Lex DeVille's 2019-22 Step-By-Step Upwork Tutorial for Brokeass Bootstrap Beginners Who Need Cash Now!

[Lex DeVille]

This is a great thread to be honest, it doesn't matter if upwork or freelance is your option or not, it has a lot of value on the topic that wouldn't be easily found anywhere else. Keep going dude.

Ok so I followed the guidelines and I still got rejected. I will try again in a couple of days.
@Timmy1990 is from Melbourne, Australia so that tells me maybe it's not just because I'm from a "third world country" ;/

It's hard to say what factors Upwork is considering now. I used to think it had to do with location, but they seem to have tightened their requirements on who they let in. Even people from the United States are getting rejected pretty regularly now. Check very carefully for spelling and grammar errors, and consider listing one of the skills Upwork has a lot of need for if you know enough about one of those areas to sound legit:

Upwork releases latest Skills Index, ranking the 20 fastest-growing skills for freelancers | Press, News & Media Coverage

Just noticed at the bottom of that page they also list relevant Udemy and other courses for getting training in those skill areas. Someone was asking about where to get skills training yesterday.

 

[srodrigo]

I'll address these concerns in a future post. But we can chat about it now too.

To put this in perspective, let's reframe the situation. Imagine your fuel pump goes out on your car today. You need it fixed, but you don't know how much it costs. But you definitely have to get it fixed because it's your only transportation. So you post an ad in a Facebook Group and offer $50 for someone to fix it. You don't offer $500 or $5,000. Why is that? Because you'd be a fool!

But unless you're a mechanic or you've worked on cars, you don't know what actually goes into fixing a fuel pump. You don't know the hours, the parts, or even the difference between someone who will do a good job or a bad job. All you can judge others on is your first impressions.

So you post your ad and let's say 3 people respond. Out of those 3 people, 2 are willing to do the work at your price. But one of them doesn't speak your language. You have no idea if he even understands what you need, and therefore he's out.

Another one of those people is fresh out of the school house. He has a month or so of training and has never fixed an actual customer's car before. He doesn't know what questions to ask, or if he'll even be capable of helping you. He won't even know that a fuel pump might cost more than $50 by itself, forget the labor. His goal is just to work on your car so he can get money and tell people he's worked on cars...

The third guy is a mechanic. He's new to the industry, but he's already worked on customer cars, and has even fixed a few fuel pumps. He talks with you about your car, asks what it's doing because he knows the fuel pump may not even be the real or only problem.

You explain the sounds your car is making and he walks you through it asking more and more questions to get a better feel for your situation, and to determine if he can help you. Along the way he learns all about you. What your car's been doing, its history, and even why this is so important for you to get fixed. He also asks about your budget, and helps you research the cost of fuel pumps to find one that's a fit for you.

By the end of your conversation you've had an hour long chat with this guy that was hugely valuable. You discovered that your fuel pump will cost a couple hundred dollars by itself. Based on the amount of help this guy has offered in terms of time alone, you know he's a true professional that cares about your situation. For that reason you KNOW he's the right guy to do this.

But to have him do it, the cost will be $1,000 total. That's the price of the fuel pump plus what he values his time at.

Now, you can scoff at his price. You can call him crazy. But you won't do that. Why? Because he wouldn't have offered his price unless it was within a budget you could afford which was already established by his earlier questions. Instead, you will accept HIS price because you've already seen "what else is out there" and this guy has proven he's the ONE.

So you whip out your card, fire off a $1,000 bucks, get a new fuel pump plus a seal it needed that the other guys didn't even ask about...and you're on your way again in a day.

This is my sales process in a story...

Thanks for addressing this in advance. That answers my question. I've never tried Upwork or anything similar by myself (just did freelancing once and was through my network), so it's easy to get put off by those listings without actually trying to speak to people. I imagine most of the people who post there don't have much idea about how much what they want costs.

Looking forward for the upcoming content This is high value for any freelancers regardless of Upwork.

 

[rynor]

Can personally vouch for this thread. I implemented the methods Lex provides and have received more responses to proposals than I ever had previously.

