How did someone make it to freelance exchanges?

Question

Freelance

I was on one freelance exchange for 1.5 years, I made more than 30 rates. I
specialize in the layout of adaptive sites - bootstrap, flexbox, content management.

In addition to me, people who somehow made their way through and were constantly in orders made bets, and newcomers sucked their paws.

The portfolio is small both in terms of content and layout.

I understood at that moment that I was a beginner and I had no reviews, no trust, people might not like me by myself, but I continued to strive for at least one order, but alas, it didn’t work out.

The question is, how did you get into freelancing?

Answer 1

Personally, I see the problem of the biggest fish in the smallest pond.
I think that before that you worked in the office, perhaps as a June. For some reason, you left the team and you decided to go freelancing, like upwork, and you stumbled.
Well, congratulations on getting out into the ocean. Everything is completely different here. Now you are not a hired employee, but an entrepreneur. Now you need to master the skill of creating value.
Value is a certain product or service that helps another person solve his problem. You wrote that

I specialize in the layout of adaptive sites - bootstrap, flexbox, content management.

However, this is not a value, but your skill that you want to monetize. The value for your client will be the target buyer, whom he closes through his website. The website is one of the elements of its sales funnel. He is one of the sources of his customers. Therefore, when you speak technical language, you catch only those specialists on the stock exchange and cut off all other people who do not understand this.
OK, let's change your offer from "I specialize in responsive website development - bootstrap, flexbox, content management." to "Creating sales websites adapted for PCs, tablets and smartphones."
Now, you are making your site, which will be adapted to PCs, tablets and smartphones, and will not be flashy. The site should have a description of how you work, i.e. do you draw a layout, do you take a ready-made template, who buys photos from stocks, etc.
Then, you start responding to projects. In the first stage, your task is to take 10 works, and it doesn't matter with what price, even if it's $10. Now, you are earning feedback from other users. There are two types of people on any stock exchange: those who need it cheaper and those who need it. First, you work for the 1st category. You will switch to 2nd later.
After closing 10 projects, you gain experience and understanding of what kind of people live on Upwork and what their needs are. You will understand how much time one job takes you, what delays can be during execution, what clients generally need, etc. You will have an understanding of the overall picture of the events taking place. After the 1st stage, people will see that you can not only grind with your tongue, but also really know how to do what you declare.
Then you either work with the offer (increase the price, make some additional value) or change the niche and repeat from the beginning.

Answer 2

Hard, everyday work. Fight for every project and customer.
Come up with various bonuses.
Earn reviews, improve your skills.
Make a beautiful and large portfolio.
There are no secrets, there is work and everyday plowing.
PS
30 bets are made quietly in one month.
30 reviews a little more.
Freelancing is not for everyone.

Answer 3

I made my way without freelance exchanges, but this is not suitable for everyone.

Answer 4

Through the fakes pump. Moreover, you have relatively simple tasks there.

Answer 5

I started by offering to make layout for feedback on webmaster forums. Such forums usually have a section where you can offer your services or find an artist.
I did 3 works for a review, then a couple of clients appeared for whom I did the work already for money.
Then clients gradually went on the recommendation from others. I've been doing this for 11 years now.
I have never worked on the stock exchange, too high competition at too low cost of work.

Answer 6

For the last 10 years, every 2-3 years, I have been trying to get into freelancing. but I am constantly fatally unlucky, every time a big project for a lot of money for months or years of duration is almost immediately turned up, so I never became a freelancer-entrepreneur-to-himself-businessman-selling-value, an ordinary remote worker.
I hope you make it, good luck!
More seriously, skills (technical + communication) always decided in such visits.

Answer 7

As for me, everything is quite simple:
1. We go straight to Upwork, there is money and adequate customers. Local exchanges are a swamp.
2. Scroll through the list of projects, carefully select only those that suit us. No need to apply for everything in your niche.
3. The task should be clearly according to our profile, in this task we should be able to briefly make it clear that we know how to solve it - "already solved, here is an example, you will get these results at the output." The filter is everything.
4. The client must be within our price range. If your rate is $20/hour, and the client says that the average rate he pays is $5/hour, then writing to him is a waste of time and connections. Again, the filter is everything.
5. We respond to carefully selected applications. They should be fresh if half a day or more has passed since the publication of the application - there is no particular point in writing, unless the task is niche / specific.
6. The answer must be individual, no copy-paste. The essence of the answer should be sharpened on this specific task. You don't have to write your entire autobiography. The most important first paragraph, the first 1-2-3 sentences - these are what the client sees in the message preview and they can be a trigger to open your application. The text is concise, short clear sentences, paragraphs. The bottom line is “I understand the problem, I’ve already encountered it, it’s solved like this, there are such nuances that you didn’t think about, my estimate is X hours. Follow this link for an example of solving a similar problem, but for this one - more about me and my experience / approach if you are interested".
7. We send. The conversion rate with this approach is quite high.
Additional thoughts:
- 30 applications in 1.5 years is nothing. At first, 30 submissions per week may not be enough until you learn how to filter well, write great cover letters, and until you get Rising Talent / Top Rated + 100% JSS.
- The first clients are the hardest to get, yes. Further it will be easier. Including they themselves will write and invite.
- Even in the absence of orders, try to bypass suspicious customers and dumb projects - the idea of ​​somehow earning a penny despite the risks may not seem so bad now, but in the end it will come out more expensive for yourself.