How to make money on Upwork in 2024

Searching for platforms where you can make money online can be a tough task because of two things, one you want to work remotely, and second, you want your services to be open all around the world. Upwork is one such platform where you can find both things.

Although Upwork keeps its share the way it connects service providers with customers is magical.

How can you make money online with Upwork in 2024 ?

Being an Upwork freelancer requires a stronger mindset of self-awareness and self-discipline since no one will be standing at your head to get the tasks completed within time. Whether you are an experienced service provider or heard all about this for the first time, here’s how you can make money online as a beginner.

Make an Upwork Freelancer Profile

Starting with an Upwork freelancer profile means that before diving into the work, you need to decide on a core service that you would be providing globally, something that you would want to be known for.

Your profile is the first impression that a visitor absorbs about you, you could choose any profession you have been carrying lately or you just started. This can be web development, graphic designing, app development, digital marketing, search engine optimization, content writing, or anything that are good at.

Starting with an Upwork freelancer profile asks you to set your username, and enter your full name and qualification. It becomes really helpful for the customers to skim through your information. You’ll need to upload your photo and describe your background in the related work, your preferred working hours of the week, and your location as well. 

Upwork asks you to display your per-hour charge rate so that the customer gets a rough estimate of what their expenses are going to be. Normally, Upwork approves your profile within the first 24 hours and you can start making money online. Go through our quick Upwork freelancer profile guide. 

Below is an attached sample of what your Upwork profile would look like.

Upwork Basic or Upwork Plus; which one to choose?

If you are new to freelancing and have just created the Upwork freelancer profile then it is likely for you to choose an Upwork basic since you don’t wanna pay for connecting to potential clients at the moment. However, it becomes easier for you to choose the plus package once the income is streamed.

Here’s a table that lists the differences between the two packages.

*Connects; the inner platform tokens to connect with employers

There are chances that you are approached by an employer and in order to experience this a lot, make sure you have a robust Upwork freelancing profile with a catchy headline and relevant work experience. Don’t worry if you are new over here, voluntary work is also counted as experience.

Make money with legitimate employers on Upwork

Making money can make you a quick chooser who might overlook the small things but these small things can turn into havoc if not taken care of. For a successful gig, 2you need to submit a proposal while you are connecting to an employer. You would also need to name your price for the work. 

Before doing all this, just google and research a little about the employer, go through their demands in the gig, and note if they have the label of ‘Verified Payment’ in their profile. This can help you decide whether to go with that employer or not. 

The process of Upwork resembles that of Careem or Uber where both the parties are asked to rate each other on a scale of 5 stars. The ratings you get from the employers are shown as a success score on your profile, enabling other clients to know what services you are good at so those looking for them can connect with you. The better the success rate, the better leads and projects you take on from Upwork.

Apart from the ratings, employers on Upwork can also write you recommendations which can be greatly helpful for you to stand out in the crowd. Keeping everything documented by both parties can save each from the scam or delayed work and payment.

Set your price and start making money online

Upwork has its own processing and it takes a cut from each of your earnings, however, the process is so that the percentage of the cut decreases if you work for the same client and charge them above a certain amount. Being an Upwork freelancer you can expect the following cut-rate from Upwork:

• 20% for the first $500 you bill a client.
• 10% for total billings with a client between $500.01 and $10,000.
• 5% for total billings with a client that exceed $10,000.

There are 2 ways in which you can be paid on Upwork, either hourly or fixed payments. If you have been charging $20 for a client hourly then you would be receiving $16 and once you have billed the same client an amount of $500 then the fee drops to 10% and now if you charge the client $20, you will be receiving $18.

Being an Upwork freelancer, you are given 2 options either hourly payments or fixed payments, let’s just go through these. 

If you select hourly rate then Upwork creates a Work Diary for you in the desktop app and all your progress is saved over there. The app monitors your screen and saves your progress in a 10-minute billing cycle, it even records your keystrokes, scrolling, clicks, and active windows. You would be surprised to know that it also takes screenshots. However, you can always turn the screen off and add the working hours manually but it is suggested to keep the monitor on so that you get paid for all the time you consumed for the tasks.

Some people like to make money at fixed rates for a task and it is absolutely fine. Upwork helps you in this thing as well, when you connect to an employer with a fixed payment then the employer has to set aside a certain amount while also drafting the milestones to be achieved in the project. You are paid some of it while you make progress and the rest of it is paid when all the milestones are completed.

Cash your online money with Upwork

Upwork gives you legit ways to cash your money, you can get your payments through PayPal, direct deposit, or wire transfer.

If you have chosen the hourly rate, you’ll get all your payment after you and the client has reviewed the work, 10 days after the billing period ends. However, if the project ends in the middle, this is where the drafted milestones and Hourly Protection comes in handy and if you think that the client is not paying you what you both agreed to then you can raise a dispute process fully taken care of by Upwork itself.

For the fixed rate, you are paid as soon as you are agreed upon the milestones and if you think there’s been something wrong from the client’s side, you can always put up a dispute process.