Tag: upwork

Upwork’s network effects

The concept is pretty simple (from Investopedia): “The network effect is a phenomenon wherein increased numbers of people or participants improve the value of a good or service.” The internet. Social media. They all operate on this idea of network effects. Both across the platform AND for individual users. So, as Facebook’s user base grows, Facebook becomes more valuable. But, also, as YOUR individual friend’s list grows, Facebook becomes more valuable TO YOU. Save those few “friends” you’d rather not follow, of course. 😀 Thing is… Freelancing platforms have network effects, as well. So, the more freelancers on a platform,

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John Morris March 26, 2019

Opening up Upwork this morning felt like winning the lottery

You’ve got a decision to make. What kind of person are you going to be?  Person A:​​​​​​​ Or person B: I can tell you who’s going to get further in life. Who’s going to have more success as a freelancer. Who’s going to actually create the life they imagine for themselves. The funny thing about this is if you look at Miro…  He very easily could’ve devolved into the same piss-poor attitude as Terry. He tried Upwork. And, his first attempt didn’t work out.  He could have very easily just given up and became a troll who hunted down every Upwork video

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John Morris January 31, 2019

It’s not Upwork. It’s YOU!

So, I got this comment on a video today: “Sir, I am new on upwork. I’m submitting proposals from 6 months, but no one is accepting my proposal.” And, I gotta be straight up with you… I get this a lot. And, it never makes sense to me. If you try ANYTHING for 6 months and it’s not working… it’s way beyond time to re-think and re-strategize. Whatever you’re doing isn’t working. And, it’s not Upwork… it’s you. Which, nobody wants to hear… But, it’s true. In any case, what I wanna do today is give 3 big things to

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John Morris December 21, 2018

100k/year on Upwork

To hear the trolls tell it, these people don’t exist: “I have wasted 10 years of my life on a Master’s degree. And guess what? I am happy to realize that I don’t need it at all. Currently I make 100k+ yearly from my freelance business on Upwork/Freelancer, I am absolutely debt free, and going to become financially independent soon.” Boris Vasilenko  Nope. Nothing to see here. “These freelance sites are scams!” “La la la la, can’t hear you!” Truth is… There’s plenty of this out there. AND, there’s plenty of people who’ve got on Upwork and never made a

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John Morris December 14, 2018

Success really is simple sometimes

Take this comment I just got: You ever heard the saying: “success leaves clues”. It’s true. And, sometimes, success slaps you in the face on a daily basis and implores you to pay attention. To quit using “being skeptical” as an excuse to really just stay comfortable. To get serious about your life and your career. There’s plenty of complicated things in life. Relationships. Kids (oh boy!) Rocket astro-surgery. But, this isn’t one of those things. The people who take the time to learn how systems like Upwork operate and put in the effort to take advantage of those systems

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John Morris October 15, 2018

How to find the GOOD jobs on Upwork

I get this one a lot. It’s the most common refrain from the “Upwork is a SCAAAAAAM!” folks that troll my YouTube channel. But, there’s also some well-meaning folks who just haven’t learned how to do this, yet. Anyway, there’s a simple way to weed out all the junk projects on Upwork and get to the good, high-paying jobs… with clients that are easy to work with. First, log into your Upwork account and run a search for your niche: Then, click the “Filters” button. A list of filters you can apply will drop down: At a minimum, I recommend

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John Morris October 8, 2018

How to get your profile approved on Upwork

When I first started on Upwork, they didn’t do this. At least, not that I remember. But, apparently, it’s becoming more and more of an issue because I’ve been getting asked this a lot more lately. And, the thing here is… when you understand what Upwork’s goals are and how it’s technology works to support those goals, the answers here start to become obvious. Take this, for example: In case it’s not clear… This is an Upwork employee stating that WHO performs a search and WHEN they perform it affects Upwork’s search results. So, if you’ve been thinking that Upwork

