Upwork is easy to work on a freelance marketplace. It is just a tiny piece of the online money-making puzzle. You can make money online at your leisure with just a little research. Upwork is, without a doubt, a fiercely competitive marketplace. The principle of Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” applies here as well. You will succeed as long as you are qualified for your job.

Upwork has a large number of freelancing categories. All you have to do now is figure out what your specialty is and how you can use it to make money. Even if you don’t have enough experience to try your luck at high-paying employment, you may start your earnings with low-paying jobs.

You don’t have to be concerned about how to make money on Upwork if you’re still considering it. I’ve put together a helpful guide to help you get started earning money on Upwork.

Profile

To begin earning money on Upwork, you must first create a profile to present yourself to the online community. Your chances of getting employed are increased by 50% if you have a visually appealing profile.

Remember that your smile is completely free, except for your job. To get clients’ attention, use a professional smiling picture.

Your job Title highlights your area of expertise. It’s one of the first things that catches the eye of potential customers. Make it your title if you know what you can provide and how it can benefit others.

Description

It is another thing that will grab clients’ attention. An effective description can get you hired.

What makes the description effective?

The majority of freelancers ignore this part. Rather, they prefer to replicate descriptions from others. They also compose a paragraph bragging about their qualities and skills. It is more likely to bore the customer than to persuade them. This is why they didn’t succeed in attracting customers’ attention.

A good description should emphasise what you can offer the client and how your services will help him achieve his goals. The opening three sentences should attract the reader’s attention.

If you take this area seriously, you’ll be ready to promote yourself as an Upwork freelancer in no time.

Portfolio

A portfolio is a representation of your profile description in visual form. If you are a beginner, however, you should try to get a project as soon as possible. Also, complete the project on time to receive a five-star rating from the client. This is how in no time you will create an attractive portfolio that will depict your skills.

Education & Employment History

To further define your profile, include your educational level.

If you have previous work experience, include it in your employment history. Don’t worry if your past experience doesn’t match the services you’re offering. It will simply give the client the idea that you know how to operate professionally.

Do not save Connects

You should not reserve connections for later if you’re a newbie. Apply for jobs that are a good fit for your skills and interests. When you sign up for an Upwork account, you’ll get 60 connects. Upwork provides you with ten monthly connects. Furthermore, you will continue to receive connects as a gift after each interview. However, make good use of them. Only apply for the accounts that are verified.

Cover letter

After the profile, the cover letter is the second half of the job application process. Cover letters should not be copied and pasted. Also, do not send the same cover letter to everyone. For each job, a cover letter should be written separately. If you can’t put up the effort required to write a good cover letter, you’re probably not interested in working for a living. If you keep sending proposals every day, you’ll see a significant difference in your writing style from day one to today.

For writing an impressive cover letter you should keep the following points in mind:

• Do not boast about your achievements in long paragraphs.
• Directly address clients’ expectations and needs and mention how you can help him.
• If the job description shows the client’s work requirement then talk about how you can work on it, and how you can exceed his expectation on this work by your services.
• A brief introduction and previous experience to grab the client’s attention.

The trick for writing an effective cover letter

Create a client account and post a job that matches your skills. You will see and learn how others draught a cover letter for your job proposal. It will help you enhance your proposal writing abilities, and you will finally get hired.

Charge low for the first few projects

You’re ready to enter the marketplace after creating your profile and filling in all of the required details. For the first few jobs, you’ll have to charge a low rate. Money is important, but a five-star rating and positive feedback on your profile are far more so. You can increase your pricing after six or seven reviews. As a beginner, keep in mind that you shouldn’t be too picky about the prices.

As a beginner remember these points

• Satisfies your client with the quality of your service

If you give 100% effort to the job and earn the clients’ trust, the client may consider your quality services for long-term work.

•  Failure isn’t the end of the world; rather, it’s the beginning of something new

Do not be discouraged if you were unable to pique the clients’ interests. Continue to apply for as many jobs as you can. You will be hired eventually.

• Respond to the queries ASAP

For beginners, it is necessary to stay active on Upwork and respond to the clients’ queries. A client will not wait for your late response, rather he will prefer someone who can reply sooner. If you feel bizarre by staying active, then remember in anytime you may get a response to your proposal and are likely to get hired.

• Be Niche-specific

Mostly, the beginners do not understand the necessity of a specific niche. If you will be niche specific you will have a greater chance to get hired.