 

[Schwarz]

Note: I moved to the other side of the planet to finally make a big change in my life. The following was written spontaneously. Whilst enjoying a good cup of warm coffee, eating some 'sandwich caliente's and being burned by the South American summer sun. It's barely edited and in its purest form.
To be honest I did not believe I was going to write this much text. But it did feel good to write all
of this down. My goals are clear now:

Day 0
1. Why are you doing this (freelance)?
To be free from the life I had before this. To be able to travel, enjoy myself and earn money. I want the money so that I can keep doing just that. So that I can start creating other products that will lead to Fastlane freedom. To build products I that can help other people. To fund other friend's projects. To be an inspiration to other people and show them there is always another way. To bring fun, joy and good times to the people I meet and love to hang out with.
To prove my family that I was right. They trust me, but I want to prove to them that this trust was well placed. I cannot return empty handed.

2. Describe your endgame in specific detail:
Freelance Endgame:
Freedom to travel while working. To have my living expenses covered. I can travel all over the world.
I'll visit this really cool girl I met a few weeks ago but I had to part ways with (she lives on the other side of the planet, lol). I can now work more on Fastlane projects without having to worry too much about making a living. During travel, I have this amazing time with people from all over the globe. I share experiences and learn from those people's experiences. I learn a lot more about people in general, about their problems, wants and needs.

I buy Lex a bottle of vodka.

Fastlane Endgame:
I successfully made an exit by selling my company.
My parents will know nothing but peace and freedom as my dad finally gets to live near the beautiful fjords of Norway. Where he can spend the remainder of his life enjoying nature to the fullest. As he has always wanted.
My mother and her girlfriend can finally retire at their new home in the South of France.
My most passionate, hard-working (game dev) friends will finally have the funds to go for their dreams. Namely creating the games they want to, and getting paid for doing so.

Me? I will visit all the corners of the planet. I'll continue meeting new people every day. Help others out with their problems. Also making them realize that life should not be taken so seriously, it's just 'a game' after all.
Never again will I have to numb myself with alcohol, video games or porn. I finally have built the life I am proud of. A reality I do not want to escape.
I will create my own fun side-projects. Maybe I'll keep doing entrepreneurial ventures for the rest of my life. Who knows?

I'll learn Spanish and Portuguese. I'll force myself to forget French. All will be good.
I'll be an inspiration to everyone willing to look further than the word 'luck'.
I'll master the piano. I'll dance like crazy to my favorite 80's songs every single day with a big smile on my face, realizing that I've just bamboozled all the nay-sayers. I will spread love and joy to all my friends and to all the people I meet.
My friends and I are going to go camping all over the world. And one night I will feel like being cringy, look at the stars and say:
"My destiny is my own."

3. Money
I made some very rough calculations.
30 million USD.

4. Who will you disappoint if it fails?
I will fail my current friends, and also my future friends.
My parents, as their trust in me would have been misplaced.
I would fail myself.

Extra: The things I don't want:
- To disappoint those people stated above.
- To be locked to one place. With only a set group of people.
- When I'm on my death bed, I look back and see regret.
- To work a 9-5 job. To be bound to a job, a boss or to be subject to someone else's reality.
- To let my fears, doubts, and insecurities control me.
- To waste my life.
- To give someone else control over my life.

Alright. That was a lot of 'I's and 'me's.
Let's get back to action.

 

[hatedsalesrep]

Thanks for the comment Hijena. To be fair, it's not my free time. I'm being paid by indirect growth of my YouTube channel in exchange for *what I believe are* high-value posts.

YouTube of course runs back to my website for discount coupons on my other training programs, so some people may make their way back there too.

Ultimately, I'd like those who consider my other courses to know it's worth their time before they invest that $10 and enroll. But I really do hope the posts here help you too!

Really interesting how that works.

I stumbled across thread, to signature, to course, and ended up buying one plus subscribing to YT all organically per se.

Just interesting how it all adds up/

 

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[FoxFire21]

Day 1 complete got approved. Will update with more. Thanks, Lex!

 

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[Ot_adams]

View attachment 23978​

Upwork is one of the fastest ways to get your feet wet with online business. You probably won't get rich on Upwork (though it's not impossible), and that isn't the purpose of this guide. This multi-post guide is an Upwork Tutorial for those who:

• Need to get moving on something...ANYTHING
• Need a way to bootstrap cash...FOR FREE

It doesn't matter where you're from or what your situation is. If you have semi-stable internet and a computer to work from, then you can make money on Upwork at no cost to you but your time.

