To all freelancers looking for help

[#1]

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.

[#2]

As Elisa said, those are paid features. From the feedback in the forum, and from other freelancers, and me, they are a waste of money, and bring no clients.

[#3]

Dear Jeanne, Am new to the community! Just got in on monday! need you to kindly look at my Profile too! i have never landed a job! 

[#4]

It can take considerable time and proposals to find a job here. Even people with excellent skills do not find jobs right away. There are millions of freelancers here and less than a million clients, so you see the issue. Your skills need to be the best, because there are many, many graphic designers, of varying quality.

The first sentence is what clients see in a search, so it needs to be a powerful statement about how your skills and experience will do amazing things for the client, such as increase the ROI or reduce shipping costs, etc. I would include your degree, because most do not have one in their field of graphics. I would add more to the introduction in the form of paragraphs. The sentences all begin with "I." Change it up a bit and re-word the sentences.

I am also Flexible to make edits if the client is not satisfied with the draft.

I understand you mean well, but remove this from the profile. One of the biggest problems freelancers have is scope creep, when the client continues to find things to do that were not discussed or in the contract. Make sure you have read and understand the top pinned post, and how to set up contracts before you look at jobs. A professional profile is the best way to attract clients and deter scammers.

[#5]

Hello. I am new to this website. How can I get connects so that I can apply for a job? Thankyou

[#6]

You will have to buy them. You can buy them directly, or pay for them through Freelancer Plus. Connects are part of the business expense here and are required to send proposals or reply to invitations, as well as numerous ads.

[#7]

Yeah, You can buy them, pay for them through Freelancer Plus, and also Upwork awards 10 connects per month to my  knowledge.
Those might not be enough, so its better you take the the sacrifice and  buy the connects so you can also vie for jobs. Don't worry, with consistency, good resume, alongside your skills and talents will make you more than you spent.

[#8]

You can buy, second opinion is free connects monthly.

[#9]

Everyone can agree that this was helpful.
Every freelancer needs patience but also needs to be smart to  be successful on this platform.
Kudos for this!

[#10]

Nice 

[#11]

Hi Jeanne,

Thank you so much for your comprehensive guidance and for the wealth of information you've shared. Your advice is invaluable, especially for those of us new to freelancing. I appreciate your dedication to helping the community navigate the complexities of freelancing on Upwork.

I have been following your suggestions and am working diligently to educate myself and improve my skills. When you have a moment, I would be incredibly grateful if you could review my profile and provide any feedback or advice you might have.

Thank you again for your support!

Best regards,
Iqra

[#12]

Hmmm... I answered this from a draft, but now it's gone. No worries, I will write my reponse again.

[#13]

Thanks Jeanne

[#14]

Hi Iqra, When I checked your profile, this time, it says you are no longer on the platform.

[#15]

Dear Jeanee:

Can you help me to improve my profile?

Which sections can be improved?

[#16]

Because the first sentence is all clients see in a search, you need to use a powerful statement of how your skills will help the client.

You can enjoy the services of an experienced freelancer and Technical Solution provider with

This is a waste of what the clients see. Tell the client what you can do with your skills and be concise.

Because there are so many IT people on the platform, you would benefit from having a niche or specialty. The competition is fierce, and you need something to stand out from the crowd. Also, I would blend at least part of the long list into a paragraph. You can incorporate the information. Watch the beginning of sentences because you have too many beginning with "I." Try to add more about specific for what you can do for the client. I don't mean giving the job away, I mean adding a bit about how your particular skills are beneficial to everyone. If you focus on quality, and build up your profile and have stellar proposals, you will find more success.

[#17]

Thanks Jeane H for you valuable input. I do follow these suggestions and improve my profile. Thanks

[#18]

Well, you haven't followed my advice yet. I suggest you spend some time researching outside of Upwork for how to present a professional profile or presence. You don't follow the advice, and yet you ask for profile reviews.

I'm not going to keep reviewing your proile, when you haven't used the resources to be a professional through your profile. You haven't bothered to do the things I recommended, and have recommended repeatedly. Stop asking for reviews from everyone, and spend some time learning, and working on it yourself. I understand you need and want work, but there is no magic profile formula that will get you jobs.

[#19]

Dear Jeanne.

I have updated the profile with your suggestions and feedback. Kindly review it again.

Thanks and regards 

[#20]

Hi Jeanne,
Your journey looks so encouraging, At the moment nothing seems to work for me and i am looking for someone to review my profile and have a look at my proposal writting skills and help mai find out what i am doing wrong. Hoping for a positive responses from this expert community

[#21]

I can see you have worked on your profile. You have taken the first important steps.

I suggest changing the color in the background of your photo to a light, neutral color. It will look more professional, and with all the settings for other programs like a dark mode, it can sometimes render the colors in a bizarre way.

The first sentence is all clients see in a search, and while your sentence isn't bad, it can be improved. I would work with the top two sentences and combine the best into one sentence. In proposals, the client sees the top two lines before making a decision to look at the entire proposal or not.

