Many of us, myself included, got our start with Upwork (well, it was oDesk back then). When you’re trying to find your feet, sometimes the easiest way seems like the best way. But sadly that’s not always the case.
Upwork sure makes it sound appealing though. The clients are all there, they’ve outlined exactly what they want so you can quickly decide if you’re a good fit for the job, and they’ve even told you how much they expect to pay. Seems like an ideal situation, right?
Almost like going fishing at the aquarium: everything is transparent and everyone is on the same playing field. But after a few projects, Upwork begins to become uncomfortable, and you realize…
You’ll never make enough money on upwork.
It’s sad. But it’s true. Let’s revisit the fishing metaphor.
Yep, it’s like fishing in an aquarium, but you and every other person out there knows about it! Those fish are presented with so much bait, they can easily pick the one that:
- will hurt the least (cheapest)
- they’ve had before (the job was never actually open)
- they saw first
- stands out the most
So that initial thought of “wow, this is so easy and great” suddenly gets washed away when you realize that your application might be trashed because the client only viewed applications until they discovered the first decent profile.
The client might not even view your profile because they spotted a name they recognized from a previous project, or worse – choose the cheapest option despite that person’s skillset compared to yours.
But what about things on the other side? I don’t know if you’ve ever used UpWork to hire someone, but let me assure you: it sucks. I posted a job looking for a copywriter once and had over 1,000 applicants. OVER ONE THOUSAND. I was amazed that many of them had no experience, no portfolio, and could barely stitch a sentence together. These applicants had made it through Upworks vigorous ‘data science’ and landed straight into my inbox.
Mind bottling, isn’t it? Just when you have faith in the system that good work will get its chance if you do your best, you’re not even considered for the first hurdle.
So we’ve established that Upwork is no place for professionals like you…
How do you find bigger clients outside of Upwork?
Well, it’s tough. At least to start – don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. But there’s faith. Finding bigger clients is absolutely doable with some hard work.
It helps to learn a little about consumer psychology here. Your Upwork client probably was drawn to that platform for one of a few reasons, such as they have no idea where else to look for service providers. They could scour the internet for hours searching for good freelancers, or they could simply log on to Upwork and check out their extensive list all in one place.
Alternatively, they may want to find a deal, or can’t afford industry-accepted rates for professional design. Most people, including clients, want to feel as though they’re getting good deals worth for their budget without doing bad business. Which brings us into our last reason. They might be worried about scams or getting screwed over. There’s a certain level of safety in doing your business through a third-party.
If you ask me, they’re all pretty awful ways to start a professional relationship. So let’s take a look at some of the reasons why bigger clients choose the designers they work with…
They might have previously worked with the designer, or know someone who has worked with them in the past. Perhaps they met the designer in person or discovered them via social media due to their large following. Or maybe they looked at the designer’s portfolio, appreciated their work and envisioned their style successfully pulling off the work that they want doing for themselves.
This list is by no means complete, but you can start to see the difference. Most of these are based around trust. Trust in the designer showing up for work, fulfilling their duties and doing so in a way that merges with the client. The underlying cause for the purchase decision is the same, but their results and actions vary wildly.
So what’s the one takeaway here?
Bigger clients buy assurance, and they don’t look for it on sites like Upwork.
Assurance is everything to a high-paying client. Assurance is the key to find bigger clients and land bigger jobs. What does that mean? Bigger design clients are looking for you to be able to assure them that you’ll hit three major points when you get the job done; they need to know you can complete it to their standard, on time and in budget. When you put your name forward to apply for a job, communicating that you can match these three criteria is key.
By now we’re sure your targets are set on landing bigger clients, so let’s take a look at a simple four-step process to get on their radar and connect with them. Note — we could probably write an encyclopedia on each of these steps, but for the purpose of this article, let’s take a macro view of this flow:
1. Define who you want to work with
This step is key, and not many people do it well. It’s hard to pinpoint your ideal client when you feel as though any well-paying work would suffice. Take the time to tap into what really interests you, what your passions are and your beliefs. Don’t underestimate how much enjoying the work and connecting with it on a personal level of interest can influence the final outcome. If you’re still stuck for ideas you could look at your hobbies and see how they could influence the clients you approach.