In the posts that follow I will share a series of Upwork Tutorials to get you started even if you don't know what the f*ck you're doing, and even if you don't have any skills or experience right now. This step-by-step guide will give you a clear path from $0 to your first $1,000 or more on Upwork.

If you follow my posts and do as I say, you will make money...

Possibly this week.

However, you should know that your success here requires a difficult mindset shift. You will have to change how you do things. Employees do NOT make good freelancers. So here are some things you should know right now:

• You can take your 20 year work history and light it on fire
• Tuck your college degrees away on some shelf
• Tear that entitled victim attitude to shreds because...

Freelance clients don't give a shit about your education and experience unless it backs up your ability to get the job done. Also, nobody owes you anything. In the freelance world, you rise to your own level based on how much you help people, and on how clearly you demonstrate that you can help people.

Also... I'm developing a corresponding tutorial for my YouTube channel, and as such will be posting videos related to each post topic. You can watch them or not. You do not have to watch them to get the information because I will also post it in text here.

Consider this DAY ZERO.

Each day I will walk you through one piece of the Upwork puzzle. Step-by-step I will guide you to get approved on Upwork, get started, and make money. At the end of each post you will find a homework assignment.

Do the homework each day.

I would encourage you to share your progress and results either here, on my channel, or both since it will encourage engagement that will send traffic to the Fastlane Forum (each video links to the forum), and to my channel which is valuable for M.J. and for myself and also promotes future comprehensive tutorials such as this one, which is valuable for you.

SET OFF AT SUNRISE TO GET THERE BY DARK

There's only one way this thread won't become another action-faking, analysis paralysis knowledge feast for you. To make anything useful happen, you will have to take MASSIVE action and get started. You will have to stop telling yourself every silly excuse. Stop being afraid. Don't let phantoms of fantasy futures destroy your dreams.

Action is the only way.

So start today. Right now. Make a commitment. Commit to do this. Commit to act and to get started. You will start this today. You will take your first step now. And that first step is to determine WHY you are doing this. What do you want to come of this? To do that, your first homework is physically to answer all of the following questions:

1. Why are you doing this?
2. Describe your endgame in specific detail...
3. How much money do you need to earn to make this worth it?
4. Who are you failing if you give up or don't succeed?

It's important to know WHY you are doing this. You can't be vague about it. "I want to be a highly paid freelancer who creates value" is not a good response for your "why."

You are doing this because you need to pay bills or debt. Because you want to quit your shitty job. Because you need money for your ecommerce business. Because you want to travel and earn money from anywhere. Because you want to support your family. Because you want to earn full-time pay with part-time work from home.

You are trying to escape something (bad job, bad boss, debt, poverty, feeling like a loser). You desire some kind of change (travel, money, freedom, skills, to get started). You are selfish and you want things in life and THAT IS OKAY.

But you need to define those things. The things you want. The things you don't want. Because it is those things that will help remind you why you set off down this path in the first place, especially when there's nothing but miles and miles of bumpy road ahead.

That is your homework today.

Do the homework. Post your response. In the next post I will teach you how to give yourself the best possible chance to get approved on Upwork. As of 2019, getting approved on Upwork is probably the single biggest barrier to entry for new freelancers.

Lucky for you, you're not a freelancer. You're an entrepreneur, and you have me as your guide. So follow this Upwork Tutorial and commit to continue even when the long road makes you weary. If you do, you may discover the distance between sunrise and sunset isn't so far apart as it seems.

By the way...

This is the only mindset post.

Get your mind right now. In the days that follow, we've got work to do.

1. Why are you doing this?
2. Describe your endgame in specific detail...
3. How much money do you need to earn to make this worth it?
4. Who are you failing if you give up or don't succeed?

