Mastering Upwork: Launch Your Freelance Career

1. Upwork Course Intro: Hello. My name is doctor Pedro Nunes. I'm an experienced economist and professor, and this time, I decided to create a course about something different. In the last couple of years, I've been freelancing on UPW where I manage 100% job success rate, and I managed to be one of the few top rated plus freelancers at UpWork. So basically, I advertise myself as an economist, professor and the business strategy. And across the last years, I've been able to consistently add value to my clients and decided now to transform my experience into some sharable knowledge. So the course is divided in six models where we are going to begin with the basics and how we work functions, and we are going to end with some high level strategies for you to scale your business as a freelancers. In the end of the course, I prepared a treat for you, a checklist for you to be sure that you have everything ready to get your freelancer business on Network up and running. Hope you enjoy the course. 2. Module 1 Introduction to Upwork: Hello and welcome. Being a top rated plus freelancer at Upwork and having 100% job success score, I decided to share my knowledge about Upwork and I decided to create this course. This module will be basically dedicated to the foundations of work, that is an introduction. For the ones that don't know upwork yet, it's important to start from the beginning. That is what is upwork. It's one of the largest and most popular online platforms that connect freelancers with customers who need services in several fields like writing, accounting, translating, marketing, et cetera, pretty much everything that can be done online. Upwork acts as an intermediary between clients looking for freelancers to work on projects and professionals that are offering their skills and services. In a nutshell, it is a marketplace where from the freelancer perspective, they can find job listings posted by either businesses or individuals who need temporary or long term support. Most of the works that show up in the platform are temporary, but there is a possibility that they could turn into long term partnerships. The freelancer will set up a profile showcasing their expertise, portfolio, and previous work experience, while on the other end, clients will post job listings, specifying the requirements, the deadlines, and the budget. Contrary to other platforms that are specialized, for instance, on IT or translating, APWork is known for the wide range of industries and job categories. It will offer you the opportunity to work with customers from all over the world, from small startups to very large corporations and in a variety of industries. These industries could be technology. So I know a lot of IT people that work on ap work on software development, web design, et cetera. Creative, graphic design, video editing, marketing, customer service, and business services like accounting, business consulting, which is pretty much my field. Upwork has become a major player in the freelance ecosystem where millions of freelancers use apwork as the primary source of income, and businesses increasingly turn to freelance talent for both short term projects and long term collaborations. Here are some examples of project types. In technology, you have web development, mobile app development, software engineering, things even more specialized like AI development, blockchain technologies, et cetera. In creative, you have graphic design, video production, and the editing, which is quite important these days, photography and illustration. Then you have writing and content creation. This could be copywriting, content writing, technical writing, CO writing, et cetera. We also have marketing and sales. This could be social media management, paid advertising, email marketing. In customer service, virtual assistance is a big thing. Customer support via phone, email, or chat, or even email moderation. In finance and the accounting, there is bookkeeping, financial consulting, text presentation, audit services, business analysis, and financial modeling. In legal, there is legal research, contract review, et cetera. As you can see, the list is enormous. On one side, we will have the freelancers who can find jobs that match their expertise and on the other side, we will have clients that will post their customized projects in a certain industry or sector. UpWork offers both short term projects, so it could be a few hours, something really quick, or long term contracts, some ongoing service that we can deliver to a customer. It is important to understand a work structure. There are mainly two primary types of structure that freelancers can benefit from. There are the hourly contracts. So basically the freelancers are paid based on the number of hours that they worked. The time is tracked using a time tracker app that app work has, and what it does is it will record the time spent on tasks and allows the client to monitor work in real time. These flexible working hours and the payment pays on actual time work is good for ongoing or evolving projects where you're not sure when it's going to finish. Potential challenges here, hourly rate may be harder to negotiate upfront because some projects are just a surprise and clients may want to verify the time spent through the upwork tracking system. The other option is fixed price contract. Freelancers are paid a pre agreed amount for completing the entire project and the payments are normally divided into milestones or portions that are paid upon completation. You have several goals. Once you finish the goal, you get paid partially. The advantage here is that there is a clear expectation regarding the payment terms and deliverables, and this is ideal for projects that have a defined scope and deadline. Some challenges, the project that exceeds the expected timeline may not receive the compensation for extra time and there is a big risk of scope grip. Wrapping up? The hourly contracts are best for projects where the scope is flexible and the work is ongoing and the fixed price contracts are ideal for well defined projects that have clear deliverables. A work takes a fee and the good news is that