Freelancing ≠ Upwork
Ignore the dangerous advice that you can hit it rich on cheap marketplaces. Your ideal clients don’t live there.
I started writing on Medium because I believe freelancing will continue to become a bigger and more important part of our global workforce over the next decades. I’ve been doing it since forever and believe I’m pretty good at it. I’d like the share that experience to help others succeed.
I’ve naturally also been reading more on Medium, and I’ve been noticing a frightening trend of poor advice to new freelancers.
Some people — even prominent ones with many followers — are recommending Upwork as a great place to learn and grow your freelance career. I can’t sit by and watch this terrible advice spread. So here are my two cents.
This isn’t an attack on Upwork specifically, or any other freelance job marketplace. It’s an attack of their entire concept — a concept which doesn’t serve freelancers or their clients well!
Why freelancers use Upwork
Let’s examine why a freelancer might think it’s a good idea to use Upwork or similar marketplaces:
- Boosting your project pipeline. Upwork says they help match you to ideal jobs for your skills, which could help you…
