Upwork 2026 - No-Fluff Guide to Success!

1. Introduction: Guys, my name is Dennis, and this will be our introduction video for this course. This course will be called UP 26, no flat guide to success. So in short, basically, the course will offer you how to build on upwork in 2026, how to use some of the tactics I use. You know, I have ten and more years of experience working on many different freelancing platforms. And I will share with you guys some tips. So when you bid, you know how to bid, and you can expect you know a little bit more of that, you know, reply read that we all want so much. And also, I will show you some other tricks like, you know how to connect and plan better, how to craft your profile, how to do your image nicely, how to, you know, write this SEO for upward profile nicely and things like that. So this course will be made out of 12 lessons. We will have lessons like, you know, you know, how to start connection with clients, show interest in their world, show interest in their project. Also, maybe ten days ago, I was trying to do this similar course, but I was trying to incorporate AI, you know, as a helper. Mainly T GPT, but then I saw that actually we don't need it. We don't need AI for this. In some cases, it can be useful, but the problem is with AI, especially for this, when you rely too much on it, you become lazy. You know, you become lazy to read client description. You become lazy, you know, to reply to their messages. And then that becomes, you know, a little bit of struggle. But, you know, when you bidding and you reading proposals and you are staying active, it is much more interesting, much more, you know, client related. It is not like, you know, like working on autopilot. So I opted out for this course without AI, and I will show you, you know, the stuff, how to bid, how to craft upwork proposal, how to set up your profile nicely, how to also, if you want, of course, make an introduction video. I think that is a nice addition to upwork how to use, stuff like curiosity to have, you know, something that you know you will not explain in the proposals, everything, but you will explain the client maybe 30 to 40% of what you can do, and he will be interested naturally in reply to your message. Also, how to, you know, read some client psychology and how to actually communicate with clients after the job is done, you know? So this is our little bit introduction video. Our first lesson will be so read the job post like detective, you know, so I will see you in that episode, and thank you for watching. 2. Read the Job Post Like a Detective: So our first lesson will be read the job post like a detective. So every client leaves a small clauses in their words, you know, if they are frustrated, if they are excited, if they have, you know, some sort of fear, you need to read between those lines. Before you even start typing, figure out what motion drives their post. So for example, also, here is a word to mention to bid only on proposals that you see that clients are verified that day. They have at least one or two hires, you know, try to avoid bidding on projects where the clients is not verified. They have this, you know, HGPT written job description. They have basically zero rates when hiring. So I would like, skim those posts and try to be only on posts that you see the history of clients. For example, client is from United Kingdom. He has maybe ten reviews, all five or five stars. And also, it is important when you you know, come to reading the job description, you will see that high rate. What high rate is. Basically, high rate is, how many how many times client has, you know, hired someone when they actually posted the job. So for example, if I posted ten jobs on aphor and I hire ten times. So like ten jobs, and I hire ten times my high rate will be 100%. That is like DL situation, that is the best. But also, I try to see that client high rate is above 50%. If it is above 50%, that means on every, for example, 100 job posts, they post up 50 they hire. So that is a good starting point, 50% higher rate and above. Else, if higher rate is below 15, then I basically skim that job post. But if I see some, you know, signs like the client has sent, also important thing here is to mention that I like to check. Has client sent any invites? You can see that when you open job post scroll a little bit down, how many invites clients has sent. That basically means a couple of things. If client has sent some invites to his job or her job, that indicates that client is looking for someone to do it immediately is interested in completing the job, you know, is basically trying to get this done. So that is a good indication that you can bid on the job post. When you open the job post, it is important that you read it thoroughly, read it slowly, understand it, and then in your own words, write the proposals. Don't use AI, don't use JAGPT like say, for example, let's say James, James is looking for a logo designer for his Bakery shop. You will write, Hey, James, I saw that you're looking for a designer for Bakery shop. I have experience in logo design, and I did already two to three logo designs for bakeries. Here are the may you tell me, please, what are your specific colors or do you have any reference logos that you like? Also, where your business is located at? So it is