that fee will decrease when you start having more volume of work. It starts with a 20% fee for the first $500 billed with the client. Then 500-10 thousand, it's 10% and when we have earnings over ten K, it will be 5%. Regarding the payments, there is payment processing fees for freelancers who use upwork system to receive payments depending on the method that you use. So you may use direct bank transfer, PayPal and upwork takes a fee depending on the type of payment method that you use. Then there is the connecting with the customer's part. Apwor works in a credit based system known as connect. So freelancers must use this credit to apply for jobs. The freelancers receive a set number of free connects each month and can purchase more if needed. So basically, a few years ago, a work used to be free. You could apply for every job, but you are a problem that people just try their luck for everything. They created this connect system where they give you ten connects a month that you can use to apply for work. If that's not enough, you can buy more. But once you get either accepted for work or rejected for the work that you apply for, you get the connects reimbursement. Realizers are paid on a weekly basis after the contract has been completed. You decide when you take the money out, but the money gets available for you weekly. Another important thing is the security. Upwork offers payment protection for both hourly and fixed price contracts. This ensures that you as a freelancer, you are going to be paid. Basically, when a customer puts the job description for a role, he puts the money inside Upwork and Upwork will take care about of that money until your job is complete. It's always guaranteed that you will receive that compensation. Payments are done on a weekly basis after the contract has been completed. Upwork handles the payment and the invoicing and the payment transfers, and if you need to convert the currency, it also does that for you. Then it's very important for you to consider the security and protection aspects that UpWork provides you. So some people will try to drag you out of UpWork telling you that you won't be able you won't need to pay the fee, but it's less secure because if you do it in upwork the money is already there and upwork ends, and if you deliver, it's a guarantee that you will get paid. If you go out of upwork, first, this is a violation to the upwork policy and there is a risk that you don't get paid for your work. Just to wrap up this session. Now you know how upwork makes money and how the freelancers are compensated, including the structure of the fees. You have an understanding of the several industries that you may expect to find on upwork and the types of projects that could be available for you. You understand the contract structure, basically hourly and fixed price contracts, and you know that you should be ready to put your profile together to make sure that your skills will match the proper job opportunity. 3. Module 2 Setting Up a Winning Profile: Your profile is very important to make sure you maximize your chances of landing the jobs that you want to land. So it's very important to have it complete and to make sure that you demonstrate your experience, your skills, your interests on that profile. It will be basically your visit card in upward. You profile is going to be quite an important tool for you to stand out. Remember, this is a worldwide platform where both freelancers and customers cram all over the world. It's very important for you to stand out. It's very important also to have a strong first impression and the first impression, in this case, it's going to be your profile and a well crafted profile. It will be crucial for standing out and achieving your goals. If your profile is not well tailored, well adapted, you will end up not generating attention from the clients and maybe you will be losing time with jobs that are not the ones that you are looking for. Profile depends a lot on your area. If it's a more formal area, more creative area, so this is about the first impression. This will give the first t to the client about your level of professionalism, credibility, and all the factor that are essential to attract clients. Think about your profile as your digital business card. This is the way that clients have to judge you. Make sure that it looks polished, professional, and appealing. You will also be able to create an Adline and the headline will be one of the first things that the customers will check. You headline, make sure that it is short, but descriptive enough so that people understand what you do. I an example for you, experienced web developer, front end and full stock expertise, and the languages that you use, for instance. Regarding the profile overview, write a professional yet friendly overview. Start with a summary of your experience and then highlight the key skills that you can offer. Then you have to target your audience. Tailor your profile for your ideal client. For instance, if you are in the field of business consulting, like I, mention Ai services can help clients achieve their strategic goals or improve their operational efficiency. When setting up your profile, appwor will ask you to pick your skills. So you may adapt 15 skills, choose wisely because this will be very important when clients are doing their own search. For example, these skills could be project management, business strategy, data analysis, or leadership. There are categories and subcategories, pick the category that best fits your niche. If you are in digital marketing, your main category could be marking and then you could have a subcategory like social media marking or CO. Also match your job title to the category you selected and make it clear. A customized job title will help clients find you more easily. Remember, there will be a lot of freelancers, so you have to make sure that you appear on the searches that interest. We all know that image matters in upwork, your image will be your profile picture. Clients will feel more comfortable when hiring freelancers with a clear and professional images. Take a little bit of time to choose the best picture, take more pictures and make sure that the picture