Frustrated. Need Help!

[swatikhetan]

Hi, I understand getting hired on Upwork is my responsibility but I am struggling and I need help.

I am a data/business analysis with over 6 years of experience. I am MBA from a great B-school and I have worked in management consulting firms before and wanted to start out on my own. 

I don't understand why I am not getting any jobs at Upwork.

Is there something glaringly wrong with the profile or proposals. I really want to make this work and I am looking for some help in starting out.

Regards,

Swati

[rolludesig]

hi swati

right now many are frustrated including me..i am top rated designer with over 1000+ jobs but i am also struggling to get new clients here, mostly i am working with older clients here.

i seriously dont know where the problem is? is it thier rotation policy, alogrithrms...and if this is not enough non responsive clients, low budgets etc are adding to the problems...

[egandini]

Same boat here. I've almost 20 years experience in Marketing Communication, having worked for big companies and I can't land any job here. I wonder why.

[cy_cy_rocha]

Same here. But I really find all of the response here really helpful. I really envy my friends who has been successful in this platform. And I am not losing hope that my time will come. I just need to hone more skills and learn new to make a big jump in having my first ever client. Let's bring home the bacon honey! We will shine too!

[msublette]

You should look to see how many freelancers there are here with your qualifications.  How many freelancers are bidding on the same jobs you are?  It's possible your rate is just a little high for having no experience here.  However, I wouldn't suggest dropping it much.  You can kind of play around with it and see what kind of response you get.  Really, a lot of landing your first job is luck. How many jobs have you bid on? 

Do some research on how to write a great proposal.  They literally only needs to be 4-5 sentences.  The object of a proposal is just to catch the person's attention.

Make sure you are also only applying for jobs where people are asking for experts.  Don't apply for jobs, unless you feel really strongly about it, where someone wants a novice BA..

Do some research on the types of jobs that people may post here where you skills can be useful. Clients may not know exactly what they are looking for when they post jobs here.

[jmlaidlaw]

@ Swati --

Your profile is all "I... I... I..." Your prospective clients don't really care about you and where you have traveled and the diverse people whom you have been lucky to meet. They want to know what you can do to solve their SPECIFIC problems.

In addition, your B-school may indeed be great, but its name/reputation will not mean much to a U.S. client. Even business schools below the top-20 or so in the U.S. are generally a yawn for a U.S. audience. This doesn't mean you are not well-educated; it is simply a reality you will face as you market yourself.

For other clients (non-U.S.), your business school may carry greater cachet. Of course, you may have trouble charging $50/hour for countries outside the U.S., Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Western Europe. I can't really say; that's just a guess.

[mwiggenhorn]

Swati - initially the client only sees the first two lines of your profile before they decided whether to scroll down.  Those first lines should emphasize your experience and expertise.

[datasciencewonk]

Swati...

As a data scientist (or data analyst), have you done any research (other than posting in the forum) into the niche you're targeting within the context of Upwork? 

[florydev]

Swati,

I don't know if this is a good evaluation or not but, to me, your entire profile reads like your mindset is wrong.  It reads like you are trying to find a job instead of trying to find a client.  Most clients, at least the ones I like, are of this mindset:

I have a problem, I need to solve a problem, can you solve my problem.

Imagine yourself as a client who has a problem that you know that you could solve the hell out of, look at your profile objectively, and see on your own profile where it says you can solve that problem.

On a proposal, my standard advice is if you want to be engaged, you need to be engaging.  You have to give them a reason to contact you back.  If you know anyting about the concept of sales then you have probably heard about sales funnels.  The principle here is you are not trying to get hired with your cover letter, you just want to move them to the next step, messaging you.

The advice Mary gave you is very important because if you start your proposals like your profile with a line saying Hello, that is all they will see on the first screen they evaluate you.  You need to find a way with each proposal to say...HEY, I'M RIGHT HERE, LOOK AT ME, in that first line of your cover letter.  They also see the first line of the first question they ask.  You have to put something in those lines that are HOOKS, things that will get them to open your proposal.  Your proposal will hopefully get them to open your profile.  Your profile will hopefully get them to message you.  Your communication with them will convince them you will take their problem away and slay it.

You are probably expensive relatively to the rest of your countryman and personally I think that is awesome.  I am a FIRM believer in valuing yourself but at some point you can only do what the market will bear.  Being expensive means that there will be far less clients for you to choose from but one thing you can be sure of, they won't be cheap.

It is going to take time, refinement of your technique, and patience on your part and there are no guarantees.  Look for oppurtunities were you know you can really do the work and just keep hoping.  All it takes is one and I think you will take off like a rocket.