please review our recent articles:

Update: 12-2015: To summarize the last few updates to this post, the biggest freelance marketplaces Elance and oDesk, merged into a new company named Upwork. oDesk already redirects to Upwork, and Elance will soon follow. This post has been updated to include the next biggest competitor, Freelancer.com.