is well lit, simple, and it looks that you are approachable yet professional. Smile, wear a professional attire, even though you're on behind a computer and use a high resolution image. Avoid casual photos, cluttered backgrounds, or anything that could be perceived as unprofessional. Remember, this will be the visual aid that the customer will have and one of the first impressions that he will have of you. App work will ask you to upload a bio of yourself, and this is quite important component of the profile. Think about it as your digital handshake with potential clients. It is often the first detailed information that the client reads about you. Make sure that you have a clear communication, so it should have contact, it should be straightforward and it should be professional. I'm a big fan of starting with Ok. I mean, this is very competitive landscape, so make sure that you are able to grab the client's attention. Begin with a few sentences that clearly explain what you do and how you can help the client. Showcase your expertise, illustrating it with relevant experience, unique quotilities, basically what sets you apart. For example, as a certified project manager with over ten years of experience in handling multimillion dollar projects, I bring a proven track record of delivering results in complex environments. Short, concise to the point and still interesting for the clients to read. Although it should be short and concise, it should also add value. You should focus on what value you bring to the client. Put yourself on the client's choose and try to understand what he wants to hear. Of course, keep it concise. People these days have a short attention spam, so make sure you are clear and brief and the should be three to five paragraphs at most. Keep a professional tone but approachable at the same time. Clients will want to have a clear idea of what you can do for them. The best way to do that is to illustrate your expertise with past work. This could be a portfolio. This could be references, et cetera. You could also mentioned key achievements. This could be certifications, awards, accomplishments, as they are going to establish credibility and give potential clients confidence in your skills. Another important aspect to mention is the choice of the right keywords. A work is a search based platform and the keywords would determine the visibility. Make sure that you choose the right keywords in everything related to your profile. Start general, begin with the broader industry and skill related keyword and then break down and add the specifics and try to use strategic keyword placement in order to make sure that you appear in the relevant searches. In order to automize your profile for CEO purposes, make sure to have a keyword placement. Incorporate strategically in our Bio skills and job title, the words that will make sure that you pop up on the searches that you want to use industry specific terms. For example, branding design, logo design, photoshop, et cetera, although you should not force the words into there, it should be natural. Ensure that there is a natural flow of content. Another suggestion would be to use long tail keywords. Instead of CO writing, you could use CEO content writing for small businesses, instead of content writing, professional writing for startups, instead of writing services, technical content writing for SAAS. Although we should have the right word, we don't want to just to stuff our profile with the keywords without making it any sense. Make it descriptive and make it on a way that makes sense and try to be strategic about it, use your skill, job titles and be strategically for ensuring maximum search visibility. Other very important thing is setting your rate. My advice to you is to do a little bit of research. So on app work, you'll be able to see some examples of other prices, find out what others with similar skills are charging. Then consider your expertise. Are you just starting? Are you an experienced professional, et cetera, and the value? The rate will be also a bit of a visit card about how clients perceive your value. It all depends on where you are in your field. If you are beginning, you need to get experience, so I wouldn't expect you to have a high rate. If you have five years, ten years of industry expertise, that should be reflected on your rate. Remember, some clients are looking for low prices and some are looking for quality. Be honest with yourself and try to see where you fit. The next thing that you should think about is if you are going to work on an hourly rate or with a fixed price, both of advantages and disadvantages. Hourly rates will be ideal when there are continuous projects, so we don't know when it's going to end. It will allow for scope adjustment because we just make it a bit longer and it has to be flexible. The fixed price, it's better suited when you have clear project boundaries, the defined deliveries, and the expectations are set up front. Normally, there is a deadline. You have to think of how comfortable you are with both of them if you want to do a mix and how you will address the customer's concerns. Still regarding the pricing, it's important to consider the psychology between pricing. There is the perceived value. An higher price signals higher quality. But if you put higher price, you should be ready to deliver up to the expectations. An higher price justifies an expert positioning. Some people are willing to pay premium because somebody is an expert on the field. And we also have to think in price quality balance. Basically the value that we deliver to the customer. It's quite important for us to understand the market if there is a lot of competitors in our field or not or if we are in a niche where we are not the only one or one of the ten freelancers that are able to do it, this will make a difference. Remember, I prices with i prices can i expectations and you should be able to deliver because there will be a rating afterwards, and the price is an important component of that. Even if you start with a low rate, that doesn't mean that in the future, you don't increase it. As you start, you get your first customers, you get the first reviews, the reviews are positive, you get more experience, and then it's only natural that your rate will increase. Wrapping up this session, we'll learn how to create a profile. The key elements of the profile, we understood how to optimize the profile for maximum visibility using CEO strategies and how to be competitive and reasonable with our rate. Also, we discussed about if we should work on an hourly basis or with clear deadlines. 