Remove the 24/7 availability. It looks unprofessional and desperate. I understand you want to convey you are dedicated, but it has the opposite effect. No professional freelancer works 24/7, nor should they try. You are a professional freelancer, and you should be working by the hour or by fixed price. Either way, never tell the client this kind of guarantee. It will come back to bite you hard. There are other ways of stating you are dedicated. Also, remove the "why choose me" because it's there twice.

Many freelancers are struggling because of the lack of genuine jobs and clients. With millions of freelancers and 850,000 or so clients, the problem is obvious. Find ways to stand out in the crowd, some niche or specialty will serve you well. Vetting of all clients and jobs is mandatory, and you can learn more by doing research online.

In this highly competitive market, with the issues that freelancers face here, it can take dozens of proposals to get a job. Also, you should consider multiple revenue streams and not depend on any one source for income.

I didn't see a proposal.

I don't think you are doing anything wrong. Freelancers must have marketable skills, money to run the business, time, motivation, and patience. If a freelancer is missing these, they will have a very difficult time and will fail. As long as you have genuine skills, and are writing good proposals, it's not your fault, it's what many freelancers have experienced and are experiencing now.

[#22]

Hey there,
Hope to find you well,Thanks alot for your precious consideration for my profile. As per your suggestions, I took some changes. You can look again if you want. Can you just take one job from your best matches,post it's description here and than show me how you write proposal for that job and what key steps you take. Waiting for your kind response

[#23]

Hey Jeanne,
I was just wondering if you can help me with my proposal writing. I will be so much thankfull to you if you can help me with this. All i want is that you take any job description from your best matches and paste here, an than we both will write our proposal around it and you can mention my mistakes... I have got my profile reviewed from you and 2,3 other guys and everyone said there is no problem there... So the only thing that left is my proposal writing skills, I am still struggling with getting job

[#24]

No, you need to learn how to write a proposal. There are numerous resources on Upwork, and even more outside of Upwork. The first two lines are all a client sees, besides the JSS and skills, before they decide to read it, or ignore it. Don't waste it by using greetings - no "Hi!" or "Hello client" nothing at all. No greetings, no names, no introductions, nothing like that. You need to write a statement to the client about why you are the best choice. It should tell the client why you are a superior choice, without saying, "I'm the best choice!" Tell the client what your education, skills, and experience will do for them. Increase the money per click? Give them a professional website that will increase traffic? Write an academic paper guaranteed to be accepted for journal submission?

As for length, Upwork and some freelancers will tell you to use 75 words or some such thing. Don't do that. Think about it, how does that make sense? There are all kind of clients, projects, and requirements. How can a one-size-fits-all approach work? It doesn't. Write the proposal according to the job. Explain how you will accomplish the tasks, but don't give them the job for free. If it's a simple job, then 75 words may be enough, but it may not. Use as much space as you need to write a professional proposal. Give the client a complete overview of your plans, but skip the details. No client wants to wade through a proposal with thousands of words, and they won't. Don't count words as you are writing. Write the proposal and then when you review, decide if you need to reduce the amount before sending.

Research how to write professional proposals outside of Upwork, to gain an idea of the industry standards. 

[#25]

This is a beneficial post, I have checked the links, and all of them seem very helpful, definitely I will go through all the links in detail.

I have been here on Upwork for a long and have worked with different clients on multiple projects, I got my Top Rated Badge as well. But since the beginning of 2024, I have not won any new jobs and my profile seems like a dead, and I would like to request someone please have a look at my profile and suggest me what changes and modifications to improve my profile.

Thanks in advance.

[#26]

Good for you for working on your profile. My first suggestion is to replace the background on your photo to a plain, neutral color. On your profile, the first line is all clients see in a search, so it needs to be a powerful statement on your skills and how you can use them to help the client. Will you increase products per hour? Can you reduce the shipping costs? Will you write a project for journal submission? Use your skills to be specific.

I do not see a Top Rated badge. Maybe you lost it?

Take the long lists of skills you have and form them into paragraphs that are readable, not just lists in a paragraph.

Add to your portfolio, but make sure you have permission to use the content. Too many freelancers grab stuff off the 'net and modify it, claiming it as their own. If you don't have permissions, create something of your own. In addition, if you know a native/bilingual English editor, have them check your final profile, or you can use a program, although they do make some errors. While it's not mandatory to have no errors, anything you can do to make your prole better is worth it.

A professional profile is the best way to attract real clients, and deter the scammers.

Also, when writing proposals, the client only sees the first two lines before deciding where to read it, so tell the client how you can help them. However, do not give the client the job in the proposal. That means, give them the outline of your actions, but not the details.

While it's crucial to recognize the freelancers are responsible for all of their actions, the same is true for recognizing the current state of the platform. Since the removal of all limits and tests, millions of freelancers have joined Upwork. Even though some have no marketable skills, they clog the feeds, anger clients, and invite scammers by their actions. The genuine freelancers have increased the competition; find a niche in your field to stand out amongst the crowd. Everyone must have excellent marketable skills and understand how to freelance, not just how to use Upwork. Competition is fierce, and vetting will help with not losing connects.

You've had success, with 100% JSS, so you know how to work with clients. With a bit of work on your profile, it will be excellent.