Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

UPWORK REGISTRATION PROCESS

• Finding the best picture for your profile

• Setting up a professional title
• Crafting an effective overview of your skills
• Providing personal info

MAKING THE BEST POSSIBLE PROFILE

• Getting 100% complete profile

• Filling out your portfolio
• Taking Upwork tests

KNOWLEDGE YOU NEED BEFORE YOU START BIDDING

CORNERSTONES OF SUCCESSFUL BIDDING

• Writing a cover letter

• Finding the clients worth working with
• Getting acquainted with Upwork rules
• Recognizing and avoiding scammers

1
 Introduction

ONLY A FEW DECADES ago, a stable 9-to-5 office job was considered
to be the best employment option for most people. Only a few years ago,
it was difficult to find somebody who had even heard about freelancing,
not to mention those who were successful freelancers.

However, our world is rapidly changing, and in 2017 one out of three
U.S. workers is a freelancer. Freelancing didn’t take only the United
States of America by storm. In the Philippines, Russia, Bangladesh, Unit-
ed Kingdom and Romania, the number of freelancers also exceeds 25%
of the workforce, while that number is between 10% and 20% of the
workforce in India, Ukraine, Pakistan, and Canada.

The European Union is one of the fastest growing freelance markets. In

the next few years, it should provide more than ten million new free-
lancers.

Among the platforms that offer people opportunity to earn money

as freelance workers, Upwork is the biggest and regarded as the best
overall. Over 12 million freelancers have signed up to receive offers and
apply for jobs on the platform, and that number is growing fast. The
competition is getting fiercer every day, and new freelancers are finding
it difficult to land a contract, since there are many experienced profes-
sionals with great ratings bidding on the same jobs as newcomers. Also,
Upwork started turning down new freelancers in the crowded markets,
such as data entry, translating or writing, unless they show they can be a
truly valuable addition to the platform.

This e-book will help Upwork beginners create the best possible profile
from scratch, but it will also prove useful even to experienced freelancers
to tweak their profiles for maximum results. In the first part of the book
2
 ULTIMATE UPWORK GUIDE - HOW TO KICKSTART YOUR
FREELANCE CAREER 3

I will go through the process of creating and completing the profile, and
after that, I will talk about the art of writing proposals and getting the
job done.
 Upwork Registration Process

I ALREADY MENTIONED that Upwork started rejecting applica-

tions from new freelancers. In 2017, Upwork’s freelancer approval crite-
ria have become increasingly stricter, and more people get denied entry
every day. In most cases, the applicant will get a generic e-mail from Up-
work which will inform them that their application has been rejected,
with an option to improve it and potentially get accepted. Usually, the
person who tried to register will have no idea what to "improve" and they
won't have an inkling of where to even begin. The application process can
go wrong in a bunch of different ways, and you need to know what to
look out for. But, before we jump into that, I will guide you through
the registration process thoroughly, which will maximize the odds of
your profile being accepted the first time around.

In the beginning, I urge you to take this process seriously. Every character
counts, and every wrong move might trigger Upwork bots to reject your
application. Although this seems like the same old boring registration
query, you have to pay attention to the details and follow instructions
carefully.

4
 ULTIMATE UPWORK GUIDE - HOW TO KICKSTART YOUR
FREELANCE CAREER 5

After you click on the "Sign Up" button, the page shown above is the
first one you will see. From the drop-down menu you can pick one ser-
vice that you are going to be offering to your potential clients. You may
choose one of these options from the menu:

• Web, Mobile & Software Dev

• IT & Networking
• Data Science & Analytics
• Engineering & Architecture
• Design & Creative
• Writing
• Translation
• Legal
• Admin Support
• Sales & Marketing
• Accounting & Consulting
6 Janko Glavonjic

The choice you make here is extremely important when it comes to

avoiding that unwanted rejection email from Upwork. You have to
know that Writing, Translation, Admin Support and Data Science &
Analytics are oversaturated with freelancers – most of which fail at land-
ing jobs consistently. Upwork is in the process of suspending those who
haven’t been successful on the platform, and they are rejecting new appli-
cants in these fields until they can separate the wheat from the chaff. Un-
less you can craft a killer portfolio right off the bat, think about other
options. After you pass the Upwork profile application review process,
you can apply for jobs in other fields as well, even change the one you
picked during the registration process. However, always keep in mind
that if you can't showcase your talents and present yourself as an expert
in the service you provide to your clients, your chances of winning the
bidding war against other freelancers will be slim.

In the field below the drop-down menu, you should choose the skills you
will offer to clients. Those skills are related to the category you chose
first, and Upwork will help you with recommendations. I suggest that
you pick at least three skills, but if you can, you should definitely add
more. As a writer, I offer Content Writing, Creative Writing, Article
Writing, Academic Writing, Copywriting, Sports Writing and Technical
Writing to my clients.

Before you continue the registration process, you have to choose your ex-
perience level – Entry, Intermediate, or Expert. It’s a little harder to get
approved if you select Entry level, especially if you applied to work in one
of the oversaturated categories. You have to be honest with yourself. If
you can't in good conscience say that you are at least at an Intermediate
level, maybe you should wait before registering on Upwork. Of course,
you can select that you are an expert and just get past this question, but
if your portfolio and profile doesn't reflect that, you won't be able to get
hired anyway.
 ULTIMATE UPWORK GUIDE - HOW TO KICKSTART YOUR
FREELANCE CAREER 7

In the next page of Upwork registration form, you will need to up-
load your picture, to write the title that describes the work you want
to do, then fill out your overview, education, employment history
and English proficiency.

