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katerinasamara
Community Member

I need some advice about my profile and proposals.

Hello,

I'm quite new to upwork and I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask... but I was wondering if someone could give me some advice on my profile and proposals?

 

I found my first job on upwork after submitting only a few proposals. Actually, it was a very interesting job I never thought I would get but I did! I also got an invitation to a job I, unfortunately, had to turn down because I didn't have the skills required for it.

 

But since that first job I have done everything to improve my profile... I've read countless posts online by upwork and on other websites, I've taken courses to improve my skills and learn new skills, I've added to my portfolio (only very little), I've created specialized profiles and submitted many proposals. But I haven't even had my profile viewed recently. 

 

I'm just wondering if there is something I'm doing wrong, or if there's something I can improve on my profile or proposals. Or if it's normal to not get a single view on your profile for months. And why was it so much easier the first time round?

 

If anyone could help me I would really apreciate it Smiley Happy

Any advice is more than welcome! 

Katerina

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florydev
Community Member

I don't know about wrong but there are things I would do differently.  

 

You profile reads like many others a testament to yourself and what you have done.  It could be that is what clients are looking for when they want to hire someone who does what you do.  But I think it far more likely that they want to read not about you, not about what you have done, but how you can do what they need done.  

 

Take what you know how to do and write two sentences about how you do it better than anyone else, even if you only believe it for the two sentences you are writing.  You need to find a strong statement about how you solve clients problems and lead with that.  Think of yourself as a client coming to your profile with a problem you know how to solve and you have two sentences to convince them that you can.  Then write the rest of your profile description building on that.

 

You don't want to say a lot, you want it to be very focussed and strong.  Do not put anything on there that does not absolutely put you in a positive light...for example you have this:

Now, I have decided to take translating to a more professional level.

 

Why tell anyone this?  Is it honest, sure.  But in what way does it help you.  You have been paid to do a job at least once I believe, that makes you a professional.  Own that.

 

In a similar way I think that proposal should typically be brief but strong and on point.  Again the immediate two sentences of your cover letter are your hook and  you need to sell your unique value you bring to the project quickly.  Many proposals start out as:

Hi, my name is Katerina and I have X years of experience doing translation...

 

On the jobs I have hired it is something like 90% of respondants and there is nothing distinctive about any of it.

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7 REPLIES 7
florydev
Community Member

I don't know about wrong but there are things I would do differently.  

 

You profile reads like many others a testament to yourself and what you have done.  It could be that is what clients are looking for when they want to hire someone who does what you do.  But I think it far more likely that they want to read not about you, not about what you have done, but how you can do what they need done.  

 

Take what you know how to do and write two sentences about how you do it better than anyone else, even if you only believe it for the two sentences you are writing.  You need to find a strong statement about how you solve clients problems and lead with that.  Think of yourself as a client coming to your profile with a problem you know how to solve and you have two sentences to convince them that you can.  Then write the rest of your profile description building on that.

 

You don't want to say a lot, you want it to be very focussed and strong.  Do not put anything on there that does not absolutely put you in a positive light...for example you have this:

Now, I have decided to take translating to a more professional level.

 

Why tell anyone this?  Is it honest, sure.  But in what way does it help you.  You have been paid to do a job at least once I believe, that makes you a professional.  Own that.

 

In a similar way I think that proposal should typically be brief but strong and on point.  Again the immediate two sentences of your cover letter are your hook and  you need to sell your unique value you bring to the project quickly.  Many proposals start out as:

Hi, my name is Katerina and I have X years of experience doing translation...

 

On the jobs I have hired it is something like 90% of respondants and there is nothing distinctive about any of it.

Thank you Mark! I will give it another go!

joywriter
Community Member

Hi Katerina!

 

Way to go on getting your first job and congratulations on the 5 star feedback! Smiley Happy

 

I see that you are also from Brazil!  😄  Bem-vinda  ao fórum!  🙂

 

I checked your profile and there are a few things that I would try to work on.

 

1) Try to reduce the amount of information in it.  You have a lot of content there. I would suggest you to trim that down to around two paragraphs at most. highlight your skills and how you can help your cliets.

 

2) Work on your portfolio! Make sure that your portfolio displays more of your experience so if you have other work example, you should add them all!

 

3) Add a video to your profile! There's nothing more awesome than a video which will make you stand out among other professional freelancers!

 

4) Just a quick tip when it comes to applyin to jobs. Act fast on job posts! Make sure you apply to jobs as soon as your see them go online and remain online and available! Client's  love to message freelancers when they see that they are online and the quickest you are able to reply to invites or messages, the higher are your chances of winning the job!

 

Boa sorte!

 

Any questions, feel free to ask!

ambroz
Community Member

Hi,

 

Maybe just few things ...

 

Are you really a native speaker of 3 languages?? Maybe some clients will feel like your profile is unreal ...

 

Another thing .... maybe you can expect too much money at beginning ... 30$/hour after only one feedback is also one optimistic idea. 

 

But definitely, congrats for your current success and I think that after this post, also your "viewed counter" will increase a lot 🙂

Thank you everyone for your help! I've started working on the advice you've all given me. I will make sure I add a video too! I'll start applying to more jobs once I've finished making the changes to my profile! 

 

Thanks again for the help and the quick replies! 🙂 

Boa tarde H!
Thank you for your advice! What sorts of things should I say in my video? Do you mean like a video introducing myself or a video similar to what I wrote in my profile?

Both! Just say your name and just highlight your strenghts and share previously done work and  what you can do for your client. hightlight some qualities as well.

 

Check our this page here from Upwork. It will have everything you need.

https://www.upwork.com/hiring/for-freelancers/stand-out-introduction-video/

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