Get Started & Find Success Freelancing on Upwork in 2023

1. Course Introduction: All right. Well, first of all, I'm super excited to have you in this course. This injury is just gonna briefly cover what everything's gonna cover in the course. You can obviously just go ahead and look at it. Below is Well, I'm just gonna briefly cover what's coming up. The first I'm gonna be talking about mindsets. Mindset is like the most important thing when you're getting started because it really sets you up for success in how you're viewing, applying to jobs and how you're approaching everything on up work. After that, I'm gonna be talking about what to freely and send and what your goals are now after coming to this course, and you already have skills that you can use online than part of that may not be as applicable to you, but I still think it's really important toe Write down your goals or to have goals in mind about what you wanna use up work four or just freelancing in general for before you get started. And I understand if you kind of figure it out as you go. But it's really important to have that ahead of time because you'll save a lot of time and you'll be able to really filter down on the types of jobs were looking for. If you have some goals in mind after that, we're going to go straight into up work policies and how they work. Kind of cover that ahead of time. Get that out of the way. Just a few basic ones that I've noticed that's really important to keep in mind. After that, I'm gonna be helping you set up your upward profile. I'm gonna walk you through some of the things I've noticed that are really important on your profile, things that clients look for, things that just help you stand out from the crowd, the rest of the crowd. After that, we're gonna be talking about finding projects and how to use up works, filtering and sorting to find projects that are the best fit for you and what you're looking for. After that, we'll be talking about riding proposals after you found a couple of jobs that you're interested in that you think might be a good fit. Then you have to land it a lot of good info there about how to write proposals that catch people's attention and then the last section. We're gonna be talking about landing projects after you know, you've got someone talking to you about a project and further communicating with clients. Good communication with clients throughout The whole project will set you up for success and other projects as well. And that's it. So I'm really excited. Get started. Let's go. 2. The Mindset You Need To Succeed: for the first section. We're going to talk about mindset like I mentioned earlier in the intro mindset is one of the most important things to cover before we get started. Its most important thing to have in mind before you even touch setting up your upward profile. First thing I want to talk about your mindset is that you're in control on you are really in control. What happens? A lot of us just comes down to how much work you're willing to put in if you want to make money with freelancing sooner rather than later. You can absolutely ghost this course in one day and start taking action immediately. Or if you just dipping your toes in and are slowly making the transition to freelancing as totally fine, too. I just want you to know that absolutely possible had success and freelancing very quickly. If you're willing to put in the work. A second mindset is very similar. It's all about the hustle. It really is, regardless of how long it takes you to lay in your first job. If you're gonna be successful working online, you really do have to hustle. You have to put in a lot of work. Even if you're incredibly talented, you're still gonna have to put in effort and put yourself out there to land jobs. Many jobs doesn't just happen overnight. Sometimes you get lucky. But more often than not, the people that work the hardest, other ones that find the most success and that meet their goals. Um, I definitely haven't found any sort of magic, secret or special formula or something to perfecting my profile or proposals or or any of that. I think a lot of it really just comes down to the hard work. I'm putting in the time and effort and being yourself. Uh, especially when you're starting from nothing and the next one. The next mindset is you need to be able to overcome your fears and things that make you uncomfortable, especially if you're just starting out. If you're like me and you're starting out from nothing or, you know, maybe a little bit, it kind of seems like a lot, Uh, when I was first starting every little thing seems like a lot of work selling at my profile , looking through jobs, applying to dramas like it was really intimidating, but I needed to push past that in order to find success in order to really get started. So in order start financing, you need to overcome atmospheres and whatever makes you uncomfortable, um, or just push past it in a similar vein. But other minds, that is to push past her doubt. Like I was just mentioning, I kind of felt like a fake when I was just starting, because I was really doubting my level experience when I first started. You know, I had very little experience, no really projects that I could show people I knew, and I had the skills enoughto provide value to someone. Um, and I'm sure you do, too, even if you're just getting started honestly, that clients don't know like your level of experience. Even if you're a junior or just turning out, They know that you know more than them, and they're willing to pay for that. And that's all that matters. It's not necessarily that you have to be an expert. You don't you can really get started with with just a little. And lastly, the last mindset to cover is be okay with doing what you know, obviously, but you also need to be able to push yourself to deliver more than you know, or to work on projects that require you to be outside of your comfort zone a bit. I thought that since I was brand new didn't know that much, I wouldn't be able to find work. But I was totally wrong. Obviously, I started out doing small things that I didn't know. But I quickly came to realize that that is where it could be a trap because you Onley air working on stuff that you Are you for sure? No. Then you're not gonna be able to scale yourself. You're not gonna will raise your prices. You're not gonna be able to work on other things. I found that I wasn't as happy because if I was just working on, like, the same things over and over, So I was a definitely you apply to projects and already be thinking about being able to push yourself to do things that you're maybe not completely sure you can, dio, Because that's really how you grow and learn. Ah, your skill or your craft, especially if you're new to it. If you already have a skilled and you're probably familiar with this, But if you don't, it's very valuable to be kind of learning on the job and many clients, even if you tell them outright. I've I've told some of my clients out right before like I can do it, but I'm not sure for you all. Figure it out and they're they're willing to pay for it. And that's really cool. I think that people were still, you know, they trust you enough and that you're so you're still enough that they're willing to pay for, even if you're figuring it out. So definitely make sure to be ableto push yourself to deliver more than you know what kind of work outside your comfort zone. So those are the big mindsets that I found to be really valuable, knowing that I'm in control, being able to work really hard and hustle, always evaluating what fears I have and things that make me uncomfortable and go toe overcome knows. And I'm pushing past any of my doubts about my skill level or where I'm at and then also pushing myself toe take on projects that I'm challenged me a little bit. I think with all those mind sets, you're gonna you're really gonna set yourself up for success before you start on the platform 3. Freelancing Basics: What To Freelance In: for the second section. I'm going to talk about what you feel, Yinsen. And then almost gonna be talking about your goals. The first thing to think about is what are your skills? Start with what you know honestly, So think about those kinds of things. What do you already good at or reasonably good at this can be? Is general as what design or arts and crafts or as specific as such things is like making a simple squarespace side or minting colorful hats. It could really be anything. Make a list, right, A couple things down. What do you already know? What are some skills that you know you have what they come up with, maybe 10 to 20 different ideas, and then look back through your list and figure out which ones you're most interested in, Uh, and want to begin with Having interest in your after in what you wanna work on is a really good way to ensure that you're gonna be successful long time because you're not gonna burn out out of Fordham or this interest. The next thing to figure out after you've kind of written down some skills and figured out okay Here's a few things I'm good at is do any of those work for all unfeeling thing especially, you know, take the top 45 that you've never down that you're most interested in. Now think about if any those work for France thing. Some will be more obvious and others obviously, If if making simple squarespace sites is something you're interested in or like doing, then that's perfect cause that can definitely be done on a laptop from anywhere with WiFi knitting. Colorful hats, on the other hand, could work out to be a successful business, but it's not suitable for freelancing. You could started e commerce store or something like that. But for free anything you're really looking for things that you can provide as a service. There are other things that might not seem is obvious. Maybe you're great at playing guitar or an instrument of any sort. You could look at recording simple good car tracks on your laptop and delivering them on the Internet. You can also think about teaching guitar lessons over Skype. Not all of these will be the best fit for up work, but it's important to kind of just look at all your options. It's good to know all those different things. So challenge yourself toe. Think outside the box, figure out some creative ways to a doctor, skills and interests to freelancing next. If none of those really work for freelancing, then you