From No Experience in Kiev to Full-Time Income: 365 Days of Hard Work

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In this video, I share my results of 365 days of hard work on Upwork. 

Overview:

Within a year on Upwork, I earned $39,438.21

In 2023, I sent 1,906 proposals.
Regarding the price of Connects, I paid $3,270.

Upwork fees: $3,943 and the price of Connects: $3,270, it left me with $32,225.21.

This year, I worked with 67 unique clients.
Income from Upwork constituted 72% of my yearly earnings. Total is $54,775.29.

Another stream of income was clients that I acquired through Twitter and LinkedIn.
It's another 19% or $10,407.30. I should admit that my success on Upwork made it happen to close the clients elsewhere.

The rest of the clients for 9% or $4,930, I found locally through word of mouth.
So in total I received $47,562.29 to my bank account.

Watch the video for an in-depth breakdown.

Transcript: 

I spent 365 days freelancing on Upwork and this year was a fascinating transformation of my life. I came to Upwork as a newcomer with no experience, with poor English, starting a business from Kiev, which was constantly bombed by Russians. And within a year I turned into an established professional with a full-time income. In this video, I will share my result of 365 days of hard work on Upwork. But before we embark on this journey, my name is Anton. On this channel, I am talking about building a successful freelance business.

We will start from day one. And I will reveal all the challenges you might face if you also want to go this road. And of course, I will share the numbers. You would never guess how much money I made in the first year on Upwork. If you want to try, pause the video for a second and type in the comments your first suggestion. I want to know the price of getting one job at the beginning and now.

The progression of earnings months to months, the average 12 months check from one client. What helped me to double my rate from $15 to $30 per hour and many more? I will also describe all the pitfalls that I met along the way. Because the journey wasn't rosy, intense competition for jobs, toxic and disrespectful clients, negative feedback. I will share my insights on what it took me to reduce the amount of these negative factors and take my career under full control. So listen on.

I started on Upwork on October 1, 2022. From day one, I started grinding hard. First, I completed my profile to 100% very quickly. On the fourth day, I filmed my first Upwork introduction video. It's still on the channel for history. But despite winning the first small job on the sixth day on the platform and a ton of effort in the form of sending many proposals, the first months my earnings were just $170.50. If you exclude the money I spent on Connects, it actually became -$90.

The first months clearly showed me that I shouldn't expect a walk in the park. So I doubled down on my copyright. I tried different approaches and sent about 7-8 proposals daily. Step by step, I started getting more traction. I got $305 from two clients the next month. And I decided not to change the strategy since it worked week after week, I will get more responses to my proposal. Earnings were growing too. The third month brought me $777.50.

The first three months were my attempt to understand how the platform works.

Once I learned the game's rule, I started playing more aggressively. On January 1st, I launched the LeadGenJan Challenge, where I tried to send 1,000 proposals through January. It ignited my account. That month, I got $1,752.50 and it was a turning point in my journey. Not only did I get many more prospects, but I also realized that I could scale here. So, the main outcome of the challenge was that I launched an agency and hired two interns at once.

Next month, I got a cold shower for my conquest of Upwork. I got a 3-star review from one client and my JSS fell to 88%. Acquiring new clients stuck. At the end of that month, I got $2,027.50 from my account and $50 from the agents. However, I should correct my strategy by adding a focus on hunting feedback. Keeping my JSS close to 100% is vital to success on Upwork.

Next month, one by one, I asked all my long-term clients to end the contract, leave me 5-star feedback and reopen a new one. It became my primary strategy for getting feedback. March brought me $4,757.50. Most of this money I earned from clients that I got in January. This is how it works.

April was the month when I realized that I couldn't scale with the current rate of $15. I started pushing it up and it brought me the opposite effect in the next couple of months. I managed to win some jobs with $25 per hour, but the quality of my work didn't match the bar of the client's expectation. I handled that situation without getting negative feedback, but it costed me some money. So April was the first month where I showed negative dynamics. I earned $3,849.17.

In May, this problem became even more apparent. I was struggling to meet the quality my clients were looking for, but we had no choice. We were practicing a lot, and step by step our work was getting better. That was another month of stagnation in earnings of $2,984.17, but sometimes you need to step back to move forward. One positive thing happened in May, is that I got a Top Rated Plus badge. It had a positive impact on my future lead generation.

The only thing I can say about June is that it's hard to maintain decent earnings when most of your clients take vacations. In June, I earned $2,891.67 and $637 from the agents.

The next month, I benefited from some old clients who brought me some work. So I ended up in July with $3,856.67 and $1,327.38 from the agents.

August again became stagnant with $2,860 and $2,415 from the agents.

September 1st is the start of a new business season. And I met it in the best shape possible. I have a Top Rated Plus account with close to 100% JSS. $30,000 earned 18 positive feedback. My YouTube channel has almost 1,000 subscribers. All the sparks and numbers helped me win new clients. Aside from that, we caught up on the quality. Most of the $25 and $30 per hour clients are now satisfied with the quality we provide. This month so far brought many new partnerships and clients. I will fill it with earnings in the next 2-3 months. I ended up the month with the record of $3,801.67 from my personal account and $4,997.50 from the agents.

But here are more statistics:

Within a year on Upwork, I earned $39,438.21. The average rate is $23.21.

In 2023, I sent 1,906. On average, it's 6.9 a day.
Regarding the price of Connects, I paid $3,270. So, after I deducted the Upwork fees, $3,943 and the price of Connects $3,270, it left me with $32,225.21.

This year, I worked with 67 unique clients.
So, the average check is $589. In total, income from Upwork constituted 72% of my yearly earnings.
Total is $54,775.29. Another stream of income was clients that I acquired through Twitter and LinkedIn.
It's another 19% or $10,407.30. I should admit that my success on Upwork made it happen to close the clients elsewhere.
I was referring to my account as a source of feedback and trustworthiness.

The rest of the clients for 9% or $4,930, I found locally through word of mouth.
So in total I received $47,562.29 to my bank account.

Now let's quickly review my expenses.
I started hiring in February. Since then, I have grown my team to 5 video editors. Actually the fifth is starting this week.

I paid $26,145 in the form of salaries to the team. $6,204 renting the office space, about $4,000 for buying software, subscriptions and some equipment. My net profit is $11,217.29.

Not that much but I'm thrilled to be profitable in the first year. I'm excited to see the result of the second year. Thanks for watching me and for the support through the first year of my journey. Please stick with me for the next year. I plan to reach $200,000 in revenue in 2024. Subscribe to my channel if you still fail to do so. I promise to share all the insights to help you grow on Upwork as quickly as possible.

Connect with Anton on Upwork

Watch all of Anton's Upwork videos on YouTube