Let me get my riot shield as we cue the angry mob of business coaches screaming at me to get off Upwork.

Unemployment vs. Upwork

Look, I get it, alright?

Upwork has a shit reputation. They take a 20% cut. Competition is fierce. It seems like a rat race to who can charge the lowest price.

However, Upwork is the reason I even got into freelancing.

I started freelancing back in 2011 when Upwork was known as Elance or Odesk. Back then, I was freshly dropped out of college and struggling to hold onto a job.

To be transparent, I’m a schizophrenic bipolar. Leaving the house and working with other humans in a face to face environment is terrifying for me.

Moreover, with ZERO marketable skillsets?

I’m doomed, guys.

The Upwork Rite of Passage

My first jobs on Upwork are the same stories you’ll hear from other disgruntled Upworkers. I took on writing jobs that paid me well below market price.

These were what we called, “slave wages.”

Back then, I guess it was fair.

I didn’t know what “SEO” or “keyword research,” was.

Hell, I churned out these writing gigs like I was churning out English papers.

There was no finesse and no experience behind the words I chose to use.

While I tried to deliver my best, my clients received articles that were worth precisely the low price they paid.

Getting Fired and Raising my Prices on Upwork

This went on for the first few months I was on Upwork.

I was a one-woman content mill, shelling out mediocre blog post after blog post.

Until one day, a client asked me, “Do you know what SEO is?”

“No, I don’t know what SEO is.”

“Thank you for your work, but I’m going to go with a different freelancer, moving forward.”

Just like that, I lost a client.

I decided to do a Google search for what SEO was since I lost to a freelancer who had that skillset.

The search results sounded like gibberish; however, after spending a few weeks reading blog posts, watching YouTube videos, and browsing Reddit, I learned the basics of SEO.

I started applying foundational SEO to my writing, even when the clients didn’t ask for it.

(A year later, I Google’d a specific keyword I tried to rank for and found MY blog post as #3 on Google.)

With my new, albeit beginner, skillset under my belt, I started to lace my bids saying that I could SEO the blog posts I wrote. SEO gave me a slight competitive edge over the other Upworkers.

(In short, SEO is what you do to your website and blog posts to get it ranked on Google.)

Though I still had a long way to go.

A few months later, one of my clients was in a hurry. They asked me, “Can you please upload this e-mail to MailChimp?”

I had no idea what MailChimp was, let alone how to use it.

I told him, “I’m sure I can figure it out.”

Back down the rabbit hole.

I Google’d. I YouTube’d. I figured out how to work the basics of MailChimp.

You see where I’m going with this?

When I first started on Upwork, I took those $5-$10 jobs. They paid me peanuts, but they were quick 5-star reviews, and they made sure I could afford my evening ramen noodles.

Each of those low-baller clients taught me something. They couldn’t afford to hire an expert (or didn’t want to shell out the extra cash), so they paid me a lower price to learn the skillset.

Then I would turn around, remarket that skillset, and charge a higher price to the next client.

As I climbed the Upwork ladder, I kept raising my prices to match my now impressive skill set and extensive 5-star reviews.

Freelancing on Upwork in the Modern Day

When I started freelancing years ago, I think you could get away with having a specific mastery. You could be a writer and call it a day. You could be a designer and be explicitly hired for branding.

Every day, more people break into the world of freelancing.

Tech.co projects that by 2020, freelancers will make up 42% of the USA workforce.

In 2016, freelancers made up 35 percent of the total U.S. workforce and pulled in $1 trillion collectively as a result. They’re projected to hit 42 percent of U.S. workers by 2020, so we can expect to see and hear a lot more from the freelance community in 2018.

What does that mean for the rest of us? Freelance competition is HOT.

Everyone is replaceable. There will be someone with your IDENTICAL skillset that can undercut you at any time.

So you need to leverage what you know, continuously refine your skillset, and jump into freelancing with the mind of a student.

To be successful on Upwork, it’s no longer enough to be able to have one skill.

For me, it means that it’s not enough for me to churn out mediocre blog posts anymore.

Staying competitive means that I:

Continuously stay up-to-date with best SEO practices.

Know how to manage social media accounts and use the software to manage those accounts.

Know how to use SaaS products such as newsletter delivery services and blogging platforms.

Can do basic graphic design with software such as Canva.

