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virtualbrix
Community Member

Freelance Course - Would you be interested?

Hey Everyone,

 

I have been thinking about building a course, basically, I have helped 100+ people on here so far and my goal is 1,000 in 2023 but I have realized that a lot of the questions are the same and the theme follows a similiar direction:

 

1. Choosing Niche

2. Profile

3. Market Research (search upwork, keywords, etc)

4. Proposal

5. Client Communication

6. etc

 

I know their are a LOT of courses out there now and Upwork has a lot of material. What do you all think?

 

 

130 REPLIES 130
feed_my_eyes
Community Member

As you say, Upwork already has a ton of information and videos available, so how will your course be better/different? Plus it seems to me that the main problem with new freelancers is a total lack of skills/talent/ability to speak basic English, so will you be able to address that?

.

virtualbrix
Community Member

 1. Yes, there is a lot of information already out there, the information I have looked at was somewhat helpful.

2. The english part is not the bigger problem, part of it, if you're a web developer, knowing perfect english is not a requirement.

3. I have taken hundreads of courses, certifications and so forth. Almost every time, the ones made by the company are to "formal"
4. I think what is needed is more "real world" examples. Courses + Webinars + Community + one-to-one help.

If they need to learn English, I am sure they can find a course to do that, the same with a skill or talent. I have met a LOT of people who are very talented but some may not be social, have trouble with proposals and most are not "sales" type people, that is the real problem.


Samer B wrote:

4. I think what is needed is more "real world" examples. Courses + Webinars + Community + one-to-one help.


Okay, but again, doesn't this already exist? What will you do differently? And will there be a cost?

 

Anyway, I'm not your target market, so I'm sure that it'll be more useful to you if newbies weigh in.

 


Samer B wrote:

 I have met a LOT of people who are very talented but some may not be social, have trouble with proposals and most are not "sales" type people, that is the real problem.


Hmmm - well, we'll have to agree to disagree on that. I've had lots of people contact me by private message over the years, asking for coaching/advice in the design category, and only two of them had good portfolios. I can't help people if they don't know how to do the thing that they're trying to sell, but you undoubtedly have more patience than I do. 🙂

I agree with this. Some people know how to do good work but  lacking social skills.

 

I mentioned somewhere that marketing is the spearhead (don't know the word) of a business. A good worker could make less money than people with less skills but a good marketer. 

 

Talk about Samer's niche, a greatly-crafted website with state of the art techs are useless when they are not noticed. A simple cookie-cutter website with a "WhatsApp link" is MUCH more valuable to a business when they're top ranked.

virtualbrix
Community Member

1. Cost = No. I will do it to help others, at least the first version. If I ever do charge, I will donate the earnings to charity.

2. I had a look around and I didnt see anything that was earth shattering to really help people go to the next level.

3. There are many courses for everything, but most are made by people who are not even experts in the field.

4. I agree, if you are a writer, your profile should be perfect. If you're a designer, you better have some portfolio items.

 

The bigger problem I have realized is, a lot of people overseas are desperate and look at freelancing as a way out, a lot of those people do not have the skill set to offer services on a professional level on sites such as Upwork, That is why, i am sure that Upwork has a big time churn rate on freelancers, meaning, I would say 7 out of 10 that sign up give up in a couple / few weeks.

 

I think my focus would be on those who have the skill set but are struggling, from the 100+ people i talked to, I would say that is around 30%


Samer B wrote:

I think my focus would be on those who have the skill set but are struggling, from the 100+ people i talked to, I would say that is around 30%


That sounds like a more realistic goal, and I agree that a lot of information out there is rubbish (although there's good information if you know where to look and filter it with a healthy dose of skepticism).

 

Out of curiosity, of the 100+ people that you've helped so far, how many have gotten jobs now?

df602768
Community Member

Seduced by the secret magic of bald Upworkers who decided to delve into the mystical but high-earning field of coaching?

virtualbrix
Community Member

Ha. Not really. I like Freelancing, If I wanted to make more money, I would just scale out an agency. If I were to build a course / coaching business, I would do it to help others (and donate any earnings). I make enough money.

You do you, buddy. 

Thank You!

virtualbrix
Community Member

I have an excel sheet of them all. from the 106 I helped:

 

Let me start with this:

 

1. I talked to 144 people via chat on Upwork who were added to my network

2. From those, 106 showed up for help, I spent 1 hour with each

3. I stayed in touch and here are the stats so far:

 

- 28 people got atleast 1 job, I have a few who have 4+ jobs

- 40 people never replied after the first call

- The other 38 are still trying, usually, they are in niches which are saturated like translation / transcription, etc

 

Most people do not qualify honestly, they have very basic skills and are doing what they can to find work, I understand it honestly as the situation around the world has not gotten any easier in the last 2-3 years.

Thanks for sharing - that's a very good rate.