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John Morris October 5, 2018

Upwork clients don’t pay jack

Womp, womp. Ring the alarms, boys! We got us another “epic takedown” of Upwork. Read ’em and weep: Sigh. Guffaw. Welp, guess I’ll cancel all my Upwork contracts… And, pack it up. Seriously, though… average pay rates are maybe the least useful metric ON Upwork. Clients hire all sorts of freelancers… they could be paying some dude 5/hour to walk their dog for all we know. Anyway, Danny Margulies said it best: Here’s a great example. This client’s average hourly rate is 15.28/hour: Yet, they just dropped over 5k… 70/hr for 82 hours on a freelancer: Imagine if you wrote this

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John Morris September 14, 2018

Tips from a 400K Upwork freelancer

Upwork is like the PHP of freelance sites. The most dominant player in the industry, but the one everybody loves to hate for some reason. I guess when you get big enough, it’s inevitable. But, because of that… I get asked a lot: “Is Upwork worth it?” Rather than me answer (again), why not hear from someone who has had massive success on Upwork… over 400k earned, in fact. This is Adam: “Before getting involved with Upwork, I was in a significant amount of debt from several failed businesses, from restaurants to apps, and the company I was currently working

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John Morris September 2, 2018

What the Upwork IPO means for freelancers

Yes, you read that right. Upwork is going public. They quietly filed to do so at the end of July. These IPOs are always a bit tricky. Lots of potential for growth and collapse all at the same time. So, one has to wonder… Is this just a big cash grab for investors before they jump ship? Or, is this just the next logical step in growing the business? Will Upwork still be around 5 years from now? Here’s what I think you can expect: Later, John

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John Morris August 25, 2018

The 1 thing Upwork haters get right

For all their blubbering and sniveling… There IS one thing Upwork haters get right. It’s getting way more competitive. I mentioned this before, but freelancing is exploding. 36% of the U.S. population already freelances. In the next 10 years, that will jump to over 50%. Plus, tech is also on the rise. Hitting its highest workforce rate since the dotcom bubble. So, all those freelancers ain’t gonna be walking dogs. They’ll be developers and designers just like you. That’s, in part, why Upwork decided to begin “curating” its freelancers and not just letting any swinging… ahem… in the front door.

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John Morris August 14, 2018

Nevermind, Upwork DOES suck

I get a kick out of these guys… But, YOU have a choice to make. Who are you gonna believe? This guy: “UpWork is a joke… Clients on there are awful, getting paid is in no way guaranteed. I mean, you can’t even gain valuable experience, let alone earn a living. UpWork might not be a scam, but it is a joke.” Oh well then. You’re totally unsubstantiated opinion convinced me. Nevermind, Upwork does suck. Eye roll. So, you gonna believe that or these: “Yes! I get almost all of my work through Upwork. Great clients, long-term relationships, well-paying jobs. Upwork is

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John Morris August 13, 2018

Upwork is NOT a scam so stop saying it

This is bigger than even Upwork, really. Take a minute and really think about it. But, anyway, let’s get into it… Web development was the first thing I came across in my life that I really believed, deep in my soul, was my “way out”. I’ve talked about this before… But, I came from a dirt poor family. I lived in a trailer house. A run-down, dirty one, in fact. And, when you grow up like that, you’re always looking for something to “get you out”. For some people, it’s football or basketball. Others it’s music. Whatever it is… It’s

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John Morris August 11, 2018

Tech jobs will soon be obsolete

Job security is an illusion. I’ve said this before. But, lemme rap a little more on it, because if you watch trends, it’s becoming more and more obvious, in my 1000% biased mind, that… Soon, the standard tech job will be mostly obsolete. Every year, Upwork puts out a “state of freelancing” report where they break down the raw data related to freelancing and independent contracting work. In 2017, 36% of the U.S. workforce was freelancing. By 2027, the majority of the U.S. workforce will freelance. More than that, 54% of the U.S. workforce said they’re not very confident that the

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John Morris August 9, 2018

How Upwork stacks the deck against you

The problem for new freelancers is you don’t have ANY of this. You have no job history, no job success score, no ratings, no testimonials… none of it. Upwork’s entire machine for surfacing freelancers based on Rank is stacked against you.

