Freelancers Beware: Do You Have to Have Money to Make Money?
Happy March, and welcome to the second edition of Freelancers Beware. Last month, I covered the scam artists known as Motion_Profit_Revenue; hopefully, it helped.
This month let’s discuss whether you need money to make money as a freelancer online.
Do You Have to Have Money to Make Money?
Why are you a freelancer?
The most important question to ask yourself is, ‘Why are you a freelancer’? There is no wrong answer as long as it is honestly yours.
I am a freelancer because I love to write. I am working towards a full-time freelance career because I love to write, and my bartending gig (of 25 years) shut down. But that was a blessing forcing me to move towards what I love to do and not just what was (is) profitable!
Cautionary Tale 1
When going from your “day job” to your “dream job,” hold onto a day job until the dream job is profitable. Really profitable. There is no shame in reaching for your dream…do it. Just be practical.
You will reach your dream job status eventually; just realize it will take time and money.
This brings us to this month’s Freelancers Beware segment.
Cautionary Tale: Do you have to have money to make money?
I am currently signed up with Upwork, Freelancer, and Fiverr for freelance writing gigs. To some extent, all are the modern-day versions of sweatshops, right? You are going to have to grind to make the experience profitable. That’s not the problem, especially if you love what you do.
Fiverr
I’m starting with Fiverr because it is currently the least expensive. It also almost completely depends on your ability to market yourself in a very competitive marketplace (spoiler alert: all have this quality).
With Fiverr, it costs nothing to set up “Gigs,” where you market yourself selling ‘packages’ that are hopefully enticing a buyer. Packages that offer “…a very particular set of skills. Skills acquired over a very long career.” (If you know that line, please leave me a note I have to follow you!)
I have currently applied for the ‘position’ of Fiverr Pro Content Strategy in writing and translation. I will let you know how that turns out.
Upwork
On Upwork (like Freelancer), you bid on projects. Upwork offers a ‘Basic’ Free package with 10 monthly connections. You can buy additional connects, which you most definitely will have to because the average bid costs approximately 15 connects. Then, there is the ‘opportunity’ to boost your bid, which will cost anywhere from 10–20 more connects depending on the job’s desirability.
There is also an ‘availability badge’. “Freelancers who turn on their badge receive up to 50% more invites,” per Upwork. The current price to have your availability badge turned on is seven connects a week.
Now, I’m no math whiz, but to turn on my availability badge will cost me all but three connects on my Basic package.
Balancing act: availability badge, one bid, or pay more for Freelancer Plus ($20/month) and get 100 monthly connects. Now, $20/month may not seem like a lot to you, but it adds up when you have to hustle to be seen.
A 100 connects with boosting will get you approximately five solid bids. But wait, you also have seven connects a week to count in, and for this month, that will be 28 connects, so you actually have (carry the one, add two) 72 connects to bid.
But fear not. You can always buy more at 0.15 + tax each.
Freelancer
Freelancer also relies on you bidding on projects ( Freelancer I have found to be more global than Upwork — -when bidding on projects outside of the USA, make sure you do the currency exchange)! And Freelancer like Upwork has options.
The Basic is $4.99/month for 50 bids/month and five employer followings. The Plus (which I apparently have and have missed a payment) is $9.99/month with 100 bids, and 10 employer follows.
There are two more packages that increase your bidding power: the Professional for $49/month and 300 bids and the Premier for $99/month and 1500 bids.
Freelancer sends you daily listings of freelance opportunities that ‘match your skill set.’ And they also email you with opportunities to upgrade your status (for a nominal fee).
Each bid on Freelancer affords you opportunities for “Optional Upgrades” on your bid, ranging from .10 to $2.90.
Will You Make Money?
The bottom line is, will you make money? I like to think so. Because I fell victim to cautionary tale number one, I am behind on my finances and haven’t been able to commit as much attention as I should to the hustle.
But I haven’t given up.
This month’s goal is to focus on one site with 50 proposals while doing 10 on the other two. What do you think? It’s March 6, 2024, and the goal is to submit 50 proposals on Freelancer and tighten my gigs on Fiverr.
I’ll let you know how it turned out next month. Meanwhile, let me know if you are on a site that you love or hate and why. Thanks, until next month, fellow freelancers, don’t give up!