important that you show interest to plant. It is important that you ask two or three questions related to the job post. It is important that you keep the proposals really, really short. Also you have portfolio, send them a portfolio link that is good. But clients tend to, you know, they don't have time to check like 2030 portfolio. So it is important that you have these job proposals really short and ask just a couple of relevant questions and basically then apply. So no flof tip for this lesson is clients hire people who notice what other miss. You know, take 1 minute to slow down and truly read. So again, like, read job proposal. Don't hurry up. Don't think like, Oh, there are so many jobs like scheming. Yeah, there are jobs posting at the moment. But if you post reply to every job post in a hurry, you use HA GPT, you will not get, you know, your proposals open at all. That is why it is important when you read job proposal, job post, you focus on it. And then write in short, like normal human, you know, proposals, just a couple of sentence show interest always, always ask two or three questions that shows the clients that you understand the job, that you are really interested in it, that you differ from other bidders that use GPT, you know? And also, when you are writing proposals, try to use less of I. I did this, I did this many times, no. Just have more client focused proposals. So ask the client, like a person, you know, what does business mean to you? Why do you want to do this logo or do you have any, you know, businesses before it? Just like this interaction, that will God willing have the client see, see your interest, and then reply to it. Also, it is important to mention that it will be good that at the end of proposals, you include CtA that is called call to action. So you are basically giving client the next step what he will do or she when they read your proposal. So good examples of call to action are Are you for example, you write proposals, and then you ask, Are you available for a quick chat? Do you want to hop on a five minute call to discuss the project? Also, it is good to end the proposal with a question. For example, do you have any example, logos that you want to show to me best regards your so that you have this clear call to action for a client. So this will be for this lesson next, we will talk like that you need to start we will expand on this team, that you need to start with connection, not credentials, not explaining yourself who you are, how many experience you have, with connection, so you will connect better with 3. Start with Connection, Not Credentials : Guys. So third lesson will be sorry, second lesson will be start with connection, not credentials. So basically, your first two lines decide if the plans keeps reading because, you know, they have and they get these, like, huge bunch of proposals that they need to read. And if you have this first line or second line good, and that is called hook, you know. If the hook is good, they will read through it, and also maybe they will open it. So your first two lines decide if the client keeps reading, skip the resume Don't just start proposal Hey, my name is James. I have ten years of experience in developing the websites. I have worked in this company because client will mostly skip on these proposals, you know. Starts start with something that shows you listen, not something that shows off, you know? So for example, Hey, you know, hey, John, I can feel how frustrating it must be to have gone through two designers and still not love your home page. Let's change that. This can be replied to a frustrated client when he's explaining, I already hire a couple of people on Appwor and it's just it doesn't work. How can you help me? And you will start, Hey, I can feel how frustrating it must be, but let's change that, you know? So you are having this connection with the client first. So it is important to establish this connection. Also, one thing that I would like to mention here when it comes to connecting with clients is when you open the job post, you will scroll down a little bit and you will see the history of client projects, you know, and then you will naturally find the client name. That is really important because clients like to see the sound and like to see their name on the proposal. So if let's say Melissa, for example, has posted a job that she wants to do a landing page for her new fashion store, you will start with Hi Melissa, and then you will do a comma and then continue the proposals. That will really connect you and client on this good way, and you can start from there also on some jobs, there will be no names for clients, but always start with this nice and warm, you know, opening done. You just write like, you know, good day or something that is a little bit distant, that sounds a little bit high, just write high, you know, that client likes. So this will be for this lesson I will see you in the 4. Show Interest in Their World: This lesson is that you need to show interest in their work. We are expanding on our team basically connecting client, how to write your proposals, how to connect with them better, how to ask relevant questions, you know, and you need here to show a spark of curiosity about their grand down or audience. So it's the simplest way to prove your care. You need to care in