Finding the best picture for your profile

THE PICTURE IS VERY important for your profile, since that is the
first thing your potential client will see. The picture needs to be a head-
shot, because of the dimensions and the quality provided by Upwork.
Don't go with a classic CV picture which can be too plain, or a casual
picture above the hips, because the clients won't be able to see your face.
8 Janko Glavonjic

Also, this hopefully goes without saying, but the picture needs to be pro-
fessional. Don't upload something from your Saturday night out or from
your summer vacation. Make sure that the background is bright and non-
distracting – the focus should be on your face.

Depending on your job, you can upload a laidback photo, or you can
opt for something more corporate. Also, if you have the opportunity, you
should think of the picture which describes your job. For instance, if you
write about pets, it would be a wise choice to take a photo with your pets
and put it on Upwork. It will get attention from prospective clients for
sure and it will be another proof of your expertise.

To summarize: your profile picture should be a headshot with a nice

clean background, preferably connected in some way to your area of ex-
pertise. And don’t forget to smile!

How to set up a popping professional title on

Upwork
THE PROFESSIONAL TITLE that describes your job is the most im-
portant thing on your profile. If you optimize it correctly, you will appear
in the search more frequently. And you know what that means – more
job offers. I’ll explain the approach on the example of my title.

Creative Content Writer, Expert in Sports & Betting

As you can notice, I blended two things together. First, I took the title of
a creative content writer. There are other options such as “article writer”,
“blog writer”, “copywriter”, but those terms were too narrow for my
needs. I wanted a wider, more captivating concept. Of course, wide con-
cepts aren’t always that good for searching, but a lot of clients will search
by niche. Hence the second part, which is the explanation of my niche.
If you can, always aim to specialize in one thing and be the expert in that
field because that will allow you to beat the competition almost every
 ULTIMATE UPWORK GUIDE - HOW TO KICKSTART YOUR
FREELANCE CAREER 9

time when you apply for a job. And, it will ultimately lead to something
like this:

You can see that I am better than average in all the categories, but the last
one is the most important and it tells that there are very few writers on
Upwork that get the job more often than I do once I apply.

This is not only for writers: if you are a designer, developer, virtual assis-
tant, you can try this approach too. For example – Web Developer | Java
Expert; or Graphic Designer, Expert in Fantasy Book Covers, and so on.
Think about your strengths and describe the job you do in a concise man-
ner.

Crafting an effective overview of your skills

WHEN IT COMES TO THE professional overview, consider it a nat-
ural continuation of your professional title above.

There are several different approaches here. I’ll cover all of them, explain-
ing which one is the best in my opinion.
10 Janko Glavonjic

First of all, try to format the overview properly. Don't write it as a "wall of
text", especially if it is longer than 300 words. You can use bullet points to
emphasize the most important things and break down the text. No one is
going to spend time reading an overview that isn’t formatted well (and it
might hurt your chances of getting hired if you are a writer and the client
is particularly meticulous in their selection criteria).

You should think about your biggest assets and use that to attract the
client's interest. Some freelancers copy the feedback from the most sat-
isfied clients (although the client can see it if he scrolls through the pro-
file), and they talk about their past experiences. This might look impres-
sive, but it can feel too generic, causing the clients to feel disconnected
and uninterested.

Over the years, I also saw some overviews in the form of a story about
the freelancer. Some of them were really original and well written. It def-
initely captures attention and sets you apart from the rest, but you must
keep some things in mind if you opt for that approach. Less than 10%
of people read without skimming if the text is over 1000 words, even in
their own field of interest, so the odds of a client reading through the
whole thing are not that great. Keep your overview short and use what
little time you have to capture the clients’ attention to the maximum.

My approach differs, and the easiest way for you to see that is taking a
look at my overview below:
 ULTIMATE UPWORK GUIDE - HOW TO KICKSTART YOUR
FREELANCE CAREER 11

There are several important things I need to address here. First of all,
this overview is short, clean, straightforward and easy to read in under
a minute. The first sentence after the title is crucial. When somebody
uses Upwork search to find suitable freelancers, they see only the ti-
tle, and 92 characters (including the spaces between the words) of the
overview. So, the first sentence, combined with the title, should give the
most complete information possible.

From my title and the first sentence you can see several keywords which
allow my profile to appear in the search – "content writer", "sports", "bet-
ting", "creative writing", "on–page SEO", "SEO", "internet research". Also,
it gives the clients initial info about my skills and if they are interested,
they will click on my profile to find out more.

Below that, I wrote some brief info about me and what I can do for my
clients. The important keywords in this part of the overview are "100%
original content", "quality article", "error–free", "work delivered on time",
which are the words you will find in almost every job post for writers on
Upwork.

By mentioning all these assets I signal to my potential clients that I know

what they need. Deadlines are crucial on Upwork, so the clients will love
you and often give you a bonus if you finish the job before the deadline.

I tested out many different overview approaches and this worked the
best for me. Of course, you may alter this a bit and include more infor-
mation about your past experiences. For example, if you worked for a
well–known company, or have other skills which are relevant for the job
you tend to do on Upwork, feel free to mention that. Also, the overview
will vary greatly depending on your profession. The writers have to show
they excel in writing, the designers have to show that they’re creative,
while a developer might want to namedrop all the new technologies
they’re familiar with and any well–known projects they’ve worked on.
12 Janko Glavonjic

Upwork support will use the overview to evaluate your knowledge and
decide whether your application will be accepted or not. First and fore-
most, write your overview without any grammar or spelling errors
and proofread it ten thousand times if needed! Secondly, please don't
mention things that are not related to the job you want to do.

For example, you are a logo designer, but you mentioned that you own a
pet shop. Some people want to impress the clients with their background
and the things they did in their life, but that can also show that you are
not an expert in the desired field and perhaps not serious enough to be
a freelancer on Upwork. You don't even have to mention your education
here, if it is not relevant to your profession on Upwork. Focus on the de-
tails and relevant information and you won't have issues completing the
registration.

