step-by-step BLUEPRINT to make $100,000 on Upwork

READY!

In 2021, all the freelancers on Upwork combined have made $3.5B.

There are over 770,000 active clients on this platform.

Your failproof, step-by-step BLUEPRINT to make $100,000 on Upwork 👇

There are 4 things you must nail if you want to get to $100k on Upwork.

1) Spotting legit $$$ opportunities
2) Sending irresistible proposals
3) Building a profile
4) Fulfilment & scaling

Let’s go through each of them in detail 👇

1/. Spotting legit $$$ opportunities

No one is going to tell you about this.

As an Upwork freelancer, you’ll find tons of job postings on your feed related to your skills.

That doesn’t mean you apply to all these jobs.

By smartly using “filters”, you can…

📍Improve your chances by 10X by applying for low competition jobs

📍Eliminate projects that aren’t a good fit for you

📍Work with the best clients who’ll be happy to you well

Let’s go through each of them.

▶️ 2 tips to land low competition jobs:

1) Sort your job feed by “newest jobs”

This way, you can be among the first applicants to make an impression.

Sometimes, your clients have very tight deadlines. In such scenarios, you’ll have a 10X edge over others if you apply early.

2) Filter by “number of proposals”

Now take this to the next level by applying for jobs with less than 15 proposals.

If it already has more than 15 proposals, your chances of landing it are fairly low, especially if you don’t have a lot of prior Upwork experience.

▶️ Eliminate projects that aren’t a good fit for you

Firstly, do you want to be paid by hour or by project?

If you want to be paid hourly, select the minimum rate that you’re okay with.

The same goes with a project.

Secondly, determine your availability.

What’s your ideal project length and how much commitment can you give on a weekly basis?

Never apply beyond your capacity.

If you can’t fulfil, it’ll show up in your reviews.

▶️ Working with the best clients who’ll be happy to you well

Ideally, avoid clients who haven’t hired earlier on Upwork.

Not all those with no Upwork history are bad.

But if you’re starting out, you’d rather work with someone with at least a couple of previous hires.

5 red flags to watch out for while selecting clients:

🚩 No Upwork history
🚩 No specific budget mentioned
🚩 Vague job description
🚩 Unrealistic expectations
🚩 Rating less than 3.5

Pro tip: Check out “About the client” section in the job posting.

Stats about “Total Amount Spent” & “Avg Hourly Rate Paid” will help you get an idea of the client’s budget and hiring patterns.

2/. Sending “irresistible” proposals

The biggest mistake most freelancers make is not tailoring their proposal to the requirements of the client.

They just copy-paste templates with a few changes.

Sure, it’ll save you time. But guess what?

You won’t get the job.

Here’s what you should be doing instead 👇

▶️ Rephrase their problem.

▶️ If possible, tell them why they’re facing that problem.

▶️ State past instances where you’ve solved a similar problem.

▶️ Tell why you would be the best fit.

▶️ Outline your process and next steps.

Here’s an example of a great proposal from the Upwork legend @OmahaCopywriter 👇

Danny ticks most of the important boxes.

✅ Acknowledges the problem.
✅ States what he can and can’t do (honesty wins!)
✅ Offers free and genuine advice.
✅ Clearly lays out next steps.

3/. Create a high-quality profile

On Upwork, your profile is your resume.

It helps prospective clients understand your skill-set and determine if you’d be a good fit.

And don’t worry if you have multiple skill-sets.

You can create individual profiles for each of them.

These are the 10 elements of a profile

1) Profile description
2) Hourly rate
3) Availability
4) Education
5) Employment history
6) Portfolio
7) Testimonials
8) Skills
9) Certifications
10) Languages

Not all of them are equally important.

Here’s what you should focus on 👇

📝 Profile description

This is your sales pitch, and your shot to capture attention of potential clients.

Description = Title + Bio

Different approaches work for different industries.

The title should be short, clear, and help you stand out, especially if you’re a beginner.

For the bio, don’t write lengthy, boring paragraphs.

No paragraph should be longer than 3–4 sentences.

Use bulleted lists to make it visually easier for the readers.

In the bio, write about the relevant skills and work history you have related to the profile.

If you’re struggling to figure out what to write, here’s a pro tip 👇

Create a “client account” and check profiles of the top freelancers in your niche for inspiration.

⏰ Hourly rate

If you’re just starting on Upwork, include a fairly reasonable hourly rate.

It doesn’t matter even if you’re a pro outside Upwork.

Your prospects just don’t know about it. So start small.

Once you start collecting testimonials and move up the ranks, you can increase your rates gradually.

If you don’t know how much people in your industry charge, look at the hourly rates of the top-rated freelancers.

Charge 50% of it if it makes sense. Else, use your intuition.

🏫 Education & Employment History

Again, this is more relevant for some industries and completely irrelevant for a few.

Nevertheless, it’s better to fill it out completely at least to make sure your profile is 100% complete.

📀 Portfolio

This is your chance to show off your best work.

If you’re a web/ graphic designer, this is arguably the single most important thing in your profile.

Even if your work isn’t technically visual, use this opportunity to showcase your best projects, case studies

Pro tip: If you don’t have a “real” portfolio, create a sample one.

If you were given a certain project, how would you do it? And create accordingly.

Showing > Telling

Check this out for inspiration 👇

https://www.upwork.com/resources/web-developer-portfolio-examples

📝 Testimonials

I cannot stress how important this is to succeed as a freelancer on Upwork (and beyond).

Including relevant testimonials will show prospective clients that you’ve “been there, done that”, thereby eliminating risk.

Social proof is your best friend.

Pro tip: If you’ve got testimonials from clients you’ve worked with outside Upwork, you can request for one.

This is especially important if you’re just starting out on the platform and don’t have any testimonials from Upwork clients.

🪄Skills and certifications

Include all the relevant skills that you have related to your profile.

This ensures that you’ll be shown to prospective clients when they publish projects that require these specific skills.

If there are certain certifications that are considered important in your industry, complete them and include them in your profile.

Do everything to give yourself that extra edge.

Invest time in building a compelling profile.

And keep updating it as you complete more projects.

It’ll continue to pay dividends in the long run.

4/. Fulfilment

Reputation is everything to grow on Upwork.

Even a few bad ratings/ reviews from clients can cause irreparable damage to your profile.

So always deliver what you’ve promised.

Communicate well and be on good terms with the client.

If you’re confident in your services, it’s more or less about scaling the previous steps to get to $100k.

As you keep delivering wins for your clients, make sure to…

📈 Productize your services
📈 Gradually increase your rates
📈 Update your profile
📈 Leverage social proof

And that’s how you get to $100K!