proposal. You need to care for their project, you know. And care is what actually place you, you know, in better position than some other, you know, bidders and upwork workers and where they use, you know, AI to write the proposals. So you can write stuff like, I like how your brand ton feels. Also, here is important that you can show interest in the world, sometimes a lot of times clients attach some files to the job description. And so many, you know, upward workers skip on that, just like don't even open those, but they are really important because client, spend some time uploading those files and trying to explain what he needs. So what you can do if clients, let's say, want a menu design for his new cafe, you will see you will say, hello, I have just opened the example you have touched, and I saw them, and I think they are good design. However, I can see your frustration where you want this update. I can see how different font would be a good option. I can see that the menu is cluttered. For example, if you say that, if you open and you see that as a designer and you say, like, I could feel that menu is cluttered. I can help you free up some space and breathe more. He will immediately see that and rag you hire, you know, like expert in the field that he wants to talk to you, that you are offering something. You are offering, actually the value just before the project has started because now he knows what is wrong with the menu, you know, so I think it is important that you show interest in their world, talk to them like will human beings, liked condense that emotion, you know, for winning jobs, like writing so many proposals, looking at the money. Just try to a little bit calm down and try to connect with them. Try to think how you can bring value into their lives, how you can solve that specific problem they are looking to get, how you can have them reply to your message, you know, and that is what it can really, you know, rank you higher in the bidding, bidding tables. So in the next lesson, we will talk about how to ask, you know, smart relevant questions and how we will expand that even more in this lesson and how we get clients' eyes onto your proposal. 5. Ask a Smart, Relevant Question: So in this lesson, we will be explaining how to ask a smart relevant question for your client's project description. So questions, when you write questions, they show thought. They show that you cared for the project. They show that you are interested in what they write. One clear questions, you know, one clear question, one question beats a wall of text. If you ask just one question that is relevant, that is something that Clean wants to hear that show interest, you will beat this whole wall of texts where you will explain that you are expert size developer with 15 years of experience, that here are your portfolio items and just pledge that on client. One question will be all of that in the proposal. So it will tell the client you are already thinking about their project. You are already thinking about their project, not just your payment. This is really important. So many clients I work with and experiences I have, they told me, you know, they really prefer to chat and to have this connection with workers that just don't sound that they are selling something to them. Because many proposals are something like in the way, Oh, I will do that for you for $50. I will do that for 100. I will provide it to you 24 hours, which is like this bidding war, you know, client really likes when a proposal structures about them, about their needs, you question them. You are asking these direct answers, not just like bashing and trying to compete with others, you will do it 24 hours. You will do it immediately. You will give this one free option to them. So let's just give a couple of examples here or the questions that you can ask that are smart, that are relevant. So you can ask, for example, do you already have the copy and photos for the homepage redesign or should I help create them? So if the clients is looking for a home page design, you will just naturally ask them, do you have the copy? Do you have the text for it? And do you have maybe some photos for it? Or do you need help? I can help you with that? Or should I help creating them, you know? Also, another question you can ask, is your main goal to improve conversions or just modernize the look, you know? So that is asking about the goal of the clients. What is their goal behind this project? If they want to have more sales or they're sick of the current look and just want to modernize up. So basically, again, I need to repeat this because you need to, you know, you need to have this, you know, to learn it. Basically, you just connect with them, ask them simple questions, try to keep proposals shorter, don't write long proposals, you know, and try to have this, you know, human interaction with them. So this will be for these lessons lesson 6. Use the Curiosity Loop : So in this lesson, we will be talking and title of the lesson will be used the curiosity loop. So basically, what curiosity loop is an loop that makes them what we play. Curiosity is how you pull a plant into conversation. So that curiosity can be like, for example, the client is looking to get a three fold brochure design, let's say, and you can just write to them and ask them, Hey, do you want this brochure design printed on, let's say, A four or A five paper, and they will have this curiosity to reply to you. Also, you can write something like, I noticed one small thing that's likely hurting on copio conversions. So when they are, for example, client is having this, you know, lending page in their project description, and they are giving the link, and you are opening that, and you told them, I noticed one small thing that's likely hurting your conversions. Happy to show you exactly what I mean, you know, so you can tell them. You can see, for example, in their website, something that is not working saw that on your website, the loader is really slow. I think I know what is the issue with it. Do you want me to help solve it out, you know? Also, you can ask curiosity Loop in a non conventional way. For example, if the client is asking for you to do, for example, let's say you know, let's say contact page on the web page, and you told them, Okay, yes, I saw the contact page. Do you want this and do you want these colors, and then you can see, then you can tell them. Also, I saw that in footersection, there are some links not working. I think I know what can cause this. You know, so you are making them curious to reply to you. That is really powerful way of, like, getting the client to connect with you, just based on, one sentence one. And based of all this is like, reading the proposal slowly, slow down, you know, don't rush through them. Also don't on the other side, don't take too long, for example, don't write proposals 1 hour because in the meantime, client can hire someone else. So it is really important. I forgot to mention this to write these proposals a little bit faster, because you need to have in mind that the client is having, you know, I don't know, ten or 15 or 20 proposals written just as you are writing to them. That don't mean that you need to rush through them. Serious clients always, hire in maybe one or 2 hours, maybe in 24 hours, 48 hours. Also, they can hire immediately, but they are not that serious clients. All serious clients leave a little bit of space, you know, post, you know, up job and leave and get some other work done, and they come back. So it is not a rush to write it in 2 minutes. That is not good. Just take your time, but don't go past maybe ten or 15 minutes mark, you know, because you need to still be fast, you know. So that is important when it comes to disc, when it comes to this. So show a little bit of curiosity, ask them questions, ask them questions in regards to their project that are not maybe strictly connected to the project. That's 7. 4 Sentence Formula: So in this video, I want to share with you guys, you know, like some formula that you can get hold of this so you can remember it more easily. So basically, I call this four sentence formula. So we will come and see it. So basically, keep it tight, as I've explained earlier, four simple parts can win more jobs. So first thing, open with connection. So one line that shows you get that. So that is called Ho so open with connection. Hello, John. I really like your home page, but I think the style is a bit updated. Hello, Mary. I've checked out the outdated magazine, and I think there is a way how to improve it without taking too much time or something like that, you show that you get that and that you can help them, you know. So also, second is add relevance. What is relevant? So mention one detail about their project. So that you are in the proposal relevant to the job description, you know, mention one detail about their project. Hey, I like that catalog or, hey, I think your design looks really neat, but I understand why you want to change them. Also, it is important, for example, if the client is writing and saying, like, I want this to be finished today, that you add relevance to it, that you confirm that you can do it today. So for example, hello, hello, you know, John, I can do this today. May you tell me what are your like? Do you have any reference logos, you know? So you are hooking them based on relevance in first sentence. Hello John, I can do this today. So if they are scheming through these proposals and they see hello, John, they see their name. I can do this today. They are immediately hooked, so that is important. Also, number three is ask something smart. Prove you are thinking that is based on something I was talking before. So always ask questions. I think one question is a minimum base meaning, but it's really the best is maybe two or three questions, even more. So as something smart, it proves you are thinking about their project. It proves you are interested in their project. And also, at the end, close easily with clear CTA. So call invitation to talk. So your goal isn't to sound perfect. Remember that don't spend too much time, crafting this proposal. That can be sensed mile away, and the client is not attracted to it. Don't try to sound perfect. Try to sound natural, try to sound human, try to show interest. It's to sound so real and helpful. Try to sound helpful, you know. So that is basically for this lesson, I will see you 8. Upwork Profile: In this one, I want to talk a little bit, you know, about the upwork profile, you know, how to edit it, how to do this good SEO, how to, you know, do a good image. And also, I want to a little bit write