I bought my first car this month from my earning on odesk and elance in just 3 months. Problem is most freelancer think working online is an easier way of working and take it easy. whilst its totally opposite to that. Here you got multiple bosses some are angels and some are cranky . You just gotta learn a way to work with them. I am an Indian and major problem I face is some clients from the beginning take us for someone who is going to bill them unreasonable hours. Well I just let go of my ego and stay calm and focus on the work at hand. Everything is rolling smooth for me. THANKS FOR A GREAT VIDEO..IT HELPED
Lokesh Thakali Work hard, extra hard my friend. Because there is no ladder to success its always a greased pole. :) lol. and trust me you dont need a guide to use odesk. getting a job is just like any other interview only you have to write a proposal to sell yourself here.
Writing. Awesome me2 an Indian I just wana ask that how you got your job it was so amazing to read your description Basically I also need kine for my studies but I cant earn via upwork cuz no ones offer me job I send almost 20 proposals in which only 1 interviewed me but now stopped talking with me I am confused I am messaging but they aren't replying So how can I earn
Thanks for this video, i'm always nervous about not being good enough, all i have to do is just don't over sell it. This has indeed given me some well needed confidence.
I've been working on Elance and Upwork for a while and have the same opinion, but still never thought of some things you are saying here like winning clients not projects, establishing relationships and giving advice right in the proposal. I'm gonna follow your advice and hope to get new clients for my agency:) Thank you for this, such a motivation, start trying right away!
+Diana Kulish Thank you for taking the time to say this. I appreciate it. And honestly, the biggest shift I think a freelancer can make is the move from thinking about winning projects to winning clients... that more long-term approach. It fundamentally changes your whole approach. It's the way out of the freelancing rat-race. Anyway, thanks again for the kind comment.
Appreciate the open and honest information shared. It really is about positioning myself right from the get go. first impressions matters and confidence. Cheers
John you rock! I've been watching several of your videos over the past few days and your content is clear, concise and highly actionable. My confidence in becoming a front end developer is raising by the second thanks to you! My favorite tips from you thus far are being results oriented in marketing your freelancing "skills" (from another video) and using freelancing sites to prospect (from this video). Couldn't let another second go by without saying thank you!
you have a new subscriber. I don't know how many months i would have gone before i get the truth about Upwork and the rest of the online job sites. its been two week without either having an interview or a job from my proposal. The podcast. I am shelf online jobs now as part time until a time i will get enough client to think otherwise. Many Thanks John Morris
Good day, wow all this is new but, seems very interesting. I have been entrepreneurship most of my life and a career change would be refreshing as I would like to change my physic to develop a new attitude and willing to learn as much as I can with a little guidance will do the job as I am a good learner!
Really great advice! I hadn't thought about these sites being a way of starting up and getting into the industry. I'm glad you said it though, as I've just finished my degree and need to get started out.
+Jack Hancock-Bruce Thank you. Appreciate you saying so. Yes, I believe every developer should freelance for a time. It helps you really nail the client-developer relationship and learn how to sell yourself... among many other things. So, even if you plan on working at a tech company at some point... freelancing is a great way to learn the ropes, build up your "street cred" and get comfortable writing code for money.
+John Morris Would you add that it's not necessary to apply to the small jobs then? As in, a super easy job that I could definitely do, that will get me $10 but ultimately is (presumably) unlikely to provide me a proper contact.
Jack Hancock-Bruce That can be tricky. If it's $10 that leads to a relationship with a client that had lots more work... definitely. But if it's as you say "not a proper contact" then maybe not. It's sometimes hard to do determine that. If you're new, I'd err on the side of taking the job because you can always add it to your portfolio which is the most important thing at first. As get a good portfolio, then you can stop taking those kinds of jobs.
Thanks, I almost messed up thinking that its a full business platform, I have a family they would have had a cry. out of my frustrations . Back to my norm
i can say i just started my programming thing, yet im getting better realy fast (at least i think so) since i gave some programming exams on my university its all going smooth by now. acording to your saying i have few questions id rly like to see ansvered. 1. what of these areas are worth mentioning as your specialization and what are too expected so you should not do so: html, css, javascript, java, php, seo,... i mean there are some of us that dont eaven know what specialized is.(could you sell if you are lets say: ccs expert) so im up to do my seller in 3 months or eaven more and since im in learning phase its realy important to go ahead in right direction. yeah its only 1 question..:) ty for all the info it rly makes sense
Hello there. John, thanks for your contribution man. I just wanted to ask you about that ''cheeting thing'' that you mentioned few times; about brining your clients to hire you over Upwork so as to collect more job history and good ratings as a begginer on the site. My question is: if the people on Upwork find out about it is in any way breaking the rules or ''punishable''??? I'm 98% sure the answer is no, but i like the number 100 much better. It would help me out if you could answer me within 48 hours, but it's cool if you don't. Tnx again.
you fucking nailed it dude, intuitively I had the same concept of these freelancer sites in my mind but I've never heard anyone else confirm this bias. You're absolutely right the only reason I've been on elance now upwork for as long as I have is because I was thinking that maybe eventually I would find clients who are more interested in value and who aren't so picky about price. I did find a few decent clients there but they were the absolute exception and not the rule.
morocotopozz yeah upwork is nice, I don't use elance anymore. I'm more hesitant now to really spend time on these sites though because of reasons explained in this video.