4. Module 3 Finding and Bidding on Jobs: Hello, and welcome to Model three. In this model, the idea is to guide you through understanding job listings, addressing clients pinpoints and your proposals, and pricing your bits correctly to increase your chances of getting hired. The objectives for the model are finding the right jobs. So basically, I will guide you through learning to identify and target the most suitable opportunities that are available on appwor for your skills to write compelling proposals. So it is important that we customize our approach, that we are persuasive, but still concise in order to get more job success. Also we are going to talk about price competitive. We have to develop strategies for pricing in order that our service wins projects while maintaining value. We may be at different stages of our career, more or less experts in a certain area. We have to read the competition and understand what's the best positioning price wise. And finally, what we all want to win more projects, more projects means more income and more success. So we will see some aspects that can lead to increasing your success rate and grow your freelancer career through effective bidding. First thing that you have to consider is that you need to understand the job listing. In order to read the job description in an effective manner, you have to understand that these are your first opportunity to understand what the client is looking for and whether you are a good match for the project or not. It's very important that you apply for the positions or for the jobs that really interest you. Otherwise, you'll be wasting your time and the client's time. You should review the description thoroughly. Look for details about the job scope, the required skill, the deadlines, and the project durations to see if it aligns with your own needs or wishes. It's also important to identify the key details. What are the client expectations? What is it looking for? Do they want an ongoing work or a one off project? Then regarding your skills and expertise, does the job require specialist skills you have? Are you good at it? Are you able to deliver, et cetera Then the budget and the pay structure. Check if the client has listed the budget, and if there is an open discussion or is a closed proposal with no negotiation. Any other area of business, there are some fishy situations. So it's important for us to understand the red flags and avoid scam job listings. Be very careful when you come across a job description that is very unrealistic. So if nobody else is offering something remotely similar, maybe there is a good reason for it. If there are a lot of promises too much or too little, a bit of an oversell, you should be suspicious. Check also if there is a lack of clear budget or payment terms. So if the client hasn't specified the payment structure, this may indicate that they are either uncertain or unprofessional. Here are some warning signs, free work requests. When a client asks for free work, a large sample, this often indicates that they will not value your time or expertise or are really looking for that free work. Then the poor writing quality, having a lot of error, spelling or grammatical can be a red flag indicating the lack of professionalism and maybe that is somebody that you don't want to work with. Also, ap Work allows you to check the client history. So you can read the client reviews, the past job history before you apply a good track credit card suggests a reliable and respectful working experience. Also, you can have a pretty good idea of the dourly rate or the project rate that the client usually pays or paid in the past. In order to craft a winning proposal, one thing that you should do is to customize your approach. This is not one size fits all kind of thing. So you should adapt your research proposal to the job needs. Otherwise, the customer won't feel like you took the time to prepare your application. Also, be sure to address specific needs. Read the job description carefully and show how your skills are good for the project and also show your enthusiasm. Don't oversell it, but demonstrate that you are excited with the position. Also, if the client is asking for a job or for some kind of service is because he has a need, he has a challenge, he has an area that he needs help with. Understand what is the customer pain point and try to demonstrate to the best of your ability in your proposal, how your experience, how your skills may help solving those problems. The clients want to see you as a solution provider. So if the client mentions, for instance, that they need someone to handle their website for performance, mention that you have experience with web performance optimization and provide examples. Having a strong cover letter is very important. There are some tips. You should start with a short personalized greeting and mention of how excited you are with the job. Normally the job advertiser is the name on the apwork, use it to customize your cover letter. In the body of the COV letter, explain why you are the best fit for the role by painting a picture, meaning showing the relevant skills, your past work history, and how you are able to solve the client problem. Conclusion, finish strong with the call to action. I look forward to discussing how I can help you, I can help your business grow. Keep the cover letter professional and concise and most of all, error free, avoid template. Although this may seem tempting because you can use one template for all the processes that you are in, the clients may see this as lazy or impersonal and personalize the greeting. So if you know the client's name, use it. Don't use something generic like deer hiring manager, dear hiring committee or something like that. In order to help you out, I prepared