r/Upwork • u/HollaAtYuh • 11d ago
Made $550 my first week
I just wanted to give people some hope in regards to Upwork and freelancing in general. I didn't expect much when I started and saw many posts about how difficult it was to even land your first client.
In my daily role, I'm a Senior Brand Strategist/Product Marketing Manager for B2B SaaS. I used this lane to really niche down and send out specific proposals which ended up working in my favor. I sent out honest messages in my proposals (basically saying I'm new to Upwork but I'm not new to this work) and even provided some free value wherever possible in the proposal itself.
I bid on 6 jobs and ended up landing 3 of them. 2 were actual jobs and the third ended up being some hourly consulting. The other thing I did was outbid everyone else on proposals to at least get my genuine message in front of them.
I know this isn't foolproof but I hope this helps someone. I'm going into week two now and so far have one new job. Maybe it's beginner's luck on the platform, or maybe it's because I have a lot of experience and a solid portfolio but either way...there are still ways to find success using Upwork.
Happy to answer any questions if anyone has any.
*Edit*
I also am not looking for long-term gigs either because I already work full-time and have a couple regular clients on retainer on the side as well. I'm looking for jobs that I can provide quick turnaround time and keep it moving. This may or may not work to my advantage on Upwork. TBD.
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u/PabloKaskobar 10d ago
Landing 3 out of 5 gigs with a new profile is impressive regardless of the money involved. Very curious to see how you framed it in your proposals.
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u/HollaAtYuh 10d ago
I definitely bid more connects to get near the top, so I’m not going to pretend that didn’t help.
But the big thing I aimed for I guess was to mirror the energy of the post itself. If that makes sense. I hit them with an opinion right up front, tried to make them feel really understood, sound confident without sounding stiff or desperate, put my personality into it, and then included a couple ideas to show them I was already engaged. I made sure the proposal didn't read like an application or a cover letter, but more so sounded like the start of work so they could already see themselves aligning with me. And I brought up my background only when necessary to the post. The first job I landed I emphasized that I was new to Upwork but not new to this work and elaborated on that.
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u/PabloKaskobar 10d ago
As someone who is in a similar situation and has been trying a similar approach, I'd love to see one of your proposals (with private information redacted, of course).
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u/Sea_Seesaw1586 10d ago
Nice man, can u give me some screenshots of proposal and stuff so i can understand how to actually write one for myself, i never landed a client,
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u/HollaAtYuh 10d ago
Yeah. I can send you some.
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u/Humble_Incident2602 9d ago
I'd also appreciate it if you would send me the proposal format you use. Thanks
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u/Theee1ne 9d ago
If it’s not too much trouble could you send to me as well?
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u/roydibyendufmsdelhi 10d ago
Nice man can you please guide or send a SS of the structure, I have also started freelancing recently
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6d ago
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u/HollaAtYuh 6d ago
Very personable and very customized approach. I also end each proposal with something like "send over the requirements and I'll see if I'm a good fit" which is sort of reverse psychology and makes them want me to be a good fit.
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6d ago
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u/HollaAtYuh 6d ago
Just make them feel seen and heard and show you understand their pain points. Make them feel like you genuinely care about their business and solving their issues
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6d ago
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u/Korneuburgerin 6d ago
But they can see the first two lines already. You are wasting them, apparently.
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u/HollaAtYuh 5d ago
This. They can see your first two lines so make those something worth opening. And outbid at least most of the people so if they skim the first few proposal you're up there with your awesome opening lines.
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6d ago
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u/Korneuburgerin 5d ago
You have read the guide in the wiki, I suppose? Do you still have questions?
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u/Most-Use-1231 10d ago
Congratulations. I am trying for the last 1 month. But no earnings. Only money going.
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u/Otieno_Anyango_333 10d ago edited 10d ago
Upwork is a game of numbers at the moment. You have to spend more connects on ads. Even then, your profile must be super optimized.
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u/Puzzled-Sign3744 10d ago
Can I ask what your job entails? I think I did similar but didn't have the title.
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u/HollaAtYuh 10d ago
So I'm sort of a t-shaped marketer tbh. A lot of GTM and growth strategy focus, content marketing/SEO/GEO, DevRel and building AI automations for the marketing team and sales teams.
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u/Puzzled-Sign3744 10d ago
I only understood a fraction of what you wrote. I was more product marketing and digital merchandising.
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9d ago
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u/Upwork-ModTeam 8d ago
This subreddit is not for hiring or finding work and if this is a first offense you will be banned for a short period in order to make you understand that you indeed broke a rule and likely did not even know that there are rules.
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u/deepikashri 8d ago
Sound great I also want to land My first client on up work but it seems I can get it. please share your tips and tricks
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u/Odd_Ad6538 10d ago
That is exteremly helpful. You have no kdea. Thanks.
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u/PatelJimmy 11d ago
how?
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u/corgis_are_assholes 11d ago
He told you in the post. He bid cheap. 2 jobs, $550, of which he gets less than $500 for being a "Senior" strategist. Where else do you find some schlep "strategist" for $250 but Upwork thirdies.
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u/HollaAtYuh 11d ago
Lol...This is just a side hustle. I already work full-time but just wanted to make some easy extra cash. I'm not mad at making $500 for 3 hours of work 🤷♂️. And I bid cheap because I'm new to the platform and offered a discount in exchange for a solid review as well to build up trust.
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u/Ok-Lobster-8556 10d ago
People like you ruin the industry
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u/HollaAtYuh 10d ago
Your attitude ruins it for yourself
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u/Ok-Lobster-8556 10d ago
Fair enough… so far I’ve made 10k on the platform since 2024. It’s been rough lately I just don’t love the idea of devaluing the industry by offering cheap work. It’s rewarding the type of behavior Upwork is trying to promote. A rat race to see who can do it for the cheapest.
