Side Gigs / Work From Home / Ask Wonder, Mike Munter, UpWork, Freelancer

[ejmyrow]

Aloha Marvelous Mustachians!
Does anyone have experience with Ask Wonder, Mike Munter, UpWork, Freelancer? Are they legit?
I welcome tales of your experience and any advice!
Many thanks,
Emily

[willjj90]

I'm familiar with UpWork.. I know that's legit. As far as what you can do and how much you can make solely depends on you.

[startingsmall]

Upwork is definitely legit.... I made about $15k there last year.

There's a catch, though. Roughly 90% of what's advertised on there is low-paying crap. If you have a niche and find a few jobs that you can get good ratings on (even if they pay poorly), you'll become more competitive. I can't remember the last time I applied for a job on Upwork - now I only look at opportunities that I'm specifically invited to 'interview' for.

I also have ongoing contracts with a couple of different companies, which means a more steady workflow and that Upwork takes a smaller cut.

[TheGadfly]

Upwork is definitely legit.... I made about $15k there last year.

There's a catch, though. Roughly 90% of what's advertised on there is low-paying crap. If you have a niche and find a few jobs that you can get good ratings on (even if they pay poorly), you'll become more competitive. I can't remember the last time I applied for a job on Upwork - now I only look at opportunities that I'm specifically invited to 'interview' for.

I also have ongoing contracts with a couple of different companies, which means a more steady workflow and that Upwork takes a smaller cut.

This is exactly the approach I took. I eventually found 3 steady clients and convinced them to go "off-platform" and pay me directly through PayPal and direct deposit.

Biggest tip: regardless of your skill set, the faster you find your niche, the better. This is especially true of content writing. Generalist will be lucky to earn $0.01 per word. Niche writers earn $0.10 or more. I didn't start making real money until I started focusing on writing business plans for home health companies.

[walkwalkwalk]

Upwork is definitely legit.... I made about $15k there last year.

There's a catch, though. Roughly 90% of what's advertised on there is low-paying crap. If you have a niche and find a few jobs that you can get good ratings on (even if they pay poorly), you'll become more competitive. I can't remember the last time I applied for a job on Upwork - now I only look at opportunities that I'm specifically invited to 'interview' for.

I also have ongoing contracts with a couple of different companies, which means a more steady workflow and that Upwork takes a smaller cut.

This is exactly the approach I took. I eventually found 3 steady clients and convinced them to go "off-platform" and pay me directly through PayPal and direct deposit.

Biggest tip: regardless of your skill set, the faster you find your niche, the better. This is especially true of content writing. Generalist will be lucky to earn $0.01 per word. Niche writers earn $0.10 or more. I didn't start making real money until I started focusing on writing business plans for home health companies.

@TheGadfly , do you mind if I PM you? I also work with home health companies. I am a CPA and mostly do taxes.

But on thread topic, I have tried applying for about half a dozen gigs through Upwork and haven't been able to get anything yet. How many did you have to apply to to get your first one?

[TheGadfly]

Upwork is definitely legit.... I made about $15k there last year.

There's a catch, though. Roughly 90% of what's advertised on there is low-paying crap. If you have a niche and find a few jobs that you can get good ratings on (even if they pay poorly), you'll become more competitive. I can't remember the last time I applied for a job on Upwork - now I only look at opportunities that I'm specifically invited to 'interview' for.

I also have ongoing contracts with a couple of different companies, which means a more steady workflow and that Upwork takes a smaller cut.

This is exactly the approach I took. I eventually found 3 steady clients and convinced them to go "off-platform" and pay me directly through PayPal and direct deposit.

Biggest tip: regardless of your skill set, the faster you find your niche, the better. This is especially true of content writing. Generalist will be lucky to earn $0.01 per word. Niche writers earn $0.10 or more. I didn't start making real money until I started focusing on writing business plans for home health companies.

@TheGadfly , do you mind if I PM you? I also work with home health companies. I am a CPA and mostly do taxes.

But on thread topic, I have tried applying for about half a dozen gigs through Upwork and haven't been able to get anything yet. How many did you have to apply to to get your first one?

I'm pretty sure I applied to well over 100 gigs before finding real clients (maybe more). It really helps to figure out what discrete tasks a home health company needs to do without having to commit to a full or part-time hire. Once you know what those tasks are, curate your profile accordingly. I also recommend targeting start-ups and entrepreneurs, which make up the vast majority of UpWork's "buyer" clientele.

Feel free to PM me if you have more questions.