gotta figure out something that you want to learn. So if you've got gone to this point and you realize that you don't really have any skills, you're sure that would translate to frame anything that's still totally fine. Many freelance suitable drives are actually very simple to learn and could have you making money in just a few months. If you find yourself in this place, look back through your list. Try to figure out a thematic trend. Try and look back and see. You know, are any of these very similar for me, it was designed stuff for you. Maybe you like the technical saw anything, So maybe development might be often for you to pursue. There are some obvious choices. I think out their Web design, graphic design development of any sort. Those are all very easy to get into and find work because it's a very, very saturated market in the sense that There's always work. Always, always. There are other ones, too you could think about, like accounting, marketing, writing. Be very open minded here and try to see what the females and a lot of the things that you've listed maybe their creative but not suitable for friendly things, such as the knitting cast example. Once you find the same, you'll be able to maybe find a freelance suitable skill that you can start learning. And it will probably be very easy to pick up if you already have a theme among everything else. Once you figured something out, figured out a scheme and then maybe figured out, you know, im really I like technical things and maybe I want a try. Database programming or accounting. Uh, there's all sorts of research is out there. Whatever it is that you've come up with, whatever the trend is, there's tons of things out there. I mean, you have the whole Internet, your disposal. Tons of free resource is lots of paid ones as well or pretty much any skill. That's really the beauty of the world we live in right now, so you can honestly become an expert at as like a graphic designer and just a month watching YouTube videos reading articles online. Really, the possibilities are endless. So don't be discouraged if you got to your list and even you figured out a fame and you're kind of like, Oh, well, no, he's work. I'm not sure. Take some time to really maybe research a couple of things and look a different themes that have popped up and see what might spark your interest. You never really know until you start looking. Definitely take timeto find that theme and look for different resources that will help get you started or help you find something that will. He's suitable suspense. Now, hopefully you've done a little bit of research. You found your theme Or have you already found one or two things that you're like? Yeah, this is a good fit for me. Then you're after every start. At this point, if you're just found something you don't really know a lot about it, right? Found only difference in. And then you gotta learn a few things. Just start researching. And I'm sure if there's a trend from any of your goals or if you found one of two things that already work. Then you'll be able to pick up very quickly things that you can do to start making money. And you don't by any means need to completely no your whole craft before you get started. So I would encourage you if you're just starting in the sense that you're picking up something new to learn, um, learned a couple things you know, just a few. Like if you're interested in graphic design and maybe make some logos for fun or your interest in Web design, you know, maybe make a couple examples of a website. Learn HTML and CSS. This is the hurdle if you're just turning out in the sense that you're learning completely new skill, because you will have to learn a few things to get started. It won't take that long. No, it's totally fine. 4. Freelancing Basics: Your Goals: now that you figured out a few things to freelance in. Or maybe you're getting started learning a new skill and getting ready to put yourself out there on up work. It's important to think about your goals. It's important. Establish all of that before you get started. You might just figure it out as you go, but it's going to have a rough idea. Are you looking to transition out of a job and, if anything, full time? Are you just wanting it as a side project? Are you not sure if you want a freelance on term? But you just want to make an extra few $1000 maybe take a nice trip somewhere. Or maybe you just want to know that you have another skill in your back pocket, but you can always make money if you need to. You. If you're in a tight situation, you can have some extra cash. Whatever the case, take a minute to write a couple of those things down. Have those in mind for long term whatever it is for. You just kind of established that beforehand. Forget started. Shorter term. It's important to think about what types of projects do you want to be working on? And if you're just starting out, you may not know. Like, what? Types of clients. So I won't work with me. I wanna work with big businesses that I want to work with. Small businesses or individuals. You may not know if you have an idea of what kind of people you want. Work risk. Go ahead and write those down after that. Definitely think about what types of projects you might want to work on. Maybe you want to work in a specific industry. Maybe you don't really care. Those are important to so write down. Anything really projects with projects as well. It's important to think about what types of projects in terms of project link. Ah, and maybe how you pay are you more interested in working on projects that last a few weeks ? And then you can take a break and then pick up another project? Are you more interested in some ongoing work that someone feeds you, whether that's part time or full time, So you have some stability. Go ahead and write those down to, because that is gonna make a huge impact on what types of drop your circuits or take some time. Think about your goals, write them down and then we can get started with the rest of really going to set up on that work. 5. Upwork Policies: So for Section three, we're gonna be talking about up work policies and how they work. It's really important to know, um or just be familiar with the terms and conditions on up work. So take some time before you really get started applying to jobs on. Just familiarize yourself with that. I'm gonna quickly cover the basic ones that I've found to be really useful and then I think are really important. First of all, you're the only one that can use your account so you can't share it with anyone. If you ever got to a point where you had a lot of work and you wanted somebody help you out , you can't let them log into your account. So you are the only one that you can use your account. 2nd 1 is your profile pictures. And to be clear and show just you. I still see a lot of people that put up images or logos or different things. They're really not allowed, and they're really not gonna do you any good anywhere. You want a good picture of just yourself just now. I had a time like don't use clip art, use anything or logo is like, just use a picture of yourself. Otherwise your profile could get taken down last one That I think is really, really, really important is sharing your contact information, such as your email phone number. Skype I D. In your profile is not allowed. This is the most important one that I found. The other ones There are good to know, but this was kind of a like You kind of forget about it. So don't listen. Your profile ever. That was like a good way to get yourself taken down off of upward. On the other hand, no communication wise. If you start talking with a client and they want to have a Skype call, they want to call you or they want to send you a lot of stuff over email. It's absolutely fine to send that you just can't listen in your profile because Upward doesn't want people talking to you individually outside of the platform. So all communication should happen inside up work, which I also highly recommend in terms of like if you ever deal with a difficult client or you have to deal with a dispute and makes it a lot easier if they can see all of the communication and things that were sent. No. Sometimes you're gonna have to just talk with clients or email. They prefer that. Or sometimes clients prefer, you know, talking of Skype or something just totally fine. Just make sure to share that information just with them personally. If they ask for it, just don't put on a profile. And once again, I highly recommend reading through all of their policies in terms and conditions. When you have some time, it is a bit of a lengthy re, but it's really worth knowing what it means for clients in for you definitely worth to read the client side as well. So you're familiar with what kind of terms they need to hold up to, then, once you're kind of promoting it started and setting up 6. Set Up Your Profile: Write A Killer Title & Use Your Tags!: So if you've come this far obviously ready to hustle you figured out what you want a freelance in and you've established your goals and you're also familiar with that works policies. So now that you've covered all those basics, we're gonna dive right in to getting a profile set up. