Re: Financial management on Upwork

Mariia A · ‎10-09-2021

Hi, my dear Upwork colleagues.

This time I would like to ask you about advice regarding financial planning.

So, the question is how to build a system of stable income from Upwork if you are intermediate level specialist, and is working in a sphere of marketing and connected fields.

This is a step when you can’t fulfill one advanced order by which you can easily guarantee yourself your minimum monthly income.

So, there is dependence on employers and order flow itself.

I came across the next problems:

You bid many projects, receive reply from some of them, client seems to be interested in you, and you are waiting for further proceedings and feel like you've booked necessary work volume to guarantee your monthly income. But….then some clients just do not reply, some clients ask to wait a little bit (that coud me even months), some clients say that they will send you task some day next week, please wait etc.

So, you are waiting…And time passes. You do not receive your money which you planned in time you planned. Then you start looking for another project to secure yourself, get it, and become busy, and that client appears and proceeding that project. So, you experience difficulties.

Another thing is that you can’t be confident when exactly clients will pay. It could be like I will pay next week, or please wait, I…(many other reasons). So, sometimes you need to be proactive, ask, remind. And wait. Much waiting. No possibility to schedule. This also leads eventually it budget gap.
Some time you have long-term project, but client suddenly decides to change it, or do not proceed with planned work volume, or something. Again, it leads to income gap. Or some long-term hourly paid job turns into 2-3h per month, which become really annoying some time. Or sometimes project changes, there also could be dry times too.

So, I am wondering how can we freelancers be more smarter to secure yourself, and really earn on Upwork.

Sure, that is savings, but you need first to create them too)

The best way for sure to have several long-term customers, each of which can cover monthly minimum. But sometimes this too doesn't work well.

Would be grateful for your sharings)

Jennifer M · ‎10-09-2021

Why cover a monthly minimum when you can have excess and live like a queen? It's very sad that freelancers just go for scraping by.

As for your scenario, you just tell them that you are busy until you can get to them. Not hard at all. You should be juggling as many clients as possible anyway or you about to go broke.

Mariia A · ‎10-09-2021

Jennifer,

Thank you for your thoughts!

Tiffany S · ‎10-09-2021

The most significant piece of advice I can give you is DON'T try to maintain stability through Upwork. It can be done, for sure--many of us could easily make a full time living here (and much more than covering the bills). But, as a freelancer, you never want to be dependent on one channel. What if Upwork goes out of business? Your account gets suspended for some weird reason? There's a technical problem and you can't access the site for days? You accidentally connect with a shady client and your financial account is frozen, meaning you can't access any of your income from any client?

As a business owner (which you are now), your best path to stability is diversifying your sources of income.

Will L · ‎10-09-2021

Mariia A.,

If your projects are typically fairly large and lengthy, your first priority is to take care of your existing clients. New projects are secondary.

If your projects are typically small, then you might prefer a steady flow of new contracts.

Either way keep submitting proposals until you have all the work you want. If you submit a proposal and that client waits a while before actually giving you work, don't agree to a contract on Upwork's system until that happens and just say "no" if they've waited so long you are too busy to do their project.

No client has any input into your JSS until you have an Upwork contract in place with them, so don't formally agree to a contract until the client is ready to go and you have what you need to start work for them. You can agree verbally or in writing, but the only agreement that really counts - and the only time you should start working for a client - is when a contract between the two of you is on Upwork's system.

If a client goes silent, don't contact them more than once a week. At some point you can ask them to pause or close the project if no additional work is coming to you in the near term. At some point you might as well close idle projects yourself, telling the client you'll be happy to re-start at their convenience (whether or not that's true). There's no reason to give them the impression you didn't like woriking with them, although the feedback you leave for them when you close their project might make that obvious. But they can't see your feedback until after a) they leave feedback for you or b) 14 days have passed and they can no longer leave feedback.

You should not be having prolems getting paid for completed work on Upwork. If there is anything you don't understand about how payment to freelancers occurs under either fixed price or hourly projects, read these pages:

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211063698-Weekly-Billing-Cycle

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211060918-Manage-How-You-Get-Paid

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211063718-Get-Paid-for-Fixed-Price-Contracts

If you still have questions, start another thread on this board with your questions or problems.

Good luck!

Preston H · ‎10-09-2021

re: "If a client goes silent, don't contact them more than once a week."

If a client goes silent, then why do I need to contact him at all?

If he has assigned work which is not yet done, then I will continue to do the work and send update notes.

But if I am caught up on all the work I have been asked to do, I have no reason to contact the client.

Will L · ‎10-09-2021

Preston,

What I described is what I do with my clients.

To be useful to my typical client, my type of work requires constant feedback from them. Without that feedback, I would have to guess how they want important elements of their final product to work. And too much guessing always ends in tears and recrimination. And mediation or arbitration.

If you can know from Day One of every project exactly what the final verion of the work product needs to be, then your work style would be very different from mine.

All that counts is that we serve our clients well, right?

Different horses for different courses.