an example, the name of the client, I noticed the job post about the specific task and I'm excited to offer my expertise in this, this and that, your skills. I've successfully worked in similar projects, people like to hear that it is not the first time that you're doing that, or examples. I am confident I can help you solve the problem or achieve the goal, and I would love to chat more about how I can assist you in the project. Looking forward to wearing for your son, best regards. Concise, personal, and sewing enthusiasm. Pricing your bids is an art because pricing can make or break your chance of winning the project. It is essential to strike the right balance between charging enough for your services while also remaining competitive. And to be honest, this is not a fairly easy task, mainly at the beginning where you have no experience. So research the market, look for profiles of other freelancers offering similar things and see what is the average and if there is a difference or a substantial difference from what they offer and what you offer. So optimal price point will be between the value and the competitiveness. Study the competitor rates and start when you are beginning your career at upwork with a tractive rate because you have to build your customer base. As mentioned, if you're new to upwork and you don't have a lot of experience, you may have experience on the service that you're providing, but you don't have experience on the platform or you're new to it, consider starting with a low rate to attract clients and build a portfolio. Then it will become easier because you will have something to show and the clients will be able to check your history at that. Also know your word. As you get more experience, more reviews, you can increase your rate and don't be afraid to increase your rates to reflect your growing expertise. IR price normally is connected with I expertise. Don't be afraid to increase your price as you get more and more customers, more and more experience. And we have the negotiations and the adjustments to the bid. One thing is what the client wants, another thing is reality. Do not underpris your work unless you have a strategy like in the beginning, starting to attract more customers, it is important to remain competitive. Charging too low can result in clients undervaluating your skills. Also consider the project scope. If there is extensive work, it is acceptable to increase your price. Always put in the balance your time, effort, and expertise in the project demand. During the negotiation, it's important to listen to clients budget concerns. When the clients request lower rates, consider their perspectives and budget constraints and maybe you can work something out. If it is a startup that doesn't have a fair amount of money to pay you, maybe you can negotiate shares or something like that. A lot can. Also be flexible with the pricing. Even if you have a fixed idea on your mind, show flexibility. Consider adjusting your rate, offering discounts, especially if there is the potential for long term collaboration. For instance, if somebody tells you that they don't have a deadline for the project, but it will be long, you can say, okay, I start by charging $30 per hour, and then after the first 100 hours, I will drop to 25 and after the other 100 to 20. Another thing that is important is for you to demonstrate the added value. When you are adjusting the rates, highlight the additional value that you can provide, such as the faster delivery times or complimentary services. If there is a time to sell yourself is when you need to increase your rate. By the end of this module, you will understand how to effectively identify suitable jobs, opportunities, create a winning proposal, and set competitive pricing that reflects your value. These skills will increase your success rate on the platform. So now you can evaluate job posts, identify the ones that can align with your skills. You are able to write a crafted or personalized professional proposal, and you know the basics of the competitive pricing. I hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you in the next model. 5. Module 4 Managing Client Relationships: Hello, and welcome to Module four, where we're going to talk about managing client relationships. In this module, we are going to learn to manage client relationships in an effective manner. How we can develop strong relationships and maintain a clear communication because this is critical for your success as a freelancer. You should communicate with professionalism, set clear expectations, and all revisions, and build long term relationships. Effective communication is done through very simple guides. First, you have to use a clear communication. Use simple language, avoiding jargon, break down complex ideas into things that are digestible or digestible pieces. Also be concise in your communication. Clients appreciate clarity and brevity, especially when explaining project progress and updates. These simple communication principles will help you build stronger client relationships and deliver more successful project. It is also very important to be responsive. Try to respond on a timely manner, even if it is just to acknowledge the message. Rule of thumb, at least this is what I do. Try to respond to everybody in 25 hours. Also, like I told you, acknowledge the message, even if you don't have the full answer or something that you are going to check later, set a clear expectation. The tone that you use, it's also very important. On one hand, you have to be professional, on the other hand, you have to be friendly. So you should balance between these two. Also, you have to consider that every client is different, so you should adapt your tone to the client's personality. In order to manage expectation, it's very important to have regular updates. So if the project is divided in milestones, so keep the client informed about the milestones. If there are challenges or if you discover any challenge that it wasn't in the plans, inform as soon as you can. The same goes for successes. If you make a breakthrough, if you find something that you were not expecting, be very fast to update your client. Active listening is