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williamtcooper
Community Member

SECRETS to Growing Your Upwork Sales

I have been using Upwork for the last six years and have completed 480 Jobs and Earned $1,000,000 with 5-Star Reviews as a Marketing Sales Artificial Intelligence expert.

 

Upwork has changed their algorithm in 2023 and it's necessary to update your strategies accordingly especially if you want Invites and new clients. I had to change my strategy also and now received 200 Invites / Talent Scouts / Consultations in the first two months of 2023.

 

PROFILE: Always complete your Upwork Profile before applying for Jobs. Create a synergized Title, Summary, and Skills to apply for Jobs to match what Clients are searching for. Focus on two of the Skill keywords in the Title to emphasize what you bring to the table for the Client. Create 4 short paragraphs in the Summary. If the Summary is too long, most Clients will not read the rest of the Summary; too short then there isn't enough information for a Client to hire. The first two sentences of the Summary are the most important because they are visible to the client as they search for a freelancer. Use all 15 Skills IF they apply. The Skills are used to assist a Client in locating your Profile via search. Add your Portfolio and always use a colorful image. Consider adding a Project Catalog if it applies. Use a short sentence description for each Employment entry. By the way, it goes without saying make sure that your Profile Settings are on Public not Private so others can view the Profile.

 

COVER LETTER: Create a flexible cover letter that is less than 100 words. Long cover letters rarely get read, but instead are ignored. Break the cover letter into four sections. Section 1 : Acknowledge the job that you are applying for such as "Looking forward to discussing your graphics design project". Section 2: Highlight your validations stamps IE skills that are brought to their project. Section 3 Explain how you will solve their problem and the final section request an Upwork Zoom call to discuss their project.

 

JOB SUBMISSIONS: Tips - Only apply to Jobs that you are highly qualified, don't Bid for the top 3 spots unless you are an exact match and have a high probability of getting the job, don't immediately apply for jobs, but instead wait at least a few hours so your bidding is more accurate, don't get into bidding wars because serious Clients will view most applicant's cover letters, don't apply for Jobs that have 20 - 50 applicants in less than 24 hours. If a Client gets 50 cover letters, there is only a 2% chance of being hired; bad odds. I set my freelancer sort to apply for jobs with less than 20 proposals.

 

OVER DELIVER: Always over-deliver based upon the Client's expectations. Do such outstanding work that the Client can't but help to give 5-Stars and a raving Review. Great Reviews have most Client's sold on hiring a Freelancer before even talking with them. I can't mention the number of Clients that started their interactions with me about how they couldn't wait to start working together on their project based upon my Reviews. After 320 Upwork Jobs, I have maintained 99% 5-Star Reviews and only 1% 4-Star Reviews which continues to draw in more clients.

 

SOCIAL MEDIA: Use your social media footprint to promote your Upwork Profile especially LinkedIn. Create a Post on LinkedIn highlighting your Upwork Profile containing a link back so prospects can review. Small businesses that I want to begin a business relationship with are better served on Upwork due to the Upwork's system and billing. I have 2.5 million very engaged LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter Followers. They are a great source to promote my profile on Upwork.

 

HELP OTHERS: Always uplift, encourage and love other users on Upwork. Remember everyone has to start somewhere as you did. Others helped you along the way, so assist users that have questions.

 

THANKS UPWORK: Thanks Upwork for being a blessing to me on this site and I hope to do so for others!

 

ENJOYED THE POST: Let me know with a message below. Everyone needs to be encouraged!

 

This is a recently written Post with Upwork's Financial Results and Forecasts for 2023 at:

https://community.upwork.com/t5/Coffee-Break/Upwork-s-Financial-Results-and-Forecasts-for-2023/m-p/1...

 

This is a recently written Post with the SECRETS to hiring freelancers on Upwork at:

https://community.upwork.com/t5/Clients/SECRETS-to-Growing-Your-Business-On-Upwork/m-p/1235553#M8984...

 

 

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212 REPLIES 212

thank you

You are most welcome and if you have any other questions please let me know. Thanks!

sameraudi
Community Member

Good, it has been slow for all of us now, the market is on low fire for many projects that are waiting to be launched. I did follow your suggestions and made a few fixes to my profile (specialized profiles) according to UP talent team. 

Samer,

 

Thanks for the update! If you have any specific questions, let me know. Have a great day!

garciab1
Community Member

Great post thank you!

Tatiana, you are most welcome!

gigi_stewart
Community Member

Thank you for this! Great article with useful tips!

Gina,

 

You are most welcome! If you have any questions, please let me know.

kemarhenry
Community Member

thank you for such a great post!

 

Kemar,

 

You are most welcome! If you have any questions, let me know and have a great day!

foraoneservices
Community Member

Dear William,

I do get many suitable job invites based on my vast experience and proven track record, but frequently I am cut down and freelancers who are undercutting prices but are not the perfect match I am, they hardly have half my experience, or talent yet they are given the job. I don't know what I am doing wrong and what to correct, any advice would be appreciated.

Also please shed more light on this

"Upwork has changed their algorithm in 2023 and it's necessary to update your strategies accordingly especially if you want Invites and new clients. I had to change my strategy also and now received 200 Invites / Talent Scouts / Consultations in the first two months of 2023."

please explain what changed in the upWork algorithm in 2023 and how can I also change my strategies accordingly?

Regards,

Bharti Sharma

Hi Bharti,

 

Your Summary needs to follow the TIPS below to have the best opportunity to do better in 2023. Thanks!

