Avoid Upwork! - Freelancers Beware: Upwork Review
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- čas přidán 2. 07. 2024
- In this UpWork review you’ll learn about the three BIG mistakes new freelancers make and why you may even want to avoid UpWork all together. Before you invest time into creating your profile, you should watch this.
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Table of Contents:
0:00 - Intro
0:20 - Fees
3:23 - Competitive
5:40 - Client First
7:26 - My thoughts
8:14 - Outro
Avoid Upwork! - Freelancers Beware: Upwork Review
Freelancing on Upwork: Downsides of Building a Successful Freelance Business With UpWork
Should I use Upwork to freelance on? Is upwork really the best freelancer solution?
Do you want to start making a part-time income as a freelancer so you can eventually quit your job?
There are a lot of options out there and you may not know if Upwork is really going to give you the best opportunities given your limited time. If you're new to freelancing and looking for a platform to build your business long term, this Upwork review might be right for you.
But first, what is Upwork?
Upwork is the largest online talent solution connecting businesses and skilled professionals. Upwork make it easier and more cost-effective for businesses to find, hire, work with, and pay talent through Upwork.
Essentially, Upwork is trying to make certain parts of running a freelance business easier - mainly finding new clients/projects - but the tradeoff is huge. I talk about everything you need to know in this Upwork review before you dive in. I discuss about upwork pricing and fees, and so much more that would make you reconsider getting work from Upwork.
One of the downsides of upwork is fees. If your looking to make money right away, as in the next few days then Upwork is going to wind up being one of the most expensive options from its alternatives such as Guru or Freelancer.com. Unless you are paying you’ll be limited to a few categories of jobs you can apply for. I discuss in this video the detailed upwork pricing scheme. So, when working, make sure you are comfortable with Upwork payment terms and there are clear milestones for getting paid.
If you’re an absolute beginner when it comes to freelancing on any freelancing sites, you might have a hard time getting through competition. Upwork heavily favors old and proven freelancers to new ones and if your just getting started you are very, very late to the party.
Upwork care more for their clients than the freelancers. While potential clients are reviewing proposals, if Upwork doesn’t think you are a good fit, they will place you at the very bottom and not even show you in the results! if there is n upwork dispute of payment, Upwork will pretty much side with the clients, not the freelancer.
I hope you got something out from this Upwork review. There are other upwork.com alternatives out there where you can freelance.
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Will you still consider freelancing on UpWork? 🤔
UpWork is extremely competitive, another awesome platform is FreeeUp :)
There are a quite a few freelancer marketplaces out there; haven't herd of that one before.
Nope. Not even close.
No, never after they suspended my account without any reasons.
Onlinejobs.ph
I noticed the table of contents in the description. I think that's very unique and clever. Not too many youtubers do that and it means a lot to those who just want the info and not an intro. Thank you.
👍Glad it was helpful! As someone who watches a lot of CZcams, I wish it was done more too.
Look at you replying to every comment in a professional manner. 👍
So glad I watched this. Thanks
😅... Thanks for watching! I'm happy it was helpful 🙏
Upwork is like a restaurant that charges you for the menu, and an additional fee for ordering food, before finally paying for a meal
😂 Perfect analogy
😂😂 Even perusing the menu ain't free, my gosh.
I was about to sign up, no way!
XD
... and you are the food.
Why do I only see videos on which sites to avoid? Why not some info on which sites we should use.
The best way to freelance is either 1. start your own side business advertising on craigslist or whatever to get attention or 2. go to your normal job hiring sites or random businesses you want to work for and look for contract jobs. Going through any freelance website is doing yourself a disservice and cuts into your profits.
☹I know not the YT algorithm.... Here are two videos on why to use Fiverr and Upwork:
Top 5: Best Fiverr Gigs: czcams.com/video/CNl8QSfNzKU/video.html
Freelance on Upwork (Top3): czcams.com/video/vItgha09b3Y/video.html
You might Aswel think out of the box
This is true
Clickbait. These "marketing" videos are selling air and making money with courses, referrals and add views
Thank you, I like that you got to the point from the start and also had a helpful illustration. I also liked the realistic cons explained
Thank you... My goal here is to present the pitfalls - not say never to try.
Great video, I wish there were more videos like this when I started out freelancing. I have to correct you on one point though; it's not your first $500 that is charged 20%, it's your first $500 per client. Each new client you get you are charged 20% for under $500 earned, then 10% for over $500 up to $10,000 and 5% for billings over $10,000. I was on Upwork for a few years and after a while I had to quit because it seemed like every couple of weeks they changed their policies to favour the freelancers that were more well established. So just like you said, they squeezed out the smaller freelancers in favour of the larger ones and agencies.
