How to start a career with Upwork and be a freelancer

I know some people wonder why I left my career as a Freelancer with Upwork and why I am no longer interested in freelancing…

It is not the case!

I am actually still considering a career with freelancing in the future and I am not closing my doors to it, I guess it just a matter of time and the right opportunities especially that lawschool is still my priority at this point of time.

So the reason why I wrote this blog because I had friends asking me how to start a career in freelancing, and would like to know what are the pros and cons before they would decide to leave their office jobs.

So  I would like to share with you guys how I started and the tips that earned me some clients.

So what made me decide to be a freelancer?

I remember I just want to work at home and the pressure of working in BPO industry was taking it’s toll on my health especially that I was also a full-time lawstudent at that time, and I heard that it pays well.

So I did my research, Honestly I am very lucky enough that just after a week I earned some clients.

Although I also earned clients outside Upwork but I opted just to Blog about Upwork because this is the most popular and the largest freelancing platform.

I heard horror stories that some took weeks and months before they got  their first client. I guess Lord knew that I was desperate as I need to pay the bills and I can’t be jobless even for a day!

So what does Freelancing means?

To simplify

A freelancer or freelance worker is a term commonly used for a person who is self-employed and is not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term.

BUT that is not the case all the time! Some of my friends are working for their clients for along time, prolly over 5 years now.

Some of them are even earning a  whoooooooping 50K Philippines pesos per month!

Yes! You heard it right! 50k Philippine pesos!

Sounds crazy! But actually it’s not! You can earn that amount and not need to leave the country just to go overseas, it’s possible to earn that amount by just working infront of your PC while wearing your pajamas, in the comforts of your own home and bed.

So the photo above shows that I had two pc screens because I was working with 2 clients at that time. So I needed an extra PC. That’s a typical working day as a freelancer, as you can see in the photo, it was taken inside my room and my room light was actually dim.

So my freelancing career started with Elance.. I worked for a client who owns a company as his Recruiter Assistant and I report directly to a Project Manager based in the Philippines, we were tasked to recruit top talent for well funded start-ups or influential Silicon Valley companies.

Previously the most popular freelancing plaforms were Odesk and Elance, then eventually these two companies merged, Elance bought Odesk and that’s why Elance retained their name.

Then eventually Upwork bought Elance, up to this date Upwork is still the most popular and the most trusted freelancing platform.

Still confused? Let me simplify it

So Upwork is like a “market place”  for clients  who needs someone (a freelancer) to work for them.

So if you are a tech savvy and uses facebook all the time, if you noticed that Facebook just launched their own “marketplace” wherein sellers can post any product they like to sell online and can look for buyers.

So just like Upwork, it is still a “marketplace” wherein clients can hire freelancers, and in return Upwork takes out 10% of what you earn, unlike Facebook they don’t charge you anything for selling your product in the marketplace.

Anyway, if you are still confused and want to know more details about Upwork. I leave it to you as an assignment to check their website and get as much details that you need:

www.upwork.com

Anyway so lets start!

If you wish to start a career with it and don’t know how!

Please I am begging you to start creating a Portfolio or a Profile!

And of course you will have to Sign Up first! I know that the beginning is always the hardest but nothing would happen if you will not take the first step.

Then create a your profile or portfolio

Here’s mine:

So please keep these things in your mind:

1. Hourly Rate:

Please take note that Upwork takes out 10% fee from your payout. So in choosing an hourly rate you have to reconsider it.

I had mine set at $4.44 so that 44cents would already cover the 10 percent Upwork fees. Oops I am sorry Upwork had increased it to 20 percent

2. Sell yourself

You have to sell yourself in your portfolio, give an overview of your career and skills that you developed over the years, your expertise. If you had worked in the customer service industry and then worked in the sales and marketing then you have to write it down. Write down the companies that you worked with, your roles and responsibilities, plus what do you think are your contributions that made you an asset to the organisation. It could be that you helped the organisation improved their customer satisfactory rate, you had increased your company’s revenue, completed a project with minimal resources and the list goes on..

3. Keep on submitting proposals

But please be mindful, read what are the qualifications that the client is looking for, if you’re confident that you have those qualifications then hit “Submit Proposal”

When you submit a proposal try to personalise the message and start it by sending the client an overview of your skills and how you can help the client.

Submitting proposals to client is only limited, you can’t send hundreds of proposals all at the same time, once you join Upwork they would give you a certain number of “Connects” which translates that whenever you will submit a proposal to a client they would deduct it from your “Connects”

4. Prepare for a client interview

So after the client had check on the proposals that were submitted to them, If they think you are qualified they would set you UP for a client interview. This would usually happen via Skype

5. Once you are hired you need to set-up a payment method, so that your client can already deposit their payouts to your account.

You can choose to get it from Paypal by creating  a paypal account or you can open an account with UnionBank because you need to enroll for their Visa electronic card. Please check it with your nearest Unionbank branch what are the requirements they need in order for you to open an account with them.

I remember it was a headache last time when I went to Unionbank because the one who assisted me gave me so much troubles just for me to open an account with them, they asked me to come back with additional requirements.

I remember they asked me to give them a print-out copy of my contract with my clients, and other additional requirements.

Once your already have a bank account and your bank details with UnionBank then you can already put those information in Upwork, you just need to wait for a few days for the bank to verify your new account information and approve it.

You can also access cool features such as “Lifefime Billings with Each Client” that will allow you to check how much you earned per client.

Just to give you a sample, I worked for few months with a client at 4.44% hourly rate if we try to convert it in Philippine pesos I am paid 233.59 php per hour only for one client,

I worked for a client in his e-commerce business, and just for that project alone I earned $3,099.86 USD, if converted in Philippine pesos I earned  163, 331.62 Philippine pesos.

 

So thats it for now guys!

I have to admit I was earning well with my freelancing career especially that I was working with few clients not only with Upwork but of course, it was real hardwork too. I had to commit myself in finishing my tasks or else I might get a bad review from a client that would affect any future opportunities with Upwork.

 

Anyway on my next blog, I will write about the Pros and the Cons in freelancing, as what they say life is not all about rainbows and daffodils, and working as a freelancer is not an exception. I know for some, it’s stressing them out just to take that leap of faith to start their freelancing career and leave their office jobs, so I will be pointing out some Pro’s and Con’s of being a freelancer.

 

I would Love to write more but I have to doze off!