Freelance platforms are a great way to make money online, but after you sign up, do not rush to complete your profile. Think about it: you are one of the millions of freelancers registered on several sites. If your profile is incomplete, hard to read, or poorly designed, your potential customers will move on to the next freelancer.
Creating a hasty profile is dangerous: you do not put your name to something without making sure it’s perfect. Some sites, including, freelance.com and Up work, help you stand out by offering a Rising Talent badge to impressive but new freelancers on the platform. One of the conditions is to have a complete and up-to-date profile.
A quality profile challenges customers and pushes them to spend more time. It’s a profile like that you need to make money online. Your profile on a freelance platform is your store, your business card and your face at a time. Customers who have never worked with you only have your profile to guide them in their decision. Keep reading our tips on how to create a good profile on Upwork, Guru, Freelancer.com, Fiverr, or any other freelance platform to make money online.
How to create a high-quality freelancer profile to make money online?
The first step is to make sure your profile is complete. This means providing all the important information about you, your experience, and your qualifications. To get started, make sure you have given the following information:
Your real name – do not give in to the temptation to use a fake name as “Editor” or “Best Editor”
A quality profile picture
The description of your exact work
Appropriate talents and qualifications (you may need to choose only the most relevant ones)
A portfolio to show your work
All this is just a starting point for creating a simple profile. Getting your profile from “ok” to “awesome” requires a little more effort. Here are some tips:
Use a nice cover image and a clean, uncluttered business profile picture. Your profile picture should be a photo of your face, centered and well lit.
Most freelance platforms allow you to put a link to your portfolio online. Do not hesitate to do so, to be able to show your work and a potential customer rather than just tell him about it.
Remember that a profile is not necessarily just text. You can improve your profile with a video and/or link to a professional portfolio site, which gives you more space to view your samples, diplomas, and more.
Connect your social network accounts, especially professional networks like LinkedIn. It helps to establish your presence and your legitimacy and it provides a human dimension.
Think about the perfect job name. A too generic job title like “graphic designer” does not help you stand out from the crowd of graphic designers on the market. A longer title that describes exactly what you do well and shows clients what benefits they can get from cooperation is much more effective.
Make a brief, but the striking description by unscrupulously eliminating any unnecessary word. Customers who are looking for a new employee do not all have the time to read a novel!
Do not include experiences that are not relevant to your area of work. For example, if you are a freelance graphic designer, you do not have to talk about the summer when you worked in the kitchen. Remember to put the most important and relevant talents first in your description and lists. Always keep a customer-centric profile. If you want to talk about your personal interests and experiences, it should be made clear how this can benefit the customer.
Be in the precision. You might be afraid to give too much detail about what you have to offer and scare away customers who are looking for different specific skills, but in reality, it’s the opposite. The more precise you are, the more confident your customers will be in your ability to complete projects – even types of projects that are not included in the basic description of your profile.
Never use “us” unless you are part of a team: too many freelancers fall into this trap. Using “us” when talking about one’s own successes lowers their impact and makes you look nervous and hesitant. Plus, your potential customers are looking to hire a freelancer, not a company.
If you write your profile in English, but you lack confidence in this area, ask a friend who knows this language better. Most platforms ask you to list the languages you speak, so you can use this section to tell potential customers that English is not your first or even the second language. Many will appreciate your honesty.
Once you have written your profile, reread it and correct it. Has it corrected by your friends, to let no shell, spelling and grammatical errors that could spoil your efforts? Typos and spelling errors make a very bad impression.
Then keep in mind that your profile is not engraved in the rock, and your goal to make money online may not be fulfilled. Update it every few months to add your new experiences and skills, and to edit details.
Remember, if you do not have any relevant work experience (in other words, if you are a baby freelancer), you can include your other experiences and how they are relevant to your current field.
This excellent freelancer profile example helps to put the above tips into practice (we used the freelance.com, but it is relevant to all freelance platforms).
How to create a superb portfolio?
If you work as a freelancer and want to make money online, you will need a portfolio. A portfolio can be part of your profile on a freelance platform, it can be on your own website, or be on a site specifically designed for portfolios, like Contently or Dribble. Your portfolio is your best chance to show what you can do.
Creating an effective portfolio requires thinking about it. First, you will have to choose what to include. It is not advisable to include the absolute completeness of your work – it can be too much detail for your visitors and this inevitably implies that you will have to include things that are not as good as others.
Only choose the best examples of your work, not those that do not fully pack you. If only certain types of projects interest you, it is better to focus your examples on it. For example, if you’re a graphic designer and you love web design, you’ll need to include as many examples as possible of websites and leave out your printed logo examples.
