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.

[yakshsingla]

Hello Jeanne,

Can you please help me review my profile and let me know how can i improve my profile? I will be very thankful for this.

Best Regards  

[the-right-writer]

Go back to the top of the page, and read the post. Then follow every single link. Pay special attention to the Terms of Service and the post from Wes on Red Flags for scams.

Your profile needs work, it is much too long and full of lists and emojis. I would bet you haven't read the Terms and jumped into applying for jobs. How do I know? Because you haven't done the work. There are millions of people in social media with your skills list. Your profile needs to tell the client what you will do just for them that is amazing. If you don't have real, marketable kills, you will fail on any freelance platform. Social media, is a bloated category.

If you are prepared to spend time, money, effort, and send in many proposals, and you have marketable skills, you can find jobs here. However, being new and in a flooded category, you will send in many proposals before finding jobs. It's not impossible, there are many successful people on Upwork. Most fail, and never make a penny, while spending the last of their money. Remember, most of those people had no marketable skills, and thought they could just start making money. You will spend money before you earn a profit. It's self-employment.

If you want to be a successful freelancer, use the resources that are free and accessible to learn the rules and how to set yourself up to be a professional.  Focus on your profile, portfolio, proposals. There are scammers who actively look for new people; don't look and act like a victim. No one, including Upwork, will protect you. Protect yourself by learning.

[williamtcooper]

Hello Yakash,

Please focus on two keywords in the Title such as "Off-Page SEO and Local SEO" or whatever two word phrases that apply most to both you and your clients. Modify the Summary into four short paragraphs (too long) and remove the emoticons. Modify the Employment descriptions to one short sentence each. 

Have you considered using your Computer Science degree for more in-demand higher paying client postings? Thanks!

[raju42]

Thanks

[abcb9ec6]

Hi Jeanne H, thanks for the post. Is there an expert available who can review my profile and provide suggestions to help me attract some customers to my page?

Thank you in advance for kindness!

Best Regards

Arshad

[the-right-writer]

Hashim, I can see you have worked on your profile and it is complete. Good for you! Now it just needs a bit of help.

If you have not, go back to the top and read every word and follow every link. Before you think about jobs, think about being scammed. The Terms of Service and the article on Red Flags from Wes will keep you from losing money and your account.

Your profile introduction is too long and while it talks about your skills, it doesn't tell the client what you will do for them better than any other freelancer. There are too many check marks, too. Break up the content into paragraphs instead of one long list.

Clients will probably not hire you from the listings. From my experience, I rarely receive a relevant offer. When you reach the point you are ready to search for jobs, come back to the forum, and we can help you set your search to remove many of the scams so you don't even see them.

You might want to reconsider your skills at the top. Graphic design is a flooded category, with a lot of competition. I know nothing about "miro", but if you are a specialist, perhaps this should be at the top? Anything you can do to stand out in the crowd, because there are 20-something million or more freelancers here.

Consider finding different graphics for the cover of your portfolio, larger ones, or not so busy, and add more to it. When you go through the links in the top page, there is one for "new to Upwork" where you will find recommendations on profiles. However, you have to find your own style and business approach. Upwork is recommending a 100 word proposal. In my field, it could be the first few sentences. If the job is extremely basic, such as "proofread two sentences for spelling errors" then of course a lengthy proposal is not necessary. I believe you should give the client a full explanation of how you will perform the task to the highest standards. You decide how you want to conduct being self-employed and what works best. Think outside the box. Be creative. Cliché, yes, but they still apply.

If anyone is wondering why I offer advice to some and not others, look at his photo, profile, and post.

Hashim is polite, and most importantly, he has done the work. Notice the photo. Not a pet or anime or a desk. He has a specific introduction. He has multiple projects in his portfolio. Furthermore, he did the work before coming here and asking for help.

[raju42]

Let's help me, How can I get job invitation? 

[the-right-writer]

If you read my post to Hashim, you will notice you are missing the first aspect of his post.

[d44bf92b]

Hi, I am a data analyst hoping to start my first assignment at Upwork.

[the-right-writer]

Your profile is set to private. If you haven't read the top post, and followed every link, do it now before you look at the job feed. Be prepared by knowing the Terms of Service and the Red Flags from Wes.

[655be748]

How anybody can become a moderator and do help community members for their issues as solution provider ?

[LuiggiR]

Hi Faraz,

We truly appreciate you for reaching out and for your interest in joining the team. Like many clients, Upwork engages freelancers based on skills and experience. We post projects on Upwork, so keep your eyes open for those. Some of those projects are also listed here.

[65466bdb]

I'm new on Upwork. So I understand that it will take some time to get some jobs through Upwork platform, but I hope to get some jobs as soon as possible. 🙂 🙂 🙂

[db2f4b0f]

How can i get my first job on upworks, even i have submitted many proposals.?

[the-right-writer]

You have a good start, but your profile still needs work. Go up to the top post, and after you read it, go to every link. The links send you to various Upwork resources you need to start your path on Upwork.

The truth is that it is difficult to get into online freelancing. There are many millions of other freelancers in competition, and nearly every category is flooded. You will need to spend time, many connects, and a lot of proposals before you land a job. Such is the way of Upwork 2023.