Am familiar with e-mail etiquette and customer support.

I’m not just a writer anymore. I’m a fully stacked virtual assistant that can do anything from designing profitable sales funnels (and set up the tech!) to managing Facebook communities to helping my clients’ customers log in to a membership platform.

In short: I make my clients’ lives easier.

Forget the “jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none” nonsense.

You can have several skillsets and be AMAZING at all of them because you continuously learn how to better those skills.

Clients love freelancers who can do it all.

You best believe that they’ll pay a higher ticket price for you when you can juggle several aspects of their business.

The Secret Sauce to Upwork Success

So what does that mean for you, as someone who has heard all the horror stories about Upwork, yet wants to seize the opportunities that Upwork has to offer?

First, get your mindset right.

Upwork is a springboard. A starting platform. Upwork is not a place where freelancers go to make a career.

However, Upwork’s an excellent place for freelancers to get started. No marketing skills? Can’t afford a website? Don’t have time to scour the internet for independent clients?

Upwork is where you go to make money on the side and pad your empty portfolio.

Go into Upwork with the mindset that you’re not here to get rich. You’re on the platform to get live clients for your current skills and to keep an open mind to learning new things.

EVERYONE has to deal with the rite of passage on Upwork. You will deal with low balling clients. You will compete for below minimum wage jobs. There will be suffering through crap jobs for peanuts.

Let me make this clear: if you are unable to continuously raise your prices and add more skillsets to your Upwork profile; then you’re doing something wrong.

After those first few weeks, you start getting reviews. You might get the Rising Talent badge. You learn where your strengths are and how to market those skills.

Months will pass, and you’ll begin to raise your prices.

Eventually, you’ll even nail the Top Rated badge on Upwork.

Then something magical happens. You’ll start to raise your prices to the point where you don’t even need to apply for jobs anymore. Clients start inviting you to interview with them and are pitching you your asking price.

This happens because when a freelancer is charging higher, there’s the assumption that their quality of work is better. The Top Rated badge, 5-star reviews, and portfolio is all icing on the cake.

Serious clients who want high-end service do use Upwork because it’s a trusted platform for businesses. To weed out the unqualified, they do invite-only jobs and invite the high priced, high rated freelancers.

You’ll get there.

For Those Who Are Already Experts

You might be reading this post and thinking, “Okay, Fiona, but I’m not a newbie like you. I have 20 years of corporate experience in my field, and I can do backflips while working for clients.”

Then you know what? What the hell are you doing on Upwork?

When you have 20 years of experience, and you’re a straight up master of your craft, make a website. Fill your site with testimonials. Show screenshots or photographs of your work.

Hire a copywriter and a web designer to build your online portfolio. Use LinkedIn. Maximize your influence on Twitter and Facebook.

Seriously, skip Upwork entirely.

However, if you’re hellbent on using Upwork, your journey will look a lot different from mine. For example, you can jump straight in, charge a higher price, and pitch your services.

However, you still might have to take on a gig that is cheaper than your usual asking price. People are hesitant to pay higher rates to accounts who have empty testimonials on Upwork, even if you have great testimonials elsewhere.

Still, you can take on 2–3 of the cheaper gigs to get a quick 5-star review, and then move on to charging higher prices.

Though seriously, if you’re already a master of your craft, get a lawyer to draft some legal contracts for you and start your own independent business.

I see too many “experts” crying that Upwork doesn’t pay high enough, yet they’re stuck on trying to somehow make Upwork happen for them.

Upwork is a place to learn and grow as a freelancer, not an end stop.

Where I’m at Now

I still use Upwork because I have several long-term clients whom I started a working relationship with, through Upwork. They’ve paid me enough money that Upwork is no longer charging me the 20% fee for them.

Yes, the longer you work with a client and the more money you earn, the less Upwork takes from your pay!

However, I’ve also started taking independent clients outside of Upwork, since I’m ready to step outside of my comfort zone and break out of my shell.

Though I have to say, I give much credit to Upwork for helping me get to where I am today.

My clients on Upwork have been nothing but patient, fantastic, and delightful to work with. I’ve learned so much through helping them grow their businesses, and they’ve played a huge factor in getting me to a place where I can charge a higher price and even go independent.

Do you have a positive story from Upwork? Let me know in the comments!