Thank you for the clarifications and sharing your experience as a freelancer on the platform for such a long time 🙏
Keep going MarK. and congrats on your success. Are you still on Upwork or do you try other sites as well?
Which one is better than all i want to freelance
I wish I did more research before joining! I was only on for 6 months before I gave up. The amount of information they were asking for just to get my money was surreal! They literally could have stolen my identity online with everything they were asking for. They were almost impossible to contact to cancel my account. Then I had to basically threaten them just to close it!
Hello Mark, i want to go into freelancing. Can you help Me from your experience?
Fantastic review..,great that you showed the view from the client side so I now know why I haven't had any responses to my many applications for work!!! Thanks
Awesome to hear it helped answer some of your questions! Wish you the best in your freelancing career. 🚀
I think part of the problem is people charging very low rates. You have people doing the same work for $3 $5 per hour 😑
@@tefydevalencia hadn't thought about that...I had set my rates low to try and get my foot in the door so to speak...but not that low!
@@mattmeade983 Yes like my rate is around $12 and clients reach back saying they can pay $5 $6, because there are people charging even lower than that. There are still clients that would pay your rate depending on your skills
@Jasmin Valencia Those are people from low income countries like india. The quality is in line with the price but clients don't seem to care. They just want cheap.
Hi Jason Whaling, I definitely agree with your point. Its always to build a good portfolio and apply directly without sacrificing 5% to 20% of my income for some platforms. Thank you for explaining this.
🙌Nice! Good luck getting your own clients!
Thanks for the warning. I will re-assess my freelancing strategy.
By all means, still give it a try..... just be aware of some of the downsides.
Arvin, what have you discovered on your re-assessment?
Consider LinkedIn.
Upwork is a joke now! They're charging freelancers to apply to jobs and again upon job completion? No thanks!
You are right! Upwork is now a business, they are not for freelancer.
😣Sad but true.
I have a good upwork reputation and jobs but you are completely right
I don't even look at Upwork anymore. Maybe if they get their act together, change leadership or figure out a way to make things more attractive for the freelancer, maybe then I'll come back. MAYBE!
Charging nominal fees (15 cents to a max of 90 cents USD) for applications keeps the platform far more legitimate than the alternative.
I agree with a previous comment: you got straight to the point. You wasted no time so I wouldn’t waste my time. Valuable info. Keep it up!
Thank you; that's what I aim for with these. Thank you!
Whoaa...glad that I watched this video. Nice job Jason 👍
🙏Thank you
This was helpful, thank you!
Happy to help! Just some things to consider before going all in on Upwork.
Super review Jason! Thank you for sharing your experience, I've wondered a few times about Upwork!
The good news is there are plenty of other platforms out there and UpWork can be a part of a freelancing strategy as long as you are aware of the downsides..... good luck with your freelancing! 🚀
This is so useful!! Thank you so much for sharing this!
Happy to help!
Thank you for helping me decide which site to use.
👍
Very thorough overview, couldn't agree more!
Nice work!
🙌
All that was just great to know. I already have an account on Upwork, and yes! It is expensive and competitive. Thank God I watched this
It's an uphill battle but a good place to try. Just be sure to try out other platforms as well!
Thank you so much!!!!!! 🙏 You REALLY saved me!! 🤧
Happy to help! It might still be worth a try - just be aware of the pit falls
Thank you for the video. Really time saving.
Awesome to hear!
I have used UpWork and had criminals as clients. I wish I would have understood better that they protect clients and NOT freelancers. I did everything right and still lost my dispute. Fortunately, I was considered an employee not a independent contractor and my state and federal laws protect me. If i would have saw this earlier this week I would have done things a bit differently. Thank you!!!!!!
😣Ouch that sounds bad
Thank you! Knowing this, I will not pay one more cent for "connects" -- even after I become established as a freelancer, I still will not come back, because I have no intention of supporting this kind of exploitation. If you were applying for a job at an accounting firm, a bank, or a restaurant, would you have to pay them to submit an application? No -- because those businesses are legit.
Good point
Glad I saw this. Thanks for the info!
👍
This was really helpful- thank you!
Awesome! Good luck with your Freelancing
Great information. A few years ago I used to get all kinds of work on Upwork, now it seems impossible because of the way they changed it. Also 20% loss on every project is crazy.