Thank you very much, you're such a great help. Question tho, what do you think of making discounts for clients (like mentioning this in my bio) just to make a start ? too desperate ?
+Diana A no that's fine. You just have to position it right: "My regular price is $x but I'm offering a limited time discount because I'm just starting on Upwork. After $x projects, this discount will be gone." So clients know and you don't de-value yourself.
John Morris after watching your video I've remade my freelancer profile. It's funny because couple of months ago I've finish to read the book Positioning www.amazon.com/Positioning-The-Battle-Your-Mind-ebook/dp/B006B7LQ90 and that was all about to pick a segment on the market and on my profile I've added a lot of skills (I was in Top 20% for the most of them, on Top 1% for AdWords - the field that I was bidding for jobs) but it was hard for the clients to pick me because I was doing a lot of things and from their perspective I wasn't very good at something. Thanks for you kind thoughts again and keep up the good work. PS: you have a new subscriber :)
Dragos Mirica awesome to hear! Yeah, positioning is probably the thing I think about most when I think about marketing myself. Getting that right makes everything else so much easier. It's why I put out as much content as I do. Hopefully, your new profile works better for you... that said don't be afraid to keep playing with it. It can take a few times to get the positioning just right... but it's usually pretty obvious once you do because the number of quality invites you get will increase fairly dramatically.
Hello. You were talking about tests. My question is if i'm already and Adobe Certified Expert will it be more important than the Elance'd Indesign test? It is any box where I can show or mention my certificate?
A OK It really depends. How many clients you have, what projects you're working on, etc. 15-20 hours of freelance a week would be a substantial income for most freelancers.
Hi, John Morrison, I am Hossain from Bangladesh. I have completed my up work account 100% but I cant able to get any work yet. I want to get work from up work. I think I have to learn more about freelancing. So I can I improve myself and get work in online?
+Shawkat Hossain do you have a blog or RUclips channel set up and are you posting regularly. You can't wait for the business to come to you. You have to go get it.
+Changed Direction Elance and oDesk used to be different sites owned by different people. Then, they merged and became Elance-oDesk, but still maintained the two sites separately. Then, oDesk rebranded to Upwork. Finally, Elance shut down and let you port your full account into Upwork. So, now it's just Upwork.
thanks bro. I'm trying to get hired on oDesk, however it just seems really difficult and unlucky to me, poor me :(, thank you anyway. By the way, I'm a freelance Senior PHP Developer, anyone interested to hire me? ^^
I bought my first car this month from my earning on odesk and elance in just 3 months. Problem is most freelancer think working online is an easier way of working and take it easy. whilst its totally opposite to that. Here you got multiple bosses some are angels and some are cranky . You just gotta learn a way to work with them. I am an Indian and major problem I face is some clients from the beginning take us for someone who is going to bill them unreasonable hours. Well I just let go of my ego and stay calm and focus on the work at hand. Everything is rolling smooth for me. THANKS FOR A GREAT VIDEO..IT HELPED
Congrats man! Saving up for a house with my freelance earnings currently!:)
Good to hear it mate... so odesk really works ?? If yes then could u plz help me or guide using odesk
Lokesh Thakali Who are you aiming this one at? :-)
Lokesh Thakali Work hard, extra hard my friend. Because there is no ladder to success its always a greased pole. :) lol. and trust me you dont need a guide to use odesk. getting a job is just like any other interview only you have to write a proposal to sell yourself here.
Writing. Awesome me2 an Indian I just wana ask that how you got your job it was so amazing to read your description
Basically I also need kine for my studies but I cant earn via upwork cuz no ones offer me job I send almost 20 proposals in which only 1 interviewed me but now stopped talking with me I am confused I am messaging but they aren't replying
So how can I earn
Thanks for this video, i'm always nervous about not being good enough, all i have to do is just don't over sell it. This has indeed given me some well needed confidence.
I've been working on Elance and Upwork for a while and have the same opinion, but still never thought of some things you are saying here like winning clients not projects, establishing relationships and giving advice right in the proposal. I'm gonna follow your advice and hope to get new clients for my agency:)
Thank you for this, such a motivation, start trying right away!