key. Listen to the client concerns. Focus fully on understanding what are the concerns and what are the perspective. Process the feedback that you receive, try to learn from the feedback and adapt and respond. This means demonstrating flexibility by adjusting to the evolvingt client needs. Now, one good thing is that you're able to have a written agreement. In the written agreement, things must be clear. First thing, the timeline. Outline very strongly the timelines in the project contract. A specific the deliveries. So what is a delivery? What does success looks like in a certain stage and define the payment terms in the project contract. Remember, during the negotiation, a work will allow you to receive by hour or by project. So it's very important to have clear expectations set about this. Particularly if a project is big, it's very important to divide it in milestones. For me, as a freelancer, I don't like to feel stuck to a client and I don't want a client to be stuck with me. I like to break it down as much as I can, so everybody is free to cut the relationship at a certain point where there is a payment. It could be the design concept, a first review, a final delivery, or even final adjustments between the delivery. But it's very important that this is agreed upon and that the milestones are very clear. It's very important to define a clear scope. The scope should be clear. So there is to be a detailed definition in the initial agreement. And as the relation evolves, if needed, remind the client of what was the initial goal. That's why it's very important to have this written and valid clear. If there are additional features, so it's normal that in a project when you start, there will be additional needs. Quote them separately so you don't lose any kind of fee for some additional work that wasn't coded in our original proposal. Managing expectations is also very important. Try to align the client's expectations with what you can realistically be achieved. Consider your time, consider the budget when setting the project parameters. Set realistic goals, plan time requirements. Sometimes you are just busy with five other projects, so you have to be realistic and define the budget perimeter so the financial constraints are clear from the beginning. Don't be afraid of feedback. Take feedback as a good thing because when a client offers you feedback, even if it is bad, it's a sign that it still believes in you. Otherwise, you wouldn't bother to give feedback. If there is a remark, if there is something that you could do better, listen to the client. Also, after listening to the client, as much as you can, try to provide solutions or try to say what you are going to do differently. At times, there will be pressure. If you're working as a freelancer, you have to do your own negotiation, you have to deal with your own problems, so try to stay calm. The approach the situation with a problem solving mindset. You will find problems all the time. If there wasn't problems in the world, there wouldn't be a platform like app work and you could not benefit from it. And most importantly, don't take it personally. So it's very important that you know how to take criticism. You are not perfect. I'm not as well. So there are always room for us to improve. Do not be afraid to ask for specific. As much as you can, try to request details when the feedback is vague. Identify specific areas that need improvements. Sometimes the critique is just too broad and you need more clarity about it and make target improvements based on the detailed feedback. Well, things sooner or later are going to go wrong, you're going to do some mistake, and the more you prepare yourself, the more you study, it's impossible to be 100% right all the time. Proactively address the concerns. Apologize for any oversight, for instance, correct and try to maintain the goodwill and maintain the relationship going. One thing that I like to do is to over deliver and I do this from the negotiation. So when I'm negotiating the expectations, I already know that at the end, I'm going to go a bit further than I'm supposed to. So you can call this the extra mile. What is the reason of this is to solidify relationship. If you surprise people in a positive manner, I mean, they will remember you in the future. In my case, I have a lot of clients that when they need something, they come to speak with me directly. And even after the project is over, it doesn't mean that your relationship with the client is over. So follow up to ensure satisfaction, maintain a positive relationship, and leave the door open for future collaborations. It's all about trust. At first, people don't know you and you have to generate this trust. How can you do that to your work? Let your work speak for you. Deliver high quality work on time, maintain open communication because clients value freelancers that they can trust. There is no shame on asking for reviews. When a project is over, you will be required to provide feedback on your client and the client will be required to provide feedback on you. Be descriptive. You have a star rating and then you can write something. Always try to write something and be specific about it because the more polite and the more detailed you are on your feedback, the most chances you of working with that client in the future, and also other clients when they are seeing your track record, they will see what you wrote. Try to find ways to stay on top of Might. Don't go directly asking, do you have more work for me? Try to stay in touch, asking how the business is going. If you have an update something new that you've done, a new certification, a new project, you can share, and if you have a new service, you can also promote it. But try to have a reason, try to have something that might interest your client or previous client. In this model, we covered effective communication, manage relationships, or the expectations and managing the relationships in a professional manner, and the importance of fostering trust and maintaining positive interactions to build long term relationships. These outcomes will help you in building and maintaining successful client relationships. 