How Upwork stacks the deck against you

I get a lot of pushback when I talk about Upwork. A lot of developers think it’s anywhere between a flat-out scam or just completely worthless because all the jobs and clients suck and it’s impossible to get work…

And clients only hire 5/hour developers…

And, on and on.

I’ve heard it all.

Here’s the truth.

If you’re new to Upwork, the deck IS stacked against you. It’s true. The whole point of Upwork is to identify and surface the best freelancers to match with clients who need their services.

Now, here’s the thing…

Upwork doesn’t talk about how they do this anymore (that I can find).

But, they used to.

Back when it was Elance.

And, daddy figured that ish out…

And, I’m gonna give you the 411 on it.

Of course, things will have evolved, but the basic fundamentals of what they look at CAN’T change all that much. Because, what they’re attempting to do is the same… the best freelancer for an individual client’s project or search.

So, let’s talk about how it works.

Upwork looks at two things when matching clients with freelancer:

  1. Rank
  2. Relevance

Rank is what freelancers tend to think about most. Upwork uses your job history, Job Success Score, ratings, etc… a series of different factors to determine how “good” of a freelancer you are and what your Rank is.

The better you deliver…

The more satisfied your clients…

The higher your Rank…

The higher you’ll tend to show up in searches made by clients.

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.

Burying your profile 1000 pages deep.

So, clients never see you.

No job invites.

No hires.

No work.

No dolla dolla bills y’all.

And, it feels like… no way out.

But, there is.

The secret is in the 2nd part of how Upwork surfaces freelancers: Relevance. Because, so many (even good) freelancers on Upwork screw this up… it leaves a crack in the door for you to sneak your way in.

And, rank higher than you normally would in searches.

Higher than you really *should* based solely on Rank.

So, you DO show up in searches.

You DO get invites.

You DO get work.

Anyway, this is the “Master Strategy” I cover in Lesson 1 of my new Upwork 101 course on SkillShare. And, you can get it for FREE with the 2-month no-cost trial I can give you as a teacher there.

Here’s the link:

https://johnmorrisonline.com/skupwork101

It’s not something that’s immediately obvious…

And, it’s counter-intuitive to how most freelancers think…

So, most never even think about it…

Or, get it wrong when they try to do it.

But, once you see it… it’ll be one of those “aha” moments.

And, suddenly become clear.

Anyway, go here to learn how to do it at no cost:

https://johnmorrisonline.com/skupwork101

Later,

John

P.S. I also talk about it some more in Lesson 3 about writing your Title and Tags… if you want to find all the Relevance related material in the course. It starts about the 5:15 mark in Lesson 3.

Join 7,700 Other Freelancers Who've Built Thriving Freelance Businesses

Over 7,700 other freelancers have started thriving freelance businesses using the information on this blog. Are you next? Subscribe below to get notified whenever a new article is posted and create your own success story:

You might also like

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Pinterest
John Morris

JOHN MORRIS

I’m a 15-year veteran of freelance web development. I’ve worked with bestselling authors and average Joe’s next door. These days, I focus on helping other freelancers build their freelance business and their lifestyles.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Join 7,700 Other Freelancers Who've Built Thriving Freelance Businesses

Over 7,700 other freelancers have started thriving freelance businesses using the information on this blog. Are you next? Subscribe below to get notified whenever a new article is posted and create your own success story:

Success Stories

Ready to add your name here?

Tim Covello

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.

Michael Phoenix

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.

Scott Plude

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).

Join 7,700 Other Freelancers Who've Built Thriving Freelance Businesses

Over 7,700 other freelancers have started thriving freelance businesses using the information on this blog. Are you next? Subscribe below to get notified whenever a new article is posted and create your own success story: