Hey - here's the step by step guide I've used to successfully spend over $72,000 on Upwork (and counting)...
Thank you for taking the time to engage with my content on Twitter (https://twitter.com/iamfra5er).
Who am I and why should you listen to me?
In the last 10 years I’ve successfully leveraged Upwork (as well as other platforms) to consistently find, test, hire and delegate countless revenue generating tasks such as:
- Prospect list building
- Cold email outreach to new potential prospects + managing responses
- Bookkeeping in wave + xero
- Creating new wire payments, sending payments to current clients
- Scraping, organizing and reporting
- Full product development of simple + complex internal + saas products
- Research, contacting and booking travel
I took my current database saas from $0 to $9.1k MRR in 7 months (launched at the end of Aug 2022) by building processes and using Upwork to find people that could execute.
The key to being able to do this successfully is your ability to document tasks into SOP (standard operating procedure) guides - written steps (use google doc/sheets or notion) or simple instructional videos (use https://www.loom.com - it’s free).
The best way to do this is to do the task first, document the process and update it along the way.
Let’s get started…
People say hiring is hard (they make the same 3 mistakes.)
- They try to hire when they aren’t ready to hire
- The job description the use is vague and they don’t attract the best applicants
- They don’t know how to properly test a potential candidate BEFORE hiring them
I’ve spent well over $72,000 hiring on Upwork and will show you how to avoid mistakes that will cost your thousands!
BEFORE you post your job to Upwork you need to first document the task you want completed. The more details you provide on the SOP the higher the chance of success for your candidate.
Here are an example of SOPs I’ve created and my team uses (use it as a template for your task):
SOP video - https://www.loom.com/share/3ad2e106a94a4895b9016417e141abde SOP doc - Scaling <> SOP training doc
Now that you have your SOP doc or your video is ready it’s time to post your job on Upwork.
Title:
Be extremely clear - tell people exactly what they'll be doing.
Editing content for OnlyFans? Tell them that instead of a generic “video editor needed” title.
Your goal is to attract the right freelancers and not waste time
Description:
Be extremely clear!
The goal is to LIMIT what to explain and move to the test task.
Tell them exactly what they’ll be doing.
DO NOT post some vague stuff like you’d see on the job posting at a company.
Include the hourly rate or fixed price (limits back and forth - create a freelancer profile on Upwork and search similar jobs to see what others are paying 👀)
Provide the SOP of the task (sop - written or short video) and write it in the description to show you are ready to start NOW!
If it's a long term opportunity TELL THEM (higher quality apps).
It is A LOT of work to find, test and hire…and guess what? It’s the same for a freelancer.
Long term work = less time wasted finding, applying, taking tests to get hired for a freelancer.
Learn exactly how I found THE PERFECT developer on Reddit with my guide
But Fraser I’ve never hired on Upwork before and don’t have a profile, no problem.
You’ll need to “build” your client profile and fast.
Freelancers want to know you have experience hiring (see spend + reviews). Many won’t bid if you have $0 spend.
Post simple easy tasks to build your feedback.
Example tasks:
- 100 leads X in Y city - sample price of $20
- Convert images from 1 type to another - sample price $10
- 10 email subject lines - sample price of $20
- Banner design - sample price of $100
- Simple wordpress installation on your service + install theme + customize the theme - sample price of $200
The idea is to do simple stuff to show some spend and get reviews as a client…it matters.
Here’s any example post that got a good number of applicants:
PRO TIP: you need to post this at ideal times that freelancers will be looking for work.
Based on my experience the following times have worked best for me:
7am est-9am est -> targeting freelancers based in Eastern EU and Asia
See the difference in the amount of people who applied (8am est vs 11am est)
BEFORE you review who's applied make sure you have the following done:
- SOP of the task (this will limit the back and forth + clarify questions)
- template test message to send to apps
- test task ready to assign
But Fraser I don't know what to look for....it's simple -> good freelancers on Upwork have a track record of success.
Start messaging 5-10 to complete a test based on their $ bid, $ earned on Upwork, feedback score.
If you have questions in your app, review the answers.
It's a numbers game.
Some won't complete the test, some will complete it wrong, some will complete it 80% right and some will complete it perfectly.
Your job is to pick someone that you can DELEGATE to and be confident they'll do it right but be available to support them!
Don't overthink it.
If you take the time to document the job that needs to be completed + create a test that will demonstrate ability you'll find someone who's able to help!
Next up is reviewing the tests and hiring! 💪
Pick 10-12 applications and send them a message.
The message should include more details about the task, a link to the sop, a link to the test.
Here’s an example of what I send:
These are typical results you should expect from your messages:
6 replied right away and did the test.
4 did not answer (I assume they were sleeping)
2 said everything was clear and they'd do the test right away but ghosted 😭
The test results:
1 - did nothing (legit nothing and said he was done)
3 - completed but had ~50% wrong
2 - completed it with 90% accuracy.
Give each person feedback - they need to know how they performed to improve their process.
The goal from the test task is to find someone that followed instructions and completed the task as close to 100% correct as possible. If you have a few that are close, why not hire them all and see who you work best with? I’ve done this many times before and you’ll see who’s left standing.
Here are the tasks + best countries + the rates that work for me:
- General va tasks - PH - $5-7/hr
- Bookkeeping - PH $8-12/hr
- List building + cold outreach + email replies - PH/Eastern EU - $5-10/hr
- Development - Eastern EU or South America $20-35/hr
- Cold caller - South america - $10/hr + commission (asked for call recordings BEFORE assigning a test)
Here are the countries I’ve had the WORST experience with:
- India (outsourcing the work mostly and slow to act)
- Pakistan (low quality of work)
- Bangladesh (similar to India)
***hire direct freelancers and NOT agencies.
WHY?
Communication will be an issue. You want to give direct feedback to the person you’re working with in order to act fast.
PRO TIP: do NOT allow freelancers to track manual hours and if they ask for you to enable this - DO NOT. Make them use the Upwork time tracker and see how long it takes them to complete tasks.
Additional platforms to consider:
- Fiverr (hit or miss for me)
That’s it!
Still stuck? Set aside 30 mins and let's get it done - https://t.ly/7EDlB
If you found this helpful PLEASE reply to my original post and leave a positive review (it would mean a lot to me)!
BONUS -> Learn exactly how I found THE PERFECT developer on Reddit to build my mvp for $150 ($9,458.20 MRR in June) with my guide -> GET INSTANT ACCESS NOW If you have any other questions or feedback please reply to this email or DM me and I will reply ASAP.