6. Module 5 Building Your Reputation and Increasing Your Visibility: Hello, and welcome to Module five. Where are you going to talk about building your reputation and increasing your visibility? We will deep dive into strategies that will help you build a strong reputation on upwork and increase your visibility to attract more clients. Your reputation is one of your greatest assets on Upwork, by leveraging positive feedback, a strong portfolio and client testimonials, you can enhance your credibility and establish yourself as a trusted professional in your field. So how does ApWors rating system work? There is a star rating system, so clients rate freelancers on a scale of one to five stars after the project competition. There is a job success score. So your ratings directly influence your JSS which measures the overall performance on upwork. Then you have clients feedback. It combines the numerical ratings with detailed written feedback from clients. In my case and the reason that I wanted to create the scores is because over time, I managed to be a top rated freelancer at upwork with 100% job score. Why are the reviews important? So they will make you stand out. That is, if you have positive reviews, this will help you build your reputation and help you stand out into the search results. So this is just like booking Airbnb, for instance. People have never been there, never worked with you, so they will check for the reviews. Also clients will rely on reviews to gouge trustworthiness and the quality of the work and the job success score above 90 is proven to improve hiring chance and enables competitive rates. There is a direct connection between your job success score and the rates that you are able to deliver. So the question is, how can we ensure clients to leave a positive feedback? It's all about your work and the way you handle the client. First, set clears expectations from the start. Clients are more likely to leave a positive review if their expectations are met or exceeded. Maintain a consistent communication. Regular updates and responsiveness will lead to better client satisfaction and ultimately a better feedback. Don't be afraid to ask for feedback. At the end of the project, you can politely ask your client for review. You can remind them that their feedback is important in your profile, as it will help other clients make informed decisions in the future. Here are some tips for requesting client feedback. Wait for the right moment. Time your request after successfully completing a project or delivering high quality work. Since you are going to ask for feedback, wait for the best moment to increase your chances of having positive feedback. Keep it professional. Frame your feedback as a part of your professional standards and continuous improvement and make it personal. Remind your client that their specific thoughts on the project are available to you. Very important also to have a strong portfolio. This will showcase your best work, so you can select and present your most impressive projects on upward. You should organize them effectively, ensure that they really all your expertise and specialization and you should keep your portfolio updated with your latest and most relevant work. Portfolio is basically a collection of your previous work that will showcase your skills, experience, and quality, and it's often what clients have to decide whether to wire you or not. A strong portfolio will demonstrate your capability and will give clients confidence in your abilities. In your portfolio, depending on the area that you are working, you may include several things such as case studies. So a case study that outlines the problem a certain client faced in the past. You don't have to disclose their name, how you solve them and the results, and this will give the potential client an insight into your process and value. You can include work samples that are relevant to the types of job that you are applying, or if you are new to freelancing and you don't have a lot of client work, showcase personal projects or mock projects that you have worked on. Still regarding the portfolio, the focus should be on quality, quality over quantity includes on your best work. If you are able to choose, choose the one that are the ones that are more impactful. Also, show diversity, show that you are versatile and show a different set of skills or styles, et cetera, and keep it fresh. Keep it updated to ensure that it stays relevant and that your last experiences were not too long ago. Also structure your portfolio with clear titles and descriptions, basically make it easy for people to search. This module, we cover how to build a strong reputation using feedback and the rating system to boost your visibility and to establish trust in your clients. We also checked how to create an effective portfolio. Basically, we went through some strategies to showcase your work in an effective manner in order to attract more clients to a well created portfolio. 7. Module 6 Maximizing Your Success on Upwork: Hello, and welcome to our final module, maximizing your success on Upwork. In this module, we will explore advanced strategies that will help you stand out on Upwork, to increase your earnings and build a scalable freelance business. We will also cover time management and productivity tools to help you stay organized and efficient while handling multiple projects. Some advanced strategies. First one is identifying your niche. Try to focus your core strengths and specialized skills to specific targets that really needs them. Then optimize your profile. Showcase your expertise and achievements effectively. Your profile, if you're willing to make money from upwork or for the clients on work, it's really your best chance of getting to those clients. So it's really worth to take some time on it. You should be strategic about your bidding, target projects that align with your expertise and goals, otherwise, you'll be losing your time in the client's name and deliver excellence. Consistently exceed the client expectations and in the long run, this will make a huge difference. It's important to consider the degree of specialization. If you have a general approach, it will be broader but less focused on a skill