Upwork Saved My Life - Earn 6 Figures or more on Upwork

OK first things first.

So many people have told me about the difficulties they've been having with getting approved on the system.  Obviously, if you can't get on there's no way you can actually make this a business so I wanted to devote the first bonus lessons to making sure you get approved.

Making your profile

--

Making your profile requires a little bit of finesse I think if you want to resonate with clients.  

What I find most of the time is that clients either fall into 2 brackets.

A. Ones that know what they want.

B. Ones that are confused and don't know what they want.

Typically B's are where you want to be at the end of the day -- because they will be bigger and more profitable gigs.

A's you want to do more in the beginning so you can get reviews on the board.

With that said, you want to really be focused on tailoring your profile towards the audience of the type of person that wants to hire you.

In my case, it's always "Internet Marketing".  

Because this is in my wheelhouse, I know that one of the key issues with hiring for a position like mine, is that many people lack the necessary skill-set that fully understands all of the intricate pieces necessary to completing a converting funnel.

Now for people out of the business, this may not be something that would resonate, but because I know that when people are going to check out my profile, they'll like what they see, I'll more likely get an interview with a client that is right for me.

I say "right" for me, because I don't want to ever pursuit anything that isn't a right fit. So that's the first thing to pay attention to with your profile: Make your target stand out to the right target audience:

• Target the right audience

• Come off as a human being - let your personality shine

• Make a video!

List out everything you know: When it comes to profile building, I never worry about not having enough information, so long as it's relevant.  What I typically do here is literally blast off all the different software and coding languages I know.

This is because when clients are doing their searches, you want to pop up hire on the relevancy search.

Make a video:

This is basically your automatic selling machine.  We'll get into this a little more in our next lesson, but for now I want you to realize how important this piece is to the puzzle.

In internet marketing, Video Sales Letters are among some of the highest converting mechanisms for making a sale through automated means.

Fortunately Upwork is able to allow you to use this mechanism and present it to super hot leads that are looking to hire you. The greatest thing about Upwork is that everyone on there is ready to spend money.  Very rarely are there tire kickers, so the goal is to get them enamored in your profile immediately.  And the best way to do this is by making a friendly video so they can get to know you.

By doing this, you are creating a bond that no words on a can resist.

Come off as a human being: When it comes to profile building, I never worry about not having enough information, so long as it's relevant.  What I typically do here is literally blast off all the different software and coding languages I know.

This is because when clients are doing their searches, you want to pop up hire on the relevancy search.

Sounds professional and have certainty:

One of the greatest issues with hiring on Upwork and from what I hear from almost every client who has hired out previous to me, is that the freelancers duck out with the jobs.

Making a video

Making a video is probably the most important thing I ever did on my profile. This is the best way to introduce yourself to a potential client.

Watch the video to see exactly what I did.

If you do this correctly YOU WONT have to awkwardly talk about yourself during the first interview.

What's preventing you from making a video?

Software I like to put on there

LESSON 3

You want to be super specific in your profile with the software that you constantly are working with.

Since these software platforms serve a specific purpose, the client will have an understanding of what you know based on what software you know.

This is why I like to basically list out all of the software I love and work with all of the time.

Also, this is great with search and also pushing your profile to the top if a client posts a relevant job.

Keywords to get noticed

LESSON 4

You really want to treat Upwork like every other online marketplace.

If you have experience with online marketplaces like Amazon and and Ebay, you know how important keywords are.

Because if you can't be found, you can't be hired!

So what you want to do is consider an SEO strategy for your profile, so you're positioning yourself to get seen by the right buyers more frequently.

How to find the jobs that suit you

Finding the right jobs is a pretty simple task on Upwork, but the devil is in the detail because you want to accurately search for the right ones that you're best suited for.

The best way to do this is through keyword search.

I like to search by software.

If you went through the previous lesson with the software I love, these can act as very powerful keywords to find the right jobs for you.

Make separate searches for all of the different software you know.

Create your own job board.

This is what we did here. Check it out an see how easy it is to get a constant stream of jobs that are most suited for you.

Fixed Contracts Vs. Hourly

LESSON 6

Watch my video. 

Basically, we want to structure this in a way that makes sense for your expertise.

At first, you'll want to just fixed that are small that you can bang out very quickly.

DON'T TRY AND GET A HUGE PROJECT!!! This will pin you down and prevent you from learning.

Try and take on projects that you can deliver small tasks. 

It's all good if they take the small fixed contract and change it to hourly later.

Why?

Because you get the review and you also get an entire new contract out Upwork. This does wonders for you score and also gets you those needed reviews that are going to help push you to the top when your looking for gigs.

Hourly gigs at any rate are all good in the beginning as long as your hourly rate in on an upward trajectory.

This way it looks like you are charging more as your time erodes vs. making deals with people.

If you're seen as someone that makes deals with people, potential clients will haggle more.

This is the last thing you want to start dealing with on a regular basis.

Your story should just be that it keeps increasing with every job (remember your raise) so that helps them understand that they should hire you now vs. waiting for an increase. 

This also helps some of your original clients feel hooked up as they see your hourly rate climbing for other clients.

Remember my first contract was only a $30 fixed and that turned into a huge project at not too high of an hourly rate.

How to get booted from the site

Getting booted from Upwork is simple!

Here are some great ways of doing this:

1. Try and take the job off the platform.

2. Don't communicate with the client and leave them hanging.

3. Don't do what you say you're going to do.

4. Be arrogant

5. Don't fix your mistakes

6. Don't listen to the cient

7. Get emotional

8. Blame others

9. Refuse to learn

10. Give up

Goals of your first jobs

LESSON 8

1. Get an easy milestone gig.

2. Get Reviews

3. Increase Rate

You have some easy clear goals in the beginning and that's basically to show that you're a real person and that you do what you say you're going to do.

This is by far the biggest issue clients have over Upwork. So many freelancers duck out on projects and it completely ruins the experience for everyone involved.

That's why at first it's important to pad the stats so you can go against the grain as soon as possible.

Sure nothing says social proof like tons of paying clients, but reviews DEFINITELY help. Especially when there aren't any other figures to really go from.

This part is just a stepping stone into a more lucrative position for a couple months down the road.