Webinar: Beginning Your Freelancer Journey on Upwork

[Farah Z]

Hey, guys, I am Farah Zain a new content writer at Upwork. I am struggling to find a way to get a job.. But haven't got any.
Can anyone suggests me or want to work with me?

Wanna hear from you.
Thank you.

[Andrea G]

Hi Farah,

Submitting proposals doesn't always guarantee that you will get hired or get a chance to be interviewed, but you shouldn't give up on sending proposals to potential clients. You may check our Resource Corner and find some excellent topics there:

Submitting a Winning Proposal on Upwork

Make Your Freelancer Profile More Visible & Appealing

Enhance Your Freelancer Profile for Greater Success

When you apply for jobs, make sure your proposal is well written and that you're absolutely qualified and certain of your ability to complete the job you're applying for.

Thanks!

[Mahamud H]

Hey,

Thanks for giving wonderful webinar. I am a new freelancer in Upwork. How I get 1st order in Upwork. I am very interested to work with Upwork.

Thank you

[Aleksandar D]

Hi Mahamud,

I suggest checking out this Community thread to help you get started on Upwork along with the Freelancing Resources board in which you'll find plenty of articles to help you with writing proposals, negotiating with clients, setting your rates, enhancing your profile, and so on.

Thank you.

[Brigid L]

Hi Samantha!

I was on the webinar today, and I have a follow-up question from one you answered earlier. Someone asked about how to propose a rate if the job description doesn't give specific details about the workload. You suggested having a conversation with the client in order to get a specific scope of the project. Are you suggesting we do that in the proposal or once the proposal is accepted and we go on to an interview? Or should we, like you also suggested, mention a rate in our proposal based on other work we've done, but then follow it up with something like, "This rate is dependent on the specifics of your project?"

Thanks for your help!

Brigid

[Andrea G]

Hi Brigid,

For help getting started please check out this Community thread. You can also find some great topics in the Freelancing Resources board like: Negotiating Your Rate on Upwork.

Thanks!

[Samantha H]

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Brigid L wrote:

Hi Samantha!

I was on the webinar today, and I have a follow-up question from one you answered earlier. Someone asked about how to propose a rate if the job description doesn't give specific details about the workload. You suggested having a conversation with the client in order to get a specific scope of the project. Are you suggesting we do that in the proposal or once the proposal is accepted and we go on to an interview? Or should we, like you also suggested, mention a rate in our proposal based on other work we've done, but then follow it up with something like, "This rate is dependent on the specifics of your project?"

Thanks for your help!

Brigid

---

That's a great question! I think there are a couple of different ways to approach this. In my opinion, you should mention it in the proposal if your bid amount could change. It's totally fine to let them know in your proposal that the total cost is dependent on scope, but a ballpark budget might be "xyz".

Be sure to discuss this further in the interview and then have any adjustments or changes on project pricing written into the contract correctly before you accept it. Really, communciation is key in this kind of situation. The interview is the time to really start to define the scope of the project and decide whether this is something you'd be willing to undertake for a mutually agreed upon rate. Remember, you're interviewing the client just like they're interviewing you. It may not be a good mutual fit, and you are not obligated to accept anything unless you want to.

ps - thanks for attending the webinar! Glad to see you again. :-)

[Ashley B]

Hi Samantha!

Thank you for the webinar! I have a couple of questions:

1) In regards to verified payments you said that we shouldn't start work until there is money in the milestones. However, with hourly jobs on your slide you said that we are billed on a weekly basis. Will that money be in escrow too? Should I ask the client to verify payment before beginning hourly work?

2) You said not to include work experience that is unrelated to the job in my profile. Although I have retained the knowledge, the last time I worked in an office was 10 years ago and most of my professional experience is in restaurants. As a manager I have worked in Excel, Adobe PDF editor, Word, payroll, and scheduling along with many other skills learned in restaurants and I feel ignoring that would be a disservice to myself. As a server/bartender I have exceptional costumer service skills. Do you believe that including that kind of information would be helpful or hurtful to winning proposals?

[Andrea G]

Hi Ashley,

When working on Hourly contracts your client is invoiced automatically every Monday. We suggest you make sure your client has verified their payment method before starting work on an Hourly contract in order to qualify for Hourly Protection. 

You can find some advice on how to build your profile here as well as some other great topics in our Resource Corner.

Thanks!

[Samantha H]

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Ashley B wrote:

Hi Samantha!

Thank you for the webinar! I have a couple of questions:

1) In regards to verified payments you said that we shouldn't start work until there is money in the milestones. However, with hourly jobs on your slide you said that we are billed on a weekly basis. Will that money be in escrow too? Should I ask the client to verify payment before beginning hourly work?

2) You said not to include work experience that is unrelated to the job in my profile. Although I have retained the knowledge, the last time I worked in an office was 10 years ago and most of my professional experience is in restaurants. As a manager I have worked in Excel, Adobe PDF editor, Word, payroll, and scheduling along with many other skills learned in restaurants and I feel ignoring that would be a disservice to myself. As a server/bartender I have exceptional costumer service skills. Do you believe that including that kind of information would be helpful or hurtful to winning proposals?

---

Hi Ashley!

Looks like Andrea got the 1st question - thank you!! :-)

As far as the 2nd question:

If you feel like the work is relevant, I think you should include it. I really want to clarify that work that is irrelevant would have nothing in common with the service you'd be providing on Upwork. I think in your case, which is unique since your previous industry/roles have had such a broad reach, I think you could include it if you wanted to. Just be sure to clarify what relevant work you did and why it's relevant. I think as long as you can show how the two are related, having diverse experience is great! :-)