 


Samer B wrote:

- 40 people never replied after the first call


Wow, so about 1/3 of the people who asked for help didn't even show up for 1-1 coaching that was offered to them free of charge? Just proves that really high numbers of people who are being accepted by Upwork actually have no business being here.

1000%. i was also surprised by the no shows, 40 people who asked for help, didnt show, Some even bailed on the call. I do agree with you that the platform is "NOT" for everyone. I think that Upwork has to do a better job vetting. I know its a difficult job!

Hi Samer B! 

My name is Dennis Lutomia from Kenya and I request you to take me through the course so that I perfect my skills in getting a job in upwork. Thank you

Hey Dennis. I added you to my Network.


Samer B wrote:

1000%. i was also surprised by the no shows, 40 people who asked for help, didnt show, Some even bailed on the call. I do agree with you that the platform is "NOT" for everyone. I think that Upwork has to do a better job vetting. I know its a difficult job!


They don't vet freelancer skills. Anybody can create a profile. 

I agree

I'm not at all surprised. I have given excellent advice to many freelancers, only to check back and see they made no changes. I have people asking me for help all the time. Now I give them a basic task. If they don't do it, no more help. I'm tired of spending hours with people who really don't give a hoot and just want to make money with no skills.

 

There is enough information/webinars/lectures/videos/etc. to educate anyone. Language barriers exist, but even that isn't the issue. People refuse to take any steps to educate themselves. I have never seen anyone who went through all the information come away not understanding how the platform works. Going outside of Upwork is very common, even though freelances know it is forbidden.

This is why, I feel that if its "paid" help, they will take it a lot more serious.

Thanks for sharing these statistics.  26% of people DON'T SHOW UP FOR A FREE 1:1 coaching? This is so disrespectful of your time and effort. I would not be able to move past that.  Kudos to you for still pursuing this after this disappointing result. 

I personally don't think that upwork needs another course. There is so much material available, but people can't be bothered even taking the free Learning Paths. They are free, and quite good. And as your experience demonstrated, some people don't even let someone spoon-feed them. 

 

I think what would be much more useful is 1-to-1 coaching.

jeremiah-brown
Community Member

Personally, it makes no difference to me what you decide to do.  I have no say in your decisions.  I want no say in your decisions.

I say it like that for a reason.

In my opinion, the questions you should be asking need to be directed inward, to yourself.

1. Does helping others provide me with a sense of fufillment?
2. Would making a course help me acheive my goals?
3. Is my time well spent on this project?
4. Why am I doling this?
5. What do I really want to get out of this experience?

Nobody can answer those questions but you.  

My comment is not meant to be abrasive or disparaging.  Its meant to be a different approach and perspective.

Hey Jeremiah,

 

I agree 100% with this, You are right on all levels!

2f15505f
Community Member

Yes please

Thank You!

9cf8bead
Community Member

Hello!
Even though I don't have a good English course, I think that many of us who are starting on the virtual platform, as is my case and despite having taken a course, we need to have a support through webinars where in a real way we are shown how the whole process is from entering the platform to the application and completion, delivery and receipt of payment.
Thank you

 

Upwork has enough information to keep someone reading for a couple of days, and that is just the basic 101. Then there are the almost constant webinars/meetings/promotions/classes/etc. etc. etc. The steps are laid out quite simply. I see absolutely no need for more information. The problem is, most freelancers never bother to read anything about the platform before diving in head first. Then they are angry that no one saved them.

 

I have never seen or heard of anyone who reads all the information who gets scammed. Being informed is the freelancers responsibility, not the platform.

That is try on the Scam part, most are common sense.

I think that we should not think for others, many times it is not that we have not read but maybe we do not understand everything and we need other opinions and I think that is the purpose of these groups. To be able to have help to better understand our concerns.
Thank you

When people post asking for help, and they don't have even the beginnings of a profile, and have read nothing, I refer them to the massive amount of information on Upwork. It's fine to discuss things, but in this case the person needed to start at the beginning.

 

For people who don't have a profile, and have done nothing to read the rules, they need to start with the Upwork courses/webinars, etc. This person was asking for more help before they had tried any of Upwork's information.

 

There are webinars in various languages. Go to the Events tab in the Community. Most, if not all, of the past webinars were recorded.

I was a gues on one of these webinars, have a look.

Hey Alba,

 

What do you think about 1-to-1 coaching, would that be useful, would people pay for this?

lysis10
Community Member

lol nobody saw this coming. *Nobody*

93f8838f
Community Member

Hi Samer!

My name is Dennis Lutomia am interested in freelance course. How can I reach you?

😂🤣😂

I added you.

118ea51c
Community Member

It's a really great idea. Not because we don't alerady have content on Upwork, but it will be very useful to see your view on the upwork platform as a freelancer. I'm very down to it! 😎

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