Tips from a 400K Upwork freelancer

John Morris
Sep 2, 2018 · 3 min read

Upwork is like the PHP of freelance sites.

The most dominant player in the industry, but the one everybody loves to hate for some reason. I guess when you get big enough, it’s inevitable.

But, because of that…

I get asked a lot:

“Is Upwork worth it?”

Rather than me answer (again), why not hear from someone who has had massive success on Upwork… over 400k earned, in fact.

This is Adam:

“Before getting involved with Upwork, I was in a significant amount of debt from several failed businesses, from restaurants to apps, and the company I was currently working for, recently failed too, leaving me stuck between a rock and a hard space.”

Then, he joined Upwork:

“It wasn’t more than a couple days into my pursuit for paying projects, that I came across my first client that hired me to do a small 40 task on Infusionsoft. It took me about 30 minutes to complete, but I went above and beyond. My man was ecstatic!Not only did he write me an amazing review, but he basically offered to hire me for unlimited hours at 40/hour, which to me at the time sounded amazing!”

And, now?

Well, a picture’s worth 1000 words, right?

So yeah… definitely worth it.

But, his biggest insight on succeeding on Upwork…

Might sound a bit familiar:

“I quickly figured out that the above skills are pretty common and the competition was fierce. What was different about me, was my motivation to help the client achieve their desired goals. In a word… “Competency”. For some reason, many freelancers on the site were/are unreliable. Not only did I experience this when I was hiring people, but also when I spoke with potential clients when I was interviewing for gigs. There wasn’t a lot of trust at all.”

Hmmm…

Think I know someone who has been hammering this point home for years now. Trust is the #1, most essential part of ALL freelancing… including Upwork.

And, knowing how to demonstrate you’re trustworthy.

Beyond reviews.

Or your portfolio.

Everybody does that.

But, doing it simply in the words you say.

And, how you say them.

So, everything you write, every phone call with a potential client, every ounce of messaging they get from you just oozes with trustworthiness.

That’s when this freelance thing gets easy.

And, you can charge 295/hour.

And, make 400k or more.

Anyway, that’s the main thrust of my freelancing on Upwork course over on SkillShare… showing you how to demonstrate your trustworthiness.

Even if you don’t have a big client history…

Or tons of reviews…

Or, a perfect portfolio.

You can still have success from day one there.

Anyway, you can get access to that course for nothing on SkillShare. As a teacher, I can give you a 2-month, no-cost trial of SkillShare.

You get full access to all the courses there.

Including all of my courses.

Dig into as much as you want in that 2 months.

Cancel anytime before the 2 months is up…

And, never pay a penny.

Link to get started is here: https://skl.sh/2OIxQrO

Later,

John

On Freelancing

Tips, stories and inspiration for freelance web designers and developers

John Morris

Written by

I’m a web designer who helps other web designers with two things: 1) how to code and 2) how to market yourself so you can earn your living as a coder.

On Freelancing

Tips, stories and inspiration for freelance web designers and developers

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade