Mastering Upwork for Online Freelance Success

So many freelancers have experimented in mastering Upwork, as it is the world's largest platform for freelance gigs. Bringing together hirers and providers in a global marketplace, Upwork is a place to get business done. Creatives, developers, marketers, and more have all found success there.

Yet still others have found the platform confusing and disappointing. So many gigs, so many freelancers, and yet... How do you know which ones are real, and actually going to pay you? How you compete for a living wage, against providers in markets where living costs are so much cheaper than in Europe? And how do you create a profile and pitch which really stands out, when you find the perfect opportunity?

My Upwork story

I admit that my own dabbling in the past left me a long way from mastering Upwork. I first explored it LONG ago, back when it was known as Elance. In fact, I got my first freelance writing side gigs there, which inspired me to dream that one day I could make a living writing and working for myself! You can therefore blame Upwork for the fact you are reading this page now...

But I haven't used it for years, so I knew I needed expert and up-to-date input for our community here. I found that, in the form of Forest Hall. Forest not only has his own successful provider business on the platform, he also now coaches and supports others to do the same.

He joined us for a fantastic live conversation, where we unpacked many of the mysteries, and learned so much about the latest iterations of the platform.

And if you're inspired after watching the video, and would like to work one-to-one with Forest to kick start your Upworking, he is generously offering 10% discount to all our readers - just mention "RWE" when you make contact:

Now here's the video for you:

What did we learn from the webinar?

For me one of the standout insights was to really use Upwork as a search engine. To really drill down into the different filters and menu settings. When I had tried to find work there in the past I had focused on keywords etc, but not on the different settings you can overlay there, to dig deep into the clients and opportunities you actually want to attract - while eliminating those you do not.

Another great idea for mastering Upwork is to check out your competition. Forest shared a fabulous hack for doing just that, in a way I had never thought of!

So do check it out, and furthermore you will find many of these ideas and approaches also useful for freelancing on other platforms, like Fiverr and Freelancer. 

Indeed, as Forest pointed out, you should never put all your eggs in one basket. Especially when it's not your basket! A diversified approach to generating freelance income is always the best idea.