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Online job marketplace is a platform where clients post vacancies and registered freelancers apply for these vacancies. All work takes place online, remotely. In that post, I will tell you about one of the largest job marketplaces for freelancers – Upwork. Also, I will tell you how to start making money on Upwork.
Upwork is an American company, which was founded in 2003. Upwork has 5 million clients, and more than 12 million of freelancers are making money on Upwork.
Who can find a job on Upwork?
There are 12 main categories of work, and category includes many other subcategories.
Upwork started with web development and design works only. But in recent years, the demand for specialities that are not IT has grown significantly – marketing and sales, customer support, translation, data search and processing, virtual assistant, writing and many other areas. This is great news if you’re not an IT specialist but dream of working remotely.
How to start making money on Upwork
First of all, you need to create an account on Upwork. And it will take just a couple of minutes. The most important part is filling in your profile.
Fill in the profile correctly
Each user has a profile on the Upwork. If you are interested in making money on Upwork, it is important to fill it 100% (the percentage will be displayed on the personal page). In the title, clearly indicate the speciality, for example: Project Manager, Remote Teams Expert. No more than two names.
Write a clear description
Description part is also very important, because most of clients evaluate freelancers by the description. First of all, your description should include clear information about what you are doing. For example, creating websites, writing SEO texts etc.
Then, don’t forget to mention your achievements or portfolio. If you don’t have any achievements, you can write at least a couple of courses or training which you took.
Besides it, you can write a couple of sentences about what outcome the client will get. Show to the client why he/she should choose you.
Choose a vacancy and write a competent cover letter
When the profile is completed, you can start making money on Upwork. Start to search for available vacancies and apply for the ones which are interesting to you. Apply only to jobs that are relevant to your experience. According to the Upwork rules, there is a limit on vacancies you can apply for. You can apply for about 30 vacancies per month. But if you want to apply for more jobs, you need to pay, to buy connects.
Upwork has so-called connects. It is something like a fee which is required to apply for the job position.
Apply only to fresh vacancies (no older than one day) and track the number of applicants who have already applied (this figure is visible to everyone). If there are more than 20 people, I do not recommend applying. You will get lost in a long list of candidates, and waste your connects.
If you find the vacancy that you like and which looks suitable for you, you can apply for it. And the first point of contact to the customer is sending the cover letter.
Write clearly, concisely and only relevant information. Important thing is Try to write a new letter for every single job.
Do an interview with a client
If everything goes in your favour, the client will answer and most likely offer to call for an interview. Sometimes contracts are also opened after chatting, when the employer simply clarifies the important details of the project. But for long-term contracts, it is logical to have a call.
There are two types of interviews – video and voice. In most cases, they go through Skype.
Conclusion
It was a brief manual about how to start making money on Upwork. Each freelancer has different skills, experience and knowledge. But everyone can find a job on Upwork, if build a strong profile first.
But if you want to clients search for you and apply for your service offer, you can check another platform for freelancers – Fiverr.
Read more: Fiverr: Best Platform for Freelancers