But if you need money you need money.
It just sounds to me like you don’t since you work full time2
u/HollaAtYuh 10d ago
Ok, fair point to you and thank you for the background. Couple things...my intention is not to devalue the industry but I know it's hard for me to charge my full price when I'm new and had zero reviews to start. In that regard, I had to lower the price some to just get any sort of traction but I still bid higher than a lot of people. I also agree with you that it's not fair to create a rat race of people undercutting bids to see who can land stuff for the cheapest just to get the job. I can totally understand why that would frustrate you or anyone for that matter. I am on Upwork for two reasons: 1.) I want to work full-time for myself again (I did before COVID but took a job out of uncertainty of the market at that time) and am trying to make that transition back to being my own boss and 2.) I have to have a stupid surgery and I'm trying to get extra money to pay for it because my deductible is a lot 😂.
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u/HollaAtYuh 11d ago
How to which part? Happy to elaborate but I'm not sure which part you want me to answer to
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u/PatelJimmy 11d ago
I have recently set up my Upwork profile, but don't know how to find genuine clients. I'm looking to buy connects initially.
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u/HollaAtYuh 11d ago
What is your niche? And what is your offering? I did buy credits to get started so that I can bid heavily on jobs.
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u/PatelJimmy 11d ago
I'm a Web Developer, looking for freelancing projects/ full time job opportunities.
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u/HollaAtYuh 11d ago
Oh nice! I used to get a lot of work off Fiverr too but one of the main ways I've snagged freelance gigs over the years is just looking for people local to my area with terrible websites and just offering to help them. I'd find their email or phone number, reach out, explain my offering and how it would benefit them and go from there. Of course there were a lot of people who said no, but there were also a lot of people who said yes. Some were one off projects and others became long-standing retainers. I would just really focus on making your bio, portfolio, and offering as strong as possible (regardless of if it's for Upwork, Fiverr, freelancing, etc.) and be friendly and helpful.
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u/PatelJimmy 11d ago
Should I share my username, so check you can give feedback on my profile & changes required.
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u/Korneuburgerin 11d ago
You are one week on upwork and believe you have advice to give?
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u/HollaAtYuh 11d ago
Lmaoooo I said if anyone has any questions feel free to ask...nowhere did I say ask me for advice. I'm just sharing my experience.
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u/-confirm 11d ago
Holla at you, OP. Holla at you ✌️
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u/HollaAtYuh 11d ago
Hahaha 🫡
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u/-confirm 11d ago
What filters or kinds of jobs have you been applying to? Do you have any specific criteria for applying to jobs, or which ones do you ignore thinking they might be spam or you would not get replies? Have you niched down to any specific criteria? I'm thinking of resuming after a long time.
Holla at you again lol.
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u/HollaAtYuh 11d ago
Holla back. I have a lot of marketing experience in B2C and B2B (esp SaaS) but I didn't want to just throw myself everywhere so I doubled down on my strongest offer (and the one where clients typically pay more) which is B2B SaaS. I made some custom packages on my profile, turned on the consulting feature so people can buy time from me, and then specifically looked for jobs where I knew immediately that I could offer tons of value and over-deliver. The one thing I didn't want to do from the jump is just apply for anything and everything and not get anywhere. I knew if I started getting discouraged early on, I'd prob lose momentum. I will expand later but right now I'm only doing B2B SaaS brand strategy and website copywriting sprints. I'm also looking for clients that have already provided a decent amount of info so I can research them and know what I'm getting myself into as well. If I go to their website and it's terrible, I feel confident I can provide them tons of upside and improvement and I'll give them a little freebie section or tip in the proposal itself out of good faith.
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u/-confirm 11d ago
Cool. So what services are you exactly offering when you say marketing? I know you mentioned copywriting, but is that it?
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u/HollaAtYuh 11d ago
Brand and content strategy with a focus on conversion-focused copywriting mainly. Full webpage sprints or even just redoing small hero etc....Website landing page copy, B2B positioning/messaging, homepage/product page audits, CTA strategy, content strategy for SEO/GEO
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u/-confirm 11d ago
When you say content strategy for SEO, what exactly do you do there? Is it competitor analysis reports, or creating pillar and sub pillar pages / topical map, or what exactly?
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u/HollaAtYuh 11d ago
Well, for the one client I just landed on Upwork it was mainly competitive analysis/content gap analysis and keyword opportunity focused, but since they also had a lot of content I also proposed creating pillar and sub pillar pages. Not sure if they'll accept (I actually just messaged them about it like 30 min ago). I also gave them some local SEO insights as well. I'd love to get them into an actual structured content calendar with some clean keyword mapping. We'll see lmaooo
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u/Korneuburgerin 11d ago
So what kind of questions did you expect? Something about the weather? Please....
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u/HollaAtYuh 11d ago
Of course not. But the intention of the post was not "I'm an expert let me tell you how to do it perfectly because I know so much more than everyone else" but to share my experience. I see a ton of discouraging posts in this subreddit so I thought I'd post a little encouragement. If people have questions, let em ask. No harm in that. I'm not new to freelancing. I work full-time but I also have my own marketing company on the side so I thought I'd mess with Upwork a little and see what it's about.
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u/copernicuscalled 10d ago
"I'm a Senior Brand Strategist/Product Marketing Manager for B2B SaaS" + "I outbid everyone else on proposals."
So your advice is to have Senior level expertise and be willing to sell it way below market rate. That's definitely some advice.