Provide personal info and finish the registration

process
AFTER THE OVERVIEW, we have more straightforward questions to
answer. Under Education, you will list everything from your high school
and college, to the courses related to your job.

Under Employment History focus on the jobs you had in the desired
niche and mention the biggest companies you worked for.

Under English proficiency, be sincere and correctly evaluate your English

level. Writers need to have native or bilingual proficiency, while other
professions might pass with fluent or conversational. If your English
isn’t that great, my advice to you is to learn the language first, and af-
ter that try to start your freelance career.

On the next page of the registration form you will have to choose your
hourly rate.
 ULTIMATE UPWORK GUIDE - HOW TO KICKSTART YOUR
FREELANCE CAREER 13

Your hourly rate will be displayed publicly on your profile and it is one of
the important signals you are sending to the potential clients. Your rate
will depend on your experience and expertise. One of the most com-
mon mistakes is picking a low rate in the hopes of attracting clients.
With a lower rate, the only clients you will be able to attract are scam-
mers and those who will underrate your work. They are often harder to
please than the clients who spent more than a million dollars on Up-
work, and you should avoid them at all costs. To others, you will look
like an entry level worker, a person without self confidence and proper
knowledge of the job.

Therefore, if you have enough expertise and experience before you ap-
plied to Upwork, there is no reason to compete for the lowest paying
jobs. Find out what the average hourly rate in your field is, and put it
on your profile. You can change your rate at any time and raise it when
you feel confident enough.

In the process of choosing the correct rate, pay attention to the Up-
work fee. Upwork takes 20% from every amount you receive from your
clients. That might sound like a lot of money, but if you stay within their
escrow protection system, and learn how to use it, you will always get
your payment and be protected from scammers. However, after you’ve
worked for the same client for a while, Upwork Service Fee will go down.
When you receive $500 or more from one client, from that point on,
you’ll only give 10% off every milestone toward the Upwork Service Fee.
14 Janko Glavonjic

If you reach the $10000 mark with the client, the Upwork Service Fee
for the future milestones with that client will be only 5%.

After the hourly rate, Upwork will ask for your basic personal informa-
tion.

You should provide all the information required to Upwork. Don't wor-
ry about privacy issues, Upwork is a secure website. You mustn't lie about
your name and address, because Upwork will ask you to send a copy of
your ID or passport to confirm your identity, and they will also schedule
a short video call with you to see if you are a real person.

At the top of the page, you will see an availability questionnaire. You may
change it at any time, but I would recommend selecting "As Needed –
 ULTIMATE UPWORK GUIDE - HOW TO KICKSTART YOUR
FREELANCE CAREER 15

Open for Offers", especially if you are a full time freelancer. If you select
this, you profile will appear in the search more frequently and you will
get invites from clients and Upwork talent specialists more often.

After this page, your profile will be sent to Upwork for review. If you get
rejected, and you did everything as instructed in this book, I’ll briefly
mention the possible reasons for the rejection, as well as possible solu-
tions for the problem.

Followed the instructions and still got that

rejection email?
FIRST, MAKE SURE YOU didn't make any grammatical or spelling er-
rors. If that’s possible, use your previous experiences and education to
craft a solid job title and overview. For example, if you are a doctor, in-
stead of making a generic "article writer" profile, try to target some of
the niches related to health or nutrition and you will almost certainly
be accepted.

Also, after two rejections, setup a new email address and start the
registration process from the beginning. We noticed that Upwork au-
tomatically rejects all changes after several unsuccessful attempts.

If everything you tried has failed, you have one more option. However, I
don't recommend using it, since it can be seen as bad practice. Like I al-
ready mentioned, the people who are applying in crowded markets such
as Writing, Translation or Data Entry, are likely to be rejected. You can
alter your profile and apply in Web and Mobile Development catego-
ry. Take a look at the top freelancers in that category on Upwork, and
build a profile similar to theirs. After you get accepted, you can change
the profile again and brand yourself as a writer, or data entry specialist.
16 Janko Glavonjic

Before you do this, however, and before you change to your desired cate-
gory, you have to realize that if you failed to get accepted with that profile
in the first place, you will most likely struggle to land a gig on Upwork.
 Making the best possible profile

SIMPLE LOGIC DICTATES that the more complete your profile is,
the better. However, if you have a 100% complete profile, you become el-
igible for a Rising Talent badge, which is often one of the requirements
on Upwork jobs before you can get your Job Success Score (more on that
one later). So how should you go about that?

Getting 100% Complete Profile on Upwork

AFTER YOU SUBMITTED the profile for review, you should focus
on getting your profile 100% filled out. If you followed the advice from
the first section of the e–book, you should have reached at least 60% pro-
file completion. Uploading a profile photo, adding a professional title,
writing an overview, adding your employment history and at least two
skills are mandatory to get 100% completion. Without some of these
sections you can't reach 100%.

Upon completing these mandatory sections, you can get to 100% by

combining different optional sections.

Taking and passing a skill test will give you 10%. Of course, you can take
as many tests as you like, but you can earn a maximum of 30% in profile
completion from tests.

If you add two portfolio items, you will get 10% profile completion. It is
recommended to add as many as you can, since the complete portfolio is
the best way to show your expertise to potential clients, but in terms of
profile completion you can get only 10% here.

If you add your educational background, you will earn 10%. An entry in
Other Experiences field will give you 5%, while every item in Employ-
17
18 Janko Glavonjic

ment History will give you 10%, up to a maximum of 30%. In the end, if
you upload two certificates, you will earn 10%.

As you may see, you can reach 100% profile completion in various ways,
but you shouldn't stop filling your profile after you get that 100%. The
more relevant the items you have on your profile, the better it will
look to potential clients.