1. I am doing this so as to have an extra source of income and do better in life.
2. At the end of the day, I will like to create an animation studio here in nigeria
3. half a million
4. I would have only failed myself and future Nigerian children who would have loved to watch indigenous animations created by my company

 

[BellaPippin]

Wrote two articles for my portfolio following the course assignments, today I applied to three gigs. n_n

Question: One of the job descriptions for a job said "To get started, I'll give you a title and have you write a 1000 word article. If that goes well I have daily work for you". As someone who has done freelance in the past, that totally sounded like "I want my first article for free" to me (that is if there ARE other articles..)

Since I was writing articles for my assignments I picked a topic of what she was looking for (dog niche) and wrote a 650 opinion article about dog ear cropping to put on my portfolio, then said "there is a dog-related sample article in my portfolio you can review"

If she answers I'll tell her that is the sample, take it or leave it. Not gonna write 1000 words for free. 500, maybe, 1000 no thanks...

Thoughts?

 

[Lex DeVille]

Wrote two articles for my portfolio following the course assignments, today I applied to three gigs. n_n

Question: One of the job descriptions for a job said "To get started, I'll give you a title and have you write a 1000 word article. If that goes well I have daily work for you". As someone who has done freelance in the past, that totally sounded like "I want my first article for free" to me (that is if there ARE other articles..)

Since I was writing articles for my assignments I picked a topic of what she was looking for (dog niche) and wrote a 650 opinion article about dog ear cropping to put on my portfolio, then said "there is a dog-related sample article in my portfolio you can review"

If she answers I'll tell her that is the sample, take it or leave it. Not gonna write 1000 words for free. 500, maybe, 1000 no thanks...

Thoughts?

If she didn't ask for an unpaid article then there's a chance she is willing to pay for it. I wouldn't write an unpaid article. In most cases it's a big waste of time, although I like that you used it for your portfolio. That's a good way to reframe it to take back the power.

If you think a gig is a fit for you in the future but they're asking for an unpaid sample, it's okay to let them know you'll do a sample but not unpaid. You can give them a discount on the first piece so you still get paid and if they like you after that then you can go forward together.

A client who asks for free work typically isn't a client I would work with.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

I am shocked to see the articles on the Internet using the same tired, overused statistics and cliche phrases that mean as much as a rusty nail in a dumpster.

This is also becoming a problematic trend with books. Everyone reuses the same stats, and even the same lines and phrases. So freaking annoying. Or they don't even bother going that far. Instead, they just reference other books where the stats or info can be found.

What really pisses me off is that these are NYT bestsellers. WTF?! How can you be a bestseller when you can't even come up with something new or at least spin the old shit in a new way so it looks a little more shiny?!

Anyway, even small gigs can turn into big gigs. I like to imagine that if I'm making a client money then they will want to give me incentive to help them continue making money. That isn't always the case, but it is sometimes. Clients don't pay low rates for no reason. They pay low rates because they don't have much money YET but some clients will have more in the future and if you're the freelancer who helps them get it, they'll want to keep you around!

 

[Andy Black]

Good for you putting yourself out there @sierraxluz.

Also, I'd like to start my own business, which means I need money

You don’t need money to start a business. It’s the other way round - if you get paid your in business (and if you don’t it’s a hobby).

 

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[Lex DeVille]

If you're not trolling, then it means you didn't read and apply the training in this thread. Based on the proposal you wrote above, there is no possible way you read and applied what I taught here.

You cannot be an English copywriter if you can't write good English, unless you pay someone to edit your writing or learn to use tools like Grammarly to help you clean it up.

You will never get hired if you can't legitimately help the client. Lying will not help you help the client. Poor English will not help a client who needs copywriting.

You need to work on:

1. A better mindset (read The Millionaire Fastlane and Unscripted )
2. Learning how to help people
3. Using skills that you are good at

Find a skill you can do well at. Something you can really help people with. Apply to jobs for that skill. Re-read this entire thread.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Maybe I'm misreading this but does this mean if you learn a certain (new) skill and you won't get approved and start all over again in learning another (new) skill? For me I don't own any particular skills that will sustain my expenses so I will need to learn new skills. By not getting approved I will need to change my skill and also learn a new skill completely from scratch again?

You don't have to learn a new skill to apply to do a skill. You only have to support your position that you can do the skill. If I weren't a copywriter, I could still support my ability to perform copywriting by showing how my psychology degree is relevant, or how other training I've had backs up that ability. I could also show how past work experience in collections gave me persuasion skills that are useful in helping me write copy. It doesn't matter if I don't know how to write copy. It only matters that Upwork believes I can write copy and make money.