+Diana Kulish Thank you for taking the time to say this. I appreciate it. And honestly, the biggest shift I think a freelancer can make is the move from thinking about winning projects to winning clients... that more long-term approach. It fundamentally changes your whole approach. It's the way out of the freelancing rat-race. Anyway, thanks again for the kind comment.
+Sales ITB agency? can you take me in
Appreciate the open and honest information shared. It really is about positioning myself right from the get go. first impressions matters and confidence. Cheers
Man i followed everything you said and got hired on the 1st job i applied to! Thank you very much!
Nice! Glad to hear! Yeah, been refining this for years... so it ought to work well when applied. Thanks for letting me know! :)
John you rock! I've been watching several of your videos over the past few days and your content is clear, concise and highly actionable. My confidence in becoming a front end developer is raising by the second thanks to you! My favorite tips from you thus far are being results oriented in marketing your freelancing "skills" (from another video) and using freelancing sites to prospect (from this video). Couldn't let another second go by without saying thank you!
Nice! Glad to hear that. Those are two really good ones.
FiveironFlores pppppłzfflfzlfzl
As an Elancer myself, this is awesome engaging material. Appreciate your view on freelancing and Elance in general.
No problem. Glad it was helpful! :)
you have a new subscriber. I don't know how many months i would have gone before i get the truth about Upwork and the rest of the online job sites. its been two week without either having an interview or a job from my proposal. The podcast. I am shelf online jobs now as part time until a time i will get enough client to think otherwise. Many Thanks John Morris
+David Gathu no problem!
Great podcast and information John! This really gave me some helpful insight. I'm officially SUBSCRIBED :)
Really helpful content. I am not a coder (far from it) but I can see how this wisdom is transferable to other disciplines.
Thanks for sharing your experience! It´s very generous from you and very helpful!!
Your hair are similar to mine. Untouched
Good day, wow all this is new but, seems very interesting. I have been entrepreneurship most of my life and a career change would be refreshing as I would like to change my physic to develop a new attitude and willing to learn as much as I can with a little guidance will do the job as I am a good learner!
Thanks. You gave me some good ideas to help with both my Elance trouble and for expanding my business. I appreciate it.
Shane Larson no problem! :)
Really great advice! I hadn't thought about these sites being a way of starting up and getting into the industry. I'm glad you said it though, as I've just finished my degree and need to get started out.
+Jack Hancock-Bruce Thank you. Appreciate you saying so. Yes, I believe every developer should freelance for a time. It helps you really nail the client-developer relationship and learn how to sell yourself... among many other things. So, even if you plan on working at a tech company at some point... freelancing is a great way to learn the ropes, build up your "street cred" and get comfortable writing code for money.
+John Morris Would you add that it's not necessary to apply to the small jobs then? As in, a super easy job that I could definitely do, that will get me $10 but ultimately is (presumably) unlikely to provide me a proper contact.
Jack Hancock-Bruce That can be tricky. If it's $10 that leads to a relationship with a client that had lots more work... definitely. But if it's as you say "not a proper contact" then maybe not. It's sometimes hard to do determine that. If you're new, I'd err on the side of taking the job because you can always add it to your portfolio which is the most important thing at first. As get a good portfolio, then you can stop taking those kinds of jobs.
Thank you a lot for that video, I feel less lost on this topic !
Hana Rose Very glad to hear that! Appreciate you saying so!
Great video, it was very interesting.
Thanks, I almost messed up thinking that its a full business platform, I have a family they would have had a cry. out of my frustrations . Back to my norm
+David Gathu :)
Thank you so much for sharing this valuable information with us ...........
Mohammed Hashim no problem
i can say i just started my programming thing, yet im getting better realy fast (at least i think so) since i gave some programming exams on my university its all going smooth by now. acording to your saying i have few questions id rly like to see ansvered.
1. what of these areas are worth mentioning as your specialization and what are too expected so you should not do so: html, css, javascript, java, php, seo,... i mean there are some of us that dont eaven know what specialized is.(could you sell if you are lets say: ccs expert) so im up to do my seller in 3 months or eaven more and since im in learning phase its realy important to go ahead in right direction. yeah its only 1 question..:)
ty for all the info it rly makes sense
Hello there. John, thanks for your contribution man.
I just wanted to ask you about that ''cheeting thing'' that you mentioned few times; about brining your clients to hire you over Upwork so as to collect more job history and good ratings as a begginer on the site. My question is: if the people on Upwork find out about it is in any way breaking the rules or ''punishable''??? I'm 98% sure the answer is no, but i like the number 100 much better. It would help me out if you could answer me within 48 hours, but it's cool if you don't. Tnx again.
