Global Freelancing on Upwork: One Year Later

This month, I’m celebrating one year of building my presence as a global freelancer. Using established sites, I’ve worked to expand my client list from a narrow local base to a broad worldwide clientele. Where locally, I provided only media-related production and editing, my global freelancing career has allowed me to offer a wide range of writing services. In this twelfth month of global freelancing, I’ve achieved my goal: remote clients account for nearly 100% of my income—and I’m convinced that’s just the tip of the iceberg

After trying several alternatives, my platform of choice is Upwork.com, where businesses and individuals post their needs, and Upwork-screened freelancers (like myself) respond with a cover letter and relevant work examples to win the assignment. I have had the opportunity to work with a wider range of professionals and entrepreneurs than I would have otherwise. I have the opportunity to put all of my talents to work, instead of a select few.

My writing assignments have included professional biographies, recommendation letters, resignation letters, product descriptions, nonprofit mission statements, corporate website content, dozens of short stories and “chat stories,” numerous proposals and pitches for documentary video content, and production-ready scripts for educational and corporate videos.

I also provide video editing services, including corporate videos, YouTube content, training videos and premium quality celebratory videos (a photo and video montage marking a birthday or memorial, for example).

Corporate clients have included a wide range of spirited entrepreneurs, from those designing small tech start-ups to the founder/CEO of a vast corporation providing energy infrastructure. Individuals have also hired me for a range of tasks—one man in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia asked me to write a science fiction story for his son’s sixteenth birthday. I’ve worked for numerous online learning corporations, conceptualizing, writing, and in one case presenting content (offering my experience as a self-published author). Upwork gold is a repeat client—and I have had quite a few as both a writer and editor.

 

One of my Upwork gigs involved teaching
an online writing course.

Reaching this point has taken a great deal of hard work—requiring a commitment to adopting global freelancing as my profession. What started out as a side experiment only became truly viable when it became a full-time effort (I still work with local clients, though selectively).

In my case, another key piece of the puzzle was my decision to seek out training to use Upwork effectively. My thanks to Claudia Holcombe and the Barefoot Consultants program for providing excellent guidance on designing my Upwork profile, seeking and winning the best jobs, and other intricacies of becoming a successful global freelancer. If you’re serious about making this financially viable, training will get you up to speed right away.

Global freelancing (I’ve served clients in Kiev, Moscow, Saudi Arabia, Panama, Mexico, Canada, Australia and across the United States) isn’t simply a new direction in my career—it’s an entirely new dimension—and only increasing in potential. I can't say whether it's the future of employment - but it's my future.

You can check out my Upwork profile at https://www.upwork.com/fl/richsamuels (scroll down to the bottom for an indication of why I love my clients!) - and follow me @rickflix for more updates.

I'm finding It: Upping My Game in the Gig Economy

Six months in, my experience with Global Freelancing is going well. I've made considerable progress, and I'm confident that I can continue to increase my online business.

The milestones:

• I've reached the "Top Rated" level on Upwork, which means that my ratings from clients are above 90% (in fact, they're at 100%), and I've met criteria ranging from total earnings and responsiveness to consistent availability. 

• I've reached "Level One" status on Fiverr, which also means I've reached a level of success similar to Upwork. There are two further levels to achieve.

In both cases, leveling up means higher visibility and access to a higher level of customer service. Personnel at Upwork will also email leads to jobs that may be particularly appropriate for my talents and experience.

The jobs have been diverse and challenging. They've included chat-stories, short stories, professional biographies, videos edited for social media, a storybook for elementary school-age children, and professional letters for a variety of purposes.

Building From Here

As I work to improve my online presence on both platforms, I'm taking a series of steps:

• I've taken a one-on-one course on optimizing my efforts on Upwork, including improving my profile, writing more effective job proposals, and developing workable strategies for building and maintaining a client base on the site. I also learned search strategies on the site, to find more jobs that fit my expertise. (I'll be writing about the course in a future blog).
• I'm experimenting with my gigs on Fiverr, and seeking out more effective ways of improving my visibility on the site.
• I attended a local Fiverr event, which has allowed me to interact with like-minded Fiverr uses so I can learn from those who better understand how to optimize the site to attract more work (it requires a different strategy than Upwork).   I'll be joining a local Los Angeles user's group (and one for Upwork, if I should find one).

Last week, I was interviewed as part of a university study exploring the rapidly expanding "gig economy." Though the idea (and these platforms) have been around for a while, it seems that near the leading edge of a profound shift in the character of employment.

My immediate goals are to learn better optimization on Fiverr, expand into blog and article writing on Upwork, and in general find better ways of promoting my services on both sites. 

I've come a long way, but I still have a long way to go toward making this a full-time operation...but I think I'm on my way. The progress I've made so far has exceeded my expectations. I'm optimistic about the possibilities for the future.

I've always believed that whatever might be your talent, there's an audience somewhere in the world for what you do—if only you could find it.

I'm finding it.

Check out my Upwork Profile here, and my Fiverr Profile and gigs here.  If you need writing or remote video editing services, check me out (if you tell me you came from my blog, make sure to let me know).