 

[ZF Lee]

Having done free work for friends, I took the content and copywriting skills I've cultivated over the past two months and started hitting up upwork.

Even though it took about 120 connects, I landed a first copywriting gig.

Something very interesting popped up though...

Upwork is now asking me to submit a picture ID and get on a video call with their support team before I apply for more contracts. Even after I payed them for the joy of having 20 more attempts to send proposals.

This sketches me out, and it's caused me to look around for other freelance site options.
It's also made me pull back and look around to see what opportunity is in my area. The owner of a local shop is pulling me in to help with his sales letter and I have a meeting with him on wednesday. Need to find a way to turn this and helping others locally into gold.

Does anyone else have experience transferring off of online platforms to local opportunity?

I already got my ID verified and the call with the Upwork support team done.

They were very quick and professional about it.

Finished it all within minutes.
A single attachment of your ID, and a short chat with an Upwork rep.

Don’t be afraid of getting cleared up with the Upwork team. It’s just some simple ‘house rules’.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

A couple things that may affect your chances:

1. Title is too long and too broad.
2. Try targeting an industry in your title such as "Dental Landing Page Designer"
3. Adjust your rates to something lower in the $10 - $20 range.
4. Add description to your education to show what makes it relevant to your skill.
5. Get rid of all of those extra words like "Ubounce" and "Clickfunnels" in your title.

Those are the main things to play with. Beyond that I'd keep trying different skills. If you still don't get approved, then it may be time to check out People Per Hour or one of the other up and coming freelance platforms. I've listed more than 100 of them here.

 

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[bootstrapper]

I just wanted to thank @Lex for this thread. I wanted to generate some extra cash flow in order to ramp up a new entrepreneurial venture, so I hit this Upwork thread hard. A few points

1. I already had a profile, but it was stale after not being used in a long time. With Lex's help, I was able to dust it off and rework the language to make my profile much more appealing.

2. I already have a decade of expertise doing financial models, business plans, etc. so I tried to leverage that skill, specifically targeting people who need high quality materials for banks, investors or other third parties.Customer who need this will understand that good materials mean the difference between success or not, so they are not trying to nickel and dime.

3. I started applying for jobs with "You" focused proposals. Frankly, i think that this is where I had fallen down before.Earlier, I had tried to IMPRESS potential employers with credentials or my previous portfolio...whereas now I just drill down to what they want, what I can do for them, and then a couple of intelligent questions that assume the sale. As an example, I always ask "Who's the audience?", as VCs want different things than a bank. Or I ask what they want to get out of the process.

4.Sometimes in the proposal I chip in a little bit of my experience where it's relevant, but more like "in my experience, you should do it this way..." and it's usually well received.

5. The thing about this kind of work is that people don't know what they don't know. Once you open up for them the world of good financials/reporting and good planning as a way to run the business, keep lenders/investors happy, then they are open to a bigger engagement. Sometimes they ask for helping getting in front of investors. Either way, there is a much higher potential wallet than what's indiciated on Upwork.

6. Results so far in January:
- Paid $18 for a membership with a healthy budget for connects
- Sent out 10 proposals.
- Got interviews from 3 of those.
- Got invited to interview for 2 roles. This never happened before on Upwork.
- Was hired for a $200 job, but had to turn it down due to conflict of interest (I have an ownership stake in their main competitor!)
- Was hired and am working now on a $2000 job, with several milestone payments along the way.
- Was hried for a $1300 job, which will recur every month.

7. While the $2000 job is a longer burn of 1-2 months before completion, I definitely feel like I'm on the right track and that this can turn into a good income stream outside of the day job. Moreover, I can deliver these results without too much additional work per week.
With the Lex approach, the good jobs feel more like a meeting of minds, as opposed to something that I had to grind out in competition with every one from India.

In short, thanks @Lex thanks everyone on this thread and here's to a good 2020!

 

[Lex DeVille]

@Lex DeVille Hi Lex, I'm running into a strange proposal and interview processes where they seems to want me to do the work "sample work" before I even sign an agreement with them. Concerned that I'm doing the work for them before I even get an official interview with them.