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna show you how to tweak it from my profile so you'll see my hope of Well, um, I'm not gonna walk you through how to set it up from scratch. What I want you to do is go ahead and just fill in information as they lead you through the on boarding process building whatever you need. If you're not sure, um, you know, for like, the overview or portfolio or anything like that, uh, there might be options to skip it, which you can dio. You can also just fill in just brief basic information. Don't stress about it too much if you're just setting it up, you know, it doesn't need to be perfect yet, and I'm I'm gonna walk you through how to really flush it out. It's much easier to explain once you already conceive this page in your ah, in your profile, then versus me trying to walk a three when you're shooting it from scratch. So that's what we're gonna dio on. The first thing to keep in mind that I think are the very most important are the overview and your pulse portfolio. Now, as you can see here, I have work experience in between those two. But when you're just starting out, it's just gonna be blank. You'll have, um, this section with overview and then immediately after that, this section with your portfolio. So those are the most two important or to most important, so we're gonna dive into those in more detail. I'm also gonna walk you through a lot of these other things, even little things that will give you more success and help you stand out. So the 1st 1 we'll just go top to bottom since already told you the most important, we'll just go talked about him. Uh, so I'm gonna talk about your title first. Uh, pick a simple title. You don't need to go overboard here. Um, mine's pretty basic. Uh, but you do wanna be specific. If you want to specialize in something for instance like if I only want to work on squarespace websites or only one to work on WordPress Simple blog's or something definitely put that, um, and realize that you're not limited to whatever you put here. You can change it at any time. I often change mine just to see machinery is just starting out like you did it. Do anything really for me. And I have I don't really have a ton of data. Whether or not like, yes, this changing this title made a huge difference in this way, but it's fun to mess around with. So, no, you can always change it, um, but brew to be specific. So it helps with Seo, for instance, for me as a Web designer. If I list you Ryan, you X, because I do offer you and your ex services versus just during Web designer is another good example. Would be, um, if you workers like branding on corporate identity kits are, you know, helping people establish their brand. It's better to address list branding and corporate identity Kit designer versus graphic designer There's tons of graphic designers out there, and it's not really gonna make you stand out from the crowd at the keywords can be really, really important in a CEO and in search and such. Um, so the next thing I'm going to talk about is your tags eggs here just in this whole top section. Ah, at tags that relate to you. And so this could be anything from the actual services you provide to the specifics of the programs you use. Britain's Photoshopped for me, um, to the detective things you work on like WordPress list all those things you can think of now, when you're adding tags, it'll pop up step with available so you can just type anything you want but fine ones that are applicable. Um, after you found a few and I would say, put as much as you can in there, you want to make use of all those tags. It really helps with SDO. It also really helps. When people are looking through their proposals. They'll see the 1st 3 tags, usually two or three eso. You want to make sure also to rearrange your tags so that the most important ones air first cause people will see those. And so for me, it's Web design unit, user interface design user experience design for you in my presuming different. But go ahead and list those most important ones first so that it'll help your profile be seen better in search eso the next thing here. You see, I'm not gonna talk much about video. That's one thing. I know a lot of people that give advice for up work really stress. And I'm sure you have a lot that they have a lot of success with it. Um, I've definitely felt looking into it, but I when I started on aliens, they didn't really have the option or they were just launching. And so I didn't think about it. Um, I'm not gonna talk about video at all in this course, but it's something you can definitely explore. Look at after you flush out everything else, um, I would definitely consider it. Actually, I would definitely consider it if you have time. Um, put a video up there. I mean, it really helps people connect a face to based on the name and everything else that you're talking about, and I'm sure it would help, but I'm here to show you just how to do it. It text based cause. I got all my success without ever doing videos on my profile or in proposals, so we're not gonna cover that much, But just know that it's there. If you do want to mess around with it, if you're someone early, likes video. 7. Set Up Your Profile: Pricing Yourself for Success: So last thing in this top section is that we'll talk about rate. Um, it's a turkey one when you're starting out, and I can't give advice for every specific industry. But I will say that you don't need to worry too much about competing with the people that have really, really low rates. And I mean, you know what I'm talking about the people that are starting out or in offering services for, like, 2 to $5 an hour, you know, because they live in really cheap countries and they can, um, and that's a good pay for them. Honestly, you don't need to worry about that. People really are willing to pay for especially fluent English speakers. I know not all of you may be fluent English speakers who might be watching from somewhere like in Europe like it's Spain or I don't know where you don't speak fluent English, which is okay. Um, nonetheless, people are willing to pay more for work done from people in what more Western countries. I had success starting around 15 to $20 an hour, and I wouldn't be surprised if many other industries would be similar. I can't say for everything, obviously. But, um definitely price yourself at least 5 to $10 an hour higher than the really, really cheap people you see out there. Now, the reason for this is you know, even if you're thinking like Oh, but you know what if, like, how will I find jobs like that? Like, don't worry about it. You will, Um, mainly because those drop's that people get at that rate aren't the kind of jobs you want. Anyway, Um, it's usually very picky clients demanding clients they want, you know, Airbnb made for $2 or $2 an hour, and it's it's not because people were gonna be working with. So by setting yourself up, I'm in starting us, Likely higher rate. Anyway, you're gonna be completely not worrying about that whole side of up working that whole, um, crowd of people. So go ahead and just put something out there from now. Another thing with the rate, just like all of this, is that you can change it at any time. So if you have you read it $15 an hour and you're not having any luck, Maybe he put it to 20 actually. Maybe you see if a higher rate does you better, or maybe you take it to 13. It's totally up to you. Don't definitely mess around with it. Um, we're establishing your rate. Um, it's important to think about Oliver skills and experience. If you have gone to a score so far, and we're at the point where you're still learning a new skill, then I know that's hard to evaluate. Um, and like I said, go ahead and putting up. Don't worry about it too much. You can mess with it. But if you do have a skill already, it's important to think about that and where you're at in starting your rate. So if you're already experienced, maybe even just a year, or maybe even just six months, um, you might have more luck starting a little bit higher. And don't be afraid to have a rate of 25 versus 20 or 30 or something just definitely must around with it. Definitely know your worth in the skills that you have. So yeah, treated like a game. It's fun. You can you condone what everyone there 8. Set Up Your Profile: Crafting A Great Overview: All right, So this is a big section about the overview, and I'm gonna go into as much stuff as I can here. Um, I just quickly outlined some things which I will be a P f or something Here is well for you . So there are lots of resource is out there. First of all, just gonna put it out there. There's tons of stuff out there to try. And, um, Specter craft your profile and seen a lot of people. They're like, this is the perfect thing. And, um, what I found to be the perfect thing and key to success here is really just being yourself . Um, I think that's why a lot of people have success with video as well, because you're you can't fake it. Video. You know, you, um, people can see right through that kind of stuff, but similar for writing your overview. Just be yourself. Talk about who you are, where you came from, all that I think. Let me quickly over outline some key points for your overview. But keep in mind, just be yourself right in your own tone. You know, don't copy and paste just for mine or someone that. You see, maybe you might see some cool points you want to use, but you definitely be yourself. So the first thing is, do you talk about your value, Not just your skills. Talk about, uh, the value you bring to the table in, uh, its clients work with you, you know, Yes, they want to know that you're good with the systems or tools that you use, but they also want to know that and they work with you, you know you're gonna be able to I helped them get more sales or help solve a problem for them. If you can express that, that really goes a long way. Aside from just saying like, Oh, like I'm good at this x y z So take some time to think about what that might be. It's different for every field, but really showing people that you have value U and um will help them. Ah, beyond just completing a project is very good. Um, it's and it's also still valuable. Talk about your specific skills. Um, definitely less those as well, too, because that's good for a CEO. And some people do specifically look for, you know, I need them to know this coding language or anything to be familiar with this specific platform. So I list those down here, actually, um, are used to have a bigger list. I don't need to as much anymore, but go ahead and list on for sure. Um, the next thing to Dio is do talk about your background in your history. I see a lot of profiles from people where they just talk about work or where they just talk about where they're at now. And it's really not able, I think, for people to know where you've come from. It brings a human element into it when you're talking about your history. Like if I for a while, I had on my profile my experience as a small business owner because, um, I actually still do have it here. Um, you know, talk about things that you've done. Maybe you work in retail, but you really taught you good customer service. Highlight any of those things. And if you're young and just starting out and maybe you haven't had that many jobs, you know you can pull things together from school or whatever your experiences have been. Um, use your experiences that you've had so far to highlight the again the value that you bring to the table so that you're not just talking about all my skills. X y z, um, it really it