This article provides a comprehensive guide on acquiring your first client on Upwork. Discover effective methods to enhance your profile, crucial factors for attracting initial clients, and valuable insights for crafting impactful Upwork cover letters. Enhance your Upwork journey with this essential information.
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We highly recommend reading the entire article as it provides significant benefits, especially for beginners. You will receive a detailed step-by-step guide on maximizing your chances of acquiring your first client on Upwork. These points are essential for securing your initial client on the platform while ensuring an optimised profile. Completing your profile to 100% increases the likelihood of obtaining your first client.
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1. Upwork Profile
Your Upwork profile plays a vital role in securing jobs, not just within the Upwork platform but also in gaining visibility through Google searches. A well-crafted profile can attract potential clients who are not necessarily using Upwork. This means that having an impressive profile can lead to opportunities with non-Upwork clients if it meets their expectations.
1. Title – The title on your profile is the initial impression clients have of you, presenting the first opportunity to distinguish yourself. Crafting a highly targeted and specific headline is crucial. Additionally, incorporating your skills into the headline further enhances your profile’s appeal to clients. Make the most of this prime space to capture clients’ attention and showcase your expertise.
2. Overview – Write your overview as a cover letter. Include your Expertise, Your top skills, and your Experience. Make trustworthy and honest, targeted to the client, not you. Tell them How you’re perfect for him and best for the client’s project. Use keywords in your overview. Keywords help you on your job feed. Upwork shows you the best job for you according to your keywords. a significant part of “get your first client on Upwork.“
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- please don’t add your personal information to the profile overview section.
- Please don’t attach any personal links
- please don’t add your phone number, Email, Social Media anything in the profile.
It’s a High chance of blocking your profile. Maybe Upwork will stop your profile lifetime.
3. Profile Picture – set up a professional profile picture with a visible face. Simplify and blur the background. Focus on your face. learn more about the profile picture
4. Your Rate – This is very important in the beginning stage of freelancing. Because nobody trusts you in Upwork for now, you need to set a half-rate maybe – $10/hr, $8/hr, or $6/hr. You can increase your rate from project to project.
5. Create a Specializes profile – It helps your client know Which categories you’re excellent at. For example, you are a graphics designer who creates specialised profiles related to graphics designing, Brand Identity, and Logo design. It’s more stand out in specific expertise in your skill set.
Basic Information – It’s not basic Information
- One of the essential things is introducing your skills and experience through the intro video.
- Set your availability per week. Your availabilities tell your client How you’re available for their projects.
- Languages – select only languages you are comfortable with and show them how much proficiency in every language.
- Education – Add your education. It shows your background and the technical knowledge you have.
6. Portfolio – The Most Important Part of the Upwork profile for “first client on Upwork.”
When you are new to Upwork, you need to showcase your work to clients. So, clients know you are perfect for their job—very essential point for getting your first client.
Tips for portfolio work on Upwork
- Add a clean and professional image
- short and targeted title
- If possible, add a link to the project
- properly describe yourÂ
7. Skills Labels – One of the most important things for the Upwork profile.
Skills labels are significant for your “job feed” and essential for your favourite jobs. Labels describe your expertise. Please add carefully. only add your expertise-related skills tags. Titles help you to get your first job on Upwork.
8. Testimonials – This section is crucial for new freelancers on Upwork.
Are you new to Upwork, right? So, you have no feedback or no project done on Upwork yet. So, testimonials options for your past clients or local clients.
You request them for gives you feedback on your work. Upwork gives you an option for your local clients.
With the help of testimonials, you can tell Upwork clients that you are an experienced developer.
9. Certifications – If you have a certification of any expertise. This is your plus point to describe your knowledge to Upwork clients. Very helpful for getting the first client on Upwork.
You have to represent your skills everywhere in the profile.
2. Important lessons for “Upwork cover letter.”
- Please bid only on your expertise area, which you’re very confident about.
- Use the client name, no sir/mam, Like Hey Alex, Hello Alex
- in the cover letter talks about the client, not about you. About client projects and how you solve their problems.
- Keep writing short cover letters based on the job post.
- Add relevant projects that you are done with the previous client.
- Tell them in one line, “What are clients saying about you?”
- Please Do not use template cover letters.
I will make a separate blog post on “how to write an Upwork cover letter for beginners.“
Note: This is not for part-time freelancers. It’s working for only Full time dedicated freelancers.
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