Have you run into anything like this? Where they're taking hours of my time developing something for them without any agreements and I haven't even had a chance to talk to them about the gig?

Tell them if they want a sample then you want a deposit milestone funded and released. $100 up front and you'll send samples. If they're not willing to take a little risk then why should they expect that from you? I never send custom samples without a deposit. It's a test project to see if you both like working together. If not, then you lose a few hours of time and they lose $100 bucks and you both go your separate ways.

 

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[Impacto]

This thread is incredible, spent the whole day reading it without even noticing the time flying. I was going to do an Intro thread for my first post, but I want to start this while it's fresh in my head. If I wait a few days I may never start, so I am just going to do this now.

Why are you doing this? - Because I am in a very bad situation right now and I need to get out of it asap, because my family is struggling and I cannot help them at the moment, and because I need to sink my teeth into something productive. I also realise that this will help me in many other areas of life. And I need to be successful again. It sucks to go from super secure to "I don't know If I'll have something to eat next week." This needs to stop, I want my financial security back. And then I can start building again.

Describe your endgame - My endgame is to grow into a person with a successful mindset, improve and learn new valuable skills and change my perception about online marketing in general. Obviously I need the money too.

How much money do you need to make it worth it? - Honestly, any money right now would go a long way. Don't care about the amount, I just need to get the ball rolling again. The skills I will learn doing this will be making me money for the rest of my life anyway. For the sake of specific goals - $1000 within the next two months would go a long way for me.

Who are you failing if you give up or dont succeed? - Just me. But a happy and successful me can make this world a better place. So in a way, not succeeding is letting the world down a bit. Massive pressure

Finally, I just want to say thank you to everyone posting in this forum, I just found it two days ago, don't even remember how, but I can't stop reading it, so much value. Now it's time for action, something I've struggled with my whole life. I haven't even read the books yet, but I will be doing it while taking action to keep the fire burning. There is a long road ahead, but I feel this is the road I've been searching for. I guess we'll find out.


Edit - 03.07.2020: Just a quick update, followed lesson two today with some changes to make it authentic and got accepted within 30 minutes lol. I don't know If I got lucky or things changed, but this was a pleasant surprise. I went with the copywriting skillset and that is what I am going to work with. Funny thing is, I know nothing about copy, so that'll be interesting! Onto lesson 3 now.

 

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[MattL]

Hah.

Was bored this Saturday morning, browsing the forum as I so often do.

Stumbled upon this thread, and holy moly is there a lot of value in these 9 pages.

Figured I might as well dust off the old Upwork account and test the Lex Deville Upwork Application System (LDUAS).

Wrote an application in 10 minutes...

2 minutes later the client responded.

"Hello MatteFFS,

I really like your profile, and so far you seem like the best match for our business.

i really enjoyed your question, and i believe that blahblahblah..."

Looks like I'm writing copy this afternoon.

 

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[ZF Lee]

I have the same question too, also does number of proposals affect my chances of getting hired, like does applying to jobs with less than 5 or 5-10 proposals is better that jobs with 50+ proposals ?

Normally, yes. Less competition.

But I have seen jobs, especially with the ‘direct response copywriting’ keyword, get swamped by 50+ proposals, even when the job scope is extensive, has LOTS of requirements and is clearly not ‘easy’.

Just know that there are some very desperate freelancers who will bid for anything under the sun-regardless of scope or future performance.

And yes, it’s normal for the client to keep job posts up for 4-5 days, as they interview people.

 

[MattL]

If you're having trouble getting clients, try making specific video applications.

I use Loom for this (free version).

They don't need to be long. Just be humble and add value.

 

[Lex DeVille]

I have a question @Lex DeVille
I'm doing this on Freelancer.com, I'm doing as you said, creating the whole persona around your role, so everything, even seemingly unrelated work experience points back to your niche

When choosing education on the platform, they have a premade list of universities for each country. I have a diploma in Arts, which I want to put in as something relevant to my web design skills.
Do you think it's worth to put a related University even if it isn't the one I went to ?

