Is Upwork a Good Way to Make Money Online? Yes, and Here’s 3 Reasons Why

You may be wondering, in the midst of the ongoing pandemic, “Is Upwork a good idea?  Should I try making money online?”

Upwork has risen to prominence on the Internet over the last couple of years.  A lot of people have found remarkable success there, but there have also been a lot of naysayers.

Having heard all the bad stuff about Upwork, you’re probably also wondering: “Is it worth the risk?”

My answer, as an experienced and Top-Rated freelance writer on Upwork, is 100% absolutely, yes.

I understand your concerns.  Trust me, there are a lot of people who fail on Upwork.  There are a lot of low-paying jobs and crappy clients – and scams.

But…there are a lot of awesome clients, too.

Clients who pay good money (30, 40, 50 bucks an hour and upwards).

Clients who have projects that are high quality and fun to work on, projects that don’t require you to have a college degree or training certificate or even a lot of background knowledge.

“Sounds great,” you might be thinking.  “But what’s the catch?  Why isn’t everyone doing this and succeeding at it?”

Great question.  It’s the same question I’d be asking if I were in your shoes.

Here’s the answer:

It’s not easy.

Worth it?  Totally.  100 times over. 

Doable?  Absolutely. 

But easy?  Nope.   It takes work, just like anything in life.  And that’s a good thing, because otherwise everyone would be doing it, and the opportunities just wouldn’t be the same.

But right before we dive into the main stuff, I think it’s worth explaining 2 important things first:

1. Why freelancing is worth it, and has incredible potential.

2. Why the phrase “it takes work” shouldn’t scare you off or make you feel discouraged.

Why Freelancing is Worth It, and What “It Takes Work” Really Means

Doctors make a lot of money.   Tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

If you want to make good money, a well-outlined option is to become a doctor.

Of course, everyone knows this is not a “get-rich-quick scheme.”  Becoming a doctor means studying hard so you can get into the best school possible, working hard in school so you can graduate, and then doing lower-paying work as a resident before finally reaching your goal.

There’s a formula, see: You do X for Y period of time, you get Z result.

Same with most traditional, well-paying careers.

Now here’s the interesting part:

It’s also the same with entrepreneurs, business owners – and freelancers like me and (hopefully) you.

Except…

Our roadmap looks a little bit different from the other guys.  We do have to do certain things for a certain period of time to make good money.  But unlike a well-defined career path, it can be tricky to know what to do and how long it will take.

This is where people get stuck and get scared. 

This where people go, “I don’t think I’m disciplined/smart/organized enough to do this.”  Or they think: “This is too risky.  What if it doesn’t pay off?  How do I make sure I know what I’m doing?”

All very understandable concerns.  That’s why it took me until I was almost 30 to take that leap and become a freelancer. 

Here’s what I discovered:

Traditional career paths are more well-defined – and therefore, less “risky” – but the potential for growth is relatively limited.  Everyone follows the same patterns to the same ends and can expect to make (roughly) the same amounts of money over a certain period of time.

Self-employment paths, whether freelancing or a different type of business, are riskier and almost always require a lot of extra work upfront – but the potential of growth is much more unlimited.  More importantly, you determine how hard you want to work, how much money you want to make, what specific type of work you want to do, and what you want your lifestyle to be.

Let me give you an example.

When I started freelancing as a writer 3 years ago, I started at 25 dollars an hour.  That alone was a big risk for me.  “I have no experience,” my thought was.  “Will people really pay me that much?”

Yep, they did.

And less than 3 years later, I now make 50 dollars an hour.  A lot of freelancers hustle really hard and they double or even triple what they earn within just several months or a year.  My success, relatively-speaking, has been more modest because I purposely went at a slower pace because I was balancing other things in my life.

There is no limit, really, except your own effort and determination.

This is the beauty of freelancing – of being your own boss.

Yes, being a freelancing – working for yourself, working from home – “takes work”, especially in the beginning, but it’s the rewarding type of work that doesn’t feel like an onerous sacrifice.  You’ll find yourself busy, but you’ll also find the time flying.  And the best part is that the work is meaningful, because you’re in control and you’re always learning and growing.

Let me put it another way:

Imagine two people had to do the same task (let’s say, peeling potatoes for an important culinary enterprise).  Neither was aware of how much the other one was earning.

Let’s say Person A is making 12.00 an hour.

And Person B is making 50.00 an hour.

Who is going to feel like their job is less “work” and more enjoyable?

Hopefully you see where’s I’m going with this.  The answer is Person B. 

Person B is motivated by a higher salary, making her value the work she does and in turn motivating her to do the best job she can, which in turn gives her the opportunity to earn even more money.  It’s an upwards cycle.

Bottom line: being a freelancer and working for yourself “takes work”, but that work is offset by the payoff, in both personal and financial terms. 

And like a lot of things, it takes the most work in the beginning.  I’m talking 1-3 months, generally.  After that, kinetic friction kicks in and you find more of a rhythm and more stability. 

Yes, there are days that are hard.  I still have moments where I wonder, “Gosh, am I ‘legit’ enough to keep doing this?”  Then I remember those tough moments are part of life, no matter what you do – and I realize, “Nope, I wouldn’t give this up for the world.  I’m never going back to a 9-5 job as long as I live.”

All right, with that in mind, let’s go back to Upwork and why it’s an awesome place to get started on your freelancing journey.

