To all freelancers looking for help

[the-right-writer]

I have always had freelancers come to me for help. In the last year, the river has swelled into an enormous ocean.

You don't need me; Upwork provides an enormous amount of information that few ever use. If, after you have gone through all the information I provide, you still have questions, that is when you ask additional questions in the forum.

If you think you will make big bucks right away, you are mistaken. The majority of freelancers never land a job because they have no skills and aren't interested in educating themselves. Others believe online freelancing is a path to full-time employment. It can be, but highly unlikely on this platform.

Freelancing is not for everyone. It means you are self-employed and must adhere to all regulations and laws governing responsibilities, such as paying taxes. Freelancing means you are on your own. No one has your back, including Upwork. If you don't follow the rules, no one will or can help you.

If you are willing to work hard, follow the rules and prepared to spend a lot of connects and proposals, you can be successful, as many are on Upwork. While so many fail, it is almost always due to lack of skills and treating freelancing like employment  where the employer will make sure you do the job correctly.

If you want to succeed, start with the Terms of Service, then read this from Wes. 

Then go here. Then here.  Next, check this site regularly for events such as webinars and other learning opportunities.

After that, go here for safety information, and then here. If you still need help, after you have gone through all the previous steps, you can find additional help here. This thread is dedicated to new freelancers. And here are announcements from Upwork that can help keep you up to date.

It will take some time to go through all the information. I'm not suggesting people should not post in the forum, I am suggesting before you ask questions and want help, you need to help yourself first.

From Prashant P: "And have relevant profile picture of your face.  Not some desks, or Mickey mouse, or full face covering." 

From Susan S: "And patience! Have patience! It takes a while to get started, even after going through all the information available."

From Martina P:  "Only one thing you forgot, namely telling people to use all 15 skills, if you have all 15 skills"

And with advice from Maria T, I will say, 

Refrain from personal messages, please read all the links I have added.

[9d4eb9fb]

I will honestly say that if you're are new to your field and doing freelancing.it will make mess. First you have to get some real experience on other platforms or onsite jobs for at least one year then you will not get more headache 😨 in freelancing 

[ijazmuhammad77]

Hi Imran L, you need to learn some more skills like other freelancers in Upwork and add them also you have to make/add your attractive portfolio in your profile in this way, hopefully, you will be hired for projects.  

[williamtcooper]

Hey Jeanne, good reminders for everyone!

[martina_plaschka]

Thanks! Why don't you use all 15 skills, yet tell everyone to do it?

[aa6d8545]

Hey,

It's great to see these important links, I'm new here and felt lost, but I'll keep looking and stay informed

One of the admins should pin that post because it's very helpful for new freelancers.

[martina_plaschka]

Excellent post, Jeanne H! Only one thing you forgot, namely telling people to use all 15 skills. Thanks!

[3a761b81]

This flew over my head. Which 15 skills are we talking about?

[25005175]

Add Skills. They are located just below your portfolio section. They look like this (taken from my profile):

[martina_plaschka]

Jonathan, I noticed you only used 14. Please add one. Thank you. 

[25005175]

Yeah, that's because I struggle to find a 15th that is a skill that I actually want to advertise. I definitely have other skills, but they are either wholly unrelated to my main services or are a service that I don't want to provide.

[researchediting]

Jonathan, I believe your leg has been successfully pulled.

[martina_plaschka]

Should I go for the other one too?

[yofazza]

Martina, I've been seeing the "15 skills" talks lately and I'm actually wondering...

Do I need to reduce my skills to, let's say, only 3 skills that I think has the most probability of getting matched?  Thanks!

[researchediting]

Interjecting, if I may:
I choose skills based on the likelihood of their attracting my target clientele. I may have as many as a dozen. I resist Upwork's repeated blandishments to add more; their suggestions are typically either for skills below outside my target market, or verifiable spam magnets—or, laughably, ones that I have already listed. I would suggest our skills, whatever their number, should exclusively reflect the peak value we can offer our target clients.

[yofazza]

Thanks Douglas,

I thought including 15 skills will simply maximize the probability of being matched, but I'm now thinking the algo is not that simple.

[the-right-writer]

Upwork keeps telling us it is crucial to have 15 skills, but I, too, wonder if that messes with the program. I may drop some of my skills and see if I detect any changes.

[allpurposewriter]

I haven't a clue how many skills I have listed ... and I'm not very interested, either.

This is a nice discussion, too.  Thanks, Jeanne and others.

[adbd68c1]

Hello, Anthony! I'm a big fan of yours, I read a lot of your recommendations for freelancers, and a lot of what you said I applied to my profile. But I can't get my first order. Anthony, could you please take a look and evaluate my profile and give me a recommendation? Thank you very much.

[2d5c6d6b]

I don't think you have to downsize those things of what you are capable of

[25005175]

---

Martina P wrote:

Should I go for the other one too?

---

I'll be walking funny until you do

[inssect]

I tried to edit my skills but it says only 10 skills maximum. ...and before I clicked edit I had 15?

[mohsin013]

can you please tell me how did you use dark mode in upwork ?

[the-right-writer]

Upwork will not provide a dark mode, so you have to use programs from outside. I use Dark Reader.

Unfortunately, with Upwork messing with the jobs page, now you can't see the job titles with Dark Mode. Freelancers have been begging for a dark mode, for at least a decade, but Upwork refuses. So now, you can't use Dark Reader, unless you want to guess what the job title is.

There are other programs out there, and maybe Upwork will allow one of them to work. I have never understood why they insist on violating the accessible standards for all websites, and insist on temporarily blinding people. It's one thing to not offer a basic dark mode, and quite another to intentionally make the programs unusuable.

[m_terrazas]

Perfect Jeanne. Applause.
I've flagged your post to see if we can get it pinned along with Wes's in the top positions on both Freelancers and New to Upwork.
I feel sorry for you, but you are going to be inundated with messages.
I think you should add a phrase like "refrain from personal messages, please read all the links I have added".

[sh_jyoti]

@Jeanne H

Every single word you have written, is true.

Most importantly, some of the new freelancers think that freelancing is a "get rich quick" scheme. They should remember, freelancing is a business, just like any other.

You need to learn the necessary skills. 

You need to invest money and efforts to succeed in this business.

Go through the material Upwork has provided. Learn some skills, or better still, check the job categories and see if you have some of those skills, then start applying for jobs.

Establishing any business needs skill, time, and investments.

If you don't have these, spend some time and money in learning the skills of some specific category. Then prepare some samples, and then open a "shop" on Upwork.

Just becasue you are shouting the loudest (spenidng 30-50 connects on a single job), doesn't mean that people will buy from you.

Freelancing needs hard work. If you are not ready to put in that hard work, you'll not succed. Here or anywhere else.