talk about how you can improve your chances of being seen by clients and talk and connected with *****. So I think it is important to mention that if you're just starting on a work, it's really, really important that you take couple of days, you know, and really think what you want to do on upwork. Do you want to do a graphic design? You want to do a web design? Do you want to do a data entry job? Do you want to do, you know, templates. Also, I would like to tell you that and suggest to you that in 2026, I will think that it's important to mention that templates, this PowerPoint design, kind of presentations, investor PG decks are really, really high end ticket high end paying jobs. And if you are just starting out and you don't know what to do, I think would be good to try that, you know, and just have the portfolio with try to have, you know, if you are new to Power Point, but go to Canva. In Canva, you can do, you know, presentations and try to see a couple of YouTube videos, how to do presentations, how to do pitch text, how to do investor pitch texts. It's all industry, you know, and just try to get and do maybe two or three or four, you know, presentations so you can have them in your portfolio. Also, it is really, really important that when you do these presentations, always compare yourself. Go to hands.com and sorry, hands.net and just see presentation design, take some inspiration, see how these really good designers are doing. So you can, you know, this good sense of how needs to be done. You're just starting on upwork, it's really important that you think through it, what you want to do, what you want to, you know, pursue in terms of job proposals on upwork. And I think even if it is really important to mention that you choose, you go with niche down. What niching down means? For example, I do graphic design. But if I write on upwork graphic design, you know, and some guys, some guys, my competitor comes, and the client needs, for example, menu design for the restaurant. And in the title, you know, when you come to Atwork profile, you have this title, what you are doing. If he writes menu designer, expert, menu designer for restaurants, an icon with graphic design title, who do you think will win this job? You know? Who do you think the client will look at it? So you need to niche down. You really need to think what you want to do and then basically narrow it more down. So if you like graphic designs and you are not keen on logo so much, don't write graphic design, you know, and you really, really like t shirt design or that is called apparel design or merchandise. Do merchandise design. Be designer on uprodPlenty of jobs like that, you know. But I suggest that you really, really, spend a couple of days on it and think in terms that you want something that will be a little bit high paid high ticket, my suggestion, especially in this AI era of so many software is don't go like for this just logo design. If you are going to do that, at least be, you know, a brand design, brand book designer, you know, that will do a logo and palette and fonts and hold brand book for clients, you know, visual identity designer. So think of a way in a way that AI is making these progress and how you want to have something that you are more about, you know, AI just can't do it yet. So, for example, I think 11 niche category that is worth mentioning is a Amazon story front design that is really high end paid, you know, market on the upwork, you know, I saw some plants like earn maybe $801,000 for the whole, you know, storefront, and AI just can't do it, you know, whole of it, you know? So think of that way. After that is done, you want to craft a little description, you know, on upwork. Just be a simple. I have maybe here I have my profile open here. I have just a couple of Celtics. It says because I'm top rated designer, top rated freelancer on upwork, it says upwork top rated freelancer, 95 success 95% job success, 230 successful jobs, 100% genuine feedback. Hi, I'm Dennis I spent over 15 years helping brands tell their unique story through design. I offer a range of services from brand style packages, brochures, business cards, pitch text to packaging, labels, flyers and book covers. I also offer web design and development services. So basically, that is just a couple of sentences that explains what you do, and that will be it. Also, as you can see, my profile is a little bit not niche down because I started so many years ago, and I have this client base that they they know what I'm doing and someone is hiring me for web design, someone is hiring me for logo. So I'm okay with it. But if you're just focusing I should just niche down, you will have much better chance of having a much more pay job. You can have much more hourly rate. You can up it. And you can up your game when it comes to hourly rates. For example, graphic designer can have maybe $12. If you are doing, Amazon story front design, you can have $100 easily for an hour because you are expert in the field. When it comes to portfolio, I think this is really important if you are doing visual design. If you are doing visual identity, web design, graphic design, stuff like that presentations, you need to have a really solid portfolio because client eventually will compass the proposal and see your portfolio. So also, it is important