How to Be Successful on Upwork as a Freelancer

If you’re a freelancer - or considering becoming one - you’re in good company. 

In 2019, 35 percent of US workers are freelancers, and 59% of non-freelancers reported that they probably will freelance in the future. 

I was an in-house marketer for nearly seven years, but in 2019, I became one of those freelancers. I wanted more freedom, and the ability to leverage the growth marketing skills I gained to help other companies grow.

I’ve now been a freelance marketing consultant for almost a year, and wanted to share what has worked - and hasn't - for me so far. 

After a little over a month of using Upwork, I have booked four clients and have been able to earn more than $3K. I was also selected for the Rising Talent program.

If you're a freelance copywriter, email marketing pro, social media manager or salesperson, I think these quick tips could be helpful for you, too.

In this post, you’ll learn a few tips and tricks for becoming successful using Upwork.

If you’re considering becoming a marketing consultant, I hope this post is helpful. Feel free to comment or reach out with additional questions.

If you’re already a freelancer, know that I’d love to connect to talk about your experiences.

When should you consider using a freelancing platform?

Freelance platforms are helpful because they let you quickly and easily connect with clients who are clearly in the market for help. For this reason, they are really helpful and do provide a lot of value.

However, many of them do charge you for using them, in one way or another. You’ll either pay a portion of your earnings to the platform, or a membership fee, or both.

Plus, if the platform disappeared, so would your clients. This dependency on the platform itself does present a risk to your freelance business.

For those two reasons, I don’t think that using these platforms is the best long-term strategy for attracting and keeping clients.

However, there is a time, place, and purpose for these freelance platforms. 

Here’s when I think it makes sense to use freelance platforms:

• If you’re transitioning from a full-time role into freelance life and need experience working with clients.

• If you want to test out freelancing as a side-hustle.

• If you’ve just founded a consulting, coaching, or strategy business and you’re looking to land your first clients.

When I first transitioned into freelancing, it was important to me to start working with clients quickly. That’s why I decided to explore using the platforms as a short- to mid-term strategy to connect with clients who already know what they need - and what they're willing to pay for it.

That being said, here are 5 tips for being a successful freelancer on Upwork:

1. Determine your hourly and project rates before joining.

The first thing you should do, even before creating a profile on Upwork, is determining what your hourly and project rates will be. These freelancing platforms have the potential to drive rates down, and Upwork is no exception.

You won’t feel happy or fulfilled if you’re not being paid fairly for your work. Do market research and determine what a fair rate is for you. 

This way, when you actually enter the Upwork marketplace, you’ll only apply to jobs that would pay you what you’re worth.

I don't apply to or accept jobs lower than my rates. It does trim out a lot of the market, but it definitely feels like a healthier approach to working.

2. Craft a compelling profile.

Your profile is absolutely critical to attracting clients. 

Try to be specific and concise. You want to show how you can help, detail your expertise, and share relevant experience. However, you don’t want to overwhelm or confuse potential clients.

Upwork will tell you what to include on your profile, but you still need to make it your own. Of course, you’ll need to make sure you have a professional photo and a snappy bio that’s free of grammatical errors. Remember that most people skim, so try to subtly call out your big wins. 

3. Clearly highlight your specialties.

Many freelancers I’ve met are multi-passionate people with lots of different skills. 

I sometimes think of myself as a Jill-of-all-Trades when it comes to marketing, because of my experience building a startup marketing program from scratch. Unfortunately, marketing yourself as a Jack- or Jill-of-all-Trades on Upwork is not an effective strategy. It’s confusing, and it doesn’t inspire much confidence. (No one’s great at everything.)

I’d highly recommend creating specialized profiles, particularly if you’re more of a generalist.

Why? You have to help your potential clients understand specifically how you can help and why they should trust you. Saying that you can do it all - even if it’s true - is just too vague.

Try to be as specific as you can be about your skills. If you have more than one core competency, consider creating specialized profiles.

Creating specialized profiles that highlight successes in a particular core competency will help you show up in search results. Plus, it also lets you decide on different rates for different types of projects.

4. Don’t take rejection personally.

When I first joined Upwork in November, I didn’t get a lot of interest in my profile. I submitted proposals for a few different gigs but actually didn’t get a response on any of those initial proposals. 

Looking back on it, I’m not surprised I didn’t land those jobs. My cover letters were all over the place, and the jobs weren’t really a good fit for me. That said, at the time, I felt like I was putting my best foot forward. I share this only to say that, if you don’t get good responses initially, don’t take it personally. There is definitely a learning curve. 

Pro Tip: Save all the copies of your cover letters, and compare the ones that fail to the ones that succeed. This way, you’ll be able to identify patterns in both.

5. Consider a paid membership, particularly in the early months.

That said, if you are submitting high-quality proposals and still not getting good responses, you might want to consider upgrading to the paid membership on Upwork. That’s what I did. The membership is only $15/mo., and it was eye-opening for me because it allowed me to see the bid ranges of other proposals.

I realized that most of the other applicants were pitching much lower rates than mine. I didn’t change my rate - I adjusted the jobs I applied for. 

After being a paid member, I was able to land a few good clients pretty quickly. Then, when I felt that I had gotten some good interest and was even getting invitations to apply, I downgraded my membership back to free. 

Above all, do your best to serve your customers.

It goes without saying that the best strategy for success is to focus on serving your clients to the best of your abilities. If you take care of your customers, everything else takes care of itself.

Have questions about being a freelancer on Upwork? Leave a comment below or send a note to hello@lanecollective.com!