Yeah, a lot as changed for the worse
Sal, have you tried other platforms like fiverr or ifreelanced?
Didn’t have all of these problems with upwork, but I definitely felt like I was stretched creatively on fixed projects.
Glad you've found success with it, hope it continues to work!
Thank u very much for ur advice. It was very informative for a beginner like me.
Happy to help! Wish you the best with your freelancing
It’s so good and honest video! Thank you 🙏🏻
🙏 Thank you
Thank you for this. As a new freelancer, I signed up on UpWork but I pretty much realised these loopholes through observations indeed. Also, the search function for UpWork sucks big time when it comes to searching relevant open jobs. The advanced search doesn't help either. If I decide to search via tags, it's no good either. Not a lot of clients put appropriate tags on their open jobs. Most of the time, it is a misleading tag of your skills for the job that is completely out of the scope of your skill. Anyone experiencing this?
Tried searching and applying for open jobs on UpWork for a couple of months, but ultimately without any success just gave up altogether. I am now harnessing my own contacts (and their networks) and getting more jobs TBH (without paying any additional job charges).
I guess, me and UpWork aren't really made for each other. 🤭
It's good go hear you were able to find success on your own even though upwork didn't work out. Congratulations and thank you for sharing your experience.
I had my boyfriend hire me on the site, to get my first job and review. Thereafter it was not so bad. Also, pro tip. Don't work projects, only hourly, people will always try to take advantage of your services, so don't do projects!
😅 Well that's one way to get started...
Great tips have you tried other sites like fiverr or ifreelanced?
Hahahahah that's genius
Thanks for the advice & Video! 🙏
👍🙏
You have given honest reviews, i salute u for tht..
🙏Wish you the best in your freelancing
Thanks for this. I've been getting disgusted with Upwork. It's also full of money-laundering scammers.
😟Ouch! Sorry you've had such a bad experience
Pretty much all is true. I'm making not a bad money on the Upwork, but I had almost a 9-year freelancer experience before the Upwork. This platform is REALLY COMPETITIVE! Thousands of freelancers from cheap countries can make your job for a couple of bucks an hour. So if you want to make a good start on the Upwork you need to have a really strong portfolio.
It makes it very hard for new freelancers to breakout, and as a client, it's much harder to find new talent.... Thanks for sharing how you were able to be successful!
Came across this video because I am researching upwork as a stock to own. Nice video
Hope this helps in choosing a platform to get started with 👍
Wow. Thanks man. Good and valuable information. Appreciate it.
🙏Happy freelancing!
@@JasonAWhaling
Thank you sir. Will stay in touch. There's just so much I want to learn. And you seem so knowledgeable, yet very humble and helpful.
Thanks again.
Great video, I’ve been on UpWork for over a decade now and it brought me great long term clients to my own business who continued to work with my own company for many years.... so, you can always count on UpWork as a cheap lead generation platform, as you’ll be proposing directly to a “hungry buying client”, you’ll be proposing directly to a client who already knows that he needs a help in a certain area and asked for help on that area... I can see those clients as “gems” if you’re someone who’s responsible for generating high quality leads.
I’d also like to clarify that the 20% commission is worse than you have described... the fees ONLY goes down to 10% for ONLY the client who continues working with you after $500
Which means, if you got 10 projects each is $500 with 10 different clients (which is the common case), then you’ll have to pay 20% fees on every one of these projects, which means you’ll pay $1,000 fees out of $5k
Still, for me, I consider that an essential part of my business cost and I’d still use the service even if the fees was 50% as long as I can price my service in a profitable way after the fees, which is your responsibility.
The real reason I wouldn’t recommend UpWork for new users, is that it’s very very very common that UpWork can close your account if you applied to few jobs in the beginning and you didn’t get a response from client.... this doesn’t make sense and doesn’t make UpWork a safe place at all for any new commer to the platform
Thank your for taking the time to share your decade of experience with us! Very valuable insights and it's encouraging to hear you've been able to use it to grow your business off of UpWork as well. 🚀
Any recommendations for a free lance noob
You couldn't be more right! I have been a freelancer in Upwork for 6-7 years... (and employer for one year)... I realized that they are over their head with fees, and now they even charge for connects. Of course, I was fortunate to meet amazing customers (friends) from that platform... But when it comes to paying 20% of your hard sweat job to Upwork, and then Paypal, your bank transactions, etc.... you end up working for fees... I don't see them dropping fees or allowing free connects or even helping out veterans on the platform (or helping out amidst the COVID)... I am starting to look someplace else.
