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What would you give to make an extra 20,000 to 100,000 every month from your freelancing on Upwork?

It may be you've been struggling to get clients since you signed up on the platform, or maybe you suddenly stopped earning as if someone switched off the tap to your earnings.

If you do not have an Upwork account but are interested in starting your freelancing journey, then you can check out this Nairaland thread.

https://www.nairaland.com/6910990/kick-start-freelancing-business-free-upwork

Here are five tips to help you win on Upwork

1. Have a professional-looking photograph

You don’t want to scare your potential clients away by frowning into the camera. Studies have been shown that clients are going to pick a smiling freelancer over a frowning one even though they have a similar set of achievements and skillset on the platform.

Let the photograph have a close up of your face, and the top of your shoulders. Use a plain background and not a busy one that would distract your clients.

2. Buff up your portfolio

You can always showcase your work in your portfolio. Make sure you have as many items in your portfolio as you can find. Ideally as a beginner, you should begin with five items in your portfolio.

Make sure the portfolio items are on subjects you want to be seen as an expert in. Make sure it is relevant to your niche. You want to select items that you enjoyed working on and would like to work on more of those.

Your first few items should be as eye-catching as you can make them to be.

If you've been working on the platform for a while, you should constantly update your profile whenever you complete a job.

If you don’t have a portfolio, create one. Do NOT steal someone's job and do NOT project yourself as someone you're not.

If you are looking to get paid for your skills, then you must have skills to sell. So use those skills to create a portfolio and add it to your Upwork profile.

3. Optimize your profile overview

This is the place you get to sell yourself to the maximum. Your overview should answer the following questions:

>> What do I do?
>> Who do I do it for?
>> What qualifies me to do it?

Your overview should also end with a clear CTA for clients to contact you because you're eager to work with them and solve their problems.

SEO can help you here.

How so?

Your profile should highlight those words your potential clients are using to search for freelancers who offer your services. Add keywords to your headline and overview.

Tip: Use the profile of top-rated freelancers in your niche as a template if you do not know where to begin.

4. Write an eye-catching proposal

Your proposals should contain the answers to your client's questions. Use the words, terms and phrases they use in their job description.

You must also catch their attention. The first fifty characters on your proposal are the most important, because they're the first things that show. Grab attention. An easy way to do this is to ask a question that would pique their interests.

For instance, "Do you know CPA organisations lose an average of $5 million every week due to an overburden of paperwork?"

This sets you apart as an expert. You should also avoid using "I". Use "You" as much as you can and make your proposals about the client.

You should practice with this a little bit because it's good to submit proposals quickly. But do NOT copy and paste proposals. It is irritatingly obvious when you do and you send a negative message to your client.

If you could not take the effort to write a proper proposal, how are you going to handle the job you're applying for?

This is especially tempting for newbies. Don't be tempted!

5. Niche Down

One of the biggest mistakes newbies make is trying to be an all-rounder. No one wants to hire a jack of all trades. They want to work with experts and you need to project yourself as one.

Project yourself as an authority in a single niche and you can charge higher than the average person who's doing everything.

---

So there you have it. Ask your questions and receive free wisdom.

Good luck, guys.

liztop2012:
Thank you so much, where can I learn the skill.

You need to choose a skill you want to learn first. Here are a few to choose from:

>> Graphic design
>> Programming
>> Copywriting
>> Sales and Marketing
>> Project Management

When you know what you want to learn, you can buy a course to begin. Or look for free courses on platforms like Udemy, Coursera, or Udacity.

YouTube is also a very good resource.

You can check Google Digital Skills for Africa. You can also check Simplilearn on YouTube. Lots of options out there.

liztop2012:
How to be a freelancer and what it entails.

It's not too difficult to be a freelancer if you know what you're doing.

Freelancing is basically you working remotely either for a person or a company without being affiliated directly with that person/company.

For instance, some companies hire graphic designers and pay them monthly, and they handle all creative jobs the company might have. They need to come to work every day and interact with their bosses in the office.

A freelance graphic designer, on the other hand, does not get paid monthly. He gets paid per completed job. He does not come to the office. He can work at any time he wants.

He can also work for as many clients as he wants, as long as he can deliver quality jobs.