Thank you for the excellent talk. Now, what about setting up multiple profiles, each targeting a specific skill?
+CornelionSigismon I don't know. I don't think I personally would do that
Thank you for your answer
you fucking nailed it dude, intuitively I had the same concept of these freelancer sites in my mind but I've never heard anyone else confirm this bias. You're absolutely right the only reason I've been on elance now upwork for as long as I have is because I was thinking that maybe eventually I would find clients who are more interested in value and who aren't so picky about price. I did find a few decent clients there but they were the absolute exception and not the rule.
+James Joseph Sewell agree,and premise who hired me on upwork are really professional on payments.Thanks i found upwork.hope to get hired more!
+James Joseph Sewell do you prefer Upwork? I getting into freelance sites, but I don't know how's the bussiness
morocotopozz yeah upwork is nice, I don't use elance anymore. I'm more hesitant now to really spend time on these sites though because of reasons explained in this video.
morocotopozz It depends on your skills and talents.lol...Find in which category you fitted and try applying on search job.
+Erika Faith Park (RedButterfly) how come? Whats the difference?
A lot of things in this video are valid for other freelance sites, too :)
+1 like
good insight i have applied for job in almost a year to no avail help
John Morris Do you provide coaching?
Thank you very much, you're such a great help.
Question tho, what do you think of making discounts for clients (like mentioning this in my bio) just to make a start ? too desperate ?
+Diana A no that's fine. You just have to position it right: "My regular price is $x but I'm offering a limited time discount because I'm just starting on Upwork. After $x projects, this discount will be gone." So clients know and you don't de-value yourself.
Sounds legit, thank you lots for the help :D
+Diana A no problem
Hey , any tips for #Translators ?
Thanks.
thanks for your thoughts!
No problem! :)
John Morris after watching your video I've remade my freelancer profile. It's funny because couple of months ago I've finish to read the book Positioning www.amazon.com/Positioning-The-Battle-Your-Mind-ebook/dp/B006B7LQ90 and that was all about to pick a segment on the market and on my profile I've added a lot of skills (I was in Top 20% for the most of them, on Top 1% for AdWords - the field that I was bidding for jobs) but it was hard for the clients to pick me because I was doing a lot of things and from their perspective I wasn't very good at something. Thanks for you kind thoughts again and keep up the good work. PS: you have a new subscriber :)
Dragos Mirica awesome to hear! Yeah, positioning is probably the thing I think about most when I think about marketing myself. Getting that right makes everything else so much easier. It's why I put out as much content as I do. Hopefully, your new profile works better for you... that said don't be afraid to keep playing with it. It can take a few times to get the positioning just right... but it's usually pretty obvious once you do because the number of quality invites you get will increase fairly dramatically.
Hello. You were talking about tests. My question is if i'm already and Adobe Certified Expert will it be more important than the Elance'd Indesign test? It is any box where I can show or mention my certificate?
There's a Certifications section. Put it there and mention it in your Service Description.
Do you get a check sent to you? How are you paid?
Freelance sites have different options. I use PayPal to get paid.
how many hours do you normally work a week? can you set your times?
A OK It really depends. How many clients you have, what projects you're working on, etc. 15-20 hours of freelance a week would be a substantial income for most freelancers.
Hi, John Morrison, I am Hossain from Bangladesh. I have completed my up work account 100% but I cant able to get any work yet. I want to get work from up work. I think I have to learn more about freelancing. So I can I improve myself and get work in online?
+Shawkat Hossain do you have a blog or RUclips channel set up and are you posting regularly. You can't wait for the business to come to you. You have to go get it.
I am a nurse by profession...can I do this online job too? Is there any chance that I could be hired?
+Lilibeth Taganna sure. I believe anyone can learn how to do this.
Odesk and upwork both are same right please tell
+Changed Direction Elance and oDesk used to be different sites owned by different people. Then, they merged and became Elance-oDesk, but still maintained the two sites separately. Then, oDesk rebranded to Upwork. Finally, Elance shut down and let you port your full account into Upwork. So, now it's just Upwork.
Thank you.
very useful
OK! ill gonna test this 2 sites and see the result if i really earn some bucks. . .
Niel Satoyab let me know how it goes!
Guys i am in need of you help I am lost and I need an online job. Help me out please
Stop your whining, Do your homework and research, then just get it done.RUclips is your complete educational tool
thanks bro. I'm trying to get hired on oDesk, however it just seems really difficult and unlucky to me, poor me :(, thank you anyway. By the way, I'm a freelance Senior PHP Developer, anyone interested to hire me? ^^
can anyone help me get a JOB on elance,,, :)