Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past decade, you’ve more than likely heard the term ‘freelancing’ before.
A freelancer, simply put, is a person that searches for work as and when they need it rather than having a fixed contract at a particular position.
While most work entails actually showing up at an office every day of the week and doing as your boss tells you, freelance work allows people to be their own boss and control how much work they do.
Instead of relying on one source of income, freelancers may take on multiple jobs at a time have multiple revenue streams.
Today we’ll be looking at how to make money with UpWork…
How Does Freelancing Work?
A skilled creative writer, for example, can work as a freelancer.
Freelance writers would complete different projects as and when they desire (or as and when they need the money.). When you are into freelancing, is that you can take 2 or more projects at the same time. Managing multiple projects is another skill you have to learn to become succesful.
Maybe one week a writer would spend working hours writing a poem for a client for £100.
Then they may spend a month working on a children’s eBook for another client for £2000.
See Also:
4 Steps to Start Freelancing for Beginners
5 Types of Freelancers Businesses Can Utilize During COVID-19
Writers may even spend a couple of months writing a full-length novel that returns 20% of all royalties made and thus setting up a passive source of income for the future.
However you go about your work-week, freelancing leaves the ball entirely in your court.
The only issue that hinders a large amount of freelancers is actually finding the work.
There are a tonne of freelancer-friendly sites around that you can use (eg. Fiverr, Indeed etc.) and sites that focuses on writing services (e.g. Supreme Dissertations), however this article will focus primarily on UpWork.
See Also:
- The Ultimate Guide To Freelancing In University
- How to Protect Yourself Financially and Legally as a Freelancer
- Tips For Starting Your Freelance Career
What Is UpWork?
UpWork is an enormous internet marketplace that allows anybody to apply for job opportunities that cater to their skillsets.
Upwork is a free service, however 20% will be taken from every payment you receive.
On UpWork you can search for keywords that match your expertise and find jobs that are appropriate to your interests.
How To Land Jobs & Make Money Freelancing On UpWork
When you see a job that you’d like to apply for, clicking the apply button will take you to another screen on which you’ll need read about the job and submit a proposal.
Read the information presented to you very carefully as oftentimes employers will include things in their job description such as ‘Start your proposal with the word cheese’, or ‘Answer the following question at the end of your proposal’.
Employers incorporate these questions into job descriptions in an attempt to ‘catch out’ applicants that can’t follow instructions.
Don’t make that mistake.
Pick Your Rates
When making a proposal you’ll need to give your rate of pay.
I’d suggest you stick to the rates already that the employer has already decided on – avoid messing around with this as employers have given a specific rate of payment for a reason.
Stick to what the client has asked for to maximise your success.
Your Cover Letter
With your proposal you’ll also need to submit a ‘cover letter’.
This is the crux of your application and is the equivalent to a CV. You can find the best sites offering cover letters here.
If you already have a CV/cover letter then use this to guide you when writing a cover letter.
I’d advise that you try to tailor each cover letter to the job for which you’re applying as your skills & accomplishments won’t always be relevant to every single job.
Before you even start to submit proposals you should have your cover letter ready to go.
See Also:
How to write a cover letter
Resume templates to apply with confidence
Vendor agreement template to secure your work relationship once you have found a job.
How To Write a Resume When Applying For Online Jobs
How Much Should You Charge?
Avoid setting your rate of pay as higher than the employer has decided, unless your skills demand a higher payment.
Search around for other freelancers in your field of work and see how much they’re charging for each job.
Use this as guidance as, if you charge far more than every other freelancer in your area of expertise then you’ll simply be out-competed.
Your aim is to undercut these freelancers whilst still charging as much as you deserve.
Most applicants will be sticking the the rate of pay the employer has decided upon and you should too.
UpWork Success Tip: Personalise Your Cover Letter
Tailor your cover letter to each job you apply for.
It’s wise to have a saved copy of a skeleton cover letter – a general overview of your skills that you can add to for each job that requires it.
When you apply for a job, simply tweak your cover letter and be sure to include skills and achievements that are relevant to it.
For instance, if you’re a creative writer applying for a job as a blog writer then be sure to include any experience you have within this field – perhaps you run your own independent blog or already have a position writing blog posts for another site.
Repeat Clients & Invite Only Contracts
It’s important to be mindful that a lot of high-paying contracts on UpWork aren’t advertised to the public and instead are offered to previous employees.
For example, an employer may have a contract that they only offer to a client that they’ve worked with before rather than creating a public listing that all UpWorkers can apply for.
Thus, some contracts may only be acquired on an invite-only basis.
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Therefore it is vital that you maintain positive relationships with all of your client to maximise your chances of receiving more work from them in future.
It’s also a good idea to message previous clients and ask if they have any other work opportunities available for you.
Even if they don’t, they may have colleagues that need employees that’ll gladly employ you.