A portfolio, by and large, is a simplified version of a presentation about your work. If the goal is to show the customer what you can do, you must also give some explanations. For each example, specify your goals and how you create. Talk about the client to whom the work was intended, and explain what made the project a success. Make a short but clear description.
If your portfolio is not yet big enough, or if you want to get into an area where you do not have much experience yet, do not worry. You can create your own examples, or work for free for friends or colleagues to showcase your skills. For example, as a graphic designer, you could create a logo for one of the stores in your area, or create the perfect packaging for your favorite candies.
It goes without saying that you should never use someone else’s work in your portfolio. It’s not just about ethics, it’s also about taking a big risk, which could fall on you when the real creators discover the deception or when a potential customer asks why the same job exists in two different portfolios.
Remember, if your examples were created for a client, make sure you have permission to use them before you include them in your portfolio.
Another decision to make when you create your portfolio, do you wish to make several? Opinions differ greatly on this subject. Some freelancers are putting all the best examples in a portfolio. You can organize it into sections highlighting the different areas in which you work while showing the client everything you are capable of and seeing the extent of your talents and abilities.
Others prefer to create several different portfolios, one for each type of task. For example, as a graphic designer, you could have a portfolio for your logos, one for business cards, and one for product packaging. Then you just need to send the right portfolio to the potential customer, depending on the type of work they are looking for. In this way, you can create tailor-made portfolios, highlighting the most appropriate skills for each task.
Finally, always check your work before including it in your portfolio. Make sure there are no errors of carelessness or typing errors. If you are showing something that has been published online, share it in PDF or other similar formats rather than an internet link, so that no one will own your work by using it for their own purposes.
What to do if your profile stays mediocre?
There is no alert to let you know that your profile is not quite complete – but if you have made several proposals for offers that match your talents and experience and you have not no return is a sign that your profile needs a boost.
If you do not think you can create a high-quality profile, turn to an editor or marketing expert. If you know that grammar and spelling are not your strengths, ask someone to correct you. You could :
Ask friends who know how to help you
Barter with other freelancers, for everyone to find something for them
Engage freelance copywriter, marketing manager or proofreader to write, improve and correct your profile
If you hire a freelancer for this task, you will have the opportunity to experience freelancing on the other side: as a customer. You will have a better understanding of the process and see which profiles stand out the most in your own freelancer search.
To do: If you notice that your freelancer profile is less interesting for a few months, it’s probably time to update it and make it a little makeover. And as always, do not hesitate to ask for help from friends. They might notice things you do not see.
Other ways to boost your freelancer profile?
In addition to creating a high-quality profile, there are some other strategies you can use to promote yourself in a crowded market.
Ways to Boost Your Freelance Profile
Your customers’ opinions: Freelance platforms such as Upwork, Freelancer.com, and freelance.com, Fiverr allow you to easily ask your customers to leave a comment after the project is finished. Add these reviews to your profile to build a reputation as a reliable and efficient worker. If you promote your work on your own site, ask your customers for permission before sharing their opinions.
Video: Upwork and Guru both allow freelancers to create a profile video, which is a good opportunity to give a human dimension to your profile and establish a relationship of trust with potential customers. Once they have heard your voice and seen your face, they will have the impression of knowing you. Better be short in your video, no more than a minute, and make sure it is both professional and friendly.
Keep a blog: Whether you post on your own business site or on other sites, a blog is a great way to reach potential customers. No matter what your industry is, you can find a relevant angle that will interest new customers, giving you more authority in your field.
Boss for free: If you’re just starting out, consider offering free consultations and samples. For example, a graphic designer could offer five free logos for positive reviews and add them to his portfolio.
Social Media Marketing: Remember that your social networks are part of your brand. Feel free to add excerpts from your latest project or your opinions on industry-specific issues to create or strengthen your connections to other participants in this field.
Competency tests: Many freelance platforms offer proficiency tests. If they are not essential for getting work, they can be a good way to prove your abilities in certain areas, which can be useful if you do not have much experience yet.
Steps to take
Write a draft of your profile for the freelancer site you want to join, making sure you read the terms and conditions to find out what you can include and have gone through the other successful freelancer profiles on the site. platform to get an idea of what works or does not work.
Create a portfolio with examples of your work and start engaging customers and make money online. It can be a zip file that you can send to your customers, or a video and/or a portfolios site.
Share your profile with friends and colleagues in the freelance community to get an objective opinion.
Publish your profile!
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