Filling out your Portfolio with the best examples

of your work
YOUR PORTFOLIO SECTION is one of the keys to success on Up-
work. If you are a freelance professional searching for a gig, showing your
potential clients the best examples of the work you’ve done in the past is
one of the best ways to get their attention.

On Upwork, you can upload your past work to the separate Portfolio
section and showcase your talents. Here is how it looks:
 ULTIMATE UPWORK GUIDE - HOW TO KICKSTART YOUR
FREELANCE CAREER 19

Start off by choosing the correct project title for your portfolio piece.
The project title is shown in your portfolio, along with a thumbnail pic-
ture attached to it, so you have to make sure it will attract views and
clicks. If you approach it as some sort of search engine optimization, you
will probably get the best results.

Browse Upwork and find jobs in your niche/field of expertise. That

should give you an idea of what kind of project to upload to your port-
20 Janko Glavonjic

folio. For example, if you design covers for e-books in the fantasy genre,
upload some samples to your portfolio and name it "Fantasy book cover
design". Same goes for writers, sales and marketing, developers, and any
other professional on Upwork.

However, you have to be careful when uploading the portfolio samples.

If you did it for a client, make sure you have their permission to use
it. Designers and developers usually have to sign an NDA contract with
the client and give them complete ownership of the piece they created.
In that case, do some sample work, similar to the work you delivered to
your clients, and upload it to your portfolio.

In project overview section briefly explain the piece you uploaded. Make
sure that everything is clear and mention the techniques you used, espe-
cially if it is something you designed. Clients will get a clearer picture of
your level of expertise that way.

For the thumbnail picture, use a picture of the logo/cover, the picture of
the website where the article is published, or something which is related
to the work you did. Don't leave it blank and make it visually appealing
instead

In the end, if the project was done on Upwork, make sure to connect it
with the related contract and give more insight to your potential clients
(especially if you had perfect feedback on it!).

If you are new to the world of freelancing and you don't have any past
experience of projects behind you, don't worry. You can showcase your
talents by doing a sample job. If you are a logo designer, design several lo-
gos for an imaginary client or a company. If you are a developer, think of
the common problems you can solve, and also show that with uploading
a portfolio sample. The clients don't have to be real, you just have to
prove that you can successfully finish the desired task.
 ULTIMATE UPWORK GUIDE - HOW TO KICKSTART YOUR
FREELANCE CAREER 21

Taking Upwork Tests

I MENTIONED UPWORK Tests when I talked about getting 100%
completion of your Upwork profile. Most freelancers don't use Upwork
tests to their fullest potential, and I have to say I was one of them. How-
ever, when I started writing this e–book, I wanted to test them and see
how valuable they are. It turned out that the expertise you show in the
Tests section of your profile might be the key reason for landing the
job. After I got to Top 20% in SEO Test and to Top 10% in Inter-
net Marketing Test, my odds of landing jobs in these niches great-
ly improved. Think of tests as a mechanism similar to endorsements on
LinkedIn – they serve to confirm your claims of being good at an area.

You will find Upwork Tests page if you click on "Find Work" on your Up-
work profile, and then choose "Tests" from the drop–down menu. After
that, you’ll see this page:
22 Janko Glavonjic

If you choose "All Categories" from the drop–down menu, you will see
the number of tests taken in descending order. The tests freelancers took
more often are regarded as the most relevant on Upwork.

First, you should take "Upwork Readiness Test". It can be an impor-

tant signal during the registration phase. By passing it, you show Upwork
that you understood their terms and conditions and that you will fit into
the platform easily. After that, non-native freelancers should take Eng-
lish Spelling and English Grammar tests, US or UK version. By pass-
ing those two tests you will show that you can read, write and properly
understand the English language. You may think that those tests are valu-
able only for writers, virtual assistants or translators, but you would be
 ULTIMATE UPWORK GUIDE - HOW TO KICKSTART YOUR
FREELANCE CAREER 23

wrong. The majority of clients (especially from the US and Western Eu-
rope) often require their freelancers to be native or bilingual. Of course,
for designers and developers an intermediate English language level is
fine, but nobody wants to lose time with entry level freelancers and deal
with uncertainty in communication.

After these three mandatory tests, you should take the tests related to
your profession. You can choose the category from the drop–down
menu, or try to find what you need by entering keywords in the search
bar.

Don't hesitate to take as many tests as possible – if you fail to pass the
test you can hide it from your profile, and if you aren't satisfied with the
result, you can re–take the test after three months.

If you make the Tests section of your profile look like this, you will cer-
tainly be more successful in the Upwork bidding war.
 Knowledge you need before you start
bidding

AFTER YOU SUCCESSFULLY registered to Upwork and made your

profile shine, you probably think that the time has finally come to get
that first job as a freelancer on Upwork. However, you might consider
waiting a bit longer.

As we already established, Upwork is trying to move away from the im-

age of a platform for beginners. It’s becoming more competitive, more
rigorous and harder to crack in 2017. So, before you try to get you first
job, it would be good to learn more about Upwork.

First, you should read at least some of the articles in the Upwork
Help Center. It is a great, extensive tool and you will probably find many
answers to your questions there. Also, you will fit into the platform faster
and better if you know the community guidelines. Upwork Help Center
is divided into six sections:

• Work with Clients

• Get Paid
• Freelancer Profile
• Account
• Get Started
• Apps & Messages

I will cover some of the topics mentioned there in details in the second
part of the book, but pay special attention to these topics: connects,
communication with clients, avoiding phishing and malware, and
choosing your membership plan.

Here’s a few of the terms you should know before you start bidding:
24
 ULTIMATE UPWORK GUIDE - HOW TO KICKSTART YOUR
FREELANCE CAREER 25

Connects

Connects are Upwork’s “currency” that you use for applying to jobs.
Most proposals are worth 2 Connects. You get 60 Connects each month,
but be careful using them. Upwork has recently been banning freelancers
who spend all or almost all of their monthly Connects if they don’t get
any of the jobs they applied to. So, only apply to jobs that fit your skills/
portfolio, and don’t spend all of them unless you land at least one job.