really, really does bring a human element that I think is invaluable because because people can relate to you of it more and just know that you're really and that you'll be easy to work with and communicate with and stuff like that. Um, the next big one to talk about is do you talk about the types of clients who want to work with again? If you're just starting out, you may not know, Uh, but God, enlist a few for me, and I like working with smaller shops like working with, um, some business to business, but kind of smaller things. I like just kinda helping people out there just getting started. Um, but maybe you like working with, like, big like corporations or something like is definitely important to list that because it's you'll find different clients depending on what you put their eso. If you have a rough idea, put something down. Um, last couple ones. Bastable points for this is. Don't be super spammy. We're on authentic or sales E. Um, it might catch some people's attention, but I would bet that those aren't the kind of people you'll be working with anyway. Um, like, like everything this whole time. Be yourself. Don't. Don't just try to sell yourself like you would a product or something. Just talk about yourself and, um, be riel. Um, similarly, don't just copy and paste mother profiles like I mentioned earlier. Um, it's not gonna accurately display you. And I think a lot of people can see right through that. Especially if it's someone really interested in signing the perfect fit and going to a lot of profiles. You know, if they see that yours is the famous someone. So I was over there, then we're gonna be like, Who is this guy? Or maybe they won't even like either of you because they don't know who copied who. But I'm just don't just don't do it. Uh, and lastly, don't stress that we're getting it perfect. Um, if you're anything like me, So she's just getting starting out. Uh, getting started. Did You probably want to know? Oh, like I want to have it all great and perfect. And, um, you know, or maybe it's weird to talk about yourself, but don't worry about it. You you can tweak it any time. Um, and I don't I take mine all that. I'm honestly, I'm always trying toe add more value to it and more things that I think people might like. Find a You know what changes month to month as I work on new projects or I want to start working in a different field or something like that. So just kind of put some good stuff up there, take some time to really think about, um, who you are. What value Have to bring what you're offering on crashed something that people will enjoy reading. Ah, and don't worry too much about it, because you can change it. So, um, as you can see from mine, it's not super long. I don't I'm not saying write a novel or anything. Um, try and keep it short to the point because people are looking through a lot of profiles when they're trying toe hire people. Um, I also have found it's useful toe list out like I mentioned earlier list out some of the things that you dio service wise. You can also list out, um, your specific platforms or something. Like I could list photo shop illustrator. All that stuff, the reason that's good is because it helps with Seo. And I think it really helps people get a good sense specifically of the things that you offer. Um, whereas, you know, I can talk about some stuff out here and the value I bring, but this specifically talks about, yeah, the specific services. So that's good. So that's the brief. Look into the overview. Really Hope that helps you get more of an idea of what to put their Friel Frito further. Look at mine. Maybe. Hopefully this gives you some ideas for what you can put in yours. 9. Set Up Your Profile: Leveraging Your Portfolio: All right. So the next section here is your work history and feedback, which will show when every invited your first job, which will be awesome. Until then, though, the next section people will see his report Folio. So the first thing I want to mention here is use images. Um, I actually need to tweak line. As you can see, you can't really see the computer lock up. I have them in, um it's really important to use images, though it really gives people a good sense of what you're offering. And I would say even if you don't do something designed based or something that's not very visual take some time to, like, hire someone on up work, hire someone on fiber to make some images for you. Maybe you're a rider. Um, and you need, you know, tell me to tie it. And people are very visual. And so the more images you can use here that better. I think your chances are standing out from the crowd, especially in fields where you're not using a lot of imagery to begin with. That's really gonna set you apart. Um, now, one thing to know here is they have a cover image. But then there is also more once you click in, including in here to my, uh, I designed a Shopify ecommerce store. So this is the image that I want to show up. But I need to crop a bit more as my first image. I am, but people can click through and see more. The other thing that's important to know here or to put here is just know that now everyone's gonna click through that. You know, you can't really track that. But, um, I don't know if all clients even know they can click through. Um, fill this out as much as you can. Definitely put a lot of, um definitely stressed putting a good image up. So to begin with Ah, and then it. Like I said, if you're a writer or something, you can put like a tech stock here with with your written work. Um, next, I would say split up previous projects. So maybe he worked for one company or an agency or something, and you did multiple. You did a few projects, but they're all kind of for the same person. And they're all similar. Split them up if you like, maybe designed a website, um, and then design this promo material on different things. Put split them up into different things because they are different and they give people a better senses. What you do overall to do, uh, one little project here for you think, Um, next after that, I would say, make sure to use your tags really well. So here, you can see you can add it. Your, uh, your title here. And then you can add hope a text about what it waas and you can have, like, a little, um, a little further, each image as well. Make sure to use those tags well, similarly to the top of your profile with the tags. Um, this helps for S CEO. And for, you know, people are looking specifically for poster design than they might come across this last thing for portfolio. But they give a good get brief overview. Like I said, not everyone's going to click through to each individual project so you don't need it. Sent a ton of time going into debt. 30 until about what you did. There was a complicated project, and I would list that maybe talk about more in depth about what you did, but no need to spend like paragraphs or anything by any means. I have a short little corruption here. Most importantly, people just want to see that you do have portfolio where? So it's important to Philip all four if you can, um, and even more. If you have it, of course. So just make sure to have at least those four, especially if you're starting out and use. If you're just starting out learning a skill, you can just create something yourself. It doesn't have to be for a client. I'm just have a few things up there. 10. Set Up Your Profile: Add Certifications & Employment History: All right. So the next one is certifications and all kind of limp. All these last few ones into one because they all kind of go together. Um, not they're not super important, But you still need to do them notifications. Don't worry about unless you have a specific industry specific certification, um, and then tests. Tests is one that I've never found to be super necessary. But it could be really useful. Um, and as you can see on mine, when I first started, I failed even some of like, the ones for the tools I was using. I haven't taken them saying, um I probably would do fine now, but, uh, one thing I will say that I really does. I really do think helps your profile is take this up work writing this test because you can't fail it in the sense that you can retake it as many times as you want until you get five out of five. And once you do that, you get this first place button which I think psychologically draws people toe. Think better of you. Um, obviously, they will see that it's for this test, but it's still I think does something for your profile. So go didn't take that, Um And then the next thing, the next ones that are most important to take our take word usage and, um, any of the other English test. So it's important to take those because, as far as I know, people can filter through results. Um, and surprisingly enough, like I wasn't even in the top 10 or whatever. I should probably do it, but go ahead and just take him. It's good. It's good for people to see that you actually took the time to do a couple of tests, especially ones related to English. Um, if you are developer or designer, there are other specific tests that you can take, like obviously like my photo shop. One, um, lots of ones for different, uh, different programming languages. It could be worth your time because people consult here by them, but I wouldnt stressed about it too much. It's a you know, maybe try a few, and if you know, if you don't pass them or don't do well, you can obviously hide it from your profile, which is really good. So don't stress too much about the test, but you do need to take at least one or two. Definitely take the English ones because it makes your marks. Your profile is 100% complete or it helps. Marker Profile is complete. The last will go down here. Teoh Employment History. I wouldn't say you definitely listless. At least one thing because it helps spark your profile is 100% complete. That's one of the most important things with your profile. Aside from the certification, I'm sorry. Aside from the overview and your portfolio because, um, your your portfolio here profile will get shown so much higher just by being 100% complete according upwards standards. So shoot for that. No matter what I think don't have much employment history or don't have any related employment history. Just list something. One trick I've done here is I was myself is a famous designer, and even though I just started not too long ago, it still counts, so you could