Upwork is a freelance website where you can go to find work and earn money. They have many categories that you can work on and earn money. I’m sure you should definitely qualify for at least one of these categories.
How It Works
Simply click on sign up from the top right of the home page as in the image below, and enter all the information required, including your areas of interest from the categories above. then confirm
After that, you’ll be logged in to your job feeds
Here you can apply for jobs by submitting proposals to any one you think you can do. Simply click on the title of each job to apply.
Ensure to read the clients job requirements before you submit your proposal. Sometimes they would like to test you and see if you read the job requirements.
They do this by asking you to answer some questions or mention some things that were mentioned in the job requirements when submitting your proposal
Submitting Proposals And Getting Jobs
You have 60 connects every month which you can use to submit proposals. These connects are like tokens and for each proposal you submit, you lose 2 connects. So having this in mind, you should strive to make the best use of every connect, by submitting the best proposal you can each time, so that you can get the job.
To have more chance to get approved for a job, fill out your profile information completely and properly. Put on a good smiley face on your profile picture. Of course they don’t want to hire a serial killer looking face, so it is very important to smile on the profile picture.
Take as many tests as you can, especially test related to your fields, and score the best you can.
Do some work to show that you know how to do the job, and upload samples of those work on your portfolio section. Upload as many samples as you can. You can have something like, “powered by or designed by your name” on those works.
While writing your proposals, It is necessary that you show your confidence and proof that you know what you are saying. You main job is to convince the client that you are the best man for the job.
If Everything Else Fails
Sometimes a great hindrance to your success in getting job could be that you are a newbie and have no rating at all. Some or most clients have more confidence in people who have already done that job before on upwork, and have a rating. So no matter how good you are in your skills, you can still have a problem getting your first job.
In that case, I’ll tell a game around this. Note that I don’t recommend it but I will do it as a final option..
Get offline and meet with a friend. Get him to sign up on upwork as a client and post a job, and hire you.
You can use your funds or he can use his funds. It’s all between you.
He posts a job, and you submit your proposal along with other people. He hires you through the system as planned. You complete the job, and he pays you, and then LEAVES A GREAT 5 STAR RATING ON YOUR PROFILE.
With this rating, it will give you an edge among many other newbies who haven’t got their first job. It will build up much more confidence on your profile and you will be in better position to get more jobs easier.
You can repeat this more times, and when you have so much good rating on your profile. I can guarantee that if you keep submitting great proposals, You will land your job.
VERY IMPORTANT: Before I forget, It is very important, that you be among the first 5 to 10 people to submit your proposals to any job as some clients may not read more than 10 proposals, and will hire between the first 10.
Payment Methods
Direct payment to your local bank in your local currency
PayPal – 2 USD upwork withdrawal fee
Wire Transfer – 30 USD Per withdrawal ( funds will be sent to any bank you prefer through wire in USD)
Direct To U.S. Bank (USD)
Payoneer (With payoneer, you can receive payments any bank of your choice and withdraw it from any ATM using the payoneer mastercard)
What I like About Upwork
Anyone can work from anywhere in the world and receive payments in their local currency.
There are many job categories, so you can definitely find something that you can work on.
Plenty of jobs are always available and many new ones arriving in every few minutes.
Cons
It could be hard to get your first job on upwork but once you get it, your journey is easier
This is a big one. If you submit too much proposals and don’t get hired, you get suspended.
Do they pay?
Yes they pay.
Conclusion
Upwork is very good for you to begin with if you are starting out in the world of making money online as a freelancer. It could be a bit difficult to gain traction as newbie, but with the tips above, you can do it. Some people earn up to $20,000 a month on Upwork.
Some earn even more, while some earn less. It all depends on your skill, how you automate your work and how good you are able to build you profile confidence.
Do not relent, and do not hesitate to give it a go, and do not give up.