to mention, don't try to do it perfectly. Just have no more than five to ten portfolio pieces that are really good, and that is it. You don't have like 30, 40 portfolio pieces that are one designer once told me the weakest spot on your profile is a design that looks most bad on your portfolio. So so have this five really, really good designs that you did or presentations that you did or web designs and any design that is not so good, just delete it. It is better like that. When it comes to other things, just write your employment history easily couple of sentences. Also, don't spend too much time on making your profile perfect and trying so hard. It is just a waste of time. It is important that you do your profile in maybe one or two hour done buy Connect, and just start bidding start bid one other thing that I want to mention is don't be afraid of buying connects. Don't be afraid of it. Especially if you had one to $200 spare, buy connects and bid because if you bid bid and win project, imagine if you spend maybe $60 to connect, and that is like, I think, maybe 400 connects, and you don't win anything. And you lose patience so I just spend $60 on it. But you buy another pack, let's say, $30, and you spend 90, but then you get a project that is, maybe some web design that is paid hourly $35. You will get that back easily in two or 3 hours of work, and you will work on it maybe 30 hours and you will earn maybe 1,000 or $2,000, you know. So don't be afraid. Okay, I understand in the beginning, you will want to be careful. That is okay, but just don't be afraid to buy the connects, you know. Also, one thing that I would like to mention when it comes to profile, you can the image is important. Try to do something like for linked try to look at the camera and have a smile. Smile is really important. It helps the client to see a profile as someone positive, someone with a good attitude. And also, you can do a introduction video. I have introduction video. I think it helps a little bit bit profile, but it's not necessary at the beginning. So this will be for it. Also, Yeah, that will be for this video. See you in the 9. Saved Searches: Guys. So in this video, I will talk a little bit of same searches on Upwork. That is a feature that Upwork is giving you as a freelancer, so you can add, a couple of different tags on your profile, and they will based on that, they will then filter the jumps for you. So I will show you how that works. So when you go to upwork site, you will see the search bar on the first page. And based on your niche, if you are, for example, graphic designer or if you are web developer, you will enter different stop there. For example, I am a graphic designer, you know, and I have these tags like children's book illustration, vehicle wrap, and tread show graphics, menu, catalog design, photo manipulation, digital effects, event, and wedding stationary design. So for example, if you are into, let's say, Wordpress or web development niche, for example, you will want to type the web development. This is only if you're just setting up the profile now, you will want to have this Min tax sorted out. So when you enter the tag you want for your niche and for the specific projects that you want to get, you will then see Aporg is giving you projects in this category web development. What is here, it is really important that if you like this category and jobs here, you will see this save search folder and writing below the search element on this page, and you will want to click Save search. And then it will ask you, do you want to save search as Web develop? You will click. After that is done, you will want to go on the first page. And then what will happen? You will see on this, you know, like feed, when it says search for jobs, you will see below that that you have saved search for web development, which is good. So now, if you go to M feed below, you will see the jobs based on those saved searches. So my advice here is that you add as many saved searches as you want. But I have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, like ten rows of these tags. If let's say web developer, let's take web developer as an example again, you will want to type something like Wordpress and then hit Enter, like elementor and hit Enter. You will want to type square space weeks so that you have all these, you know, tags that Client is thinking about when they are posting the jobs. So you can find those jobs. You can filter them. But that is for the sat searches. So it is really important to set them up correctly. You will find them on my feed, and it will be displayed here. I want to mention here one more thing. When you are building on Network, my advice would be try to bid on fresh project, you know, don't wait like they have like two or three days. They are posted two or three days, and then you are bidding. That is, in most cases, a little bit too late, but Client, of course, can hire you even then. But also don't lose hope if you are sending the you know, like proposals, and you are not getting replies from Client because Client can reply basically in five or six days on your proposal. Also, one other thing that I would like to mention what is important is if you have a mobile phone with you and you own one, it would be really good that you have this, you know, Internet connection wherever