put it even a month ago. And that counts. Is your work history 11. Set Up Your Profile: Complete Your Profile With Education & Other Experiences: all right. Lastly for the sections down here, you gonna want toe put something for your education, even if it's just high school. Totally fine. Put something there. It goes a long way to mark. Your profile is complete, and then you can list other experiences down here. So I listed that course I took. My experience is a small business owner. You could really list anything um, that you want there, though that's the last for the full filling out your profile. I'll quickly go over some of the things over here in the side bar to finish out. It's over here. You'll see. Um, I have my job success and my top rated stuff. So that shows up once you've worked on a few jobs. Um, if you're just getting started, you you won't get this top rated button yet. But if you you might get a, uh, different one that they give out to people that are, I'm just getting started but are doing well in her up and coming, so that's really cool. And then that puts you on your way to being top rated. Uh, after that, you can see work history here, Um, and availability. So this is when you can set, uh, and this goes back to your goals that we established earlier. So if you wanna work, um, if you wanna work a lot, then you can set your availability to this like more than 30 hours to be if you don't see much less, Um, or if you just wanna work on occasionally even do as needed, open to offers. I will say here that for part time or full time work, I would say used these to more than 30 hours a week, or less than 30 hours a week. Um, if, on the other hand, you're looking to this work project a project, then I would say do as need. It opened offers because I've had a lot more success in terms of people reaching out to me when it's marked like that. Um, that's just the kind of something I've noticed. You can set that. And then this just shows Is your response time here, um, and then languages. So I only speak English. But if you have any other languages that you're fluent in, list it. I would not list unless you really wanna work. Uh, in the language that you're not super flown A. You could list conversational or basic. What I would say. It's not even worth unless you're native or bilingual or I'm completely fluent because a lot of the people here really want to make sure that they can communicate well. And if you can't communicate super well, then it may not be worth your time to list that. So let's whatever language is your flowing in and there you go. So that's your profile. I'm so by the end of this, hopefully you've been able to fill out everything. Um, and make sure it's 100% complete. You'll see. Um, you'll see in one of the other pages here. I don't quite remember which up work tells you how complete it ISS and believe it's this one. Just make sure it's 100% because it really helps in search and stuff. So I guess not. Yeah, yeah. Now you finish your profile and you're ready to start looking for jobs, so we'll dive into that in the next section. 12. Finding Projects: Filtering Basics: you've made your profile on up work, I'm gonna walk you through looking for jobs. That's the next most important step. And more often than not, this is really intimidating for people might be a bit harder than you think. There's so many projects on upwards. It was really important to really take full use of all these filtering. I think that they have over here with so much to so many projects, there's a lot to sift through. But I'm gonna show you how to use these to find the products that are gonna be the best fit for you. So the most useful is don't waste your time browsing just through the general page for your feet. So when you go here to find jobs, um, it will just give you some recommendations or a feed based off of like your categories for me, that weapon mobile designer, you other design type ones. What you want to do is actually click through and like, get to a page that looks like this where you can have a main category. Then you click on any of these depending what you're doing and then a subcategory, um, the first thing that's important to Dio after you have your first level of filtering just within this right here is to start by experience level so near down the types of jobs that you are looking for. So if you're a junior, your dress starting out whether you have a skill or you're learning a new skill, you can filter out the expert. Um, you don't really need that. Um, I would still keep the intermediate, though, because even though you are just starting out, sometimes people, the immediate level help projects. That could still be a good fit for you. But expert probably isn't the best, but, um, and this works vice versa. If you're an expert or even doing it for a while, you'll have more luck finding jobs that fit you and your skill set in your level just by clicking intermediate and expert. And already you can see, like in this example, that it filtered out 1200 jobs because it's not the right skill levels. So I mean, that already is helping um, so take time to mess around with these. It's not completely cut and dry sometimes, um, someone wants in the an entry level person but they're willing to pay a lot, or sometimes they want untreatable person. But there are only willing to pay that 2 to $5 an hour or something, and vice versa. Sometimes they want expert, but they're only willing to pay 2 to $5 an hour. So it doesn't necessarily mean that one level is associated with a certain level of pay. It is sometimes people, one expert. They're not gonna pay it done for it, so it just depends. But it's definitely worth especially shorting out. Don't worry about the expert one thes air your two right there. No filter down by that. 13. Finding Projects: Filtering By Budget: the next most important thing to filter by is budget because and this is the most important one, in my opinion, because you can already filter through a lot of the junk type jobs by having good budget. So I know a lot of people that would argue like, Oh, I just wanna make a quick buck. Why don't I just do like, a $50 job? Um, I would argue to say, like, those are the types of jobs you won't be working with long term to really set you up for success long term. So even when you're starting out our filter at least 100. But more likely than not, you'll have look at certain to 50 or 500. Um, up work has also changed their policies recently on how much you have to pay as a freelancer and five under $500. I believe it's now 20% so that's something to keep in mind. Um, if you really wanna have success more long term, you're gonna want to move out of that $500 price range that budget because they're taking 20% of your money. So I mean, that's a good that's a good chunk. So I want to reach 500 is down to the normal 10% and any work over 10,000 is down to 5% which is nice. So I think up works. Move. There is toe. Just get people working more on long term jobs. But either way, it's still is nice to, um, get past that $500 mark. So obviously, when you're starting out, you might take on some jobs for 100. You might take on some jobs for 2 50 it's all right because you're building your profile, which is really, really important when you're starting out. 14. Finding Projects: Filtering By Project Length & Hours Per Week: to the next thing to look at. Here is Project Link, so I typically don't do projects that are rushed. And I would say, Even when you're starting out, you might think, Oh, like, you know, it'll just be a quick project that it only be like a few $100 in just a couple days. That's awesome. More often than not, those people are really demanding, and they don't always have all their stuff together. And so you know, having such a quick turnaround time can be a lot of work more than you would think, because you having to get to know a new client and establishing relationship, the more often than not, it's just not worth it to do these hours or days type projects there. They're picky clients more often than not, and it's just not worth your time. So I would filter out that. And then from there, it depends on what you're doing. For a lot of design development work, a few weeks sometimes is not enough. Depending on the project, though, months is probably closer. What you need more of what you start to see, though here is in months and over six months. Other usually like long term type projects or a really, really big project where you know they need someone to come on board to completely revamp on a system or like right aton of content or something. So if you're looking for bigger projects like that, months and over six months are good to have checks. If not, leave the weeks. If you just want variety, this is a good set up right here, just uncheck hours or days. Next, we have hours per week, and this doesn't necessarily have to do with whether or not you want to work part time for a while with one client or full time for a while with a client. This more just has to do with it could just be for one project, So I haven't had, um, a ton of luck. Either way, I have found this to be super useful, But if you are looking specifically for like I want to work a lot, I want to work full time hours with someone, whether it being from, well, just one project or for a long time, you can uncheck part time or vice versa. Obviously not specified. There's there's usually zero here 15. Finding Projects: Looking For Projects In Unusual Categories: All right. So those are your basic filters right there? Um, it's also important to mess around here with your sub categories. Um, feel free to play around, for instance, for a design for Web design. In particular, I find quite a lot in Web and mobile design, but I also end up finding Quad a lot of drops within the designing creative main category. Sometimes people don't know how to categories. One of it is they're looking for it. They might look at these main categories here and say like, Oh, I know I need writing obviously writing or translation The's air pretty obvious. But sometimes the sub categories or not is obvious if they're not familiar with what they need, and many times they're not. Um, if they are, then you're really lucky and might get in the right place. But sometimes things end up in the wrong place. So, for instance, I find a lot of Web design jobs within other and designing