Rising Talent

Freelancers on Upwork are rated using the Rising Talent and Job Success
Score systems. Every newcomer is eligible for the Rising Talent program,
and they will be added to the program when they fulfill the require-
ments.

To earn a Rising Talent Badge, you must:

• Pass the Upwork Readiness Test

• Maintain a 100% complete profile that accurately showcases
your professional credentials
• Keep your availability status up–to–date
• Regularly submit proposals to projects relevant to your skill set
• Have been active in the past 90 days (submitting proposals or
delivering work)
• Have joined in the past 30 days

This is why having a 100% complete profile is so important. A lot of

job posts ask at least for a Rising Talent Badge and it will improve your
chances of getting a job considerably.

Job Success Score

The freelancer who already has completed jobs and had feedbacks left by
clients will get a Job Success Score. Most of the freelancers get their JSS
26 Janko Glavonjic

after completing five contracts with five different clients. So, if you had
more than five contracts, but you still haven't worked with five clients,
you will probably have to wait to get your JSS a little bit longer.

Upwork won't tell us how the JSS score is calculated. It is understandable,

since some freelancers would use that information to artificially boost
their JSS.

We know that all feedback you get on Upwork will affect your JSS. The
feedback left by long-term clients will boost your scores more than the
feedback left by short-term clients and repeat contracts. Also, bad feed-
back, contracts without activity and lack of feedback will hurt your JSS.

So, it would be wise to ask your clients to close the contract and give you
feedback after a job well done, because if you end up with a lot of non-
active contracts, it might affect your JSS score.

The clients can give you a public and a private feedback. You will see your
public feedback in the form of stars from one to five, while in the pri-
vate feedback the clients will rate you from one to ten. There is a strong
possibility that a ten from private feedback is the strongest positive
ranking factor for JSS. There were cases that a freelancer got a public
feedback lower than five stars, but their JSS stayed the same or even went
up in some cases, probably because of the perfect private feedback.

Upwork also tracks your progress, and calculates your score for a
6-month, 12-month and 24-month period. Only the best score will be
displayed on your profile and updated every two weeks. This can also af-
fect JSS. For example, you didn't have negative feedback during the last
two weeks, but you experienced a JSS drop. That could have happened
because the best feedback in the past 24 months has been excluded from
the calculation.

Top Rated
 ULTIMATE UPWORK GUIDE - HOW TO KICKSTART YOUR
FREELANCE CAREER 27

If you constantly maintain JSS over 90% for 13 out of the last 16 weeks,
you will be eligible for the Top Rated program, for the best freelancers
on the platform.

That program has some perks, such as:

• A badge on your Upwork freelancer profile

• Personalized tips to strengthen your profile
• Premium customer support, including phone and chat
• Exclusive invitations to submit proposals
• An exclusive Job Digest email to make it easier for you to find
attractive opportunities
• The ability to exercise more control over your Job Success Score
• Private access to the Top Rated Community forum
• The opportunity to attend exclusive Top Rated Office Hours
• The opportunity to host Top Rated Events in your city

The badge, premium support and ability to remove one bad feedback
from your profile over the three–month period are the most valuable
things in this program.

However, even if you had a bad experience with some of the clients and
your JSS dropped below 70%, remember – your cover letter is the key for
a successful career on Upwork.

Membership plans

You can choose Basic or Plus membership plan, and here are the differ-
ences between them:
28 Janko Glavonjic

My advice is to take a basic plan until you start earning money on

Upwork. The biggest advantage of the Plus plan is the possibility to buy
more connects, and to transfer unused connects to the next month (up
to 140). Also, if you become inactive or you fail to land a job in a longer
period of time, Plus plan might come in handy to protect you from pro-
file visibility loss (the clients won't be able to find you if they enter your
name in search, but you will be able to bid on jobs normally).
 Cornerstones of successful bidding

WHEN I TALKED ABOUT the registration process, building up port-

folio and showcasing your talents on the platform, I mentioned many
things that are important for the eventual success on Upwork. Now we
came to the most important ones, the cornerstones of your freelance ca-
reer on Upwork. The process of bidding can be frustrating at times –
doubly so without help. Still, as in any area, there are tips and tricks here,
too.

Writing a cover letter

IF YOU SEARCH FOR COVER letter examples online, you will find
many different options and tips. Every guru who claims that they were
successful will teach you their own way of writing proposals, but very
few of them will tell you that there is no cookie-cutter tactic that will
get you the job every time.

The approach will vary, depending on your skills, experience, personality,

goals, and the job you are applying for. What is perfect for a social media
guru and a marketer with five years of experience in the field would be
disastrous for a young designer who is fresh out of college. What is per-
fect for a person who is recognized as the leader in their field won't work
for somebody who is just starting their freelance career.

You will have to find what works for you. There are, fortunately, a few
elements that make any cover letter better. If used properly, these boost
your chances of getting hired:

• Start with a friendly greeting

• Briefly introduce yourself

29
30 Janko Glavonjic

• Talk about your client's project and offer possible solutions to

his problems
• Prove that you will be a great fit for the project
• Finish with a friendly and engaging greeting

There are also some things you should always avoid:

• Copy/Paste proposals
• Generic/robotic tone
• Offering something you can't deliver
• Trying to win the job by setting the lowest bid

If you’re thinking you’ll be needing more than that, I got you covered.
Let’s take a look at one of my winning proposals and see what I did right
and which previously mentioned elements I omitted.

It was designed for a specific job post (writing a piece on Serie A football
league in the 90s), and it proves that there is no single magic recipe for
winning jobs on Upwork. You must have a unique approach for every job
post and every client.