you go, because sometimes if you, let's say, apply from home and you work on your computer, and then you go, let's say, to drink some, you know, coffee outside, and then you you while you are working, you don't have Internet and you see someone and you talk with them and just like that half an hour passes and you come into the cafe, you connect on Internet, then you see basically two new messages on upper, but then it's too late. I've lost a couple of clients because of that reason. That is why I'm sharing this with you. So you want to reply as soon as possible. For example, if the client sends you a message, you need to reply in 5 minutes because maybe in 5 minutes they will be gone. They will be with other freelancer talk. This will be for this video, see you in the next 10. You don’t need every job, you need the right ones : So this video and lesson will be based on the title. You don't need every job, you need the right ones. Basically, when you are starting out, everyone is feeling a little bit desperate to get a job, you know, even some people work for free, you know, just to get like maybe $5 and get to review. The issue here with this is that you drain out really fast and you lose confidence in yourself, and, you know, you feel bad because you spend maybe three days working on something, and plants can be sometimes if they feel, you know, that they can manipulate with you, they will do it. So you need to be conscious of that. So you are working like three days for $5, and of course, that you will feel frustrated, and maybe that can be the reason why you quit freelancing and doing work on these platforms. My advice would be actually to work on your portfolio, to work on your skills, you know. And then if you work on the skills in your portfolio naturally, you will have really, really good and competitive work in your niche. If you do that and you, you know, learn how to write proposals, you will not need to work on so many clients, so many, you know, proposals, and these small pay jobs. Let's say you are PowerPoint presentation designer and you have, one, maybe two years of experience. And then but you feel that there are so much better, you know, guys in PowerPoint than what you need to do is basically maybe go on this website, Skillshare and just learn a little bit more, take some existing PowerPoint presentations and try to do the slide like they did, you know, everything. And then you will want after you complete that portfolio piece, you will want to display it on Appwor or any other website. You do like that, of course, one thing that cannot stress enough is through all of this process, you will need to have patience. That is really important because if you don't, you will track so many times and you will get tired fast. First of all, you need to build up this portfolio. So when you do and you have this good portfolio and you have confidence in your skills, now it's time to set up hourly rate. If you are, let's say, let's take this niche, for example, Power Point presentation designer. That is actually really sought out niche, and there are not a lot of good PowerPoint experts out there, and you can place yourself as an expert and charge, let's say $50 an hour, maybe 60. And that is it. So client actually clients when they are looking for this, you know, presentation designer, they are ready to pay more, you know, because they know that is something that not everyone does. And based on that, you will want to filter those jobs. So you don't need every job. You need the right ones, but in a way that you have already established your skill set in this narrow down niche, you know, or any niche, but narrow it down so you can, you know, rank yourself as an expert. And then what you want to do is basically bid with confidence. Short proposals I explained earlier, show interest, show ask two or three relevant questions, and show your really good portfolio. Then the client will reply and naturally good ging, you will get this job. It is really important that you don't lose energy bidding on low paying projects. I see so many freelancers just go on network and just without portfolio, they have two pieces in their portfolio and they're looking not so well. And then they try to bid on upwork, you know, and then they go to read it and write all of these, you know, accusation, upwork in not wood platform, I'm tired of it, never get any work because you need to think develop it. You know, you cannot rush with bidding. You need to first establish what you do correctly, narrow it down, then build upon it, build a portfolio, and then start bidding, you know. Like that, you will have a solid base for client to look at it. You will sound confident you will write this short proposal, nothing like you are begging for work or something. And I think that would be a good way to go. So don't apply to every job. Skip low paying ones, go for high ticket lines and always always work on yourself, work on your skills 11. Long Term Relationships & Repeat Clients: So in this one, I want to talk a little bit more about long term relationships and repeat clients. So many free answers on upwork work with one client and then just forget about them. And they don't send follow up messages. They don't even just say, How are you? You know, they don't build that relationship. But I think it is important that you