• Mention the skills that perfectly match the services

If you have a skill in article writing and you are applying for copywriting service then you would be a fool to think of getting hired. Copywriting needs certain techniques to write a copy for a brand or company. Do not mention the generic skills like SEO, google analytics, digital marketing, backlinking, and keyword research. All of these generic skills have subcategories that you can mention as per your services.

• Do not work for free

Upwork has ensured a safe payment method so that you get paid for your time and services. It does not allow you to work for free. Even if you are writing a sample for the client, you may charge low but not free.

• Add certificates

Add certificates that match your skills. It will give authority to your skills and will give an impression to the client that you have professional knowledge of what you claim.

• On-time or Fast Delivery

Remember the deadlines when you commit to completing a task. It will make an impression on your client if you provide extra-fast delivery. He will definitely consider your services whenever he requires extra-fast services. If you can’t deliver quickly, at least make sure to deliver on time.

• Upwork service fee

As a beginner, you should know that Upwork will charge a 20% fee for its service from your earnings. If you get a project of $15 then Upwork will cut 20% and you will get $12.

• Work on your Soft skills

1. Be adaptable to new challenges.
2. Improve your communication skills.
3. Give attention to details that the client provides.
4. Develop a problem-solving attitude.
5. Be creative with your work.

The above-stated points can help you to understand how you can work on Upwork. I have listed down some in-demand skills if you’re looking for high-paying skills. Keep scrolling to learn about the jobs that do not need any skills.

Top 7 in-demand and highest paying skills on Upwork

 

If you’re looking for jobs on Upwork, there’s no chance you won’t be able to locate anything that matches your qualifications. There are a variety of jobs available. However, the following is a list of the most in-demand and highest-paying skills.

Web-programming

On Upwork, web programming is one of the most in-demand skills.  A web programmer is assigned to create a functional programme by coding the web language. If you want to make a full-time living, this is the ideal skill to have. A website cannot be created without web programming. Being a proficient web programmer requires hard work and constant learning.

An hourly rate of $20 is the potential earning of an ordinary web programmer. Upwork can provide a full-time income for a freelancer with a background in web technology.

Website designing

As the digital world is growing, all major and small brands need a website for their business. Website designing depicts the user experience aspect of web development. It is the art of creating a user-friendly website. It involves planning and designing the aspects which will exabit the brands’ features. If you reach any website, you will stay longer if it will be easy for you to understand what the brand or company is offering you.

On Upwork, a typical freelance website designer earns $50-70 per hour. It earns around $90,000 per year. It is a substantial sum of money to earn. So, be ready to start giving your website design skills and make some money.

Social-media Marketing

Social media has become a marketing tool apart from amusement purposes. The brands want to reach out to as many people as possible to offer their services and products. A social media marketer can help a company attract more customers and drive more traffic to its website.

A skilled social media marketer can earn between $50 and $100 per hour. So, what’s stopping you from working full-time and earning at your leisure?

Graphic designing

Graphic designing is another most in-demand skill. It is one of the consistent skills that is not going to obsolete in the near future. A graphic designer has to transmit ideas into visual form. Examples of graphic designing are business cards, logos, book and magazine covers, posters, mobile apps etc.

A graphic designer’s hourly rate is $50-60, with a yearly salary of $90,000. If you are an expert in this field, you can start working as a graphic designer on Upwork right away.

Video Editing

There are a lot of potential clients looking for a video editor on Upwork. Video editing skills entail combining short clips, images, sound effects, music, and text into a video that meets the needs of the client.

On Upwork, the average video editor charges $15-40 per hour.

Copywriting

Copywriting is another of Upwork’s most demanding and well-paying skills. Without copywriting, a marketing strategy is incomplete. A great piece of copywriting can make or break a brand’s ability to generate revenue. A copy of the persuasive advertisement and information about the company’s services and products that target the audience’s interest must be written by a copywriter. People are enticed to take action as a result of it. The copywriter must be a communication expert with persuasive writing abilities.

On Upwork, a copywriter can earn between $20 and $50 per hour. If you can write good copy for the company, it will keep coming back for more. And you’ll be able to make more money per hour.

SEO Article/Blog Writing

One of the most common freelance jobs on Upwork is writing articles and blog posts for search engine optimization (SEO). An SEO article writer’s goal is to get a client’s website to the top of the search engine results page. It is made possible by the writer’s careful keyword research, as well as on-page and off-page SEO.

You are qualified for this service if you have strong writing skills and can create an original piece of work. Grammar, plagiarism, and research techniques must all be mastered by the article writer. On Upwork, you simply need to specify your niche in order to provide article and blog post writing services. Rather than claiming that you can write in any niche, clients are drawn to a specific niche writer.