I'm talking putting in an Arts Degree at an University in their list even if I really have a Arts Diploma from High School

No, because that would be a lie, plus nobody cares about your degree.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Thanks Lex for this very helpful thread. I was with Odesk way back in 2005. Was able to log around 4000 hrs with the platform. Back then, I was offering SEO/SEM services. Then I got back to working in the real world in an IT-related position from 2010 to 2021. So, I lied low in Odesk. Now I had this FTE moment early this year. My boss was such a pain in the a$$. So I took my early retirement and had nothing more to do. With Lex's tips, I reformatted my profile/bio, etc. and I am ready to offer a very specific service to eCommerce owners. I will update this thread once I close some deals.

I hope you will start a progress thread. Your journey might be helpful for others who come along.

 

[Funky Monkey]

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Upwork is one of the fastest ways to get your feet wet with online business. You probably won't get rich on Upwork (though it's not impossible), and that isn't the purpose of this guide. This multi-post guide is an Upwork Tutorial for those who:

• Need to get moving on something...ANYTHING
• Need a way to bootstrap cash...FOR FREE

It doesn't matter where you're from or what your situation is. If you have semi-stable internet and a computer to work from, then you can make money on Upwork at no cost to you but your time.

In the posts that follow I will share a series of Upwork Tutorials to get you started even if you don't know what the f*ck you're doing, and even if you don't have any skills or experience right now. This step-by-step guide will give you a clear path from $0 to your first $1,000 or more on Upwork.

If you follow my posts and do as I say, you will make money...

Possibly this week.

However, you should know that your success here requires a difficult mindset shift. You will have to change how you do things. Employees do NOT make good freelancers. So here are some things you should know right now:

• You can take your 20 year work history and light it on fire
• Tuck your college degrees away on some shelf
• Tear that entitled victim attitude to shreds because...

Freelance clients don't give a shit about your education and experience unless it backs up your ability to get the job done. Also, nobody owes you anything. In the freelance world, you rise to your own level based on how much you help people, and on how clearly you demonstrate that you can help people.

Also... I'm developing a corresponding tutorial for my YouTube channel, and as such will be posting videos related to each post topic. You can watch them or not. You do not have to watch them to get the information because I will also post it in text here.

Consider this DAY ZERO.

Each day I will walk you through one piece of the Upwork puzzle. Step-by-step I will guide you to get approved on Upwork, get started, and make money. At the end of each post you will find a homework assignment.

Do the homework each day.

I would encourage you to share your progress and results either here, on my channel, or both since it will encourage engagement that will send traffic to the Fastlane Forum (each video links to the forum), and to my channel which is valuable for M.J. and for myself and also promotes future comprehensive tutorials such as this one, which is valuable for you.

SET OFF AT SUNRISE TO GET THERE BY DARK

There's only one way this thread won't become another action-faking, analysis paralysis knowledge feast for you. To make anything useful happen, you will have to take MASSIVE action and get started. You will have to stop telling yourself every silly excuse. Stop being afraid. Don't let phantoms of fantasy futures destroy your dreams.

Action is the only way.

So start today. Right now. Make a commitment. Commit to do this. Commit to act and to get started. You will start this today. You will take your first step now. And that first step is to determine WHY you are doing this. What do you want to come of this? To do that, your first homework is physically to answer all of the following questions:

1. Why are you doing this?
2. Describe your endgame in specific detail...
3. How much money do you need to earn to make this worth it?
4. Who are you failing if you give up or don't succeed?

It's important to know WHY you are doing this. You can't be vague about it. "I want to be a highly paid freelancer who creates value" is not a good response for your "why."

You are doing this because you need to pay bills or debt. Because you want to quit your shitty job. Because you need money for your ecommerce business. Because you want to travel and earn money from anywhere. Because you want to support your family. Because you want to earn full-time pay with part-time work from home.

You are trying to escape something (bad job, bad boss, debt, poverty, feeling like a loser). You desire some kind of change (travel, money, freedom, skills, to get started). You are selfish and you want things in life and THAT IS OKAY.

But you need to define those things. The things you want. The things you don't want. Because it is those things that will help remind you why you set off down this path in the first place, especially when there's nothing but miles and miles of bumpy road ahead.

That is your homework today.

