Finally figured out the difference between Upwork and local gigs for me

I spent like 6 months chasing Upwork bids and barely made $200. Switched last month to just hitting up local coffee shops and gyms for dental hygiene content, landed a $500 retainer with one spot. Anyone else find local beats remote for steady work?

4 comments

4 Comments

jana50918d ago

Honestly, that 'barely made $200' part hit hard. I remember a friend who was trying to do freelance graphic design on Upwork and they spent forever bidding on jobs and getting ghosted. They finally just went to a local record store and offered to redesign their flyers and website for a small fee, and now they get paid under the table and have free coffee there. It's crazy how much easier it is when you can just walk in and talk to someone face to face instead of fighting with bots and people from other countries who charge five bucks.

tessap9718d ago

Makes you wonder how much online life actually gets in the way of real life.

emma_jones18d ago

YES. This. I tried doing freelance writing on Fiverr for a few months and it was a COMPLETE nightmare. I spent more time writing proposals and lowering my prices than actually writing anything. Finally I just went to a local coffee shop that had a TERRIBLE website and offered to fix it for free coffee and a few bucks. Now they pay me a little every month to update their social media. The owner and I are friends and he even lets me bring my laptop there all day. Online platforms make you feel like you're competing with the whole WORLD but real life is just one town. The face to face thing is SO much better, you can build trust way faster than through a profile.

sethm5818d ago

Oh man, that's such a good point. You're right that the whole "charge five bucks" thing is brutal for freelancers, but I think your friend's story is a little off. @jana509, I actually tried Upwork for a bit and while you're right that there's tons of competition from cheap overseas labor, most of the "bots" you talk about are just poorly written gig postings, not actual bots. Like, I remember seeing a job post asking for a logo design for $15, and the person actually responded when I messaged them, so it was a real person just with a really low budget. Still, your friend's move to walk into the record store is genius, that face to face connection is something the online platforms totally miss.