Pros and Cons of Upwork
Do you want to know about all the Pros and Cons of Upwork? If yes, then you have come to the right platform.
Upwork is a great platform, but it’s not perfect. Like any other thing, Upwork is also far from perfect. Upwork also has some pros and cons. The main thing that should be in mind while considering the pros and cons of using Upwork is whether the pros outweigh the cons or the cons outweigh the pros. To understand this, read this article carefully and don’t skip any part. After reading this article, you will learn about the pros and cons of using Upwork. And either the pros overcome the cons or the cons overcome the pros?
What is Upwork?
Upwork is the most popular website for clients to get connected with freelancers. Upwork is a more professional website than any other online platform because it protects both parties and it’s the highest paying. But what exactly is the platform? Let’s talk about it.
Upwork Is a website that gives a platform for businesses and freelancers to create a profile. Any business or individual can post a job or project on Upwork, i.e., Copywriting, programming, web design, and even voiceover work. Then freelancers have the opportunity to browse for the Job of their interest or expertise, and then they can apply for the Job. So, the clients review all the applications for the project and finalize the freelancer that they feel is right for the Job.
Upwork Pros
Following are the pros of using Upwork.
Here is an explanation of the top 3 Pros of using Upwork.
1. Easy to Find Freelance Jobs and Potential Clients
The first question that comes to the mind of a new freelancer is, where will I find new clients? It could not be a better answer to say that most freelancers have also experienced difficulty finding potential clients.
Cold calls and cold emails require a ton of time with little payoff. The same is for social media.
Finding jobs related to your specific skill on Upwork is easy, especially related to the following popular freelance fields.
Upwork is becoming popular daily as New clients join the platform daily. Dozens of jobs are posted by clients to Upwork every minute of each day, and the clients are ready to hire for these jobs.
To get the order, you don’t need to convince them that they need a service or someone who will look after their project. They already know about all these things, and they need a professional with specific skills who can handle their project.
You only need to convince clients that you are the best choice for the specific Job or role.
So, it’s good to send winning proposals with some preparation and practice.
2. Upwork Handles the Contract, Billing, Invoicing and Mediation
Upwork gives support and security to the freelance community in terms of handling contracts, billing, invoicing, and mediation (any unfortunate event in which something goes wrong).
Otherwise, these tasks are scary for new freelancers because they are expensive.
If you are not freelancing on Upwork, you have to pay hundreds of dollars to Fiverr Workspace per year for handling your invoicing and payments. Similarly, you have to pay hundreds of dollars to Rocket Lawyer to handle your contracts. Even there was a lot of manual work after using these services too.
Sometimes in case of payment or contract dispute, you even have to file your claim, and you have to hire and pay for legal counsel too.
That’s why one of the greatest ‘pros’ of Upwork is that they handle all the backend operations for you.
Your proposals on Upwork and even your messages sent through Upwork Messenger all serve as your contract.
Upwork also handles your payment collection and bank deposits.
In case of any issue between you and the client, Upwork customer service is always ready for you. Upwork reaches out to both parties and tries to solve the issue, and assigns a mediation agent, too, if both parties do not agree on any agreement.
3. You can Earn Huge Amounts of Money on the Platform
One of the greatest and most attractive pros is that you can make a lot of money on an Upwork platform.
There is no limit to your fee on Upwork as a graphic designer. People are earning a lot of money with an hourly rate of $50-$250. It all depends on any individual freelance skill level and communication. If you have good graphic design skills and can communicate with your client well, you can earn even more than $250 per hour.
It’s also more challenging than it looks.
It can take some weeks to get your first Job even if you are consistently engaged in Upwork. And it can take months to build a good reputation on the Upwork platform.
But after this crucial time, you start to get a feel for what to say to your clients and how to pitch yourself in front of potential clients.
Suppose you are getting many orders that you need help managing. Then you can also hire subcontractors. It helps to improve your backend portion, and you can earn more money than before.
These are all looking so good.
Everything is not perfect and has both pros and cons. Let’s discuss the cons portion of the article.
Upwork Cons
Following are the cons of using Upwork.
Here is the explanation of the top 3 Cons of using Upwork.
1. Pay to Play
On Upwork, you have to pay for play means that you have to pay a little money to apply for a Job. The main reason behind this concept is to maintain this platform for those who know, and interested, and are genuinely related to any specific job.
Before this, there was no charge method for applying for jobs. So, a large number of people were applying for jobs, and even those applying for jobs who did not know that specific Job. It made the process difficult for clients as clients needed to consume more time and energy to shortlist those applicants who could do a job. So, this was a waste of time and energy for clients (those posting jobs on Upwork).
So, in May 2019, Upwork introduced something called ” Upwork Connects” to ease the process and maintain the integrity of the process.
Connects is a form of digital currency which are used on Upwork.
Today, Freelancers have to spend 1-8 connections (depending on the job size) to apply for any job.
So, the use of Connects makes it possible for only concerned persons are apply for jobs.
Upwork also provides 40 Connects free of cost to beginners. Some freelancers get orders before finishing these 40 free connects.
And now it’s good news for freelancers that you do not have to spend connects for the invited jobs.
Many senior freelancers on Upwork rely on invites as they don’t need Connects.
Another thing is that you can also win Connects when you are shortlisted and invited for interviews after applying for a job.
2. You have to Pay a Commission Fee to Upwork
Now I’m going to discuss the most common complaint about Upwork, i.e., Upwork fees.
We should understand that, like any other business, Upwork is also a business. They also have business expenses, employees to pay, and make investors happy.
So they have to pay a fee to fulfill all the expenses of Upwork.
The fee breakdown for earnings from each client is as follows.
These fees may seem like high fees. But it would help if you examined that only a 20% fee is on your earnings of less than $500 per client. As your earnings start to increase per client, fees immediately begin to drop,
If you are earning more than $ 10,000 from each client, then you need to pay only a 5% fee for all the services given by Upwork.
Upwork is also like any other recruiting agency, and the average fee for any recruiting agency is 30%. But Upwork charges only 20% maximum, and it even drops to 5% as your earnings start to increase per client.
3. You have to Keep your Clients on Upwork for Two Years
Do you want to get out of paying the Upwork fee altogether? No Problem, After two years, you are allowed to take your client off the platform, and you can work with your client without paying any fee.
However, taking your client off the platform early without paying the conversion fee (12% of your estimated earnings annually) can result in permanent suspension of your account.
But it’s also unfair with Upwork. It’s always advised that we should not bite the hands that feed. You can take your client off the platform legally after two years, so you should wait for two years without using any unfair method, as two years will come and go before you know it.
Conclusion
In conclusion, The main thing that should be in mind while considering the pros and cons of using Upwork is whether the pros outweigh the cons or the cons outweigh the pros. The cons of Upwork cannot overcome the pros. So, in my view, you should use Upwork without any hesitation as its benefits are always more, and it provides a very supportive platform to all freelancers, especially beginners, in the form of “free connect“.
It can take a lot of time to get started, get the first order, and get positive reviews for your profile. You also have to pay a fee on this platform, but you should use this as it can be life-changing for you if you are consistent and committed to yourself.