This Method Worked For Me To Gain My First Hourly Long Term Client On Upwork

How to Land Clients on Upwork No Matter Your Skill Level

No matter your experience level, it can be a challenge to land clients on Upwork — a freelancing platform that features jobs seeking skilled people from software developers to writers. But it doesn’t have to be.

Securing clients requires focus. With the right focus, there are several ways to secure freelance clients for your business or side hustle.

Just to give a little background, it took a while to get my first client through Upwork. I failed to get responses after submitting multiple proposals to potential clients.

The thing about freelancing is, you need to remember to keep going when you encounter challenges or failures.

“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm,” — Winston Churchill.

I finally received my first job offer through Upwork after sending proposals for three months with no response. At first, I targeted jobs that were looking for one writer. Eventually, I learned that it’s best to apply to jobs that are looking for multiple writers.

My very first job with Upwork was a flat rate assignment for writing a book. I received a rave review from the client after completion. Once I completed the assignment I subsequently received another offer from what will become a long-term client partnering with me on an hourly basis.

Two months after my first gig, I was able to secure my first long term client that needed musician content written for a website. This gig taught me that typically if a job specifies looking for writers to write website content, then it can translate to continual work.

You will not believe what I was doing before I submitted the proposal. You may be thinking to yourself — What were you doing? What I was doing was sitting on a city bus. Yes, I was on the city bus on a Saturday in route to work on my phone reading through Upwork jobs using the Upwork app.

It was Summer 2021 and I was scrolling through Upwork jobs on my phone when I noticed that one of the jobs peaked my interest. It was an expert level job and prior to that I normally would target Intermediate jobs. I noticed that it had been posted early that morning and had been on Upwork for less than two hours. Also less than 5 people had applied to this post making the likelihood your proposal to be seen before the client is flooded with proposals.

This particular job was seeking writers for a musician website for an award-winning artist, who was the client. I remember within my cover letter I included the client’s name and express how I would love to talk to them. Below is a screenshot of the body of my cover letter.

I submitted the proposal and received a response the same day. The client and I agreed to a Zoom meeting the next day, which was a Sunday. During that Zoom meeting I talked about my writing experience and the client, a male musician who had been part of a commercial featured in the Super Bowl, talked about his needs. He extended an offer to me and accepted the contract. Subsequently, I followed the client on Linkedin to gain more knowledge about my new client and better serve him.

So far I have done work ranging from writing content for his website to creating a Wikipedia page. Throughout the process, I periodically checked in for new work and listened to videos that he gave me to help with possible future work.

Remember you are helping the client. Individuals and companies use Upwork to seek after people and get jobs done faster than what they have the manpower to do themselves. In this aspect, you could help them tremendously. For example, Upwork’s website includes information from Penn Foster College that has helped them streamline the process. Check out the screenshot below.

7 Takeaways…

1. Applying for places as a writer and sending proposals for creating content for a website. Usually this is an indication of on going work and therefore you can be able long term assistance.
2. Sending out proposals on a Saturday can increase your chances of gaining an Upwork client. There is typically less people sending out proposals on the weekend making it less competition. You may not get lose in the sea of proposals

3. Go after top level opportunities! I learned to go after clients that are seeking more than the entry or intermediate level person. So I say to you don’t be afraid to go after expert level jobs.

4. Look for jobs that are seeking more than one writer. I sent out proposals to people/companies that were looking for more than one writer. I found that I had a better chance than submitting proposals to prospective clients who were looking only for one person.

5. Do not send copy and paste proposals. Be sure to tailor your proposal around your prospective client needs. For customization for example, I included the client’s name and what specifically spoke to the needs they were looking for based on the job description. Remember the needs I posted about Penn Foster College and how content specialists helped them.

6. Check before submitting a proposal the number of estimated proposals already sent for the job. More than likely if the client already has 10 proposals, they have started reviewing them and sent invitations for interviews. I sent proposals after seeing that there have been less than 10 proposals sent out. You can check that when look at the job.

7. You can read reviews and see what you would expect from the client. Reading reviews can shed light on response time and how the client interacts with those they work with.

Conclusion

You can overcome feeling like a failure for not getting long term clients. No matter your skill level, you can do it! Keep at it and you will get your first long term client through Upwork in due time. Follow the suggestions that I give. Gaining these type of clients can make for a great side hustle. When you succeed, give yourself a thumbs up.

If you have been able to gain long term clients on Upwork, comment below about your experience.

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