To be a freelancer, you need a skill that people want. You also need to be able to work remotely. An electrician cannot work remotely. His job requires his physical presence.

But a social media manager can do everything he wants to do online.

After having a skill, you can also join freelance platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, Guru, etc. where clients paste jobs and you apply for them, get hired, deliver, and get paid.

I hope this answers your question.

Jacksonkatie:
Even if I were a fake employer, I would still give a response to your application. Your words are very compelling and I have picked one or two from it.

Thanks for sharing your success story, it is a motivation for me.

Thanks, Jacksonkatie!

You're very kind.

Bigfish121:
Do you have any of the copywriting book so that you can send me.my phone number is in my signature. Thanks

Udoboss:
Books like?

Hypnotic Writing by Joe Vitale.

The book is probably overkill for just writing proposals and is a bit long, but if you master the principles there, you'll be able to craft compelling proposals.

A good way to improve your copy is to rewrite good ones you find. I rewrote a lot of the copies I saw in this book, until I started to get the concept behind convincing someone using words on paper.

You can download the book here:

https://www.pdfdrive.com/hypnotic-writing-e38519158.html

N2B2:
What a powerful proposal, second only to your interview answers in brilliance! Your post has taught this top-rated freelancer a thing or two; thank you!

Thanks! And you're welcome too.

linasparkle:
I love your replies and composure, I have learnt some things from it, i'm also on upwork. Thanks for posting.

That's cool. How has the journey been for you?

Bigfish121:
Congrats.These days to get work on upwork is not that easy.you will just be doing interview upon interview. Before you even submit proposal for a job self,more than 50 persons have applied.

Lol. If you submit enough proposals on Upwork, you develop a system for hitting the main points quickly in your proposal. I have submitted over 200 proposals on Upwork, so I have picked up some things along the way. I also don't apply for jobs that have more than 10 proposals already. You can also pick up a few copywriting books to learn how to phrase your proposals in the best way.

AndroBlaze:
Nice.

Thanks!

Generalwoodz:
I saw the post on Facebook too. I need Copywriting gigs oh

Have you thought about creating an Upwork account?

Dedonrukky:
I have learnt from your proposal. Thanks for posting.

Awesome! Happy to be of help.

[quote author=liztop2012 post=109336559][/quote]What do you need help with, exactly?

Ask your questions here

Generalwoodz:
How much is the work,?

Do you want to tell me here or should I just send you message on FB?

Lol. Na one small change laidat

CrownOfClay724:
Kudos, man.

Thanks, man.

Udoboss:
Congrats

Thank you!

I was scrolling through my Upwork feed.

I saw a job post for proofreaders and editors.

I wrote a proposal and forgot about it.

This is the proposal I wrote:

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/a6/b6/f7/a6b6f7ef4ef82075b6df529799b6bbeb.jpg

Some days later, the client responds with an invitation for the interview.

From Upwork, we moved on to Skype.

I got to answer a questionnaire that contained 14 questions.

Then they asked even more questions after I submitted the questionnaire.

This is how it ended.

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/26/71/59/2671592ef03328207afa0e69d95de19d.jpg

Easy peasy. All very easy to do.

You only need to know what you're about and stand out as the best.

Cheers!

Cc
davide470
uboma
mukina2

Great thread!

#following

Great story. Hope you keep winning

ColdSoldier:
Nice one boss. Followed similar procedure on another thread and got approved. What's your niche?

I'm a writer, sir.

So there you have it, folks.

A step-by-step guide to creating an Upwork account.

Feel free to drop your questions.

9. Choose an hourly rate

As a newbie on Upwork, you can choose anywhere from $15 to $35 per hour.

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/26/ad/02/26ad02778696082dba7b603a72785123.jpg

10. Write a professional title and overview

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/74/9f/d8/749fd88046dc6af363b3bd8c8ec5e897.jpg

To make writing your overview easier, search for the top-rated freelancers in your niche and choose an overview that best describes your skills. Then use this as a model to write yours.

NOTE: Your overview must be at least 300 words in length.

11. Fill out your residential address details

12. Click on submit

If you follow these details, your Upwork profile application would be approved immediately.

If you get the message that your profile is under review and that they would get back to you in 48 hours, then you missed a step and will not get approved.