 

Create a synergized Title, Summary, and Skills to apply for Jobs to match what Clients are searching for. Use one or two of the Skill keywords in the Title to emphasize what you bring to the table for the Client. Create 4 short paragraphs in the Summary. If the Summary is too long, most Clients will not read the rest of the Summary; too short then there isn't enough information for a Client to hire. The first two sentences of the Summary are the most important because they are visible to the client as they search for a freelancer.

Thanks William.

You are most welcome Bharti and have a wonderful weekend!

Hi William,

Can you please explain exactly what is this 2023 algorithm changes in UpWork are and what should one do to adjust to these changes?

Another thing I have noticed is that these days using my exact skills in the job search section just brings up totally unrelated job posts, is anyone facing this issue? I searched for "medical writing" or "scientific editing" and the job search results show tons of worthless job that don't even have these searched skills as a requirement! What is wrong with UpWork? And what is this expert vetted tag, I thought once you have put in the hard work and proven yourself, you become "Top Rated Plus" and that is the top, now suddenly there is this expert vetted thing that one has to contend with too, it sounds unfair.

Hi Bharti,

 

I agree that the Job Sort pulls up highly inaccurate freelancers and I have placed Support Tickets for more than a year on that topic.

 

The answer is always the same - we designed it that way.

 

That is obviously a canned customer support answer because they either can not or will not fix the real issues with the programmers.

 

It is an extremely bad customer experience especially for new clients that don't know about all the ways on how to work around the bad sorts. The bad Sorts absolutely drive away new clients that believe Upwork doesn't have client solutions.

 

I have a computer science degree and could fix the issues within a week which would increase Upwork's revenues so I don't know why the issues are not fixed because I am absolutely not the only person that can fix these issues.

I support Bharti with this very important issue! It is also very important for me to know why a year ago my strategy worked, but now it doesn’t.

joseyerena
Community Member

Thank you very much William, great post. I joined Upwork a couple of years ago and I´m surprised by how it was easier to find a job at that time without experience than now that I have a 100% success score and several jobs completed. I never thought that I haven´t changed much since I joined. Upwork is changing but I´m not. I have actually thought about quitting Upwork several times but when a good client arrives, I can have wonderful and very productive weeks until the projects are over. I think it is worth another shot. This time trying new strategies. Thank you very much. 

Jose,

 

You are most welcome!

 

Yes Upwork is changing in 2023 due to their algorithm changes that match freelancers to clients, the macroeconomy which is weaker and AI that is decreasing the demand for Entry and Intermediate jobs. Have a great day!

8408d096
Community Member

Great article for new joiners specially 

Shahida,

 

You are most welcome and have a wonderful day!

26eb03ec
Community Member

excelent naration i am new here follow your instructions i like these strategies already i am working  but now increase more effort to follow these steps thanks a lot  

Hi Nadia,

 

You are welcome and if I can help in any other way please let me know. Have a wonderful day!

karen_serrac
Community Member

Thank you for your valuable insights! 

Karen,

 

You are most welcome and have an amazing day!

zahid3d29
Community Member

Very Helpful Suggestions. Thanks for your effort!

Zahidul Islam

Zahidul,

 

Thank you for your kind words and have a wonderful day!

7392cfb7
Community Member

Your post is really an encouragement for me .well-done sir and I would like to have discussion with you .Thanks 

Chukwunweike,

 

Thanks and have a wonderful day!

mehreen-siraj
Community Member

Hi William T C! Thank you for your valuable insights! Can you please review my profile?

Hi Mehreen,

 

Nice Profile! Please reduce the Summary into four short parapraphs otherwise the Summary can almost look like spam, and if it's too long, many clients will not read further down and see your great Reviews. Thanks!

fab93900
Community Member

Hi William T C, Wow In 5 years that's awesome! Thanks for the words of wisdom and keep encouraging and uplifting others!

Hi Lindsay,

 

Thanks for the encouragement and kind words. Have an incredible day!

ali_bakhtawar
Community Member

Hi William,

 

I have a question about the Cover Letter, specifically Section 3 - "How will you solve the problem?"

 

Let's say I am applying for a job where the client is looking for a copywriter to work on their email campaign.

 

  • What should I write in this section?
  • Should I mention my writing methods or something else that will show the client that I can help them with their email campaign?

 

I want to make sure I'm highlighting my skills effectively in my cover letter.

 

Thanks for your help!

 

- Bakhtawar

Expert Email Copywriter

Hi Bakhtawar,

 

I keep my cover letter short and to the point, but instead refer them to view my Upwork Profile that contains all the detailed Reviews, examples of work, and pricing. Thanks!

nikols
Community Member

Hello William. Thanks for supporting us all. Thank you for I can ask for your advice. I worked successfully for Upwork before the war, but then I was disconnected, I moved to another country, and I have connected again. But I was disconnected for 10 months. Now for 2 months, I haven't new orders. I brought one customer to Upwork, I revived an old order. I made project directories. But it doesn't help.
I don't know what else I need to do to get started. I've been sending out job offers every day for 2 months now.
I can share with beginners - my start on Upwork 5 years ago looked like this: I started working well and quickly with the minimum cost of an hour. Then there was a failure, I even despaired and did not go to Upwork for a long time. Then the former customer unexpectedly wrote to me, suggested a project, and everything started working! So I don’t have a ready-made recipe, except for perseverance and excellent orders fulfillment.

Hello Tatyana,

 

Please add to your Summary so that it's four paragraphs long with the first sentence the most important because that is what clients see in search. Add a Project Catalog. Thanks!

Thanks, William!

You are most welcome and have a Happy Easter weekend!

rayhan_gazi
Community Member

Thank you for your valuable feed back 

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