Securing work as a new freelancer

[9b1ed890]

Hi all, 

I imagine there are many on here who are new. I wanted to bring up a topic that I'm interested in and learn about any insights from the community here. I've got almost 10 years of experience in arts & culture / production / communications outside of Upwork, but have not managed to secure many projects although I apply quite regularly. I also find a lot of applications go without replies, or roles get filled while the client and I have already scheduled a call. Applying for jobs on Upwork does take quite a significant amount of time and I'm wondering if you've got any tips on:

- What kinds of proposals succeed?

- Tips on standing out (besides boosting your proposal and filling out your profile)

- Using badges for the academy to increase your visibility (if these help?)

I feel like I've done all those things and optimised my profile as much as I could, but there are a lot of fake posts and a lot of non-responding ones. But on the other hand, I feel like having one project in a couple of months is not much, so maybe there is something I am missing? I would love your honest feedback and advise, and want to thank you in advance as I am sure it will help many of us newbies out.

[williamtcooper]

Much of the new work with less competition from other freelancers is for generative AI types of Projects.