Freelancers in many different professions, including writing, graphic design, and web development, can find clients and work through Upwork. The platform facilitates finding work, interacting with clients, and being paid.
If you're starting as a freelancer or Making money on Upwork in a new industry, you can get experience without constantly making cold calls.
Create a complete profile that you can be proud of.
For potential employers, your profile is the equivalent of a standard resume. You need one to get hired—type in your preferred employment category, preferred skill set, and your degree of expertise. You report everything here, so please give accurate information. Your account could be put on hold or terminated if you accept jobs you can't complete.
Get a bird's-eye view of your money, credit, and bank balances.
The next step is to upload a recent photo of yourself and provide a comprehensive summary of your experience. You can include in a portfolio or particular samples of your work with a link. You can also choose your preferred pricing, location, and the number of available hours per week. If you have trouble deciding how much to charge, research the hourly rates of freelancers on Upwork who are in a comparable position to you.
Freelancers can choose between the "Basic" and "Plus" membership tiers on Upwork.
Access to this plan is free; however, contacting prospective customers will cost you. If you're a freelancer on the platform's basic plan, you can submit proposals to clients using the platform's internal tokens called "Connects," of which you get ten free each month. Additional Connects can be purchased in packs of 10, 20, 40, 60, or 80 for $0.15 each. Connect tokens are a form of currency that can be acquired through Upwork's promos and by simply using the service. Extra Connects from one month can be carried over to the next, but they will be lost forever after a year.
A monthly fee of $14.99 gets you everything in the basic plan plus 80 Connects.
Ability to see how much other companies have bid on a project.
The ability to conceal financial details is an available perk.
The option to change your permanent profile URL.
Your profile will always be visible because of a lack of participation.
Use your connections to apply for positions that are right up your alley. All proposals need to start with a cover letter explaining why you're qualified for the job, your desired rate, and any answers to questions the client may have included in the posting. Send any relevant samples of your work you have as well.
Using Upwork's star rating system, you and potential clients may determine who you are most interested in working with.
After the work has been completed, both parties will leave feedback for each other, much like with an app like Uber or Lyft. Rankings of employers on a scale from one to five stars are displayed on the respective pages. Your Job Success Score is a percentage that reflects the percentage of your gigs that were completed to the satisfaction of your clients and is based on the ratings you've received from those clients.
It's important to note that Upwork has a cut of your paycheck. The percentage of total billings is proportional to the length of time you've worked with the client, meaning that your fees will decrease as you do more business with a certain client. Upwork will deduct 20% of your first $500 in customer payments.
The Upwork desktop software features a built-in Work Diary where you can keep track of all your hourly assignments. If you enable this feature, the app will meticulously document how far along you are in a certain project. The program monitors your input and logs your 10-minute billing intervals. It also schedules periodic screenshots.
The Work Diary is optional and can be turned off at any moment if you choose to keep track of your hours in some other way, but using it makes you eligible for Upwork's Hourly Protection program. If a client refuses to pay you for work you've shown you did, this service will ensure you still get paid.
Fixed-price projects have easier payment terms. The other party must set aside a particular amount when you enter into a contract. As the job progresses, the employer should establish checkpoints to ensure progress. After reaching these milestones, you will get a portion of the deposit, with the remaining balance due upon project completion.
