One of the greatest challenges of freelancing on Upwork or making money online in general, no matter what kind of service you provide, is maintaining a steady stream of jobs coming your way.
This is worse for new contractors or newbies as we like to call them.
Not having work especially if you depend on freelancing to make a full-time living – can land one into serious financial problems.
So how do you prevent this from happening to you?
Below are four simple tips that you can use to keep jobs on Upwork flowing! Diving in with tip number one:
- 1. Regularly seek for new opportunities
I have nothing against the popular saying ‘a bird in hand is worth ten in the bush.’ However, I have learnt the hard way that in the freelancing world, nothing is certain. As I strive to deliver a quality output on my current gigs, I keep my options open for where my next gig is coming from.
The last thing you want to happen to you is to be swamped with work for months on end, followed by months of idleness. So, to avoid this very familiar scenario, you can use the following tips:
- Make it a part of your regular schedule to seek new opportunities. Personally, I apply for at least 2 jobs every week. Upwork has a superb system that allows one to apply for anything from 2-25 jobs depending on how complete a contractor’s profile is. Occasionally, I also respond to job adverts on sites such as Problogger and LinkedIn.
- Maintain a blog and post on it at least once a week. This not only helps to improve my writing but acts as a sample for clients who want to write about my writing.
- 2. Maintain contact with existing clients
Existing clients are not only a source for new work but also potential referees to new clients. This applies more so if you deliver on quality and time. Therefore, it is important to stay in touch with them for your good. Potential ways of staying in touch include:
- Including them in your newsletter mailing list if you have one
- Referring their business/products to prospects
- Connecting on social media
- or even simply sending greetings at New Years’ or on Mother’s/Father’s day
- 3. Meet your deadlines
One easy way to build trust and reputation with your clients is by delivering quality output on time. Failing to meet a deadline not only harms your reputation but could send your client’s business down the drain in a day. A couple of tips to help with meeting deadlines:
- Be realistic with the client on timelines at the beginning of the assignment. There is nothing as destructive as misleading a client on timelines just to get the job. It is better to under-promise then over-deliver than the reverse.
- Take on limited assignments at a time depending on your availability and skill. In this day and age of limited work, it’s very tempting to say yes to a client when you know very well that you should be saying no. In the end, biting more than you can chew not only results of failure to deliver on time but on the event that you beat the deadline, the work is more often than not substandard.
- 4. Positive Feedback
There is nothing as powerful as word-of-mouth or third-party marketing as they are an easy way of getting new clients on board.
Freelancing platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr have a review mechanism whereby both the contractor and employer rate each other based on a completed job.
Quality work delivered on time guarantees a positive 5-star rating.
Additionally, personal websites are a powerful tool for showcasing your happy customers’ feedback.
So there goes, the 4 tips that have worked for me. What tips are you currently using to get new business? Share with us in the comments below.