The best jobs on Upwork are within reach, whether you want to exercise your creativity or just earn more right away. I make a full-time income (working part-time hours) on Upwork of $5,000 to $7,000 per month, depending on the projects I’m tackling. Unfortunately, there’s tons of misinformation out there that Upwork sucks or is a race to the bottom.
I actually love hearing that because it means there’s less competition for those of us who know how to rock their Upwork experience. Other advice is written by people who have barely grazed the platform and want to churn out content that’s not personalized or relevant. Let’s get right to it, starting with how you land jobs without any experience or reviews.
Can You Land the Best Upwork Jobs with No Experience (Or Reviews?)
Yes! You can absolutely land work on Upwork without experience. However, you will need to get creative and really fine-tune your process. Start by focusing on the skills you already have, from spreadsheet creation to organization or customer service.
You also need to create customized cover letters that tell the client how you can help them. Don’t focus everything around you, your skills, and how you need that first opportunity. Instead, you want to approach it in a way that shows you are there to make their lives easier:
I create spreadsheets to help clients stay hyper-organize so you can focus on running your business.
A lot of getting started on Upwork is faking it till you make it! Just make sure you have the ability to do the jobs you apply for and adopt the mindset of offering an incredible experience for your new clients.
👉 You can learn more about how to make your Upwork profile stand-out and land those first jobs here.
If you want to dive right in, this article will explore some of the best jobs on Upwork including:
Copywriting, Article Writing, or Blogging
A writing side hustle often intimidates people, but it’s not that hard if you have a decent command of the English language and a passion for it. You’re already writing emails, texts, social media posts, and odds and ends for work. You can figure out how to successfully complete a professional writing project with some inspiration and online sleuthing. Google the type of writing requested in an Upwork job to determine if you can do it. How is it formatted? Are there links to resources? What does the tone of the writing sound like?
Once you identify the type of writing you feel comfortable providing, create some samples. If you love blogging, upload your best work to your Upwork profile. Or, if you want to make a great income writing white papers, download a few in an industry you have experience in and study how they are written. There are also tons of courses on writing on LinkedIn, Udemy, and Skillshare that can help you navigate your writing journey.
Virtual Assistant
Virtual Assisting, or VA work is a broad term for just about anything a client needs online. Unless you want to get stuck doing everything from bookkeeping to customer service, you should niche down your services. The highest paid gigs for high-end VAs are for OBMs (Online Business Managers) or an expert in areas like web design or copywriting. However, plenty of VAs offer necessary but more basic services like social media post creation and scheduling, inbox management, basic writing, outreach, and more. I have yet to meet a client who wanted an expert Virtual Assistant (VA) with tons of experience.
Pro tip: Once you establish yourself as an in-demand Virtual Assistant, take a moment to step back and reassess. If you only offer copywriting services as a VA, then call yourself a copywriter! You’ll establish yourself as an expert and command higher rates than you will as a Virtual Assistant.
Digital Marketing
Digital marketing could fall into VA work, but it depends on your current expertise and what you’re looking for. If you already have marketing experience, it transfers easily to an Upwork side hustle. But if you’re just getting started, you can narrow your focus to an area you’re already good at, like creating basic Pinterest Pins on Canva or running a Facebook community.
Digital marketing is one of the best jobs on Upwork because of how much work is available. Digital marketing agencies usually have nonstop work. Even a small digital marketing company with a few people will keep me booked up for 10 to 20 hours a week. In my experience, they’re also more willing to overlook inexperience, provided you have good samples to show and a positive attitude. They’re usually busy enough they need to get someone onboarded ASAP to start handling their excess workflow.
Location-Based Gigs
Although Upwork is a global marketplace, there are still clients looking for local talent. Sometimes they want you to pop in their office, other times it’s about peace of mind that you’re local and on the same time zone. The beauty of a local Upwork gig is you can automatically crush the majority of the competition. It’s also easier to get recommendations and referrals from that company to other local business owners. But don’t assume your location will help you land the job on its own. You also need to customize your cover letter, highlight your location and drop a reference or two about where you live so they know you’re the real deal.Â
Go ahead and put in the name of your small town and see what happens. If there’s no hits, then pick some of the larger towns and cities within an hour drive. This client wants someone in the Atlanta area who can do 10-minutes of work for $100!
Web Developer
Web developers and designers are always in demand and charge a premium on Upwork. However, the market can get saturated quickly. You can stand out by creating a sparkling proposal that outlines the areas you do best and the results you earn your clients. Uploading your samples or best client work should also speak for itself.Â
You can also piggyback onto design agencies by offering white-label services. You become part of their team as opposed to your own company and brand. Make sure to read the job listing thoroughly. Some postings just want a designer and others require UX and UI experience. Don’t let the details intimidate you. You can also brush up on your skills by taking some courses on Udemy or Skillshare and leveraging those credentials into your Upwork profile.
Data or Business Analyst
There are large corporations and growing businesses needing data analysts and business analysts. You may get hired to create reports based on existing data, look through a company’s Google Analytics, or create an excel spreadsheet to help an e-commerce business get organized. Remember the primary goal of a data analyst is gathering insights and finding solutions. Unless the job only wants you to hand over a pile of data with no context, you need an action plan of what to do with it next to enhance a client’s business.Â
Pro tip:Â Set your search filters to only look for jobs in a specific price range. For example, if you want to see which jobs pay $100 an hour, you’ll set your filter to only look for jobs that fit your criteria.
Customer Service Jobs
If you have a knack of dealing with customers and have a rock solid disposition, no matter the situation, you can land some of the best jobs on Upwork. Customer service jobs are always in demand and don’t necessarily require experience. Depending on the posting, you may be required to make calls, schedule appointments, follow-up with customers, and deal with issues. Remember, you don’t have to do it all. If you can’t stand making phone calls, make sure to only apply to jobs that fit your criteria.
Customer service jobs also scale up to other types of work. Once you prove that you’re a hard worker and can handle challenging situations, you can ask for more work. Suggest organizing a client’s inbox, creating email marketing copy, or getting them set up with a new software. A capable, eager attitude will get you far on Upwork, but it’s vital to prove yourself before asking for more and more projects.
Odd Jobs and Grunt Work
Some of the best jobs on Upwork are small gigs and grunt work. In an ideal world, you want to use these jobs as a stepping off point to gather positive reviews and feedback and scale into more consistent, better paying work. Odd jobs are just about anything you can think of from:
- Download images, change the name, and re-upload
- Make a spreadsheet of CEOs names who work in the financial-tech sector
- Clean up five spreadsheets with XYZ values
As one of the best jobs on Upwork, odd jobs and grunt work is usually quick and easy. Beyond gathering positive reviews for your work, you can also make a point to keep in touch with your client. Reach out periodically and ask about other work and projects. They’re more willing to work with someone who did a good job than go through the process of finding someone new.
Finding the Best Jobs on Upwork: Next Steps
Once you’ve identified some of the best jobs on Upwork, you need a rock solid strategy to stand-out from the competition. Learn how to write a killer cover letter, create samples, optimize your profile, and how to quickly identify scams with my ultimate guide: Upwork Side Hustle [Start Earning Right Away]. It does take some persistence and patience to get up and running, but is totally possible and how I make a full-time living in part-time hours.