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John Morris November 8, 2017

I just slaughtered this guy’s Upwork profile

Got this comment on YouTube: “But do you think this is a good profile? I don’t want to bump my profile here just like that, but if you could check, perhaps you could use me as an example 😀 But this is what you mean following your advice, right?” I took a look and… Sigh. Sometimes, I hate being the bad guy… But, no. Not even close. But, I feel like it’s my job to be ruthlessly honest so you can get better, because me filling you full of hot air and telling you it’s great (when it’s not) won’t

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John Morris May 26, 2017

How to Beat the Upwork Algorithms

I got this question on YouTube the other day: “How do I create a client base outside of freelance networks?“ Actually, I get this question a lot. And, usually, it comes from someone who’s about to send letters full of anthrax to the owners of Upwork (or Freelancer, Guru, etc) because they’ve tried everything and can’t get clients. Let me tell you a story… I often talk about what happened to me after I changed my approach on Elance and how I started sucking in clients like kids to a candy store. But, I talk less about what happened before.

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John Morris July 19, 2016

Can I Get Freelance Clients Even If I Only Know HTML and CSS?

[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/johnmorrisonline/jms096-can-i-get-freelance-clients-even-if-i-only-know-html-and-css” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ] Subscribe to the Podcast [saf] I always have to hold myself back because I know I’ll lose them. But, it’s just in my DNA. 🙂 This actually happened just the other day. I was at one of the local business meetup groups I belong to and was approached (again) about working on a website for one of the members. And my gut “nerd” instinct is to go full geek on them. But, you never go full geek. I got about two sentences into my verbal nerd-bomb and saw their eyes starting to glaze

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John Morris June 2, 2016

On Upwork’s Pricing Change

[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/johnmorrisonline/jms092-on-upworks-pricing-change” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ] Subscribe to the Podcast [saf] Nobody owes you anything. Period. If you haven’t heard, Upwork just changed the fees it charges to freelancers. It moved from a flat fee of 10% to a “sliding fee structure” like this: First $500 of lifetime client earnings – 20% $500+ up to $10,000 – 10% $10,000+ – 5% And boy oh boy did the kids get angry! Check out some of these comments: “go hang yourself. I hope all your people leave and you are dead.” “U evil. Stahp.” “This is the worst policy any market place

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John Morris May 23, 2016

Cheap SOBs. Twitter Troll Gets Owned On Why Freelance Clients Lowball

[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/johnmorrisonline/jms086-cheap-sobs-twitter-troll-gets-owned-on-why-freelance-clients-lowball” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ] Subscribe to the Podcast [saf] Ah the interwebs… They have a way of bringing the know-it-alls out of their mom’s basements and into the light for everyone to see (or point and laugh at). This guy, though… as far as trolls go, he takes the cake. Here’s a snapshot: Normally, I’d let this twitty-bird fly off without a word from the J-meister… but I see a lot of freelancers who deep down believe this same non-sense. Be honest, a lot of you reading this right now believe this: “Cheap SOBs”. That’s the crux

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John Morris May 12, 2016

Weekly Web Developer Q&A (5/6/2016)

[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/johnmorrisonline/jms082-weekly-web-developer-qa-562016″ social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ] Subscribe to the Podcast [saf] If you sent me a question via email, Twitter, YouTube, etc this week… then look below because there’s a good chance I’m going to answer it. Crazy1985 via YouTube asked: “I am just going through the same thing and failed it, but I have learned that I need to learn more about specialising in something rather than being a Jack of all trades.“ Not 100% a question, but something I wanted to dive into. The single most important thing you can do to have more success as a