do. Why? Because if you have a good relationship with a client, they will contact you again. They will give you more work to do. You will have this bond with them, and that is really important. So let's see, for example, you do one work, and client gave you five or five star review and positive comment. Just like send them immediately message. Thank you so much. Like, project was really successful. I was a pleasure to work with you and then leave it. After maybe five days, just like write them and ask, how are you doing if let's say you did maybe for them a lending page design. Just don't ask for drop. Just ask them, let's say, Melissa, how are you Melissa? How is the lending page going? Did you have any more conversions now? And then if they reply, you will start to have this nice relationship where you can send them a message. And also, I think it is important if you don't have the size of upwork, that you have a Link DI profile. So maybe you can add them Link DIN and expand that relationships a bit more, you. So it's important that you check in regularly with plays. You can send them in me emails, you can send them Upwork. You can send them a Linked DI but always connect to them and don't be ashamed to write after maybe two or three messages that you write some usual stuff. How are how that work is going that you did? So do you have any more work for me at the moment that I can help you with? So I did many projects where I just, like, you know, was bidding and then want to step out a little bit and just, like, send maybe ten or 15 my clients a message and just one opt out and say, yeah, then sure, I would just thinking, I want to do this project on the weekend. Can you help me out? So don't be ashamed to follow up with clients. To establish a long term relationships with them and to have these repeat repeat projects. Also, it is important to say communicate early. So if you can be online 24 hours a day, at least when you're awake, you know, try to be even on your phone just like have it. So when a client is sending you a message, you need to reply to them as fast as possible. My opinion, maximum is 1 hour that you plan waiting because if you start, you know, have them wait, they will have this, you know, bad feeling about that relationship. A good freelancers, finish task, great ones make life easier for clients. That is important to say try always try when you work to provide a really good work for your client. But don't it like 100%. Never do 100%. You know, try to do it, but never why because you will burn out. And you will spend time on these details and skip on other projects and other relationships. My opinion is always try to aim at 80 or 90%, and you need to say this to yourself. It is done. And just like save the project, send plans, and that is it. Don't try to email at 100, you will burn out easily, and then you will not have this, you know, motivation power to bid on more projects and to work on more projects. Let me just here. So, so a couple of final thoughts for this course is winning on Upwork isn't about lack algorithms. It's about, you know, try to build with empathy with tone and trust, try to show interest to client projects, you know, not just like bid like on autopilot. When you sound like a person, not a pitch, not like sales pitch, you stand out without even trying. So just be interested in clients work and always think about them. You know, they have this issue that they want to resolve, and they are looking for help, actually, you know, and you need to place that in your mindset. How can I help them? Not like I will place these AI written proposals and expect they will just hire me. That is a little bit, you know, selfish to think about it, just like thinking those terms. God willing money will come, clients will come and projects will come, you know. So people don't buy services. They buy trust, understanding, and like this Colm energy, so you can deal with them. You can be communicative and always respond to them. Just one thing I forgot to mention is when you know, when you talk to plants, it is really important that you always check on them when you do the project, you know, don't let them leave for two or three days. So you will get a message, Hey, is there any update on it? That is already minus in your account in their head, you know. Just like write to them, maybe each day, at the end of the day, if you are, let's say, working on, I don't know, packaging design for some bottle, and you just did the front, and you will want to, you know, come in the evening and say, let's say, hello, John, the front is done. Please Please see it. This is how it looks. I'm going to back tomorrow. They will appreciate that maybe just because of that, they will be a little bit more, you know, a little bit less harsh on the judgment because you updated them. That is a good way to think about that, as well. So it is important that you update the plants regularly. So thank you for watching this course. It was my pleasure, you know, to share this information with you guys. I hope that you will find something of it useful. If you have, any questions, you can send me a message or on Skillshare and you can find me on Link DIN. My name is Denis Balavac, and you can just type it and I will opt out and you can write me there. So that will be it. I will see you in the next week.