creative. So it's important to just kind of look around, see if something could fall into another field on accident. Maybe if you do riding, maybe it's for illegal stuffing. It falls illegal. I mean, I don't know, so it's worth taking a look around and seeing what you can find 16. Finding Projects: The Most Useful Filters: Those are the most important things for filtering. I was a budget. Definitely. I wouldn't worry about client history. Wouldn't worry about job type. Um, just make sure to check your sub categories. Experience level, um, and then your project length and not already filters out quite a bit of junk. Um, you're getting projects that are a little bit of a higher budgets. You're filtering out all the lower and competition, and you're filtering out clients that you're not gonna enjoy working with us much. 17. Finding Projects: Browsing Jobs On Upwork: and when you're browsing through drops to, you can get a good feel about the job. Even from here. I do most of my browsing when I'm looking for a new job or most of my filtering just from here. If it's if it doesn't catch my attention on the first page, then I don't really bother clicking through. Um, titles are good to look at. It's good to look at just the basics here. Um, I wouldn't worry about client rating unless it's a really low. But if its you know its clients knew it, who's to say if they'd be about Clinton? You have no idea. So I wouldn't worry about that too much. Um, just keep in mind. Just look at some of these other things here that, you know, because you at the time when it was posted, all that kind of stuff 18. Finding Projects: Strategically Submit Your Applications: Yeah, that's how to get started Looking for jobs and up work. Um, one last thing I want to mention when you're looking for jobs and up work and getting ready to apply is you wanna be applying within the first few hours. And I know that might be a bit intimidating, but you want to be applying, Um, probably in the 1st 4 to 8 if I had to put a number on it. Because people that are hiring and I've asked people that hiring up work and they'd say like anything over that 20 person mark. They don't often look at it because it it just tends to be a lot of people s. So if you can get in with him usually the 1st 20 to 30 people which also usually seven force 48 hours, that really helps your chances of I'm starting a conversation with someone. You may still not get the job. You never know. But, um, just being with some of it within the first few people to reply, it's really good. A lot of clients and up worker looking to hire quickly, and so the quicker you can get in the better so I typically recommend applying to jobs for 1 to 2 hours a day. And that could be a lot of work for some people, especially, you know, if you're already working another job or something else them, any time you can put in now will really make a difference. And you're gonna get better. You're gonna get really good at thing and picking out like what you're looking for. What types of words, What types of wording people use in their descriptions or even titles to Will you do to click on it? Um, she'll get really good at filtering through all those different things to find dubs of the right fit. And it'll start to g o. Do you think it will start to go a lot faster as you do it more? Let's say at least if you can for the first week, Do you want to two hours a day, maybe one at the beginning of your day and then another end of the day, Um, or half on hour Getting that happened at the end of the day when you catch both and so you catch, you know, 48 hours in the beginning that you can apply to you, and then at the end of the day, you can see maybe a few more new drops that popped up. So those are my tips for getting started searching in the next section. I'll be covering your proposals and how to stand out from the crowd with those drives that you do want to apply for. 19. Writing Proposals: A Breakdown of My Job Winning Proposal Technique: All right, so at this point, you've already gone through and major profile, and you're ready to start submitting proposals on up work. You found a few drops that maybe you're interested in, and you want to see if you can land a job. So to do that, you gotta write a good proposal, and there's no special formula or anything that I found that is the Beale and all that. There's no, like, magic secret or anything similar to what I've talked about earlier. You really just gonna be yourself. As that being said, I do have a variation of a template that I use in pretty much every proposal I sent. And when I say template, I mean something that I customized for each proposal. But there are a couple he points and features that I use in everything. So I'll copy and paste and old proposal and then completely customized it according to the job. Um, this templates worked for me time and time again. I highly recommend it. Um, what works of the ideas behind the content that I'm putting Not just like the structure or stuff itself. The ideas behind it. Um, the structure says the same about every time. Um, what changes is customizing it towards a jobs. So if writing proposals really intimidated to you, I would say use a big gate, basic example like this. Feel free to use my template. Just make sure to customize it a little bit for your job, and you'll get better, um, at running proposals than more that you do it. It does take some practice and really just putting yourself out there. So I'm gonna walk you through this proposal. Um, Also give your mind You're not gonna get every single draw that you send a proposal to. So it really is important to not think too much about a proposal because, um, I mean, while you want to customize that you want to spend, you don't want to spend hours on it because you're gonna be sending out a lot when you're especially when you're first starting. Because people you know, you don't have anything on your profile in the sense if you don't have history on your profile, and so people need a good reason to hire you, and it might take a while until you find someone that really, really interested so uh, the last thing I want to mention before a dive straight in to what I do in my proposals is alive noticed that my proposal template works pretty well. Overall, I would say them or that I have customized it a lot and really taking the time toe read through what they said on kind of dive, more like pick things out of it and think more about what they're looking for, Um, then and like, really display that in my proposal, the more often I've gotten feedback or at least commute started a conversation with someone . So that's a really big thing. I think being a human being yourself and really trying to relate to them talking really asking really good questions about a project and really talking about the project like you're really interested and that you're really interested in them as well. There's a really long way eso definitely if it's a project that you're really interested in , put forth that extra five or 10% effort. So put her, send them a really good proposal, you know, I mean, sometimes with these templates, if it's a project on like I, that would be cool like I don't customize it as much, but I'm not as interested, but that extra five or 10% um, amount of effort really goes a long way. So definitely takes some time to do that on, especially on projects he really interested in. Um, OK, so let's dive in. So for the first thing I always haven't in true, the one I'm showing you here is actually a job that I got so I can show it does work. Um, I have a good in true here. Um, and in this case, they reached out to me. But if the client reaches out to you still to submit, um, or I still like a submit a more formal kind of proposal, not just gardening conversation. So I looked over her description and sent her this proposal. The first thing in this proposal is thean true. Um, I like to say hi or hello. I'm not usually too formal to be a little informal. Their if I know if they signed with their name is your name is not just say Hey, um, in this case, I was thinking them for reaching out. Otherwise, I but straight into listing who I am and what I do. So, in a situation where they not reaching out, I usually my name is Paul. I would say something like I My name's Stephanie Danforth. I work full time was a web, a new I designer, And I love working on WordPress sites in particular. So I immediately talk about who I am, what I do specifically related to their project, and then I tie in. You know that I really love working on something even more specific with their projects. So this is kind of generic, right? Weapon? You? Why, you x um I could also switch that out. Say I'm a WordPress designer and continue jogging at high love working on WordPress. Um, that's a really great place to set yourself up for success talking about the specifics of their project. Um, so if you're a copywriter, um, or just a sorry if you're just a writer, but you want to do some specific blawg post writing or something, you could tie it out in here right off the bat. So good intro. I always include a lot of times copy face, and then just tweaking some words in the beginning, and then I go straight into talking about their project. This is the biggest, like most important part is you want to talk about why that particular project is a good fit and then talk further about what you'll do for them to complete the project and solve their problems. So the second bit is really talking again about value like I mentioned earlier than more. You can communicate your value. Not just that. I know all these skills or know all these things, but more talking about how you're gonna help them, how you're solving their problems. Um, really goes a long way enjoying that you understand their needs and understand what they want to get done. So talk about your value on and talk about why you're good fit. So it is good to talk about sometimes the specific tools you use because people want to know, um, that you are familiar with what you're doing and with the tools they are looking for you to use. So especially for work for site now, for websites and stuff, saying that you know how to use wordpress, that you're familiar customizing it, that you're familiar with different themes and distant stuff and all sorts of stuff like that. You want to mention that similarly, with writing, you want to talk about your