When work is not coming your way: do this.

[johnbaez]

The global economy is changing. Upwork is changing.

In fact, the whole universe is ever-changing.

I know a lot of freelancers have been facing challenges recently. You might be trying hard to get the desired results without success and it makes you wonder if your business will ever recover.

What do you do when your freelance business is struggling to reach income goals? 

My first advise is the folllowing: Do not panic.

Everything happens for a reason and in an ever-changing landscape, the strongest will survive and emerge.

Here are few things you can do that will do you better than just panicking:

1) Take time to organize your business, set realistic goals, optimize your processes and re-define strategies.

2) Work on defining concrete solutions that will allow you to withstand the current conditions. For some that could mean taking small personal loans, borrowing money from friends and family or simply temporarily taking on a new job experience.

3) Prepare your defense mechanisms for any future downfalls. It's smart idea to diversify your sources of income.

4)Take time to learn new skills or increase your level of expertise.

5) Stay positive and stay hopefull. If you don't believe in yourself, no one will.

I hope it helps some of you re-think what you could be doing just now.

My list is not exclusive. What other tips can you share? Feel free to comment with your thoughts.

[castillonr]

Hi John, Thank you for the words of encouragement. 🙌🏼🙏🏼

[8435824b]

You are so matured I really appreciate you be strong my sister and contact with others 

[castillonr]

Thanks, Addisu.

[johnbaez]

My pleasure. Keep it up!

[yofazza]

Prepare your defense mechanisms for any future downfalls. It's smart idea to diversify your sources of income.

So agreed, don't depend too much on 3rd parties.

I have experienced the problem described in the link to some extent when I depend too much on an online store for retail sales. Algo changes changed very profitable daily sales to zero daily sales.

Similar thing is probably happening here now to some people.

A bit different but still similar situation also happened to Russian freelancers here. 

Be prepared, diversify, much better than ranting and being stressed.

[johnbaez]

Exactly. No business should ever take anything for granted. 

[carlie-lawson]

Thank you for this high-quality post. I needed to read this because after trucking along at top speed since 2016, suddenly the last three months have been super slow and there has not been even half the work of this quarter last year or the year before. I've done everything I could think of, including getting signed to Ndash, Contently, Scripted, and joining two professional industry organizations. I was already with two other writing agencies, so I am doing everything I can. I increased my advertising, too.

Do you have any suggestions to add on how to land more work? I haven't had anything through Upwork for months, but the other spots were so busy that I didn't write many proposals. I just did not have the time and now, I'm returning here to try to pick up added work.

Thank you for any actionable advice you can offer.

[johnbaez]

Thank you for replying Carlie.

With regards to getting better results on Upwork, you can only do as much its in your hands:

- Making sure you continue to optimize your profile and portfolio of work.

- Prioritizing applications where you perceive a high chance of getting hired (matches well your work history and skills).

- Being patient, some things we cannot control.

[25005175]

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Carlie L wrote:

Thank you for this high-quality post. I needed to read this because after trucking along at top speed since 2016, suddenly the last three months have been super slow and there has not been even half the work of this quarter last year or the year before.

---

I'm confused by this. You had a single, small contract in 2022, over the course of the summer, yet you speak as if you were actively using Upwork all of last year. You also only had 3 small contracts in 2021. Most of your contracts are for amounts far lower than your expertise/skill demands.

Assuming that you actually are Carlie L, here are my suggestions:

1. Your Title has nothing to do with your Description. You sell SEO services, but your Title says Journalism/Researcher.
2. Your Description focuses on your experiences. It must focus instead on the services that you provide to the Client.
3. Your work history does not match the services that you claim to sell.
4. SEO is a glutted field and will only become more competitive. Expect AI tools to automatically do SEO, reducing the number of jobs.
5. Blog/article writing is a field that is glutted with freelancers and has seen a massive drop in job supply since ChatGPT was released.
6. Write in the first person only.
7. Post a profile photo that shows only you, where there is not an image of another person's head that is bigger than your own.
8. Your portfolio needs to have examples of the services that you supply.

ETA: clarified one suggestion