How I made $80,000 freelancing on Upwork in 2020

Over the last couple of years, I've implemented tried-and-tested strategies for maximizing your earnings potential on Upwork. Staying consistent, honing your skills, and practicing excellent customer service are some of the tactics that I used to maintain a high job success score, allowing me to consistently land higher-paying jobs.

Earning a living as an independent contractor on Upwork is not easy. It's very competitive, with millions of people trying to land the same high-paying jobs that you are. As one of the top-rated Upwork freelancers over the last 5 years, I know how to get those jobs, keep them, and do more than just meet expectations. In this post, I share my tactics so you can earn the money you deserve.

I have helped dozens of people reach milestones and goals on Upwork. Now, it's my mission to help you become successful on Upwork so you can make the money that would otherwise be out of your reach! I will be showing you how to move up from the bottom rung to an average freelancer and then quickly to a top earner. Let's get to it!

Optimize your Upwork profile

One of the best ways to have a successful freelancing career on Upwork is by optimizing your profile. Take a real hard look at your profile, analyze it, analyze other successful freelancer profiles and implement them to your own. Include great pictures, targeted descriptions and portfolio items so that you can be seen as someone who knows what they're doing with their skillset. I know this because it's increased my earnings threefold in just 3 years!

1. Get a good profile picture
2. Write an awesome, natural description of yourself
3. Add portfolio items

Find your niche, craft your skills relentlessly

I've found that when you find your niche and hone in on it, the world will be at your fingertips. I started out as a WordPress developer about 6 or 7 years ago, and it's because of my persistence that my earnings on Upwork is amongst the top 5%. It's because of how much attention I paid to what skills were needed or wanted by clients that I was able to realize these goals. It's not without discipline and hard work, however, so make sure you develop a routine that reduces friction that ultimately leads to sustained success.

I'm not sure if there's any better feeling than waking up to an email from Upwork telling me that someone is interested in my services. It takes time, patience, and perseverance but it can be worth every minute when your freelance career is flourishing - it has certainly made life much more enjoyable.

Be proactive about getting new clients, but don't be pushy or spammy

Tackling the freelance, contracting and consulting world, especially in a marketplace like Upwork can feel like an uphill battle at times and is often overwhelming. In order to avoid getting stuck in a rut, wondering where your new business opportunities are going to come from, you must take action.

Set a schedule to apply for highly-targeted, relevant projects that are perfect for your skillset. Take 3-5 hours every week to write personalized, friendly proposals to jobs you'd like to work on. For those with unestablished profiles, make sure to optimize your profile first before you beging to apply.

Remember, too much spam applying can get your account suspended on Upwork.

Ask for feedback from previous clients and use that feedback to improve your skillset

While the ways you can increase your chances of being successful on Upwork as a freelancer are plentiful, one often overlooked way is to ask previous clients for feedback and use that feedback to improve your profile, skillset, or customer experience. On contracts where I've received less than stellar feedback, I've often asked what I could have done to improve the customer experience. Jot them down, and implement. This should be an iterative process.

Don't take on too many projects at once-

You can't be a successful freelancer on Upwork if you don't take the time to focus. Accept the ones you really want or are financially beneficial first, then look to take on other projects later when you have more time/money and once your profile has increased in viability. This goes without saying, but I could not leave this out of the list because it's that important. It's come to bite me in the a** because I was unwilling to accept the fact that I could not tackle all of this work at once.

I set my rates high

Over the last 3 years, I've successfully increased my hourly rate and have tripled my income as a result.

It's true that setting higher prices might seem like an intimidating task at first, given how saturated an industry can get with competition from other talented professionals, but think about what happens when you're a qualified and experienced professional that crosses paths with a company that is willing to pay higher rates.  It goes without saying, you must be as skilled as your rate!

I found a niche that was profitable for me

I remember when I first started freelancing, finding the right niche was a huge pain in my butt. Was it graphic design with a focus on websites, was it mobile design, or web development? What about WordPress, Webflow, or Squarespace? There were so many jobs that looked good on paper but many of them just didn't yield any money! Also, by not specializing, you're less likely to master a particular subject. One day it dawned on me- pick your favorite, profitable niche, and focus your entire efforts on it. Why not be an expert at what you're good at and enjoy? And let's face it, we all must have one of these on our mind!

The most important part of Upwork success is knowing which job to take for your specific skillset. You also need to find out which type of project requires certain skill sets before wasting time blindly applying all over the site like a mad man (I know this from experience).

Do all of the work yourself, gain experience, then hire to scale

There's no question that freelancers do some of the best work when working with colleagues or team members. It's more creative, gets you more passionate about your craft, and collectively, results in having a unique, creative voice. But if you start to feel like your skills are becoming stale or uninteresting in any way after working alone, then consider outsourcing part of what you produce - it'll give new life to old ideas and it'll help you grow!

Being a freelancer is tough, but one of the keys to success on Upwork lies in doing all of your own work. Not seeking outside help lets you learn more and get the experience that's necessary for being successful within any given niche. For example, when I first started in the WordPress space, I quickly ran into problems that would have caused many people to quit or seek outside help, but with some searching and debugging, I learned many of the things that still help me today.

The point of being a freelancer on Upwork, however, is to take advantage of the resources that you have at your disposal. That means, hiring as a client, speaking to other freelancers in the community, etc. When people hesitate to reach out for help, it negatively impacts their work ethic and hinders them from growing in their chosen field as well as making themselves more susceptible to mistakes - we all know how disastrous those can be!

It'd be ideal if you'd first gain a lot of experience and master your niche, then while your growing, use Upwork as a client to hire other freelancers to help you scale. With your experience, you can oversee the work to ensure high-quality project deliverables.

Being Financially Smart in my Personal Life

People often overlook the importance of being financially smart in their personal lives and the effect it can have on your professional career. This can have a negative impact on your Upwork experience because it'll make you less stress-free, and cause an inability to invest more into themselves for expanding skills or managing projects efficiently. I had a strict budget and rarely spent loads of money on things like clothes or going out with friends. It was a tough, but necessary decision I needed to make in order to realize my goals.

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