Reason #1:  A Built-in Network to Fast Track Your Results

Starting off as a freelancer is like walking into the woods.  It’s easy to get lost.  “Where do I start, how do I start?”

Upwork has done the first few steps for you to make that transition into self-employment a lot easier.

Unlike the “old way”, when you have to find clients from scratch by going to events or asking around word-of-mouth, Upwork provides a giant pool of clients with job posts you can easily start looking through.  These clients are already primed: they want help.  They’re ready to hire.

All you have to do at this point is start looking through the individual job postings and decide which ones interest and suit you best.  Granted, that still takes a bit of sifting and “work.”  But it’s way easier than cold-calling or cold-emailing people, or setting up your own website and brand.

Upwork does take a percentage of the money you earn from each client, as compensation for helping you connect with clients.  It’s 20% for the first 500 dollars you earn with that client, and afterwards 10%.  If you reach the 10,000-dollar mark, it drops to 5%.

To me, this is more than worth it.  The time saved by finding clients in a pooled resource like Upwork is invaluable. 

Of course, many freelancers do venture out on their own and create their own websites and platforms to work from.  That’s awesome.  A lot (if not most) of the content I plan on creating will be helpful to you as a freelancer even if you don’t use Upwork.  Most of the principles that help you succeed on Upwork are universal.

Reason #2: You Don’t Have to Chase Down Money

A question I’ve been asked multiple times – and a question I’ve seen people asking a lot on the Internet – is, “how do I make sure I get paid?”

This is where freelancing on Upwork really has an advantage.

Upwork acts as a third party between you and the client.  This means that financial exchanges are completely transparent.  Here’s how it works:

Before you begin working on a project, the client is required to prove they have the funds and link a bank or credit account to the project.  Then the client either puts the money into escrow where it’s safely held until you finish the project – or in the case of an hourly project, you are paid automatically by the hour from the client’s account, via an app that tracks your time and takes occasional screenshots to ensure you are, in fact, working.

Either way, as long as you deliver on time and accordingly to your terms with the client, you will be paid.

In the case of a fixed-price project, once you are finished and the client approves, they release the money from escrow to your account.  If they forget or refuse to do so, the money will be automatically released to you after a two-week period. 

Bottom line: as long as you do the work you agreed to do, and are able to show it to Upwork, you are guaranteed payment via the terms that you and the client agreed to when you began your contract.

I cannot emphasize enough how much weight this takes off your shoulders as a freelancer – a secured system of payment means one less thing for you to worry about, allowing you to focus on your actual work instead.

Again, some may argue that it’s not worth the fees you pay Upwork for each project.

But think about it:

Would you rather earn 50 bucks an hour, but have to risk chasing down money from the client every time the bill is due, or –

Earn 45.00 an hour (50.00 – 10% fee) but never have to worry about if or when you’ll get paid and have the option of literally earning by the hour (instead of a fixed price based on how long you estimate the project will take)?

To me, this is a no-brainer. 

And if you’re still are unsure about the idea of paying a fee, you can always raise your rate – especially for new clients or shorter-term projects. 

Reason #3: The More Success You Have, the Easier it is to Become Even More Successful

To be honest, this principle is true for most things in life – but I have personally experienced this with Upwork, so that’s what I’m going to focus on.

Just like anything in life, it takes the most work in the beginning. 

You have to set up a profile, perhaps add a few samples to your portfolio, and work extra hard to convince clients you’re awesome to work with, even though you’re new.

When I started freelancing on Upwork, I probably spent 6-8 hours a day (maybe more) studying, learning and applying.  It was hard work – but it was very rewarding.  I was productive – it felt good.

Then something remarkable happened.

Within just a few weeks of polishing my profile and applying some new tactics I began to get clients.  And it wasn’t just clients responding to proposals I sent – it was actually clients inviting me to their jobs.

Yep.  No lie.

My second-ever client was a guy who had seen my profile, was drawn to it, and sent me a private invitation to his job.

Because I was brand-new, I thought it was too good to be true.  I thought it might be a scam.  Luckily, I agree to talk with him – and discovered that he was a really cool person who needed web content written for his organic personal care products.  I charged him 500 bucks for an “about us” page and some product descriptions, and we had a great time working together.

Ever since that day, three years ago, I continue to receive private invitations to jobs – usually on a weekly basis.  Most of them are irrelevant or uninteresting jobs, but every so often, something really good pops up. 

And the amazing part is, I’ve done this by being relatively passive (though certainly that’s not the only way or even the best way to get ahead on Upwork).  I don’t send out a bunch of proposals every day, or every week.  In fact, I don’t recommend doing that.

Instead, by using targeted strategies to attract the right clients in the beginning you’ll set yourself up for better opportunities, higher-quality projects and more consistent work on down the road.

Once you start receiving invitations to jobs, other clients start noticing you too.  Upwork’s algorithm favors clients who get a lot of activity and interest, leading to an upwards cycle.  And once you’ve had enough successful projects under your belt, you become Top-Rated – leading you to become even more visible and desirable by clients.

I’ll be writing posts in the near future about all of this stuff – how to stand out from the crowd, how to attract clients and work smarter, not harder – so that you can get results sooner.

Once again: it’s the most work in the beginning.  Once you get one or two successful clients it becomes exponentially easier to continue to progress.

Hopefully I’ve convinced you that Upwork is worth trying out – or at least looking into more.  With the pandemic showing no signs of slowing down, and remote work becoming a bigger part of the foreseeable future, there’s really never been a better time to start.