writing style, Um, and give some examples of that and anything you can do to really highlight your skill there and why you're It's a good fit, especially for your still set. Um, will help kind of draw them in, um, pro tip here is to use their language. So what you can do what I almost always do is I go back up to the description, and I pull in some wording that they use as their talking about their site or there are about their projects. So, for instance, and I know I've used a lot of Web design examples. But for instance, if someone's talking about needing a clean, modern, fun looking site, use those exact words at least once. In my reiteration to them of what they're looking for is it connects with, um, because it's something they said, though definitely use their wording when possible because it will connect with them in a different way. Um, the next part here, depending on the description. Sometimes you know you have a short description, and it's hard to, um, ask a really in depth questions, but ask questions when you can and ask questions in general, you know, if it's really sure. I mean, we immediately ask a question about, you know, can you tell me a bit more about this? This and this. I'm the more induct you can get with your questions more. It'll appear like you wonder, but you're really interested in your understanding of their needs and their project. And so that is received very well. So definitely ask questions. I didn't I kind of left that out on this one since you already reached out to me. Um, and we were already standing conversation. But ask questions. It's a really good thing to dio. So after you've gone through introduced yourself, start relating to your your client potential clients, uh, start asking simple questions. The next section I always include is a bit about my work. Though I usually say something like this, you can take a look at my most of my work below. I've attached a few samples, so for me, I always include live links that are relevant, if possible, the websites or things that I've worked on before. But then I always, always, always attach examples. And now these examples aren't mocked up in any nice sort of way. They're just straight up, um, images of things that I've designed before on. And this is a great place for like, if you're a writer or a developer and you don't always have things that are live or that are as visual, then definitely attached things always always, always attached some good examples. Um, and I I actually don't have a portfolio site, so I don't link that. I know like you would do if you do have a portfolio site of some, has your work up on it? Definitely linked to that. Um, if not, it's not necessary, though you can just linked to and show people with just some other examples of your work. And then last week, when I always include is this little section here. Now this doesn't really change. Sometimes all tweak it a tiny bit, depending on the project. But overall, I talk about like my key selling points, basically, So I worked quickly on I pride myself in that, and I have a good you know. I think of a good eye and sense for modern design. The pencil changes specifically to Western design because I think that makes a big difference for some people. Um, and then I talk about that I'm American and I'm a native English speaker. So that's probably the one to drive home the most, especially for all of you out there that are native English speakers. Or if you're a native Spanish speaker trying to land a Spanish speaking project, definitely nail that and drive that home. You know, because it goes a long, long way reiterating to people he only you're only a really good communication and quality out of this project with when you're working with me. Because, you know, I speak well, I can communicate really well with you. I understand what you're talking about, what you need. Um, so I always include this and then I sign off with a nice ending sentence of thanks for the time. I'm just saying that I look forward to the opportunity I might have to work with him, and then I just do my You know, my name and the same whenever I used at the top here. So when you are you x by used WordPress designer. Then I'll sign off is a WordPress. So and that's my basic templates. So Oh, I always stick with this s or some variation of this. And it usually looks about this long every time, sometimes longer if they are very detailed. And I have a lot to address. Um, a lot of questions for them or something. Um, but this has worked for me time and time again, this type of templates. 20. Writing Proposals: Submitting Your Proposal: All right. So in this section, I'm gonna continue talking about proposals how to submit your proposal. So, previously, I showed you a proposal that got me a job and that template that I use in pretty much all of my proposals nowadays. So what I'm gonna show you now is what it looks like when you're applying Teoh an actual job there. Here, I pulled up a job that I might be kind of interested in. Uh, I don't have a super long description, but it's still kind of caught my interest. You can see here what the client picks for the desire experience level. This is also what I was talking about. When you're searching for jobs, they can filter by these with the client picks there, Um, and then below that, you see here the proposal amount. So the bid amount What I find the most useful thing to Dio is to go ahead and look back on the job and see how many proposals they've gotten. No, it's less than five. And so the big amounts aren't gonna show up. I'm quite yet because this is a job that was just posted. If you found a job that was supposed to do. You may not see any bit amounts yet. If it's been up for a few hours, probably well know people that have already applied. That's the most valuable thing. I think when you're figuring out the right price to say, because you can see what other people have been, not individually but the average is Ah, and that's really important. So if you don't pay for that ability, I believe you have to pay five or $10 a month. You have a pro or to have an account that lets you see that it's absolutely worth it. Because otherwise you could be applying to jobs that, you know other people were the lowest bid or with highest, that is only $10. Our, um when you want to be working more for 20 Um, it's just really good to see and get a good idea at a time. Um, when you're vetting your projects when you're looking through and seeing whether or not this is something you want to work on, um, you can immediately cross out a lot of them just by seeing the bid range. So for this case, we're just going to say that the better angels good, and it's something that I would want apply to. And so I use that bid range to see like and put my bid. So in this case for this type of job, I think it's still were thrown 800. Solve you 800. Um, and this you're just getting started. I know a lot of people that would say, Oh, you want to give him a really cheap great I'd say, you know, pay attention to what they've said and what their budget IHS or fixed price drives especially, um, they're probably willing to spend around that amount. Sometimes they're willing to spend more. You know, in a lot of times, clients don't always know what something is worth. And so it's up to you to tell them and to communicate to them, you know? And if it's I'm not saying that on jobs where it's they're asking way too much or way too little for way too much work. I'm not saying you need to email. That would be like, Oh, this is ridiculous like, but just for jobs where you are interested, it's useful to keep in mind like Oh, no. Like this is actually a decent amount of work. Not a bad price range, but maybe worth $900 instead of eight. A lot of times, people will go for it. Even you're just starting out. Um, for your first drop, though, your very first job you're trying to land. I would go a little bit under, um, just to give a bit of a discount will probably click through your profile. See that your new, um and they are going out on a limb to hire you at whatever rate you put, no matter what it is, if you don't have any work history and up work, you know, they have no idea what your quality is like. So you have to cover that and really connect with them. Well, in your proposal, which we've already talked about but otherwise in your bid, you giving them a bit of a discount or being willing to be flexible on your price can be really helpful when you're starting out. Um, I wanted to point out for a fixed price drops. You also have you also have this estimated duration, though hourly projects don't always have this. I believe they don't have it all, actually, and so you can set for fixed price. How long do you think it's gonna take? Um, just good to know. So I usually go with less than a month. Sometimes communication with clients takes a long time. If you know it's just a really, really short project to less than a week. Um, depending on what it is, you can do other ones, too, of course, 0.36 or more than that also for sending your bid. If it's an hourly project, I'm going something that's close to your profile. You don't want to be super ridiculously low over super, ridiculously high. So if your profile Reyes sitting at 20 you're not gonna quote someone 30 an hour. Maybe you'll put them 22 or 25 there. Just stick closely with what you've already said in your profile. Um, they'll appreciate it, too. If you do give them a discount bear because they'll see on your profile that your rate is 25. But you're willing to do it for 20 on. No, appreciate that the only thing that I will say there as well is for long term hourly projects like ongoing work. Someone wants to hire you for at least six months or something or three months. I would mentioned to them that you're willing to start the project at a lower rate. Kind of like a test rates. Um, similar to the scenario said, You know, they'll see maybe you're pro Pirates 25. You have to do it for 20. I would mention that you're willing to do it for 20 an hour for maybe the first month or two, and then re negotiate or revisit that after they've seen your work and work with you for a while, um, to re evaluate, you know, is it worth more? And you can say Normally I charge this amount, but I'm willing to do less just to get started with you, and I love to work with you a lot of times people are really open to that, and it's