set. You will be competing with other professionals and often in lower value projects. If you have a specialized approach, then you will be working on niches and you will be working on sector or industry specific solutions. One of the best ways to attract high value clients is to specialize in a niche or an industry. Specialization will allow you to become an expert in your field, making it easier for clients to see the value that you offer. Because TB said, if the client sees that you are working everywhere, you will find it a bit weird. If you opt for the niche specialization, then you can expect higher rates. So clients are willing to pay more for specialized skills because they know you bring a unique expertise. There will be less competition for highly specialized roles as fewer freelancers may have the same niche expertise, and you will start being an authority on that niche. You can build your personal brand and position yourself as an important entity in the field. The question now is, how will you find your perfect niche? The first thing you can do is some self assessment, reflect on your skills, patients, and experience to identify areas where you can add unique value. Do some market research and stay up to date with work marketplace to identify some emerging niche and do a niche selection. Bottom line, you should do an intersection between your expertise and the market opportunity. In order to leverage your PWRs advanced search features to efficiently find high value projects that match your expertise and requirements, you should select your budget range. You can use a filter for that. You should narrow down the specific categories like web development, marketing, or design to find relevant projects. You should also evaluate the client history. Review in history, the success rate to identify clients that are experienced and reliable. And choose the project perimeters, the length and the expertise levels in order to adapt them to the best opportunities that are available at a certain moment. Once you deep dive in this freelancing world, it's very important to know some basics about time management and the existence of productivity tools. First thing that you should consider is the time tracking. So you can track billable hours and project time to maintain your productivity and to ensure that you build the client in a correct manner. Then when you have multiple projects, you have to maintain your own organization while making sure that you meet the deadlines. Then the rest of your life will not stop, so you will have to have things organized in order to have high quality balance between work and your life. This has to be healthy because on the long run, you have to balance between these two things. There are some time management tools that may help you. On up work, you have the up work time tracker that for hourly contracts, it will record the time that you work on a project, and this will help you stay on track and that you are billing the clients accurately. Then you have Toogle third party tracking tool that helps you track the hours, they work, and monitor their productivity. Also you have rescue time, it will help you track the computer usage and provide reports and now you spend your time and this can improve your productivity. For project management, you have Trello. It's a visual tool for organizing tasks, projects, and deadlines. You have a Senna to help you manage workflows, to track deadlines and communicate with clients about the status of a project. You also have lickAP which is a versatile project management tool that can be used for tracking tasks, managing teams, and setting timelines for your project. It is also important to check some task management essentials. First, break down your projects into manageable tasks and milestones. Otherwise, you will feel overwhelmed and you will have a hard time in prioritizing what is really urgent. Then you have to set daily, weekly, monthly goals in order for you to stay focused and ensure that you are making progress on multiple projects and most importantly, that you're able to track or quantify the progress that you've done. It is true that we have to start somewhere from the beginning, but it is also true that at some point we will want to scale our business. You can do that by building strong foundations, establish core services and perfect your process. You should expand your client base, strategically grow your network and attract more quality clients. Streamline your workfaw flow to handle increased business volume. If you're not able to handle three projects, you won't be able to handle ten. Streamline all you can do, cut the fat of the process so you begin to be more efficient and increase revenue. We want it, so we will want to scale our earnings through higher rates and improved efficiency. Another thing that you may consider is diversifying your service. Start by perfecting your primary service, choose the thing that you're good at and perfect it, and then do some service expansion, expand your services to attract a wider range of clients. Then try to create additional value. AppleseL or cross sell complementary services to already existing clients. Important to keep in consideration that strong client relationships are built through a continuous cycle of quality delivery, maintaining communication, and fostering long term partnership. This approach will help you ensure a stable freelance income through repeated business. So the process or the ideal process will be something like this. You start small, building your reputation with smaller projects, then you propose larger projects and you will leverage your reputation. That is, you will use positive reviews and ratings to pitch for larger and more lucrative project. This progression will allow you to build trust with clients while steadily increasing your project scope and rates. As you receive positive feedback, larger companies become more likely to wire you for significant long term projects. Wrap up this sixth and final module. We talked about scaling the freelancer career, optimizing time management, and implementing advanced strategies. I hope you enjoyed this model and the course, and I hope you to see you soon.