Congratulations on your continued success on the platform! Glad you were able to get some good relationships before the fees really piled on.
Thank you very much! Ver usefull info...
Happy to help! 👍
I just subscribed cause of this info.
Thanks Man.
🙏 Thank you!
I’ve been working on Upwork, its been 2months now, i think its a great freelancing website. You have to bid until you get yourself first job, make good profile and make sure you bid only on those jobs that you can get it done, and take connects as an business investment, once you started getting jobs you gonna build your profile and everything will be easier from there
It sounds easy, but sadly most people who do that don't have the same experience.... happy to hear you've found so much success with the site!
Getting the first jobs is hard
@@kiokokyalo9537 what about second one ?
@@mistershakh9203 tell me about it
@@kiokokyalo9537 got first job but cannot getting second one
Thanks for this video there was some good info in it which I don't know. So which platforms would you recommend then the other two or are there better ones?
I still recommend trying out Upwork - just be aware of the downsides and roadblocks ahead... Guru and Freelancer are the other two to try.
Great advice Jason !!
🙏 Thank you
You just confirmed what I intuitively believed. Many new freelancers upon signup usually land a client within days and then suddenly the entire site ghosts on them. Now that you mentioned that Upwork puts new freelancers on different categories where a client has to manually sort through to find them is essentially same as shadow banning. They want you to exhaust your connects and refresh the batch. I need to reframe the way I view Upwork.
😟 It's not cool how they do that
Hi Jason, thank you that was a great video. I am based in Canada. I know that some platforms only work with US based clients. Does Guru and Freelancer or any other platform you can recommend work with international freelancers? Thanks in advance!
Those are great alternatives to get started with. Your going to find the currency issue on every platform that you try. But there are always clients looking for freelancers from north america.
honestly, I got my first 2 clients at first 2-3 weeks, but after that I couldn't find any more success looking.
I even bought a monthly subscription with 70 connects/month, but it feels like I'm gonna just waste them all at this point
😰 Dang, sorry to hear you haven't found more clients recently... Hope that trend changes soon! Wish you the best with your freelancing career
I would suggest other platforms like ifreelanced or fiverr
I’ve had great success with Upwork, but I also was added to the J&J freelancer cloud network that allows me to take on larger pharmaceutical freelance video editing work, so despite their credit system I have no complaints and with a Covid lay-off in March am happy to report that I’m doing better freelancing than I was with my 9-5 full time videography job with a media company.
Congratulations! It's always great to hear someone has actually found success with the platform.
ok, thanks for this video. I made upwork for my music services few days ago and I was shocked actually why there is no way to apply for a job without PAYING for it. I will delete my profile now and keep it on freelancer/com. There should be more videos like this. Good job
Ouch! Wish you the best on Freelancer.com
I have tried all freelacing platforms. In my experience Upwork has been the best. Although the fee is higher than others but once you make 500$ it gets better.
Thanks for sharing! Glad you found success on the platform 🙌
Yea me too, for me it was the best
I've been surviving off upwork since day one now you have to buy connects and get promo code. It's just sad.... I really didnt even mind the %20... I'll check out these other sites. Thanks much
I hope some of the other sites treat you better.... I agree the connects are outrageous particularly given how many clients don't wind up hiring anyone.
Thanks for the great video jason
Happy to help!
Interesting perspective. Definitely food for thought
Always two sides to the story... Hope this helps with making a decision. Thanks for watching!
Jason, I think you need to expand your freelancing website horizons. I completely agree that Upwork and Guru are the top freelancing websites, but what some of the comments are revealing about the randomly closed profiles coupled with the scaled commission giving Upwork a vested interest in randomly closing profiles and forcing people to start over, means that I won't be recommending it without a warning about this in the future. I have been hearing more good things about Freelancer lately, but I would want to do some more research before recommending it myself because of past (10+) issues. This also goes for Fivver. However, you have had people ask you about very specific jobs, such as translating, and there are reputable websites that allow you to build profiles and cater to specific occupations, like ProZ (for translators).
