Although I am now a Top-rated Freelancer, my start was a bit shy and the challenges haven't stopped to appear even now, after 3 years on Upwork.
The story of my beginning on Upwork is that I had a close friend who have already started there and told me about it. It took me 1 year to actually embark on it, but I did it on my own terms and availability to start something very new for me. I feared that I wouldn't have strong English knowledge for that - in fact, French was the language I loved more - but I was open to improving my English, and, of course, you don't really know if you will handle it properly the task you would get.
At first, I took simple tasks, and in time I began to handle better the English language and to advance to more complex tasks. You also deal with challenges along the way and you manage to make yourself your own style. And now, after 3 years, a total of 53 jobs, from which 92 hourly/paid tasks, and $6k+ earnings, I have learned a lot not only professionally, but also regarding the interaction with my clients.
Freelancing...not for everyone?
A very important thing is that I have felt most of the time in my life that I wouldn't like to work 8hours per day at a desk in an office. I had this kind of experience and I really didn't like that tide routine schedule. So, I managed to get involved in those jobs that didn't need my full presence of a bureau and I felt comfortable with meeting deadlines in my own rhythm.
What type of clients I refuse to work with
After you have your Freelancing working experience with lots of clients, you do usually know or you can observe from the beginning some signs that inform you on your future collaboration with a client that may be great or a terribly long journey.
**The client who is in a special bond with the task [or a cultural/ language thing doesn't let him properly interact with you] - I will give you an example on this one. I have recently received an invitation to a job. I accepted the interview and asked my client to give me more details about the job. The client thanked me for accepting the work [I accepted only the interview.] and answered me with a question related to my skills on that specific job. That was the end of our conversation lol. I decided not to answer him at all.
The client who has it all figured out - It becomes obvious if you're a specialist in your field when a client knows what he's talking about or if he is in a constant delirium. It would usually not need you if he knows how to do that task, except the case when he doesn't have the time or some other major issue is stopping him to do it. These kinds of clients try to manipulate your work in their own direction which is not reflected in the guidelines they have been given.
The client who wants to pay you cheap for working like a slave - These are those clients that don't consider at all the effort of the freelancer and have their small prices no matter the task. You might say that some of them are from low-income cultures, but that's not necessarily the thing. Furthermore, you can check the profile of the freelancer and see how much he usually asks for various tasks.
The client who always needs an extra thing for free - Some clients want you to work more without establishing these things from the beginning and expecting to pay you the same price for this. They just don't care...these things might have slipped their attention or they suddenly realise they need more.
The client who doesn't have a sense of reality - I had once a client who wants it to do for him a huge amount of work. Although he previously had persons working for him on the platform who just couldn't stand on the work for more than 2-3 days, he kept going with the same irrealistic goal. He was unhappy with the employees without wanting to consider the enormous amount of work. It was more suitable for robots or people who don't eat, don't have breaks...don't even breathe. It was huge stress both for the physical and psychical health. I had to quit after 2/3 days.
And the list can continue...lol I am not a constant presence on freelancing platforms but I enjoy working on tasks I am good at. I am now excited about a new project I got involved in, to which I will dedicate my time for the next period and that is not related to Upwork. When you are top-rated, one of the advantages is also that a lot of previous clients or new ones keep coming to you, without necessarily losing a lot of time to apply to jobs and waiting for them to hire you....and even after a longer period.
Hope you did have an insight on it and maybe you want to share with us more about your freelancing experiences.
)
)
