Entry 3 – Upwork

Upwork!

First a bit more research! Time spent in reconnaissance is rarely wasted!

What does Upwork Offer?

it is a portal for clients and freelancers to connect!

Access is through an App and a Desktop web interface. These can be found at Upwork.com and through your appstore of choice.

Hourly contracts:

For hourly contracts, you need to download and use the Desktop app so that you can log your hours. Note that the app will take a snapshot of your desktop so that the client can track what you are doing. You can also manually add hours if you are working away from the desktop.

The app is also a communications channel for you and your clients. There is a work diary to allow you to review the screenshots taken and annotate them for clarity.

The key point here is to be working on the job when you say you are working on the job.

Fixed Price Projects

You and the client agree on a Statement of Work, deliverables and a price. The client then puts the payment amount in Escrow.

You can agree on milestone payments and I recommend this. You have protection against completing a project and not getting paid, because you can request part payment before the project is completed. You also get money in advance to keep your cash flow positive.

Project Catalog

Upwork has a catalogue of services that can be offered as a set package. This is very similar to the Fiverr ‘gigs’ where you offer a service as a complete package of activity and hang up your sales shingle!

As with Fiverr you can have several packages so if you do offer a set solution, its worth considering.

What type is best for me?

I’m not ready to offer a set catalog service yet as I am unclear as to what the market requires.

So Initially I will look at hourly and fixed-price opportunities.

In the absence of a job or task, my job is to get a job or task.

But to be credible in the marketplace, considering I have no completed tasks, testimonials or presence on the platform, I will need to build some brand collateral.

Fortunately, simple web development is something I can do and I have a back catalogue of webscraping and data analysis projects I can add to a portfolio site.

As I have also been a trainer and coach, I have decided on a website that offers tutorials and coding material as well as the project portfolio. I also have a couple of Web Dev clients that I service, mostly to help our growing small businesses. So that skillset is something I already have.

Sidenote: I decided not to offer web development services as I am not as creative as others operating in that domain and it is an oversubscribed area that is very competitive.

Finding Jobs!

As no one knows I am operating on Upwork yet, I don’t expect I will be getting any job invites straight off the bat. I expect to be in the trenches, looking for work and building my profile for some time.

When you log in to the site or app you can search the list of open jobs. Filters allow you to reduce the scope of what you might be able to deliver so you are not looking through page after page of irrelevant jobs.

The app and website will change so I won’t be specific about the interface. Changes are indicated by a little blue circle so it’s worth knowing the app interface and noting changes that you might be able to take advantage of.

Searches

Enter the job type in the field and select the filters to match your skills and skill level.
It is worth doing several searches around your skillset. For example, ‘webscraping’ can be characterised as:

• webscraping
• lead generation
• data scraping
• data capture
• data analysis
• information gathering
• API scraping

So know the scope of your skillset and why folk may want to hire you.

Only the first ten proposals are displayed on page one of the buyer’s screen, so select jobs with few proposals to ensure your proposal is seen.

I expect lots of rejection and being ignored.

Bidding

The currency of Upwork is ‘connects’, tokens that allow you to bid on tasks. You get limited ‘connects’, so ensure you deploy them carefully on tasks you have a chance of winning. You can buy more ‘connects’ but…I’m here to make money not spend it! So I’ll be frugal.

Communication

Keep all communication within the app. There is a message system to allow pre-contract meetings. Upwork also has a phone call management system to allow you to link with a client through Upwork, and more recently, a Zoom call feature has been added.

After the contract is signed, you can use whatever communication channels work for you and the client. But for safety and transparency I recommend the messaging system within Upwork.

Payment

Each contract is managed through the Upwork system to allow you to get paid with protection.
These systems are complex and so you must read them in detail… Some payment solutions have additional charges but

Upwork fees:

There is a sliding fee you pay to Upwork from the money that your client pays you.

JDI:

Armed with this background knowledge, let’s have a crack at some of those proposals.