There are always going to be ups and downs with any freelancing website, but the goal is to avoid ones that attract a large amount of scammers and migrate toward those that have payment protection escrows and other features that protect both freelancer and employer. I think every person complains about "foreigners" who can work for less "stealing" jobs, but the real problem is location. Someone who lives in Switzerland once complained about me charging too little because the cost of living is extremely high there. If you are living in a place or following a lifestyle that your occupation does not support in the competitive market, you might need to make changes either in occupation or location. At the same time, I have had qualified freelancers from Asia/Africa complain about how the freelance market discriminates against them and makes it more difficult to find jobs. Everyone cannot be hiring people from these places at low cost if these people feel they are being discriminated against because of their location. I think both sides are just feeling the pressures of a saturated job market.
From my view, as a freelancer and occasional employer, I hire the person I think can complete the job the best within my budget. My employers do the same. Sometimes, the job does not require perfect English, and if you are bidding on a job like that, you have to show you can do better than someone who can work for less or you have to be willing to work for less in an international market. There are many employers who don't care about the job for whatever reason and will simply take the lowest bidder, but it is fairly easy to figure this out from the job description and avoid bidding on those jobs. For example, I never bid on a job that wants it "cheap, perfect, and tomorrow." These employers don't have a clue what "perfect" is (or how impossible it is for one person to achieve that) and are willing to take the worst slop/plagiarized garbage as long as they don't have to pay much for it and get it quickly. At the same time, it is extremely easy to figure out which jobs you are qualified to do and make sure your profile reflects those qualifications before applying to them. Even if an employer has listed a book edit as a design job, if that employer looks at your profile, he/she will see that you are qualified to do what is needed.
🤔 Very even handed critique and excellent points. I agree that looking for more niche job sites specific to a profession/skill makes a whole lot of sense. Thank you very much for taking the time to share your own experiences. 🙏
No problem with me. I'm a top a rated freelancer I get my jobs mostly through invitations. Compared to fiverr, upwork has more good high paying clients whereas, fiverr costumers mostly are looking for fast and cheap jobs. Taking from my personal experience.
It's nice you can work without connects.... speaking as a client they are restricting the invitations now so we can't invitations as many freelancers as we want anymore.
great advice. thanks. 👍
🙏👍
Very helpful thanks.
Good luck freelancing!
The good thing about these freelancer job platforms is that we have the option to select the job level we want and for beginners we choose entry level to get more chances of getting an opportunity
True, those can be the hardest to get too though. Good luck!
From my experience, you still can succeed if you put 100% of your focus to freelancing. When I just tried to do it next to some other things I was busy with, it just didn't work. Once I decided to give it a chance for a month as a full-time work, things changed drastically. It seemed like a lot of opportunities just kept coming up and that I got that momentum
Happy to hear you've found success on the platform.
@@JasonAWhaling Thanks Jason!
Like your set up Jason ... Do you have a video for the best "bang for the buck" working set up for a freelancer ?
I don't but I did do a video on how we use Upwork to hire. You can checkout that vlog here... $8 Or Less? 💸💸: czcams.com/video/I4ZHii-S3D4/video.html
Thanks, very useful information. Suscribed!
🙏
This is sad. I used to be on Upwork, and you are right: the customer is 'always' right; a freelancer has to have savy and use the platform to win disputes.
☹Yeah, not cool
@@JasonAWhaling I thank you for the updating video. It showed me just how much Upwork has changed, and sadly, it is (more) not in the freelancer's benefit. I do hope it improves.
I was thinking about doing some Upwork years ago (3 plus years ago) and when they wanted to screenshot my computer, I clicked x.
😄
Wow, why were they asking for a screen shot?
This is my first time enjoying your CZcams channel. Great work! I’m looking forward to more great content from you. Thank you so much for this informative video! I got so much out of it.
🙏Thanks and welcome! Hope the future content is just as valuable.
Thank you for the informal video
👍
Not saying Upwork is perfect but it does have advantages as well. The level of clients you run into may be better on Upwork than on other platforms. Also the fees may sound bad but depending on your skill set 20% from your first $500 then 10% after that is actually worth it if you find a really good paying client. It may not work for everyone but I like it better than the others. Plus depending on your business the headache of a merchant account or trying to obtain a merchant account outside of paypal is worth the 10% from Upwork. It all depends on what you want and what you are selling. The thing to remember is when on Upwork is that you are a business, you need to treat yourself like one.
Good counter points. Your right that we have to consider the cost of finding clients on our own. I don't agree with the fee being worth it since the $500 is per client and not lifetime. There are a lot of contracts that don't get there. I think the previous system of rewarding lifetime earnings made more sense.
absolutely true and right to the point. Upwork system takes out low quality workers even those with low price.