You should get an approval notification that looks something like this:

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/e0/3d/c2/e03dc27512618909b3e346b0812563b7.jpg

If you made it this far, congratulations!

You're just getting started with Upwork. There are more details Upwork wants to know about you before granting you access to the Upwork platform.

Next, they would ask if you want to speed up your approval process by uploading your LinkedIn profile.

To make it easier on everyone, I'll go with 'Fill Out Manually' so we can walk through the process together.

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/27/90/87/279087757ffb806054679ec64f5a1993.jpg

4. Choose your category, sub-category and select your skills.

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/e7/2a/8d/e72a8d1e4d5364b792ea6b5b702bc5f5.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/17/54/bd/1754bd47aff0edef933d6a8f7d7383ce.jpg

For the skills stage, you can add up to ten skills to your profile. You should use up all the options to add skills to your profile, even though you may not be very strong in those areas.

This improves your chances of getting approved.

5. Select your skill level

Project yourself in the best possible light. Everyone wants to work with an expert. So pick 'Expert' here

6. Add education

It is important in filling out your profile that you try to fill out all the fields in the form. This gives you preference in the Upwork algorithm.

7. Add past work experience

It does not matter how irrelevant you think this may be to your chosen niche on Upwork. Choose your brand name as your company and state how long you've been working as a freelancer in your niche if you do not have any white collar or corporate job experience.

8. Choose your language

Select Native or Bilingual as this is the highest English proficiency level on Upwork.

Christmas chicken has nearly removed the willingness to finish creating this guide.

But let's get to it.

As you will see, I'll be doing this primarily with a mobile phone. Although it feels a bit different, it is quite possible to be a successful freelancer using your mobile phone.

If you are in a niche like mine (writing), you can quite easily make money online using your phone.

Here are the steps to creating an approved Upwork account.

1. Navigate to the Upwork website, upwork.com

Click on 'Sign Up'.

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/f4/a2/46/f4a24649d897cb32fab8c54923c26895.jpg

2. Fill in your details as required.

Click on 'Create My Account' as soon as you're done.

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/74/ba/5b/74ba5bbc88487229100606486f063c1f.jpg

3. Verify your account

Upwork would send you a confirmation email. Click on the 'Verify Account' button to proceed. You should get something like this:

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/80/da/bb/80dabbd505e0d1fc14e0847176d377da.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/d4/45/4f/d4454fbe35e4720d2d60256d1a3a0340.jpg

You should see something like this afterward:

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/5d/12/8e/5d128ef9613cf5d0020c2000fc0a811d.jpg

FunnyDude:
Congratulations on your first $1K. I'm happy for people like you. Please be focused and keep getting better at your skill, and proposal... Believe soon you'll start earning multiple of it from a single client.

Thanks a lot for the kind words, sir. I look forward to making more on Upwork

I paid 9k to learn this about a year ago.

Today, I've earned over $1000 on Upwork. It is chicken change to some people as I know some freelancers like FunnyDude make that in under a week.

But you cannot begin to earn money on Upwork if you do not have an Upwork account.

But before I begin, what is Upwork anyway? You may be asking, Why should I care about needing an Upwork account?

Upwork is a freelancing platform where clients (job givers) come to search for freelancers (job seekers) to carry out tasks for them remotely. Upwork takes a cut of 20% for each successfully completed contract between job giver and job seeker.

Do you have a skill like graphic design, web development, digital marketing, video creation, programming, tutoring, or writing? If it is something that could be done remotely, you will find all sorts of clients on Upwork willing to pay you in hard currency for you to complete a job for them.

But getting approved on the platform is quite a tedious process. I did not get it right the first time I tried it and Upwork rejected me.

If you do it right, you will get approved the moment you submit your application to Upwork.

It is true that a lot of online platforms do not like Nigerians today, but you do not need to project yourself as someone you are not to get approved on Upwork.

You also do not need a foreign account to get jobs on Upwork.

I'm going to be showing you the steps (with pictures) to get approved on Upwork.

Stay tuned.

cc
puskin
naijacutee
FOD
dominique

Hm

Nawa

https://bit. ly/3HNNvS7

Sunday Adeniyi Adegeye

South Africa

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Issokay

Lobatan

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