HOW TO BECOME A PROFESSIONAL FREELANCER ON UPWORK

Upwork is a freelance platform that connects individuals and businesses to freelancers that can handle their jobs.

Services on Upwork encompasses writing and translation, Web, Mobile and Software development, Data Science and Analytics, Design and Creative, Admin Support, and many more.

This article aims to teach you how to become a professional freelancer on Upwork.

GLOSSARY TERMS ON UPWORK

For quick understanding, I must explain a few of the Upwork Glossary terms.

Freelancer: A registered individual offering services on Upwork
Agency: Agency is a body of people working together as an Agency on Upwork
Client: Someone looking for a freelancer or Agency to handle his or her project.
Connect: A compulsory ticket that freelancers and agencies use to apply for work on Upwork.
Fixed-contract: A short-term project whereby the client pays all the money for the task at once.
Milestone: A long-term project whereby the client pay freelancer based on his progress on the assigned job. This is often based on an initial agreement before the commencement of the project.
Job Feed: A specialized page where Clients post their Job request and wait for freelancers to apply.
Interview: This is the term Upwork uses when a client contacts a freelancer concerning a project.
Cover letter: The proposal you send to clients when applying for work.

How to work as a Freelancer or Agency on Upwork

Working as a freelancer on Upwork is pretty straightforward and, at the same time, complicated. Sounds strange, right? Yeah, the procedure is simple; however, the possibility that Upwork will approve your application is slim.

Upwork has its way of streamlining the number of Freelancers on each niche to create a balanced market among their freelancers. Because of this, there is a high tendency your account will be rejected even if you create a perfect profile.

Other factors Upwork use before approving applicant’s accounts are location, profile, and others.

To be on the safer side, you can purchase my eBook on on how to work as a freelancer on Fiverr and Upwork.

You can as well send me a direct mail if you prefer a private training session.

Types of Digital Skills you can offer as a Freelancer on Upwork

“What kind of skill can I offer as a freelancer on Upwork?” This is one of the most common questions people ask me whenever I try to introduce them to freelancing.

And my answer is always simple and straightforward – Any digital skill!

It can be graphic design, content writing, data entry, web design, software development, and many more.

And in case you don’t have any, you can read the ten excellent digital skills can learn on your own, along with free comprehensive guidelines to become a professional in your niche.

How to register as a Freelancer on Upwork

Registration on Upwork is free. To register as a freelancer, visit Upwork.com and click on sign-up.

Enter your email address and click on continue.

Upwork often advise freelancers and clients to register with their business address. However, this is not a must, so you can still register with your regular email address.

It will bring a warning like,

“We noticed you’re using a gmail.com address. Would you like to use your email address instead?”

Just click on ignore and click “continue with email”.

After that, you will see a page where you would be asked to enter your full name, user name, and password.

On the same page, you would be required to choose your Nationality.

Select what you want to do on the platform, work as a freelancer, or hire freelancers to handle your project. Since you want to work on the platform, then you should click on the work.

Read the Terms of Services and mark the two green buttons if you are comfortable with it.

Click on Create My Account.

You would be requested to verify your Email Address, after which you can continue to create your profile.

Please note that the chances that Upwork will approve your account are not certain. It is based on either luck or strategies, which is often reviewed every month. If your account is rejected, you can edit it and submit it again.

Or get a comprehensive guide on my freelance training course for just $15

You can as well contact me for a private training session, which goes for just $100.

How to apply for works on Upwork?

After Upwork, can I be the second person to compliment you for successfully creating an approved profile on Upwork?

Because I am sure Upwork must have sent you a congratulation mail.

So, let’s go to the next thing: how to apply for jobs on Upwork.

Firstly, you need connects before you can apply for work as a freelancer on Upwork.

The cost of a unit connect is $0.15, which means ten connects will cost $1.6.

Note that connect is not sold in units but bulks of 10, 20, 40, 60, and 80. You can click here to confirm the prices.

However, to be fair to new freelancers, Upwork gives new freelancer that just join the platform 20 connects to start with. You can use these 20 connects to apply for any job.

Naturally, these 20 connects should surface you to get your first job on the platform, after which you can take from the money to buy more connects.

Still, if you exhaust these ten connects without getting any job, you will need to buy more connects before applying for jobs.

How the Upwork Connect System works

The required number of connects to apply for jobs on Upwork is not fixed.

It always varies from 1 – 6 connects, depending on the size of the product (budget) and the project type. I.e., the higher the client’s budget for the project, the higher the number of connect required to apply for the job.

The cheapest job requires 1 connect. This is very rear actually. Most of the jobs start with 2 connects upwards. And the maximum connects any job can require is 6.

Upwork Job Interviews

There are two types of job interviews on Upwork.

You apply for a job on the Upwork job feed, and the client contacts you for an interview.
You do not have to apply for the work initially. The client discovers your profile and Upwork and invites you to apply for his work.

Please note that the first one requires a certain amount of connects while the second one does not.

Notwithstanding, you will still need to send a cover letter for both.

Five essential tips to become a successful freelancer as a beginner on Upwork

Don’t apply for jobs that require more than four connects
Go for jobs you are confident you can complete.
Ignore works that over five people have applied for
Take your time to write a great proposal when applying for jobs.
Avoid jobs that do not have a verified payment method.

Taiwo Sotikare: Taiwo Sotikare is an outstanding freelance copywriter and blogger with 8 years of experience. He has written hundreds of articles on Freelancing, Entrepreneurship, Career and Personal Development, and Digital Trends.

Taiwo is an SEO content writer and consultant at DigitalPud and can be contacted via taiwo@digitalpud.com