I've been tried all these "freelancer" platforms: freelancer, fiverr, guru, etc. And etc. Never able to get any jobs from them but Upwork. What Freelancer do is only asking me to subscribe pay member which charged 10usd/month the minimum package. Bla bla
Yes, service fee of Upwork is high especially for the new freelancer which never able to earn 1st 500usd from a client. But Upwork really gives excellent service. I never get disappointed with Upwork. Other platforms for me are only scam. And another thing, Upwork is really a business, no body can give you anything free. Pay something like it's a kind of respect other ppl's effort also.
It's good to hear that it's actually working for some people.
Upwork? Excellent service? You gotta be fuckin kidding me.
@@BrianHSC so can i ask which platform you are using now? because I saw you mention 9$ translation, which I got trolls about it before...
@@thingshappen1213 I've been trying to apply few times always changing the profile in other to be applied but they always denied. I'm looking through other accounts which have been granted access to work and actually their skills were significantly fewer and the quality was lower. So , basically it's wrong place to start for now
I so wish I would have seen this sooner, I only searched videos about doing well on your Upwork profile! :( so much time put into this website and I believe I have a strong enough resume to be at least considered by most positions that I applied for, but I only got contacted back by scammers. So disappointing and a waste of time when I could have been finding real jobs! Literally put a good amount of work into... maybe 60 proposals and got contacted for about 15? They were all scams, Upwork needs to do something to control that, one week my whole timeline was flooded with the same exact ad... like 15/20 postings.
Wow, that's terrible 😳... Wish you the best in your next venture
It sucks they don't give newbies a chance. Hell, they don't even accept my application. I don't like "getting charged before getting paid" system as well because it sounds like a scam.
It's not a scam, but it is really rough on new freelancers and the pay before your paid model is not cool at all.
Upwork clients want a ridiculous amount of work for next to no money. I tried for a year to get work and finally gave up. I watched tutorials, asked for advice, made different profiles for different kinds of work, experimented with proposals... Not worth your time, at least as a freelance writer. Might as well use Craigslist.
Really sorry nothing ever stuck... Sadly your not alone 😣
Yes it happened with me sometimes. Sometimes you earn more money for less work
It won’t even let me enter my address to make an account so I guess that’s a no then
😣Sorry
smart advice, thank you
🙌 Happy to help!
Working freelance, there is so much to consider and take care of. I just finished my first job on UpWork; I don't mind the service charges at the moment but I'm glad to know what the other platforms offer.
If your actually able to break through and get clients, the fees can be justified... Congratulations on completing your first job!
@@JasonAWhaling thanks so much!
I realized these sites are mostly a waste of time if you are an American because you are competing against people in countries where prices are much cheaper. It's much better to reach out to businesses directly.
That is true, but on Upwork you can choose to only work with US clients and to bid on gigs that only want US based freelancers. In the end, bidding on work in any scenario is bad. Check out the book, "Win Without Pitching Manifesto" by Blair Enns to understand more.
@@xlnt3d01 Yes, I tried to US only clients too but the prices were still too cheap and many low-quality clients.
@@SuzannaKiraly thats totally understandable. I'm taking on lean budgets at Upwork right now myself. However, its better than having to pick up a crap pay part time job somewhere. I've got higher value work and clients, but the volume isn't where I need it right now. Minimum I have to reach about $100k-$125k. I'm only about 1/2 way. Eventually my flow will be shifted so I can't afford to take on lean budgets or maybe I'll have a full time gig again and maintain the high value clients so I can dig out of debt and eventually leverage the extra money properly instead of buying food and gas.
@SquishyCandyftw I agree with you. For the lean budget US clientele, most are amateur buyers, bootstrap startups, hobbyist or just people with self funded one-off projects so their budgets are tight, they do not know how to provide art direction or communication and what communication they do need to have, they want it easily understood both phonetically and culturally implied. Often, if you are a seasoned profession (if you are on Upwork, then you must have taken a bad bounce along the way...that's why I use it, to bridge gaps in client payments and low months) you will need to guide them through the process. I've worked with people internationally as a buyer and as a vendor so I get the global economy and that there is sooo much talent worldwide. There are pro buyers on there too, but they are looking for cost savings on low risk projects, otherwise they'd hit up the talent pool in their own outsource stables. Personally, I don't try to get low to mid level clients off Upwork with difficult projects. Myself and a few of my peers look for the fast turnaround super easy work. I'd rather make a decent clip creating a vector circle than work for minimum wage doing something more complicated.