[8130e8cc]

I spend all my connects sending proposals but it ends up being ignored, It's sad. I'm still hoping to have at least one. 

[the-right-writer]

Use the links at the top for the Academy and Upwork resources. Your profile needs work, and you can learn more about that through the links, and on writing proposals. It will probably take a lot of proposals and connects to land your first job.

[fehmeen_zehra]

Good day, Jeanne

As a freelance architect, I am working extremely hard to create my online presence. However, I am having trouble because I am not getting any orders. Please lend a hand to me with this. Thanks 

[655be748]

welcome Fahmeen:

Best Luck.. Keep it up.

Regards

[abuoviee]

Great resource you shared...

[mymulbipul]

Really a helpful post. Thank you Jeanne.

[a64cb8e1]

Thanks for this

[5f83cb42]

So, I unknowingly did this grave mistake to upload my illustration (self portrait) as my profile picture. Now it's my identity verifcation time and I'm in trouble. I had submitted my selfie and National ID but my profile has this cartoon face! Any suggestion how I should approach this issue? Thanks in advance!

[ArjayM]

Hi Anika,

I can see that you've already reached out to our support team and raised a ticket about your concern. Please allow our team 24-48 hours to review your case and you will be getting an update on this page once done. The team will surely look into this and assist you accordingly.

[5f83cb42]

Thanks for the response. I was feeling very anxious. 

[a_tsatsenko]

Thanks a lot for gathering so many usefull information in one post.

I'd add from myself only that freelancers should be extra aware of scummers sharing malware infested links and files in their offers and chat rooms.
Make sure that you have full security features enabled on your accounts that you use for work and/or personal life.
Yes it may be annoying some times to approve your each and every action but it can literally save your time and money some day.
Oh, and always double check URLs and mail domains when you about to interact with them. Fishing mail and websites will try to trick you by adding one barely noticeable symbol to the well known brand names.

[5361957a]

Help me on my profile please to get clients and approved my proposals. Thank you.

[sofia2008]

Before sending proposals, you will need to learn how things work on the platform.

Go to the top of this post to read the main article and click on all the links to learn. 

Also keep in mind that spamming (posting same things over and over) is not allowed on the Community forum. 

[5361957a]

Thank you. I'll take note of that...hope that I can find client and there's some accept my proposals.

[3440b683]

hello i am looking for help. can you review my upwork profile and give feedback?

[the-right-writer]

Ramazan, please go back to the top and use the links to the Academy for help with your profile. The introduction is a list of your skills, but the client needs to know what you are going to do for them with those skills. Additionally, you need more in your portfolio.

Not only do clients need to see a full profile, it is also a deterrent for scammers. If the scammer thinks you know the rules, and how the platform works, you won't have a problem.

[3440b683]

dear jeanne h your posts are read and followed by many people, i am writing the same at the appropriate time 🙂

[3c062008]

I am new in freelancing but finding job hard on panah upwork I have much experience in my work pls give some tips Kamran

[the-right-writer]

Kamran, you need to go back to the top post and read it, and then follow every link. Your profile needs a lot of work. The introduction is far too short. Also, you should find a native or bilingual English speaker to help with your introduction if you want it to be in English. There is no portfolio to showcase your work.

As I keep mentioning, incomplete profiles are signals to scammers. You have to protect yourself by learning and following the rules.

[9faead97]

I am very interested to resume and continue my work journey. Any tips for me? I am a full-time employee but I also want to spend some extra time to go beyond and learn new things in the freelancing industry. 

[the-right-writer]

Freelancing takes a lot of time and resources. Attempting to work full time will make it more difficult.

You need to go through the links in the top post and learn about the platform and how to set up a profile. It's good that you have so much there, but your introduction needs work. Long lists and check marks or emojis don't go over well with clients. They want to see, for example, "I will write an excellent disaster plan for summer camps..." Tell the client what you will do for them better than anyone else.

After you understand all the rules, be considerate of job proposals. Learn to understand the scams and the time-wasters. You need to be selective or else you will waste time and effort on jobs that aren't genuine.

Upwork isn't the place to develop new skills in freelancing in general. Freelancing is self-employment, and I advise people to take a few courses in being in business for yourself. It is very different from employment, and you have to protect yourself, because no one, including Upwork, will do it for you.

Check to see if there is an Upwork group in your field or location. Upwork provides numerous resources about the platform. To learn about freelancing and self-employment, seek out the many free online sources.

[8aea7a2a]

Thanks again Jeanne that's a great idea! Freelancing courses. I'll look into it. 

[9343d2ea]

Hello! I have a problem my first job to get reviews and 5 stars wrote to the customer does not respond all the time and I have a profile level100% is Portfolio normal on this probably what to do?

[the-right-writer]

You can politely message the client and ask for them to close the contract and leave feedback. However, be aware that 5 stars have no impact on your JSS. Private feedback, along with other factors, are what drives the score. The public feedback, including the stars, are just for show.

Clients will disappear, and it is normal. That's why it's important to make sure the contract is funded.

[biswaskallol]

Hi

Few days ago a clients give me 3 star rating, Is that any problem to getting new job, If have any problem to getting new job, How can I imrove it, Thanks