According to the freelancers who have worked for a long time, Upwork is the best freelancing site in the market. Many local/irrelevant freelancers cannot survive on these sites as they basically have to buy and use connections to bid. So it is much more transparent than other freelance marketplaces. It can be said that the most premium clients are present in this marketplace. Because the work of giant companies like Microsoft, Dropbox is available here.
What is Upwork?
Upwork is an American-based freelance platform formerly known as Odex and Elance respectively, where you have to purchase Connect before placing an order. It is said that even if you apply for a job, you need to purchase Connect. Elance and Odex merged in 2015 to rebrand the company, which is now known as Upwork. Upwork currently has around 18 million freelancers and around 5 million clients. Upwork can be done in two ways.
- Hourly
- Fixed Price
How do freelancers get work on Upwork?
Using Upwork, a freelancer can easily work and earn money from anywhere in the world. For this a freelancer has to follow the following procedures. Like all other common freelance marketplaces you need to sign up first, which is very common. Upwork is more secure and trusted than any other marketplace. Many good companies do their work here. Upwork has many clients who earn more than 6 digits.
Create optimized profiles
The first thing to do after signing up is to create an Optimize profile. Here is basically the exact description of the job you can do or the job you want to do in the marketplace. So that a buyer can easily understand what you are experienced or used to by looking at your profile. Creating an optimized profile is very easy on Upwork.
If you first tell the name of the type of work you will start, they will give you the form accordingly. Where you can move forward with all the correct information. Whatever information will be asked to be given there, do it correctly according to your type of work.
Upwork profile approved
We have seen on fiver, gigs can be opened there for free. As a result, anyone can easily remove the gig. The problem with this is that freelancers are trying to arrange gigs according to whatever they want. Most of the new freelancers who are there, open gigs with false information, creating a kind of imbalance in the marketplace. Because the Fiver authorities do not notice this matter.
But Upwork keeps the issue under control. If a freelancer uploads a gig to Upwork, Upwork will verify the information with their team and decide whether to approve it. This ensures a protection of the marketplace. One cannot open gigs with nonsense information, which gives buyers a clean view. With so many more convenient features in Upwork, it is a highly preferred marketplace for many.
How to get the job?
Like Fiver has buyer requests, Upwork has job proposals. Upwork will offer you a variety of jobs based on your gig and profile type. You can propose your job as per your choice. Here too, Upwork has a number of metrics that you can use to determine whether the job is a good fit for you. It is best to apply after looking at all the matrices.
Setting goals: Without setting goals, not just freelancing, you can’t succeed in anything, so having goals is essential. Although one of the objectives of opening an account on Upwork is to earn money, but first decide what you will do to earn that income. Upwork has many job categories. Check out a list of freelancing jobs you can do in these categories. And from there select the work which you are good at and comfortable with.
Choosing the Right Job: There are many types of jobs in Upwork but not all of them have the same requirements. Among these, there are some jobs which have more quantity and more demand. There are some jobs which are high in demand due to lack of skilled freelancers. So first choose what you are good at. Then see which one is more in demand in the market place. For example, nowadays the demand for programming and software development is very high.
Bidding Correctly: Many open accounts and bid on impulse, which is not the right thing to do. Must first learn to bid correctly. Many people think that the lower the bid price, the faster the job will be available, which is also a misconception. So before bidding you must know everything, read the job post description properly. In addition, the following should be done, namely:
- Must bid at correct price.
- Copy pasting of other’s bids should be avoided.
- Writing an accurate and attractive cover letter. In this case, copy pasting of other’s cover letter should be avoided. But you can take ideas from other’s cover letters. When you hire a freelancer, write based on what you look for and check.
- Express yourself. Showcase your skills and portfolio. In this case, you will see the job category. Because the client wants a web designer, you don’t have to show your logo design work.
Meeting the needs of the client: Do not what you want or what your heart wants, but what the client wants. Bury your own good and prioritize the client’s good. Because if the client is satisfied then he will contact you again later. It will also help you to get good rating and increase the number of jobs you will get on your profile
Stay active online: If the client cannot contact you after bidding, do not deliver the poster by writing wanted. Rather get bored and contact another freelancer to give him the job. So try to always be active online. This is very important in getting work and freelancing career build-up.
Many professional freelancers stay awake at night just to connect with clients. If your client is from America, you may also need to stay up late. Because, when it’s day in America, it’s night for us; And when we have day it is night in America. Now your client surely cares about your sleep, his sleep will not be prohibited. Instead, you should think about the client’s sleep and make yourself sleepy.
Interview with the client
When you send a job proposal to Upwork, if the client thinks you’re a good fit, they’ll interview you. Here you can know more details about the job requirements. Confirm the type of work, deadline, and amount of money from here and then accept the project if the client agrees with the offer. The type of work of the client and what needs to be done, you can know all these things through the interview.
Order complete and delivered
After taking the job you have to complete the job perfectly. The next step after completing the task is to submit the task. However, before submitting the work, the deadline should be known. Otherwise, you will not have the opportunity to submit work, and will not maintain a good relationship with the client. Ultimately your profile will create a negative impression. So try to deliver the work on time.
Payment
Upon completion of the job, the buyer will deposit dollars into your Upwork account, which you can then transfer to your bank account. Upwork payment methods at a glance –
- Direct to local bank – (where the charge will be 0.99 dollars per withdrawal)
- PayPal – Instant transfers available. Can charge from 1 dollar to 10 thousand dollars. It all depends on the transaction volume.
- Payoneer – It will take maximum 2 days. Upwork will charge $2 per withdrawal.
Hourly Project
Hourly projects work on an hourly basis contract. That is, charges are taken on an hourly basis. Now the question has arisen in the mind of many that how they will know how long they are working or not. Yes, Upwork has apps called Upwork Time Tracker to solve this issue. When the freelancer starts working, keep the timer open, and you can keep a note of what you are doing at any time. By doing this, buyers can see when the freelancer has done any work.
Fixed Prize Project
It’s like a normal freelancing site. Fixed price is how much money has been budgeted for a particular project. By doing this, the mediums, i.e. the freelancer sites, keep 20% of the money and the money will be deposited in your main account according to the agreement. In case of fixed price, you will get payment at the end of the project as determined at the beginning of the project.
Checkout this article: What is a Fiverr Gig & How to optimize for more order!