Not true Suzanna. I am italian. And I compete on Upwork against people from India, Pakistan, China that sale services for 8 dollars/hour against my 40 $/hour rate. This does not mean that I have no work. I have filled my 40 hours slots in my calendar for all tme. Who really is a serious and quality client will always choose freelancers that are not low cost sinec the word is: You pay nuts you get monkeys... most of the time.
If what you say would be true, since I have a VAt number I pay taxes for my earnings and a lot of taxes... well I would not be an Upworker if it would not be the best place to find good quality customers- not ones willing to pay a dime and ask for a wonder.
Dont trust me. Go check my profile
www.upwork.com/fl/vasilebrindusaantonia
They blocked my account for an unknown reason before I could even start, I hadn't even done anything, was just setting up my profile and few days later figured out it's blocked like wtf. Good to know about the fee system, I guess I'll stick with fiverr.
Yeah, that happens a lot 😣
they even didn't explain what was the reason. They wanted to verify my identity, provided all needed docs and they suddenly blocked my account. The worst expierence in my life
@@nazimtairov6861 Mine was blocked too because I haven't earned on it
Good information. Thank you.
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As someone who's been on Upwork for the past 7 years and loves the platform, I came to this video with some hesitations - but I gotta say you made some great points there. I still think there's a place for newer freelancers on the platform, especially if they know how to stand out and market themselves correctly, but I won't deny it's been easier in the past.
Congratulations on your continued success! Thanks for watching and I agree with you on there being opportunities for those who are willing to put in the work to stand out
Good points Siliva, have you tried other platforms, like ifreelanced?
@@PaulVazquezJD never heard of that one!
@@freelancingwithsilvia They are offering free basic packages for freelancers until there is a cure or vaccine for COVID. The coupon code "free basic" worked for me at check out.
@@PaulVazquezJD thanks, but I'm not looking for freelance work rn ;)
I had success on Freelancer in the past and I still believe in it for a while even though I'm getting less opportunities than in the past and the competition increased exponentially even though most of them are not very skilled or educated. However, I dislike the double standards they all use when it comes to clients and freelancers.
Regarding UpWork? I've created an account as an established freelancer coming from the other website and I've paid subscription and other things to improve my profile and make it look professional and I've been bidding on projects a lot but I had no success and they even blocked my account because I have complained about it on Instagram. Therefore, even though I've been going to Upwork local gatherings, I'm profoundly disappointed by that website / service.
Blocked? Wow, if it's simply because of what you said on IG that's ridiculous... And I agree the double standard for freelancers and clients is unfair to the freelancers (even those who have been on the platform for a while).
@@JasonAWhaling I get clients by any means either way.
It's is Really Helpful. Thanks.
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Thanks for advice man :)
Happy to help! Good luck freelancing 🙌
Having just received my first payment from Upwork I now agree with Jason. It costs you too much money to work on the Upwork platform. On top of the portion that they take on any job, there is also the small matter of a $30.00 cost for the 'wire transfer' of your money into your account. I guess that this depends on where you live, but in my case I earned $365.00 from a client and received $311.00 from Upwork (a difference of $54.00). When converted into South African currency at my freelance rate, this means two full hours of work just to feed Upwork. Does'nt seem worth it, so off to the other freelance sites I go.
😣 Ouch! Wow, those are some heavy fees that add up. Congratulations on your success getting a client - sorry the fees took so much out of your hard work
Hi Myles. Which other platforms are you using now? What work were you doing on upwork?
Thanks for sharing this video. Very informative.
Happy to help
Very useful video thanks
Awesome!
They don't even entertain new applicants, I use to had an account which was suspended and later they disqualified me stating I do not qualify.
☹Ouch.... sorry to hear that. They are getting pretty strict
Its my third year working with upwork but of this year they have introduced a very unfair system on charging us for connect...someone advice the site to sign up with them
Yeah, the new system is completely broken. As a client I hate it and we are getting less and less qualifed candidates as a result, 😣
Maybe we can work together but outside their system...what type of gig do you offer
Great video and thanks for sharing. What are your thoughts in hiring some one to do your Upwork profile? How do you stand out in the crowd is the real question (if you are totally new).
I don't think that's a good idea.There is a LOT of videos and blogs out there about how to properly fill out your profile... Hiring someone to proof read your profile may be a good idea though
It's true. but I'm a new freelancer and I did made a few bucks there by giving a well-written pitch as a cover letter. At the end of the day, the client wants someone whom they can work with, can start immediately and are flexible. yeah. I won a few tho :)
That's so great to hear! So many negative stories, it's nice to hear someone was acutally successful. Congradulations
Great review! Also, I believe the wost side of Upwork is that they can close your account for no reason. I'm quite regretful for the time I spent on Upwork to build a good reputation.
