Are You Tired of Dealing with Low Quality Leads on Upwork?
Me too. Here is what I do to find clients that are ready to pay.
1.) Focus on reaching out to jobs with less than 20 proposals.
This has nothing to do with having a fear of competition, but rather having a fear of indecisive clients.
As freelancers and/or entrepreneurs it can almost be fun to jump into a pool of competition and prove we are the best.
And for jobs in the “real world” seeing A LOT of applicants could easily just be a symptom of a job posting that’s simply GREAT. Great schedules, great benefits, and great pay.
What I’ve found to be true on Upwork though is that most people hiring on the platform are going to make a decision within about a day… or they aren’t going to make a decision at all.
Face it, it’s a platform to find contractors and not employees. While there are some businesses and other folks on there concerned with vetting their contractors and building a strong relationship, it is often not the case.
Usually when a job has 50+ proposals… it simply means the client that posted the job is not taking it seriously, and is going to be a hassle to work with.
2.) Look at what stage of the process clients are already in.
Have you ever watched an episode of Shark Tank where a shark is interested in an entrepreneur’s business, but they claim it is “too early” to invest? There’s a similar concept at play on Upwork.
This also has to do with whether or not the potential clients you are reaching out to are action-takers, or just hopeful entrepreneurs that are going to be a pain to work with.
For example, I primarily work on Upwork doing freelance podcast production, and video editing.
I’ve learned to be more drawn to job postings from clients that already have a podcast running, YouTube channel, or something to show they are taking action on their plans.
When you see proposals coming about starting a podcast or starting a YouTube channel you should take a second to think about it.
Odds are these clients have no idea what kind of work goes into what you do, and they will not pay you fairly, or they will not keep you around for long.
There are exceptions to this of course, but a fair deal of people putting jobs on Upwork are going to be looking for quick ways to make a buck…. by paying you far less than they should for your work.
3.) DO NOT Discount Yourself.
Pricing is a juggling act for freelancers, and we all know not to discount “our worth”… but at the same time our potential clients like paying as little as possible.
When it comes to Upwork, you NEED to stay firm with the price you are pitching on your profile and/or in your proposals.
It might even be worth it to ask in your proposals whether or not the client would prefer an hourly payment structure or a fixed rate for projects/milestones (which is usually determined in their job posting).
You could also be up front with your pricing structure on your profile for both hourly contracts and fixed-price contracts.
The truth is doing this will likely turn away a lot of potential clients… but they are probably ones that aren’t going to be best for you anyway.
The last tip I could give you… would go outside of Upwork.
My final thought is to mention that getting low-quality leads on Upwork mostly has to do with the fact that it is Upwork after all.
This is a platform where children can go and post jobs, as well as multi-million dollar businesses.
You’re going to run into people asking for work with disgustingly low budgets… and in some cases it can be hard to filter those out.
With that being said, my advice is to never focus only on Upwork for clients. Especially if your goal is to scale a business rather than just make a couple extra bucks as side income.
Look into cold email strategies, other freelancing platforms, and other marketing strategies to best set yourself up for success with your clients.