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John Morris May 8, 2016

JMS081: Stop Freelance Clients From Lowballing You On Upwork

[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/johnmorrisonline/jms081-stop-freelance-clients-from-lowballing-you-on-upwork” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ] Subscribe to the Podcast [saf] Do you judge a suit by the tailor’s bill or the fit and finish of the clothes themselves? Do you judge a car by the MSRP or how it feels when you hit the gas? Do you judge a dinner by the cost or the taste and tenderness of the steak? I get this all the time… Freelancers who complain about freelancing sites like Upwork because clients always go with the lowest bidder. And, so-and-so from XYZ country can afford to low-ball me… yada, yada. Look, price is as

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John Morris May 5, 2016

Quitting Your Day Job

[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/johnmorrisonline/jms076-quitting-your-day-job” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ] Subscribe to the Podcast [saf] I came across this story the other day about a woman who was arrested for defecating on her boss’ desk after she found out she won the lottery. Don’t lie… you’ve thought about it! 🙂 I had to look this up to see if it was true. Turns out, it wasn’t… dangit! I’m actually shocked it wasn’t. I mean… who hasn’t thought of making an “epic” exit to their day job. I know I used to. Thing is… You don’t need to win the lottery. Or put another

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John Morris April 28, 2016

Grizzly Bear Rips Freelancer to Shreds. You Take His Job

[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/johnmorrisonline/jms071-grizzly-bear-rips-freelancer-to-shreds-you-take-his-job” social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ] Subscribe to the Podcast [saf] Here’s the big thing to get to succeed as a freelance web developer: If you and your buddy are hiking in the forest and are suddenly attacked by a grizzly bear… you don’t need to be the fastest guy in the world. You just need to be faster than your buddy. There’s your uber-secret, stop-the-presses secret to success. Freelancing is a competition. To win, you don’t need to be perfect… you just need to be better than the next guy. And, let me tell you… most of your competition

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John Morris April 21, 2016

JMS054: PHP 7, MVC, Writing Your Upwork Bio, Weekly Q&A and More

In this episode of the John Morris Show we dive into the new features in PHP 7, using the MVC design pattern, writing your bio on Upwork to get more clients, our weekly Q&A and more: Here’s the line-up: Opening and Managing Negativity in the Web Developer Community [00:37] The New Features in PHP 7 [13:40] The Thinking Trap That Stops Most Developers From Being Successful [24:28] MVC: What You Need to Know [35:08] Writing Your Upwork Service Description [48:27] Weekly WebDev Q&A [1:03:34] Links mentioned in this episode: Head First Design Patterns The MVC Pattern and PHP MVC For

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John Morris December 15, 2015

7 Steps to Make Money on Upwork

My first few months on Upwork (Elance) were a disaster. I wasted a lot of time bidding on dead-end or low-payout jobs, working with horrible clients and making much less than I wanted (read: needed). About a year later, I was doing well enough to leave Upwork forever and get all my clients through repeat business, referrals and my own website… charging what I wanted and clients seeking me out. Now, I have an Upwork course where I’ve helped, to date, 3,739 other Upworkers make a similar kind of transition. I’m not special or overly smart. I just figured out

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John Morris November 18, 2015

[Quora] Do you have to take the skill tests on Upwork.com?

I was recently asked to answer this question on Quora and it’s something I get asked quite a bit: Do you have to take the skill tests on Upwork.com? You don’t have to but I highly recommend you do. My answer below explains why. Upvote if you get value from it: You have to take the “Upwork Readiness Test for Independent Contractors and Company Managers” test (as of when I joined). Beyond that, you don’t have to take any of the other tests. And, while some of the other commenters are right that you can have success without taking any of

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John Morris November 13, 2015

[Quora] How Do I Get Clients on Upwork Like I Used to On Elance?