A proficient article/blog post writer earns an average of $20-85 per hour. If your client’s website is ranked first in a search engine, he will most likely hire you for long-term work. As a result, you’ll be able to cash out more money.

    Side Tip for the beginners to learn top skills of Upwork

Many platforms provide free courses to learn online earning skills. Following is the list of some platforms

• Udemy
• Coursera
• EdApp LMS
• edX
• Future Learn
• Master Class

Another platform with a lot of free lectures on online learning skills is YouTube. You can upgrade your learning to paid courses once you have mastered the fundamentals of any skill and have begun selling your services.

The gigs that do not require skills at all on Upwork

Aside from the high-demand jobs that require specific skills, there are some jobs that require no skills at all. Beginners on Upwork can start earning money right away with these gigs. Even if the jobs are low-paying, they could be the start of a freelance career for you.

English Teaching

You can apply for an English teaching job on Upwork if you are a native speaker or you should have expert level knowledge of English

Certain English certificates like TESOL, TEFL, TOEFL and CELTA from Cambridge certificates are a bonus to earn high-paying bids. The earning potential of an English teacher is $10 per hour at Upwork.

Proofreading

It’s another Upwork gig that doesn’t require any skills. It is best suited to native speakers, but if you are fluent in more than one language, you are the best candidate for the job. Before publishing the piece of writing, it must be critically checked by a proofreader. Formatting, grammar, spell check, and punctuation are all covered in this checking.

This work can be completed in a few hours. A proofreader’s hourly rate ranges from $18 to $35.

Data entry work

Data entry is the most common freelance work that newbies prefer to bid on. It is based on a straightforward task, such as data preparation and entry into documents or spreadsheets. The task takes no more than a few hours to complete.

Data entry jobs typically pay between $10 and $20 per hour. You will be able to earn more money as your experience and expertise grow.

Content Re-writing

You can easily bid on content re-writing jobs on Upwork if you have strong writing skills. In this project, the client will give you an article or other piece of writing and ask you to rewrite it without plagiarising it. This is a straightforward task that does not necessitate any hard labour. However, you must have a good command of the English language.

The price range varies depending on the work and the needs of the clients.

Virtual Assistant

This job entails assisting your client virtually, as the name implies. The level of assistance varies from one client to the next. The client may occasionally request that you schedule meetings, return phone calls, or send emails on their behalf.

In order to carry out the clients’ desired outcomes, a virtual assistant should have excellent communication skills. You might be hired for long-term work if you can communicate well and understand the importance of the task. This is how you will be able to make a good living.

The cost of a virtual assistant task varies between $10 and $20. The hourly rate is $13 on average.

Online-tutoring

Online tutoring on Upwork is another lucrative work. You do not need to be a professional for bidding. All you need to have is the right amount of information relevant to your subject. Even if you are an enrolled student in a university or college, you are good to go and earn some cash. You can avail your services to high school, college and university students. Now the question is, How will you persuade the client to hire your services? The answer to this question is simple, Upwork provides the feature of video uploading. You can record yourself and address your targeted clients to avail your services. Convince a client by addressing all the possible why and how questions.

The hourly rate of online tutoring on Upwork for beginners can start from $10-15.

Benefits of working on Upwork

    Work at your own pace

What else can you ask for if you have the leverage of working at your leisure? To begin working, all you need is a laptop, a reliable internet connection, a cup of coffee, and an Upwork account.

    $ Tips from the Clients

When you work efficiently and meet and exceed the client’s satisfaction, then the client rewards you as well. The client gives you a tip. It is enough to boost your confidence and morale for the work.

    Payment is Guaranteed

Upwork ensures that you do not get unpaid for your effort and hard work. To not be scammed, Upwork instructs the freelancers to not use external links for payment or communication.

    The work contract is made by Upwork

Formating a contract can be a headache for beginners. But Upwork makes sure that its user does not feel the burden while working. Upwork auto generates a contract of your work. You just have to thoroughly read it.

    New job alerts

Upwork make sure that the user may get the new job alerts that match his skills. Every time you will refresh the page, you will see new job postings.

Is Upwork a good job hunting place for beginners?

The answer to this question is YES. From high-paying skills to no skills jobs, Upwork provides beginners with a wide range of work according to their skills. No one can start six-figure earnings overnight. Persistence and learning are the keys to earning your place in the Upwork community. Moreover, Upwork doesn’t disable your account unless you violate their rules which are simple to follow.