Mariia A · ‎10-09-2021

Will, thank you for detailed answer! Will take into accout all these points!

Jennifer R · ‎10-09-2021

Mariia A wrote:
Hi, my dear Upwork colleagues.

This time I would like to ask you about advice regarding financial planning.

So, the question is how to build a system of stable income from Upwork if you are intermediate level specialist, and is working in a sphere of marketing and connected fields.

This is a step when you can’t fulfill one advanced order by which you can easily guarantee yourself your minimum monthly income.

So, there is dependence on employers and order flow itself.

I came across the next problems:

You bid many projects, receive reply from some of them, client seems to be interested in you, and you are waiting for further proceedings and feel like you've booked necessary work volume to guarantee your monthly income. But….then some clients just do not reply, some clients ask to wait a little bit (that coud me even months), some clients say that they will send you task some day next week, please wait etc.
So, you are waiting…And time passes. You do not receive your money which you planned in time you planned. Then you start looking for another project to secure yourself, get it, and become busy, and that client appears and proceeding that project. So, you experience difficulties.

Another thing is that you can’t be confident when exactly clients will pay. It could be like I will pay next week, or please wait, I…(many other reasons). So, sometimes you need to be proactive, ask, remind. And wait. Much waiting. No possibility to schedule. This also leads eventually it budget gap.
Some time you have long-term project, but client suddenly decides to change it, or do not proceed with planned work volume, or something. Again, it leads to income gap. Or some long-term hourly paid job turns into 2-3h per month, which become really annoying some time. Or sometimes project changes, there also could be dry times too.
So, I am wondering how can we freelancers be more smarter to secure yourself, and really earn on Upwork.

Sure, that is savings, but you need first to create them too)

The best way for sure to have several long-term customers, each of which can cover monthly minimum. But sometimes this too doesn't work well.

Would be grateful for your sharings)

The first thing you should do is at least double your rates. How many people do you know that offer your language combination? You are working on a global market so ignore your local rates. Once that is done, make a plan how much money you need every month and how much you would like to have on top.

Once you have successfully increased your rates, use our profile as a marketing tool to attract other direct clients. I generate less than 50% of my income through Upwork, but the feedback you received by clients is what sells.

I never plan with any money until it has arrived on my account. Just like I never trust the promisse of regular work.

Find yourself something productive to fill the time you are not generating income. Avoid the feeling of just sitting around waiting for a client to reach out.

Mariia A · ‎10-10-2021

yes, that are good ideas. thank you!

Tonya P · ‎10-09-2021

Mariia A wrote:
Hi, my dear Upwork colleagues.

This time I would like to ask you about advice regarding financial planning.

So, the question is how to build a system of stable income from Upwork if you are intermediate level specialist, and is working in a sphere of marketing and connected fields.

This is a step when you can’t fulfill one advanced order by which you can easily guarantee yourself your minimum monthly income.

So, there is dependence on employers and order flow itself.

I came across the next problems:

You bid many projects, receive reply from some of them, client seems to be interested in you, and you are waiting for further proceedings and feel like you've booked necessary work volume to guarantee your monthly income. But….then some clients just do not reply, some clients ask to wait a little bit (that coud me even months), some clients say that they will send you task some day next week, please wait etc.
Never assume your schedule is full unless you have a confirmed contract that fills that time. Set aside time only for those clients who are fully committed. Don't wait for anyone and don't rely on promises.

So, you are waiting…And time passes. You do not receive your money which you planned in time you planned. Then you start looking for another project to secure yourself, get it, and become busy, and that client appears and proceeding that project. So, you experience difficulties.
"I've currently booked for this week, I can start your project next week and offer you a delivery time of X. Does that work for you? If so, go ahead and send me an offer and I'll place you on my schedule."
Another thing is that you can’t be confident when exactly clients will pay. It could be like I will pay next week, or please wait, I…(many other reasons). So, sometimes you need to be proactive, ask, remind. And wait. Much waiting. No possibility to schedule. This also leads eventually it budget gap
If you charge per hour, you will be paid weekly. If you work on a fixed-priced contract, submit your work using the milestone system and you'll be paid 14-days later (plus the applicable holding period). If you are working every week, payments should be arriving every week from previous periods' work.

Some time you have long-term project, but client suddenly decides to change it, or do not proceed with planned work volume, or something. Again, it leads to income gap. Or some long-term hourly paid job turns into 2-3h per month, which become really annoying some time. Or sometimes project changes, there also could be dry times too.
Never rely on a single client for your income unless you have a savings buffer that you can tap while you look for new clients. Always be on the lookout for new clients.
So, I am wondering how can we freelancers be more smarter to secure yourself, and really earn on Upwork.

The TL:DR: Don't think or act like an employee. You are a business owner. You manage your schedule and set the boundaries for who you work for and when you'll be paid.

Mariia A · ‎10-10-2021

Thank you for sharings. Yeah, I should be mor proactive as business owner. But not an emloyee. Thank you for your replies, willl take into account!