I was recently asked to answer this question on Quora and it’s something I get asked quite a bit: I used to be very successful on Elance, but the same profile/strategy is performing poorly on Upwork. What are the possible reasons for this? Here’s what I think you can do to win on any freelance site, including Upwork. Upvote if you get value from it: First, I’d want to know what your strategy was. It’s possible that it was something that exploited how Elance worked that’s now been shored up with the migration to Upwork. If that’s the case, then it’s

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John Morris November 6, 2015

Why Can’t I Get Work at Upwork But Others Can?

It boils down to how freelance sites work. They are designed to surface the best freelancers on their platforms. That doesn’t meant you’re not good if you’re struggling to get any traction. It means if you’re new to Upwork you’re at a big disadvantage. But, it’s also not hopeless. With the strategy I’m about to show you, you can quickly gain momentum and rise to the top where getting work is a whole lot easier. Think of this like an “Upwork Fast-Start Guide”. The benefit of following this formula is you virtually eliminate the advantage veteran Upwork developers have so you can:

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John Morris August 4, 2015

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Tim Covello

75 SEO and website clients now. My income went from sub zero to over 6K just last month. Tracking 10K for next month. Seriously, you changed my life.

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Michael Phoenix

By the way, just hit 95K for the year. I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve taught me. You’ve changed my life. Thank you!

Stephanie Korski

Stephanie Korski

I started this 3 days ago, following John’s suggestions, and I gained the Upwork Rising Talent badge in less than 2 days. I have a call with my first potential client tomorrow. Thanks, John!

Jithin Veedu

Jithin Veedu

John is the man! I followed his steps and I am flooded with interviews in a week. I got into two Talent clouds. The very next day, I got an invitation from the talent specialists from Upwork and a lot more. I wanna shout out, he is the best in this. Thanks John for helping me out!

Divyendra Singh Jadoun

Divyendra Singh Jadoun

After viewing John’s course, I made an Upwork account and it got approved the same day. Amazingly, I got my first job the very same day, I couldn’t believe it, I thought maybe I got it by coincidence. Anyways I completed the job and received my first earnings. Then, after two days, I got another job and within a week I got 3 jobs and completed them successfully. All the things he says seem to be minute but have a very great impact on your freelancing career.

Sarah Mui

Sarah Mui

I’ve been in an existential crisis for the last week about what the heck I’m doing as a business owner. Even though I’ve been a business for about a year, I’m constantly trying to think of how to prune and refine services. This was very personable and enjoyable to watch. Usually, business courses like this are dry and hard to get through…. repeating the same things over and over again. This was a breath of fresh air. THANK YOU.

Waqas Abdul Majeed

Waqas Abdul Majeed

I’ve definitely learnt so much in 2.5 hours than I’d learn watching different videos online on Youtube and reading tons of articles on the web. John has a natural way of teaching, where he is passionately diving in the topics and he makes it very easy to grasp — someone who wants you to really start running your business well by learning about the right tools and implement them in your online business. I will definitely share with many of the people I know who have been struggling for so long, I did find my answers and I’m sure will do too.

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Scott Plude

I have been following John Morris for several years now. His instruction ranges from beginner to advanced, to CEO-level guidance. I have referred friends and clients to John, and have encouraged my own daughter to pay attention to what he says. All of his teachings create wealth for me (and happiness for my clients!) I can’t speak highly enough about John, his name is well known in my home.

Sukh Plaha

John is a fantastic and patient tutor, who is not just able to share knowledge and communicate it very effectively – but able to support one in applying it. However, I believe that John has a very rare ability to go further than just imparting knowledge and showing one how to apply it. He is able to innately provoke one’s curiosity when explaining and demonstrating concepts, to the extent that one can explore and unravel their own learning journey. Thanks very much John!

Mohamed Misrab

Misrab Mohamed

John has been the most important person in my freelance career ever since I started. Without him, I would have taken 10 or 20 years more to reach the position I am at now (Level 2 seller on Fiverr and Top Rated on Upwork).

Who else wants to build a thriving freelance business?

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