It's crazy how many people that happens too out of the blue. Not cool at all and it's so unfair that no explantation is given.
not true, if you have a certain amount of pay or experience accumulated. Like any job if it shows that in your history you look for work every 3 months, whos gonna hire you ?
@@nerroseven I work on Guru and sometimes don't apply for jobs for 6 months. It has never taken me more than a few bids to get one because I have a solid profile that extends for years. If you have to rebuild your profile every time you want to look for jobs, then Upwork sounds more like a scam these days because each time they are restarting your $500 climb. It also seems that if you are not using their pay-per-use "connects" then you will be suspended even if you have an active job. Once again, this makes Upwork a scam and not the legitimate freelancing website it once was. As long as you keep paying them high fees, you can keep your account, but once you aren't actively engaged in giving them money up front or once you reach that 10%/5% tier and stop paying "connect" fees, then you lose you account and get to start over. I can't think of any other freelance website that closes accounts for reasons other than bad business practices on the part of the freelancer/employer.
I was just thinking about this. A fee to make money, a fee to buy tokens to submit for jobs, a fee to take your money out. Thanks for showing me other choice, since I decided to stop working for Upwork
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Wow thanks for the honesty and could you tell me which website should I start with
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Here's a fun fact. There's an ad below this video encouraging people to create an upwork account
😄 Awe CZcams
I love Upwork! It has changed my life!
I am olso working on upwork but don't get orders bro 😢
9740216124 call me sir please
i loved it too when it was Odesk, i wish i will not see you in same situation like me when you say i do not love upwork. I lost everything in my life behind upwork my health, wealth, mind, social life, respect, and more.
@Brig Agency i have not yet recovered, i am just selling my stuff like laptop, computer, mobile, etc to get some money for my daily life things.
👍🔥Awesome!
I just need a side hustle but I'm not trying to waste my time lol
Give it a month and if you dont' get some traction then move on to trying another platform.
I agree; get into as many malls as your store can.
Thank you for this! I know freelancers find it tempting, but it's SO not worth the time.
Wish you the best in finding a different path. Hope all the videos were helpful!
Thanks for the video. Even though I have many years of experience in my specialised field, I couldn't lend a chepest paying job there over the week. I just quit because I feel like upwork is putting me down.
It's quite hard to stand out and get started. Sorry the jobs were low and far between
Let me tell you that I have been working with upwork for last 6 years. It's the only genuine freelancing market place. Other like Freelancer, GURU are crap! Of course upwork is lil expensive. But the best!
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Don't you think its possible that the platform has changed in the 6 years since you first made you account? I am happy for your success there, but it seems to be less profitable/more exploitive for new users who are joining the site in 2020.
@@MK-ih6wp yes, it's difficult to get on board for new freelancers. They might have made it purposely so to keep the marketplace genuine. But the market is with upwork, the freelancers and the employers, upwork being the most professional. And there is always a cost for premium product.
it's not good for the new user
i made 3K this month on Upwork paying 3% service fee and working half days, so all this was bs... You get ALL the good clients and a lot of perks once you get to the top.
It is pretty nice once you've worked you way up. Congrats!
Same here. Been working with them for 3 years. Earned a very lucrative sum. Ik still getting charge 20% though hmmmmm might look this up
hi, can you advise me I got my first job and earned 5 star review but getting a second job seems a bit harder? how to win ?
@@mistershakh9203 TIP 1: Keep your text short TIP2: Do a video reel TIP3: Keep scanning the feed and applying to jobs - only about 1/20 will answer.
I don't know why but my proposals are going the "others proposals" section in the client applications list even I have all the Matched skills to the job post. If want to check I can share with you screen shot.
I know exactly what you are talking about and it's a big unknown.... Upwork doesn't share how they decide that.
I love Upwork. And the price to apply for a job is from free to 15 cents. I've made over $40k on Upwork working less than part-time over a couple years. I would absolutely recommend it for a side hustle until you have your own website or online portfolio.
It's nice to hear it's actually worked out well for someone
Upwork sucks for unskilled people, if you have top notch skills, Upwork is one of the best places to be in.
It's not a great place to get started any more. Very hard to stand out even if you do have experience 😣
@@JasonAWhaling right