Take a look at the job proposal below:

 ULTIMATE UPWORK GUIDE - HOW TO KICKSTART YOUR
FREELANCE CAREER 31

At the start of the cover letter, you should greet your potential client
by using his name. If they didn't state their name in the job post, you can
take a look at their ratings and see if some of the freelancers who rated
them previously addressed them by name in the feedback.
32 Janko Glavonjic

If that isn't possible, use only "Hi", or "Hello". Avoid using generic, vague
greetings such as “Sir/Madam”, and try to sound like a human instead.
That will set you apart in the mass of generic proposal openers.

After that, briefly explain your professional background and show the
client examples of your work, related to the client's needs. The client
usually doesn't want to know your background, they just needs to
know can you do the job or not. As you may see in my example cover
letter, I just stated that I was a sports journalist with several years of expe-
rience. Right after that, I provided the links of my previous work, picking
articles that were in their sphere of interests. It may sound harsh, but put
yourself in the client's shoes. They’ll get more than 10, sometimes more
than 20 proposals and they probably won't read all of them. Even if they
open every single proposal, they’re bound to skim through some of them.
That's why the proposal has to be visually appealing, to show that you
correctly anticipate the key problems your client needs to solve, and even
shed light on some part of the task that they hadn’t thought of – but you
did, because you’re a professional and know what you’re talking about.

This is why proposals are mostly short, or intended to be that way. Now,
my example above is not – for a good reason. The client asked for a sports
writer who is proficient in Serie A 90s football, and my response was
aimed at three things. First, to create a sense of nostalgia that the client
would likely appreciate, given the subject. Second, to show my knowl-
edge of that period and players in an unobtrusive way – it wasn’t a brag-
ging show that you can often see in proposals. Third, it was an opportu-
nity to ask them to tell me more details about the job and get a response
from them. After I got it, everything else was a breeze – you just have to
show that you understood the client’s requirements, be friendly and co-
operative and the job will be yours.

Same goes for designers, developers, or even virtual assistants. After re-
viewing the client and the feedback other freelancers gave them (more
 ULTIMATE UPWORK GUIDE - HOW TO KICKSTART YOUR
FREELANCE CAREER 33

on that later), and reading the job post thoroughly, try to come up with
a unique approach to this particular job and client. For example, if you
see that a client requests fast turnaround and has a strict deadline, you
can say that you will send the work even before the deadline (of course,
don't promise anything, unless you can deliver). If they are searching for
a possible long-term freelancer, tell them that you would be willing to
accept that arrangement. Also, try to use the same words, constructions
and tone as the client, wherever it is possible.

Whether you are a copywriter or a java developer, you can take these tips
and adjust them to your area of expertise and client requirements. Re-
member to read between the lines, dig out the details of the job and write
a cover letter oriented around the problems you need to solve for your
client. However, don’t show them all your tricks before you’re hired
– just give them hints of what you’d do, and never do any real work
before you get the job.

From all of the above, you can conclude why copy/pasting the same cover
letter to all clients is probably not a great idea. Still, that doesn’t mean
you can’t use a script or a guideline to help you craft the cover letter
faster. Keep in mind, however, that copying most of the content makes
for a generic and empty cover letter. If you do that, you can’t address
every client individually, which is one of the most important segments of
successful cover letters.

Most of the time, you can get away with having the same introduction
that you will only change slightly depending on the job and client. That’s
something you can put in a document for future use and just paste into
the cover letter. When it comes to your background, feel free to use the
same template for it, and just change examples of your work according to
the job you’re applying to.
34 Janko Glavonjic

However, the core of your cover letter needs to be written from

scratch every single time. And everything else, even the things you copy,
should still be re-evaluated for every proposal you write.

Let’s take a look at the individual parts of the cover letter now. When
it comes to the basic introduction and talking about yourself, you may
think that’s the part that doesn’t need much work, but you’d be surprised
at how many people lose the bid because they didn’t do it right.

The gist of it is that the freelance mindset is quite different from what
we’re used to. You send out CVs to a bunch of different companies, until
somebody calls you for an interview where you’re supposed to talk how
great you think their company is and how valuable you’d be as an em-
ployer. Sometimes you know there’s a perfect job opening in that compa-
ny for you, but sometimes you don’t.

The business climate is a little different on Upwork and the freelancing

world in general. When you apply for a job on Upwork, it’s usually spe-
cific, often short-term and doesn’t allow for learning while you’re doing
it – you have to already know how to get it done. Clients are often in a
hurry and need the job done within weeks, days, even hours in some cas-
es.

So dedicating a huge chunk or the whole cover letter to your expertise,

experience and goals is a mistake. You should talk about your client,
their goals, and to be the best problem solver out of all the freelancers
who applied to the job.

Of course, you should mention your experience and background, but

briefly, in one or two sentences tops, like I did in the example cover letter
above. But don't waste your client’s time with the tiniest of details. Focus,
instead, on shifting the conversation to their field as soon as you can.

When you are writing a cover letter, proper formatting is extremely im-
portant. While they’re browsing through applications, the clients can on-
 ULTIMATE UPWORK GUIDE - HOW TO KICKSTART YOUR
FREELANCE CAREER 35

ly see only the beginning of your letter, along with your name, job title,
hourly rate, amount of money you earned through Upwork, Job Success
Score, and location. Therefore, there is no need to tell your clients that
you are from USA, India, Serbia, or any other country in the world, they
will see it right away. Also, the clients will see only 180 characters (in-
cluding the spaces) from the start of your cover letter, before they
click on your proposal. So the stronger your first sentence is, the better
your chances of getting their attention.