a good way for them to get a good sense about whether or not you work well together. And it's giving a great deal to them and people really receptive to that. So that's a bit about fixing your rate or a different projects. One other important thing to mention about sending your rate her job. So say you, um already you said you're right. You sent after proposal your awesome new proposal, and you're really excited to get the job and to talk to this perspective client, hopefully work with them and lay on the project. Um, but for some reason, they didn't email you back. They didn't respond. You're still waiting to hear, you know if you'll get it or if they'll even if they're even interested in working with you . So I would wait a few days and then reset your rate or reset your project amount because it could catch some of the tension. Maybe they're already in the process of interviewing people. Or maybe there's someone. Doesn't they take your time? They're not looking to hire very quickly. But either way, if you haven't heard back within a few days, you can go ahead and resubmit a proposal with an updated amount. You could start your initial proposal high and then send it updated, one that's lower or whatever you want to do. Their, um, various, you know, test different things out as you're trying to find jobs. But don't be afraid to re submit that rate or change that rate on your proposal because it could catch their attention and say, like, Oh, I kind of consider this guy. But on it was a bit high and I wasn't sure because they're just starting out and they don't have a They have feedback on a profile yet, And but maybe since lower, I might consider it. So it's worth it to look every few days, especially for jobs. You really interested in your kind of like it would just be good to have a job or a project , Then don't worry about it too much. One less thing is, don't offer to do any part of a project for free, and by that I mean and a lot of people Well, not a lot some people ask for. We want to see an example of your work on our project before we hire you, and it's usually CD. It's usually not, um, good to do that. A lot of times people will just pick and choose, then from examples that they've gotten their some other platforms, especially designed platforms that work this way where you submit examples and then they choose and then hire you, but it doesn't work that way. In up work up work really discourages it from you sending examples. The only thing I would say here is if you are a writer or it works really well for riders that I've talked to you. If you can send a quick example that's related to what they need done, then that's a really good way to tied in in, um, or bring them in and keep him interested. But it doesn't really work well for many areas because you can't send good examples or of your work or what you would provide for them without really starting on a project. So if someone asked for that, I would stray away and just be very confident in saying that you don't offer that and that your only willing to start working once the project has started, Um, and if they're not okay with that, that's probably not a big person you would be working with anyway. So just be aware of that. Sometimes people ask for that. So now this point you have gone through and you've been able to write your whole proposal and set your duration, you know how Teoh set good rates, how to adjust your rate later on. If you didn't hear back, You know how what to include in attachments and you're ready to send off your first proposal. 21. Communicating with Clients: All right. So for this last section, you should have already set up your profile, gotten started looking for jobs, and now you're in the process of applying to jobs. And hopefully after the last section you applied to your very first job, which is super exciting. Um, and now, hopefully you're just waiting to hear back from people. So don't get discouraged if you're a few days in or even a few weeks in and you still haven't heard back from people. Sometimes it takes time, and it does take consistent consistency with applying to jobs before your hope. Hear back from your first at potential client and it is just a waiting game. You can do your best in your proposals and all that sort of stocks heading in your profile . But sometimes it's just not the right fit, and people are looking for something else. So in the meantime, while you're waiting, or maybe you have heard back from someone I just wanted to briefly talk about how to land projects and have products go well. And a lot of this is just dealing with client communication. When someone reaches out to you and is interested in working with you on a project. Uh, I would definitely set up a call of some sort, whether it's Skype or just over the phone, because you really get a much better sense about the person and the project when you can talk to them a bit more in real time versus just emailing back and forth or messaging back and forth. And I would definitely say Go with your intuition 100% of the time. After that call, you may not always able to hop on a call with someone, especially if they're really interested. And if you're really interested, sometimes they just won't hire you right away, which is awesome. But if you are able to hop on a call, they will give you a better sense of the project. And then you can make a much better call about whether or not it's gonna be a good fit for you on its important. Even when you're starting out to realize that because if you get a bad sense about a project after talking to someone or even after a few emails, it's it's important to let those projects go because those more often not than not other ones that you get frustrated with. It's going that are if he or frustrating to work with, um or you end up having a dispute and up work about money and who did what and I'm finishing out projects, and that's just a huge hassle. Known once said, No one wants to deal with that. So even after you vetted your descriptions and, you know, found the right jobs, you think will be a good fit, it still is really important to take timeto really talk to them more in detail about a project before you get started. We'll save you a lot of hassle later on. Further than that, I would just say Be very professional while also being personable. I mean, I try toe sign off on the only messages like Thanks, Steph or and then put my like signature or like my title, so to speak. Um, I think that goes a long way when talking to people. You're not just like sending a chap to a friend or something, Um, and be very straightforward as well. If they're asking for a lot of different things, Um, after they've reached out to you and they say Oh, but I also want to do this. And can you do this? Um, be straight forward. And, you know, if you're not sure, it's good to tell them that if you are sure, it's definitely good to tell in that Another really good thing helps. Here is if, especially if clients are asking for a lot of things or it starts toe feel like a lot of like a much bigger project than you expected. It can be really good to send them an official scope of work, and I send that to a lot of clients most clients nowadays, anyway, because it really outlines specifically what you're doing for them because they might ask for a few things in the description. But then they'll probably ask for one or two more, or they're confused about what they really need. So if you can outline for them just in the conversations that you've had, ah, with them about their project and you can say Okay, you need this this and this and this and it's going to cost you this much, and you've probably already agreed on upon the price ahead of time. But putting together an actual document that says, That goes a huge like there's a long way with people. It's just a bullet pointed list of wanting me doing for them for a certain price, and I just send it to them and they really enjoy that. So that's a really good thing to do, communicating with project, especially when they start to get really big. Um, other than that, Like I said, the professional but friendly and communicative tryto respond to people very quickly. You know, don't let it sit for a long time in your inbox, Um, or just waiting, which I'm sure if you're looking for work, you're not gonna be letting things that anyway. Then once you land your project, you know, if you've gotten to the point then where you communicated with your clients, he said, That great document of what you're gonna do for them or whatever the case, however it goes for you. You've landed your first project, which is awesome. So it's important. After you've landed that project and after you started and you're communicating with clients, it's important to keep up that communication on keep the ball moving, especially near the end of a project. That's when it can get really easy to kind of fall off the bandwagon of it kind of be kind of get bored. You know, you've you're pretty much done. You're ready to find any project ready to work on the next thing. Uh, it's form to stay really tuned in because it goes a long way with your clients. If you're still attentive near the end of the project, I always keep him up today. Keep them in the loop and be ready to help If they have questions, um, or addressed. And you know our admiral into the contract. If anymore, done, it will go a long way. Next, I'll just quickly close out. And I'm so excited that you've made it so far in this course, and hopefully by now you've been able to fully flush out your profile and lander first job 22. Thanks for taking this course!: All right. So just for the last thing, I just want to stay. Congratulations. If you've made it all the way through, that's huge. Especially if you've done it quickly. Um, no matter the case. So if you've gone through this whole course and you've really taken action on everything I've suggested, then you're really set up for success. And I think you'll be able to find jobs really quickly and be able Teoh, um, continually land project. So I'm really excited for you. And, you know, please let me know if you have any further questions. Comments? If there's something I didn't cover that you'd like to know more about, probably have answer to, they'll feel free to reach out. And I'm really excited for where you're gonna go with freelancing. I wish the best of luck to you. Um and congrats.