Bringing "Friend/Clients" to UpWork

[bell-lori]

I have a wide network of friends. I have been asking them to give me some jobs via UpWork so I can start to build my references here. Once we've completed a transaction, does that mean I can only work for them through UpWork for the next 24 months? Let me be clear...I have contact with these people OUTSIDE of UpWork, first, so I am bringing them to UpWork, UpWork is not bringing them to me, or me to them.

[nkocendova · Accepted solution]

Hi Lori,

Your friends can hire you for jobs but they must be real and legitimate jobs that they as the client are in actual need of and that require skillset which you have. You can continue to work with your friends as you already were before joinig the Upwork, however any contracts created on Upwork must be paid through the Upwork platform.

[prestonhunter]

Regardless of the original poster's experience...

I strongly caution Upwork freelancers:

Do NOT use Upwork to do work for your friends and family. That is not what it is for.

[bell-lori]

Then, Preston, maybe you need to explain further, because I'm not going to get any jobs with new clients here when all of them want me to already have a "90% success rate," or "100 hours worked." The very fact that clients can select such criteria biases the process in favor of existing freelancers and against new ones. So why not reach out to the people who already know me and already know what I'm capable of to help build my profile for the people who don't? Seems that is the very same thing people would do in building any new business; i.e. invite people they know to "sample their product" and provide a review for it

[iamchunchunchun]

---

@Lori B wrote:

1) I'm not going to get any jobs with new clients here when all of them want me to already have a "90% success rate," or "100 hours worked."

2) So why not reach out to the people who already know me and already know what I'm capable of to help build my profile for the people who don't? Seems that is the very same thing people would do in building any new business; i.e. invite people they know to "sample their product" and provide a review for it

---

 1) Write a good proposal and chances are that you'll get the job. Those preferred qualifications would not stop your proposals from being read. Just send the proposals anyway.

2) I think Preston is right. If a friend really wanted to hire you, why would you choose to do it on Upwork? The only legitimate reason is that you want your friend to help you build your profile, as you stated. And you risk your account being permanently banned by feedback building.