THANKS FOR TRUSTING ME WITH YOUR TIME AND MONEY!!

Here are a few things you should consider so as to have a competitive advantage:

ALWAYS TARGET NEW CLIENTS ON UPWORK; EVEN IF THEIR PAYMENT METHODS ARE
NOT VERIFIED. NEW CLIENTS ARE CLIENTS THAT HAVE SPENT 0 DOLLARS SO FAR

WHY?

 Such clients tend to be less choosy when selecting freelancers to work with.
 They can easily be exploited positively-Most of them are eager to hire a freelancer on
Upwork so that they can share their experience with others or give a review of the site.
 New clients might not know how the system works. As a result, you might find yourself
a ‘part-time tutoring job’; building a relationship by guiding a client on how to verify the
payment method and many more.
 You stand a chance of getting a long term deal with a new client as opposed to an
experienced one. That is only if you are very good in what you do.

ALWAYS BID ON JOBS THAT FEW FREELANCERS HAVE SHOWN INTEREST IN OR

IMMEDIATELY A JOB HAS BEEN POSTED

WHY AND HOW?

 Always filter any keyword you enter on the job search bar. For instance, if you are a
writer, you can enter writing, content writing, SEO writing, blog writing, content
creation, online writing, ghostwriting, copywriting, web content development, creative
writing, proofreading, article rewriting, non-fiction writing, ebook writing e.t.c.
 You will then search and click the filter button on the right side of the search result. You
will see several filter options. Tick the no hires box, entry level (if you are a beginner)
and then tick the less than 5 proposals box. Scroll down and bid on the jobs that have
been filter. Try with other keywords too until you see a suitable project for you.
 The less than 5 proposals tick will help you see projects that have been posted a few
hours/minutes ago under a particular keyword.
  Don’t start working on a project before a client has verified the payment or has funded a
milestone for those projects with unverified payments. Bid on them, but request the
client to verify payment before you start working. Don’t do a free test article either.
 Be time and location conscious. Know the time to bid on a project of a client from a
certain part of the world. Submit proposals to projects clients are likely to be awake and
active. Why? They might reply immediately and hire you on the spot. Don’t let the client
wake up 6 hours later and find more than 50 proposals; yours being one of them.

ALWAYS CUSTOMIZE A PROPOSAL/COVER LETTER FOR EVERY PROJECT YOU ARE

BIDDING ON

WHY AND HOW?

 A proposal, similar to your profile, speaks volumes about you as an individual. It shows
how professional and organized you are and sheds some light on your attitude.
 Make sure you address a client by name when submitting a proposal. Why? Most clients
are on Upwork so as to build professional relationships. That is why they are happy
with the Upwork system and not other platforms where a client submits a project and a
random guy picks it up, works on it and delivers.
 How do you know a client’s name? Check previous reviews. There is a possibility that a
certain freelancer has addressed the client by his/her name when commenting on a
review.
 What if I don’t get the name of the client? That is normal, and it is mostly the case with
new clients. Is such a scenario, address the client by his/her city when writing a
proposal, because very project that is posted on Upwork shows the location of the
client.
 So, your proposal will be: Hello Betlab, how is London? My name is Frank Otwori and I am
an online content writing super nerd….end of the first paragraph…. or Hello Betlab, I hope
all is well in London. My name is Frank Otwori and I am an online content writing super
nerd….end of the first paragraph…. When you don’t know his/her name, you will write:
Hello, how is London? My name is Frank Otwori and I am an online content writing super
nerd….end of the first paragraph…. or Hello, I hope all is well in London. My name is Frank
Otwori and I am an online content writing super nerd….end of the first paragraph….You
 should introduce yourself because most clients don’t have time to check your profile
now and again or remember you when responding to your proposal. Let them be
attracted by the simplicity of your cover letter and the warmth of your personality.
Conclude your proposal by cheers and not regards.

BLACK-HAT TIP.

Change your location to a native English speaking country if you have done all the above and
you are still not getting hired.

Why and How?

 Some clients discriminate freelancers on the basis of their location. There are some who
believes that freelancers from certain regions are not very professional or are not
qualified in a particular niche. Some even believe that they don’t know how to use a
computer well.
 Change location to either Canada, UK or Australia; bid as a native English speaker and
change back to Kenya after getting hired or better still leave your profile there, make
enough money and change back to Kenya before withdrawing via mpesa or paypal.
Why? You cannot use mpesa as a method of payment while outside Kenya.
 You might get hired and make lots of cash, as some have already done, or lose your
account, if Upwork decides to request for identity verification. As a result, this should be
your last resort because it is a 50/50 affair.
 My one cent advice: Better you change your location and make something or lose the
account altogether. It is wrong to have an account that gives you nothing and it is
morally wrong to be known as a freelancer who makes nothing. Set up another one and
repeat the procedure if they close it.

Update

Upwork introduced the pay per connect system. That means you will be paying for connects
that you will use when bidding.

New clients are given 20 free connects to test the system with before starting to buy them. So
use them wisely.
TIP

There is a way I set up an Upwork account so that you get 60 connects instead of 20, but it
takes a longer time. You will be getting 60 connects by simply using my services.

My take:

You should buy connects what you have earned from Upwork. To me, it will be unfair to get
money from your pocket and pay for applying a job. Instead, I feel you should only buy
connects from part of your earnings on Upwork.

But, what if you exhaust the connects without winning a job?

You will delete the account and come back for a new one using the same name. I will charge
you, but it will be cheaper compared to buying connects.

Note that buying one connect cost you $0.15. Buying 60 connects will cost you $9, and they
might require a verified Paypal account.

I charge kshs 500 to create an account and it will come with 60 free connects that would have
costed you kshs 900. So, you will save kshs 400. That is my opinion though!

UNEDITED POST COPY…