And here’s a pro tip not many freelancers know about: your cover letter
doesn’t always show at the top of your application. When a client posts
a job with questions attached, you will get separate fields for answering
those questions in your application. These answers are the first thing
the client will see. Even though, for you, cover letter still shows up at the
top when you’re applying for a job, it’s not the same for the clients, as you
can see from the screenshot below.
36 Janko Glavonjic

From the screenshot you can see the question client wanted freelancers
to answer was: “Have you worked on similar projects before?” In my
opinion, none of these Best Match freelancers answered it well enough.
If the limitation is 92 characters, I advise using it to the fullest, while also
engaging your client into clicking on your profile. The answer I’d give is:
“Yes, you can see 5+ examples of my work below.”

This answer has 91 characters, so the client would see it in its entirety.
The reasoning behind this is to show the client you have done that kind
of job before, that you have an example, but the client has to click on
your profile to see it, and that's why this is very engaging. No matter what
your profession is, no matter what type of job you’re applying for, you
can always craft something like this and make the potential client click
on your profile.
 ULTIMATE UPWORK GUIDE - HOW TO KICKSTART YOUR
FREELANCE CAREER 37

Finding the clients worth working with

NOW YOU KNOW HOW TO write killer cover letters on Upwork.
Congratulations! You have a working knowledge of the most important
piece of the puzzle. However, there’s no point using that on a client that
isn’t worth contacting in the first place. So how to recognize them?

When compared to other freelance platforms, such as Freelancer or Gu-

ru, Upwork is bigger and more secure. Still, that doesn't mean you won't
stumble upon scammers, or paying clients who also happen to be a pain
in the ass. In fact, almost every new freelancer, including yours truly,
dealt with those who try to steal your work or those who want to make
you work for them for a price which is way below standard.

You will never be 100% certain about your client before you start work-
ing with them, but you can do many things to weed out the clients who
are likely to cause you headaches before you even apply.

When you’re searching for jobs, pay close attention to client info that you
can see under every job. If you see something like this:

you’ve found a potentially great client.

However, if you click on their profile you can access more stats. You will
find it if you click on the job post and take a look at "About Client" sec-
tion below the green "Submit Proposal" button. Here is how it looks:
38 Janko Glavonjic

Let's analyze this client further. They have 93 reviews with five stars,
which is an incredible rating – you will rarely find a client with more
impressive stats. They are from Norway, which is one of the wealthiest
countries in Europe. Also, they are orientated towards digital marketing
and entrepreneurship, so they certainly know to value good freelancers.

69% hire rate is high enough, $400k+ in eight years is a lot of money,
while $23.40 hourly rate is also decent.

Everything about this client is impressive, but you can dig even deeper.
Scroll down and find out the individual ratings of your colleagues who
 ULTIMATE UPWORK GUIDE - HOW TO KICKSTART YOUR
FREELANCE CAREER 39

worked with the client previously. This is a great way to find out more
about them, what they value in freelancers in general, their name etc. Us-
ing the data you find here can help you craft a better, more personal cover
letter.

Here is one of the previews of the same client:

This client has many reviews that look similar. They are all positive and
almost all freelancers describe them as a dream client.

After all this, you can be certain that this particular client will be a
joy to work with!

What about less reputable clients? The initial red flags may come from
the job post itself. If the client posted something generic you saw many
times before, or if a post is full of grammar or spelling mistakes, you
should probably avoid applying to their job. Here is one example:

The client failed to give the candidates any relevant information, except
that they needed a writer for a brand new website. They managed to
make a typo in one sentence as well. Their five star rating, doesn’t look
that bad, but a closer look on their profile reveals they spent $900 over
40 Janko Glavonjic

the course of three years, which is really low. Also, they had a 28% hire
rate, which means they posted a lot of jobs they didn’t hire anyone for.
And yet, 15 to 20 people applied for the job within five hours.

Another thing you should look at is whether the client is payment ver-
ified or not. Most of the scammer clients on the platform don’t have
verified payment. Personally, I don't recommend payment unverified
clients to the freelancers who are new on the platform. Of course, some
of the clients who didn't verify their payment may be new to the platform
and unaware of the importance of that. They can pay great rates and be-
come one of the best clients on the platform after they establish their
reputation. But until they actually do that, you have no way of knowing
whether their intention is to scam you or not. Whenever I deal with pay-
ment unverified clients, I ask them to verify their payment and send the
contract offer after they do. If they hesitate, I refuse to work with them.

If you see that a client doesn't have five stars, their feedback might be
worth paying close attention to. Sometimes a client and a freelancer
aren’t a great fit, and if they don’t realize it before they go into business,
bitterness and bad ratings may ensue. If the client only has one bad rating
and the others are great, consider giving them a chance. However, if you
see several bad reviews, you should avoid that client.

Always be aware of the fact that freelancers need a good rating more than
clients do. Since rating is left after the completion of a job, most free-
lancers will give their clients five stars even if they had some minor is-
sues with them – because by giving them five stars, you encourage them
to reciprocate. So, if you see a client with a rating of three stars or less,
avoid them like the plague because they must have been extremely hard
to work with.

If you see that a client spent more than $100k on the platform, it is ex-
tremely unlikely that they are a scammer. If somebody spent so much
money on Upwork, they’re certainly legit. However, the money they
 ULTIMATE UPWORK GUIDE - HOW TO KICKSTART YOUR
FREELANCE CAREER 41

spent doesn’t automatically mean they aren’t a client from hell – you
should always read everything you can about them before applying for
the job they posted.

One of the most common mistakes you can make on Upwork is applying
to a fake job post. It can have the most elaborate explanation of require-
ments, the client can be highly rated with a reasonable amount of money
spent, yet the job could turn out to be a complete waste of connects since
the client hasn’t awarded the job to anyone in the end. There is a way to
anticipate and deal with this situation, too.

