I'm starting to wonder how does anybody get any work on this site?!!

[#1]

I understand that I am fairly new to Upwork as a freelancer, but I've been applying to job posts and I'm getting nothing!! No response at all!! I have as much experience, if not more experience, than most on the site, at what I do!! But yet I don't seem to get any response!! I'm highly frustrated!!

[#2]

It can definitely be frustrating trying to find that first job. What do you usually send as a cover letter/proposal?

[#3]

Hi Kaitlyn, Thank you for responding, I have a standard cover letter that I use, but I usually adjust it to fit the job post. 

[#4]

Make your Upwork profile public on this profile so we can visit your profile, Or simple past your Upwork profil url here.

[#5]

Thanks Stefan, my profile is now public. Any feed back is welcomed!

[#6]

First, Your hourly rate is to high for your profile because you don't have any job yet. So I suggest you to start with 10-15$ for now. I'm not saying that you never put a current hourly in future, I said for now, until you grow your job history and feedbacks, you can work for higher price. Second what I want to say is your profile description for general and other specialized profiles. You must explain buyers what you will do for them and describe more your work way.

Your portfolio are good. You are Rising Talent, do your best! In every proposal you ask and give a suggestion to buyer, tell them what you will do..

[#7]

Thanks Stefan, Appreciate your thoughts, All good points, but $10 to $15 per hour? That's minimum wage!! So what your saying is that I shouldn't take my experience outside of Upwork into consideration at all, when stating a requested hourly rate? Because if I am to totally disregard my proffessional expereince, then yeah, I got this thing all wrong!

[#8]

Hi Ronald,

The best way to look at it is that anyone could write anything about their experience and qualifications on their profile, so you must look at starting on here from scratch. To prove yourself. 

I'd recommended $25 to $30 an hour. That rate isn't fixed. The client who hires you may offer you more. 

For example, I have $25 on my profile as my rate, but some clients pay me more than that. You discuss the price in the job interviews. (I started out at $15.)

Best wishes 

Louisa

[#9]

Hi Louisa,

I see, I can understand it from that perspective, that makes sense! Thanks, I will make the adjustments! Appreciate the feedback and suggestions!

[#10]

I don't think that you need to lower your rate (and certainly not to $10/hour!). Your profile and portfolio look good to me, but you could fill out your overview to more clearly explain why a client should hire you over one of your competitors. There are many freelancers who charge less, so your proposals will need to really convince a client that you're worth the money.

I'm afraid that the frustration isn't going to go away anytime soon, though. It's just a reality of freelancing that you can sometimes place dozens of bids and get no response, and it does take awhile to build up a stable client base. But people who know how to provide good customer service and have expertise in their field can do very well on Upwork.

[#11]

Thanks Christine,

This makes sense to me, all of this is very good feedback!! Everyone's feedback is good on some or all points! I will take it all into serious consideration! I especially think the point your making about better customer service is a really good one, and one that I need to get better at! Thanks again!

[#12]

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Ronald H wrote:

Thanks Stefan, Appreciate your thoughts, All good points, but $10 to $15 per hour? That's minimum wage!! So what your saying is that I shouldn't take my experience outside of Upwork into consideration at all, when stating a requested hourly rate? Because if I am to totally disregard my proffessional expereince, then yeah, I got this thing all wrong!

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I also don't think you need to go that low! If you can use your off-platform experience as a selling point and write strong proposals you should be fine. Many freelancers do give their first client or few a good deal, but in my opinion, it may be better to do this with very small projects (possibly fixed rate). If you can sell yourself well and have strong samples, you most likely don't need to charge minimum wage.

[#13]

Thank you Samantha, appreceiate the response!

[#14]

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Stefan M wrote:

First, Your hourly rate is to high for your profile because you don't have any job yet. So I suggest you to start with 10-15$ for now.

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I'm gonna disagree on that one. Lowering your prices just to get jobs (especially that low) simply because you don't have any Upwork experience does two things:

1. It says that you don't value or have enough confidence in your skills/experience to charge what you're worth. If you don't believe in your own work, how can you expect a potential client to take a risk?
2. It creates a "race to the bottom" where there are no winners, and a whole bunch of losers.

Basically, don't do that. Charge what you feel you're worth as long as it's competitive with others of your skill level in your area. 

You must explain buyers what you will do for them and describe more your work way.

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If you do this properly, you don't need to lower your rates just to "get started." If your profile is solid and you show that you know what you're doing, you're on the right track. Then in your proposal, don't talk about your skills/experience. They can see that from your portfolio and any sample pieces you send their way. When writing your proposal, that's your chance to tell the client exactly how you intend to solve their problem or meet their goal. It's not "Look what I can do!" so much as it's "Here's what I plan to do in order to help you succeed."

Make your case and wow the client. That's all you need to focus on. If you show them you're capable and confident in your abilities, that will end up making your pricing an afterthought to them (so long as it's not something outlandish, of course). The decision-making process goes from "Is this person affordable?" to "What do we need to do to get this person onboard with us?"

Essentially, if you make it easy for them to say "yes", then they won't care if you're not the cheapest around. There's a saying that holds true for any kind of purchase, "Buy once, cry once." Meaning it's far better to spend a little more to get exactly what you want, than to end up spending even more than that because you needed to fix what shouldn't have been wrong in the first place.

And if you can deliver exactly what they want/need without them worrying about the price, why would you want to leave money on the table? Plus, the clients that are going to be sticklers for price and only pick you because you're the cheapest, are going to be the ones who nitpick you to death and are never satisfied. You don't want those clients anyway.

[#15]

All great points Michael, really appreceiate the solid tips!! 

[#16]

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Ronald H wrote:

I understand that I am fairly new to Upwork as a freelancer, but I've been applying to job posts and I'm getting nothing!! No response at all!! I have as much experience, if not more experience, than most on the site, at what I do!! But yet I don't seem to get any response!! I'm highly frustrated!!

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I have never asked my first client on Upwork how I did it but I think his response would be something boiling down to.

"You spoke to exactly what my problem was, what I wanted to do, and what I was afraid of and had answers for all of them."

This could just be my prejudice about how it works but I think if you are looking at a project and you cannot speak exactly to what their problem is, how to do what they need, and understand what they might be afraid of then you don't know enough about that project to propose on it.  I have talked this over with other freelancers and there are some proposals you send and you are almost certain you will get it, like somehow you know you are the best candidate.  You want to search for work that you know have a great shot of giving you that feeling.

[#17]

Hi Mark,

Those are good points for sure! I know that personally, I wouldn't put in a proposal to something I know I can't do, excuse my french but that's idiotic to say the least! I think that one of my problems could be that I expect people on here to really take a freelancer's expereince into heavy consideration, but that doesn't seem to be the case for the most part! I'm finding that people on here seem to want cheap labor!! 

[#18 · Accepted solution]

Hi Ronald, 

Welcome to Upwork, and the Upwork Community! I wanted to add to all the constructive feedback, and tips you've received so far. 

For new freelancers, we highly recommend that they take the time to read up on the freelancer resources we have compiled. These resources have great tips and insights on how you can work successfully on the platform. There is a Safety First! section that you'll find in that link too, and I would recommend that you take the time to read it, and these tips for avoiding questionable jobs for more information about working safely through Upwork.

Hopefully you'll also find these resources very helpful. Good luck! 

[#19]

Thank you Avery!!