Solved: New Freelancer Seeking Help

blackmongoose · ‎06-22-2018

Hello everyone, my name is Jamie Summers

I have been on upwork for a few weeks now and struggle greatly finding work and it's been bugging me lately. So i came here to ask for some critique of my profile, I've looked up tips in the past and have tried in many ways to make my profile stand out and impress but I am still unsure about it.

If you have the time and are willing to, i would greatly appreaciate a review of my profile so that i can properly get started on upwork and build a work history.

Thanks for your time

Jamie

charles_kozierok · ‎06-22-2018

Hi Jamie,

It's commendable that you came here asking for help as opposed to just ranting about the system like many do.

Understand that it is hard getting started. There's a lot of competition in general, and your field is particularly competitive. You are also young and have very little experience, on- or off-site. That doesn't mean you can't make it here, but you need to accept that it will take some time and patience.

Profile thoughts...

1. Your rate is very low. You likely set it this way thinking it would make you more competitive, and to be honest, you're not entirely wrong. The problem is whom you are competing against, and what you're competing for. You are in the UK. Any client seeing a freelancer in the UK at $6 is immediately going to wonder why it's so low... is he really bad, so he has to drop his rate by that much?

The top clients don't hire people for $6 an hour. So you're competing for low-end jobs. Which means you have lots of overseas competition, many charging the same but with long track records here.

This is probably a dead end.

2. "I am a video editor and artist"... You and 12,345 other people here. You need to stand out. Have a niche. Pick an area of video editing and content creation that you love and are good at and that 95% or more of other editors don't do as well as you do. It might take time to figure this out, but that's where the money is.

3. "adobe after effects"... Use proper grammar, spelling and punctuation. It makes you look more professional.

4. Overall tone is drab. You're a creative. Be creative! Make your profile interesting to read!

5. Your photo.. you look exhausted or hung over. Make it bright, and preferably with a smile. You're in a creative field!

6. Last but definitely not least, your portfolio... or should I say, the empty space where your portfolio should be. Again, you're a creative.. you MUST have a portfolio!

Hope some of this helps.

View solution in original post

charles_kozierok · ‎06-22-2018

Hi Jamie,

It's commendable that you came here asking for help as opposed to just ranting about the system like many do.

Understand that it is hard getting started. There's a lot of competition in general, and your field is particularly competitive. You are also young and have very little experience, on- or off-site. That doesn't mean you can't make it here, but you need to accept that it will take some time and patience.

Profile thoughts...

1. Your rate is very low. You likely set it this way thinking it would make you more competitive, and to be honest, you're not entirely wrong. The problem is whom you are competing against, and what you're competing for. You are in the UK. Any client seeing a freelancer in the UK at $6 is immediately going to wonder why it's so low... is he really bad, so he has to drop his rate by that much?

The top clients don't hire people for $6 an hour. So you're competing for low-end jobs. Which means you have lots of overseas competition, many charging the same but with long track records here.

This is probably a dead end.

2. "I am a video editor and artist"... You and 12,345 other people here. You need to stand out. Have a niche. Pick an area of video editing and content creation that you love and are good at and that 95% or more of other editors don't do as well as you do. It might take time to figure this out, but that's where the money is.

3. "adobe after effects"... Use proper grammar, spelling and punctuation. It makes you look more professional.

4. Overall tone is drab. You're a creative. Be creative! Make your profile interesting to read!

5. Your photo.. you look exhausted or hung over. Make it bright, and preferably with a smile. You're in a creative field!

6. Last but definitely not least, your portfolio... or should I say, the empty space where your portfolio should be. Again, you're a creative.. you MUST have a portfolio!

Hope some of this helps.

blackmongoose · ‎06-22-2018

This is very helpful, thank you for all the tips.

I will start work on making major changes to my profile and hopefully come back with something looking far more special and interesting. I don't know if you'll want to but It would help me out a lot if you were able to re-review my profile once it is updated. But if not then that is also fine.

Thanks for the help!

Jamie

mtngigi · ‎06-22-2018

@Jamie S wrote:
This is very helpful, thank you for all the tips.

I will start work on making major changes to my profile and hopefully come back with something looking far more special and interesting. I don't know if you'll want to but It would help me out a lot if you were able to re-review my profile once it is updated. But if not then that is also fine.

Thanks for the help!
Jamie

Agree with several points made by Charles - very drab.

Raise your rates - or you'll end up attracting bottom feeders. It does seem counter-intuitive to get work in the beginning, but it's best not to set yourself up at the start as a cheap freelancer.

Better profile photo - it can make a difference.

Pay attention to text - capitalize words that should be capitalized.

But most importanly of all, you need a portfolio. If you don't' have permission to display work you've done for past clients, go ahead and do a few "make-believe" projects and use those in your portfolio.

Good luck.

digiphics · ‎06-24-2018

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Take Charles advise to heart. It's excellent advise and I have nothing to add to it! Good Luck Jamie!!