The best thing to do is to take a look at the client’s Hire Rate. If it’s below
50%, odds are the client will not give the job to anyone. A lot of times
they just want to see the proposals, or they are a freelancer who wants
to see what their competition is like, or they’re not serious enough about
their projects. Either way, you should avoid working with those clients.

Getting acquainted with the rules

UPWORK IS A RELATIVELY secure place when compared to some
other online platforms. However, there are many scammers among the
clients there, and newcomers are their most common target. The free-
lancers who were robbed will often go to the Upwork forum or their
Facebook page, and accuse Upwork of being a scam platform. However,
if we dig deeper into those cases, we will most likely see that those free-
lancers haven't done all they should to protect themselves.

Upwork Escrow gives freelancers a payment protection, both for fixed

and hourly contracts on the platform. If you work on an hourly contract
with the client, everything is straightforward. Client has to be payment
verified, you have to log your hours using the Upwork Desktop App
(which sends screenshots to the client while you are working), and to
stay within a weekly limit.
42 Janko Glavonjic

For example, you agreed to work for your client seven hours a week,
and your hourly rate is $20. Every time when you start working, you
will open the Upwork Desktop App, which will send screenshots of your
desktop randomly to the diary viewed by your client. So, make sure that
you don't go idle, or do something which is not related to the work while
the App is working. If your client sees you being idle, they won't have to
pay you for that period. Also, you shouldn't add hours above the week-
ly limit. The client won't have to pay you for that either. Of course, that
doesn't mean that every client will refuse to pay you for additional work
– the ones who value your efforts will even give you a bonus. However,
at the start of the contract it is better to stay within the range of Upwork
protection, before you get to know your client better.

Fixed contracts are protected differently. Before you start working, you
will have to agree on the terms of payment with the client. You can be
paid upon completing one chunk of work at the time, with individual
milestones, or after completing the entire project. If you are a newbie, it is
better to divide the project into several milestones, before you and your
client get to know each other better.

You will be fully protected if you wait for your client to fill the escrow
for the first milestone of the project. Don't start working before you
see that! You can always check that by going to the "My Jobs"/ "My
Jobs" menu. If the contract started, it will be listed there. If the client
pre–funded the milestone, you will see the amount and the word funded
written. For example, $200 funded. If he isn't, you will see $0.00 No ac-
tive milestones written on the right side of the contract name.

It is crucial that you discuss everything with the client via the Upwork
message system. If you stumble upon some difficulties, or the client re-
fuses to pay you, you can contact Upwork support. They will review the
contract, the messages, your work, and if you did everything the way it
 ULTIMATE UPWORK GUIDE - HOW TO KICKSTART YOUR
FREELANCE CAREER 43

was agreed in the beginning, Upwork will release the funds and you will
get paid.

If the client lured you out of the platform to discuss work, then decided
to scam you, you won’t have any proof of your claims, you won't get your
money, and you also risk suspension, since working outside the platform
is a serious breach of Upwork rules.

Recognizing scammers
IF THE CLIENT IS UNVERIFIED, or they’re verified but new on the
platform without a lot of money spent, and they want to discuss job de-
tails via Skype or other platforms, they are most likely a scammer. Their
aim is to lure you from the protective Upwork environment and make
you work for them without a contract, outside the platform. That usual-
ly comes with a great offer, a promise of more work and great ratings on
Upwork. But, anything that looks too good to be true usually is too good
to be true. There is a simple way to test this, however.

If you talk to them on Skype, ask them to open a contract on Upwork

and fill the first milestone. After they do that (a lot of scammers just give
up at that point), write to them in Upwork messages to reinstate every-
thing that you agreed to in the Skype conversation – rates, deadlines and
such. This will serve as proof of your agreement, in case it ever comes to
a dispute.

After that message, these scammers will usually stop replying, or they will
try to convince you working with them outside the platform again. If
that happens, you can stop wasting time on communication with them,
and you can think about reporting them to Upwork.

Apart from these obvious scammers, you can find a more subtle kind of
scammer on Upwork. That client will seem legit, sometimes even with
good ratings, but usually they will have a low hire rate. They often use the
44 Janko Glavonjic

“small test job” ploy, after which they will allegedly decide who gets the
contract.

For example, the client needs 10k words translated. So, they ask for
translation of a "sample 1000 words document", to evaluate your skills.
They count on getting ten or more applications for the job, so they could
send different parts of the text to 10+ people. That way, they get the
whole document for free, and of course, they don’t award the job in the
end. These free tests are against Upwork rules and you can report those
clients after they ask you for free work. They will surely be banned and
you will contribute to making Upwork a better place for all freelancers.

The most important things for your Upwork

career summarized
EVERYTHING IN THIS book is important, and if one of the puzzle
pieces is missing, your eventual success on Upwork will not come as
quickly as you may have anticipated. If you follow all of my advice thor-
oughly, with some luck along the way, you will easily make a living from
your freelance career on Upwork.

However, there are some things which are far more important than the
others. Always pay attention on your cover letter. Even if your JSS is low,
if you don't have many portfolio items on your profile, if you don't have
much experience and you didn't earn much money on Upwork up to
date, you will have the chance for landing the job, if the cover letter you
sent to the client is exceptional.

So, after the initial work you put into your profile and portfolio, fo-
cus on choosing the jobs you want to bid on correctly, and the best
possible, unique cover letter, which will help you win the bidding war
against competition.
 ULTIMATE UPWORK GUIDE - HOW TO KICKSTART YOUR
FREELANCE CAREER 45

Also, pay attention on the number of connects you are spending. If you
spend all connects and fail to land the job at the start of your Upwork
career, the platform might review your profile and activity and suspend
you after a conclusion that you are not the best fit for the platform.

Think twice before you bid, pay attention on the details, prove your
knowledge and you will be a great asset to Upwork, which will led to the
successful start of your freelance career.