Do the homework. Post your response. In the next post I will teach you how to give yourself the best possible chance to get approved on Upwork. As of 2019, getting approved on Upwork is probably the single biggest barrier to entry for new freelancers.

Lucky for you, you're not a freelancer. You're an entrepreneur, and you have me as your guide. So follow this Upwork Tutorial and commit to continue even when the long road makes you weary. If you do, you may discover the distance between sunrise and sunset isn't so far apart as it seems.

By the way...

This is the only mindset post.

Get your mind right now. In the days that follow, we've got work to do.

1. Why are you doing this?
   I wanted to start my journey Fastlane for as little capital (for now) as possible but on a more deeper level as to why I am going fastlane is so that I have freedom to do the things in life I want and so that when I come close to my deathbed I don't have any regrets on the paths I didn't take.
2. Describe your endgame in specific detail...
   Not sure if I'm interpreting this correctly but my endgame for this project would be to have something to show my parents that entrepreneurship holds promise and is worth the risk and sacrifice.
3. How much money do you need to earn to make this worth it?
   10,000 USD within 6 months
4. Who are you failing if you give up or don't succeed?
   My future self who would quite possibly go homeless if I don't do anything today, my parents and my cousin (my closest friend)

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Hello @Lex DeVille How do you feel about the fact that Upwork has made submissions actually paid using the bid system?

Technically, you don't have to bid to apply to gigs. Generally speaking, I don't feel any particular way about it. I rarely apply anymore. Usually, clients reach out to me. Currently, I'm only working with one client.

In my experience, bidding for the top positions doesn't matter much. Clients look through proposals until they find one or more freelancers who might be a good fit.

Something to keep in mind, Upwork constantly rolls out new ways to extract money from freelancers. For instance, by increasing the average connects required from 8 to 16, they reduce the time it takes freelancers to run out of connects which means they top up sooner which means Upwork makes money faster because those freelancers buy connects.

 

[Lex DeVille]

I try to understand what you're saying but looks like I understand a bit but I wanted to start on upwork to get my feet Wet in the entrepreneurial space get some wins and confidence where can I get those skills and let's say I have them how can I use them to create value English is not my first language sorry I am a bit confused
critical thinking, decision-making, and problem-solving should I take a course for this to get this skills ?

I suggest using Google, YouTube, and ChatGPT to learn about critical thinking, decision-making, and problem-solving.

Value is created when you solve problems for other people.

Solving problems requires critical thinking.

Entrepreneurship requires making decisions about what to do next.

As an entrepreneur, you must learn to apply critical thinking to problems.

Critical thinking is how you identify possible solutions for problems.

Then you must make a decision about what action you will take to solve each problem you face.

I hope that makes sense.

 

[ZF Lee]

Add a clear, smiling, front-facing head shot image

Haha! I knew I had homework to do.

I guess that's what I need to do!

My present photo depicts me looking a bit stiff. Guess I'll try to take another new shot tomorrow.

Write your employment history to support your abilities with that skill

Now to think of it, I remember writing for my school magazine. Quite some killer fiction stories, although its not copywriting.

I'll edit again later!

Tonight, the lowest jobs I'll be picking will be only intermediate, with the lowest priced jobs at least $100.
Might not seem much, but when converted to my home currency, the transaction result will be crazy, even with the Upwork fees cut. I could immediately start going around local factories and even China, to an extent, getting supplies and samples for Fastlane.

Thank again Lex for some refreshers and tips. Really optimistic about this!

 

[rwhyan]

Awesome stuff, Lex.

I'm going to be following along.

Quick question: I submitted my application and my account was created almost immediately saying "Welcome to Upwork." Does that mean it was approved?

Must be some sort of algorithm if they were able to do it so quickly.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Awesome stuff, Lex.

I'm going to be following along.

Quick question: I submitted my application and my account was created almost immediately saying "Welcome to Upwork." Does that mean it was approved?

Must be some sort of algorithm if they were able to do it so quickly.

If you can apply to gigs then yes.

 

[rogue synthetic]

This is good to see @Lex DeVille I just jumped back on the Upwork train last week after reading one of your posts the other week about using low-tier jobs to grease the skids. I already picked up two new clients yesterday after close to 6 months away and a profile set to private.