About a year or so ago I hit the 1 million dollars earned on UpWork mark. A nice milestone for sure. I know there are a lot of digital marketers who use UpWork and might be looking for some recommendations on how to grow so here’s what I learned along the way.
Consistency – This is important. Treat UpWork like you would treat any 9-5 and then some. Schedule your day, set calls in advance. Follow up with leads regularly.
Be Picky – Do not take the easy money clients. Really, don’t. On UpWork, just like in real life, there are a lot of businesses who are not ready for Google Ads. Their website might not be ready, they might not have the ad spend to be competitive. If you take these clients on, you are fighting an uphill battle. Earlier on, you might have to take some “not ideal” clients to build your resume up. Go for it, do your best for the client to deliver results. Hopefully they’ll appreciate that you did the absolute best you could to deliver results.
Choose A Lane – If somebody tells you they specialize in all forms of digital marketing, they’re not good at any of them. You have to specialize. I know that I couldn’t manage a website, and social, and Google, and Yelp, and SEO and reviews for each of my clients. That is not realistic. That’s not a recipe for success. For me it was Google Ads. I like to manage Google Ads, I know the system in and out. There are tons of advanced features on all digital platforms that you just do not know unless you spend a lot of time managing them.
Deliver – Above anything else, deliver for your clients. Every business owner wants more leads and more sales and when you can bring that to them you’re an important part of the team. Deliver, and explain how you deliver, through reporting.
Stick Around – Don’t ditch your small clients when the big guys come along. Treat everybody with respect. Telling a client that you’re too busy for them is not respectful.
Respond Quickly, But Set Boundaries – Who doesn’t want responsive help? Hey Carl, what’s going on with this? Already taken care of, just adjusted in the account. Boom, quick response, problem solved. It’s not complicated. It doesn’t take any special skill. But you have to set boundaries. When you’re working with clients from different parts of the world, you’re dealing with time zones. Messages will come in at 2 AM, 5 PM, 8 PM, 11 PM, that’s going to happen.
What I would recommend that you do is, when you’re kicking things off with a client, let them know what your availability is. You don’t work on weekends? Fine. But tell them that. You’re at soccer on Wednesday nights? Great, you should. But, let them know that.
If you can consistently deliver results for a business owner, bring in more than you cost. You’re an asset to that business. There are businesses everywhere, in New York City, in Albany, in San Jose, in Austin, everywhere, that sprung from a seedling into a tree through Google Ads.
