17 Tips To Make Your Freelancer Profile Stand Out

Before you can start applying to jobs on Upwork, you'll need to work on your freelancer profile. Having a strong profile can help you to win interviews and clients. Making a freelancer profile that stands out starts with the title and overview; this is your first impression. When clients visit your profile, they should know exactly what to hire you for and what you're best at.

You can then choose the skills that accurately describe what you do, highlight your past experience, and build your portfolio. Upwork freelancer profiles give a comprehensive overview of your skill set. You can market yourself to clients and get matched with freelance jobs that fit your niche.

Read Transcript‍
‍

Following these tips will help you create a professional profile that stands out so you can start building your freelance business:

1. Choose your profile picture
2. Select your profiles
3. Create a profile title
4. Set your hourly rate
5. Draft an overview
6. Add employment history
7. Build your portfolio
8. Select your skills
9. List your services on Project Catalog
10. Promote with ads
11. Stand out with an introduction video
12. Decide your availability
13. Fill in your background
14. Request testimonials
15. List your certifications
16. Develop your work history
17. Add other experiences
    ‍

1. Choose your profile picture

Your profile picture is the first visual impression potential clients get of you. Pictures help freelancer interactions feel more human. Even if you never meet the client in person or via video chat, they can put a face to the name.

Your profile photo should be a clear and professional headshot (from the shoulders up) that looks like you.

Tips for taking and choosing your profile picture

• Make sure your photo is at least 250 x 250 pixels
• Look at the camera
• Have your face be the focal point
• Use a plain background
• Be the only person in the picture

Avoid pictures with

• Sunglasses
• Text
• Logos
• Digital alteration
• Avatars
• Pixelation

2. Select your profiles

On Upwork, you can create two specialized profiles in addition to your general profile. The main profile should focus on the top skill that you want to offer your clients. You can then create two other profiles based on other skills you have or experience in specific industries.

Each specialized Upwork profile will have a separate title, overview, and hourly rate. You can also decide which portfolio and work history items you want to display on each profile.

Having a specialized profile helps potential clients know what to hire you for. You can choose which profile to use when submitting job proposals, which can help you be a closer match for the job.

3. Create a profile title

Your profile title greatly impacts whether or not a client decides to click on your profile or proposal to know more. The title should grab their attention and accurately explain what you do from a quick glance.

Think about what sets you apart from other freelancers with your skills and see if you can add that to your profile title. Your headline should be short and direct. You have 70 characters to tell clients who you are and what you do.

Get inspired with these 100+ examples of freelancer headlines for different categories and skills.

If you upgrade to a Freelancer Plus account, you can also choose a customized URL between 4 and 20 characters long. A customized URL makes it easier for clients to find you and helps with personal branding.

4. Set your hourly rate

When creating your profile and submitting job proposals, you get to set your hourly rate. The hourly rates guide is a great place to start. You can see what other freelancers with your skills charge clients. Many freelancers start out with a slightly lower rate to get reviews and build their portfolios.

Hourly rates depend on the skill's demand and your level of expertise. If you have a skill that is in high demand and you're an expert, you'll be able to charge more than someone with a different skill who is just starting out their career.

When submitting job proposals and interviewing with clients, you can negotiate your rate. On certain long-term contracts, you can schedule a rate increase in your proposal. At set intervals, your hourly rate automatically increases without having to start a new contract.

If you need more help, take the Upwork Academy course on Setting Your Rate.

5. Draft an overview

When creating your profile on Upwork, you want to spend time on the overview. Think of the overview as an elevator pitch, explaining who you are and what you do best.

Keep it informative but brief; clients often evaluate many different freelancers at once. Break up blocks of text with shorter paragraphs and bullet points.

When clients search for talent, only the first 250 characters of your overview will show up without clicking for more, so you want to grab their attention in the beginning. Always make sure to proofread your text before publishing.

You can dive deeper with the Upwork Academy course on Creating a Title and Overview.

6. Add employment history

Before you can be eligible for talent badges like Rising Talent, you'll need to have a 100% complete freelancer profile. Part of the essential items is adding at least one specific detail to your employment history.

Don't worry if you're just starting your career. Work history includes student jobs, internships, or volunteer experiences. You can also add any clients and freelance work that you had before joining Upwork.

Your employment history is separate from your Upwork history. Upwork contracts automatically appear under "work history" on your profile as you accept and complete new contracts.

Potential clients will see your employment history chronologically, with the most recent jobs first. Try to choose the past jobs that are most closely aligned with the skills on your profile. You can explain in the job description how the position helped you develop your skill set. Let clients know how many years of experience you have in your industry.

7. Build your portfolio

Read Transcript
‍

Before interviewing or hiring talent, clients like to see work samples. Upwork portfolios make it easy to show off your best work, whether it takes the form of a GitHub repository or a slick website design. You can upload high-resolution images, videos, and audio of past projects.

Talent who've published a portfolio are hired 9x more often than those who haven't.

The projects you add to your portfolio don't have to be from Upwork clients. You can highlight projects from past jobs or clients outside of Upwork as long as you have their permission.  

If you don't have any paid projects from clients yet, you can create mockups. Check out profiles from other talent on Upwork with your skills and see what types of portfolio samples they have. You can then mock up your own using fictional clients.

Learn more in the Upwork Academy Course on Building Your Portfolio.

8. Select your skills

On your profile, you can select up to 15 skills to showcase your capabilities to clients. The skills you choose should be closely aligned with the types of projects you want to take on. These skills help Upwork match you with jobs you're well suited for. Think of it as Upwork SEO.

You'll also need to choose what categories to display on your profile. These are the main services you want to offer clients.

Clients can search for talent and invite them to submit proposals for their jobs. Having skills and categories that accurately describe the work that you do can help these clients find you.

Check out the most in-demand skills on the platform right now to help you decide what to focus on.

9. List your services on Project Catalog

On Project Catalog, instead of having to submit proposals to jobs, clients come to you. Project Catalog is where clients go to find predefined projects they can shop. Clients can search by service, budget, and skill to find exactly the type of fixed-price project they need for their business.

When listing a service on Project Catalog, you determine the project's scope, including cost, timeline, and package of deliverables. You can set up to three different pricing tiers based on the services and deliverables. You also have the option to include three custom or prepopulated add-ons.

As a freelancer, you can list up to 20 projects on Project Catalog. Think about which of your services are in the highest demand and how you can package them to clients.  

You can take the Project Catalog Learning Path to dive deeper into the benefits of offering projects and how to create your first project.

10. Promote with ads

You can use Upwork ads to win more work as a freelancer. Ads can help you get seen by clients, leading to more job invites and interviews. You pay for ads using Connects, your virtual token on Upwork. Decide your Connects budget and how much you're willing to spend on each ad, then track your results in My Stats.

You can choose from three different types of ads depending on what your goals are:

• Boosted Profile. Get more job invites and stand out to clients.
• Availability Badge. Let clients know you're ready to take on work right now.
• Boosted Proposal. Send your proposal to the top of the client’s results list.

11. Stand out with an introduction video

Your freelancer profile has an optional section for an introduction video. Start with a sample script and use it as a template to write your own. You can create a short video (just a minute or two) so clients can quickly get to know you. Video introductions help clients to see your personality and confidence, and make a connection.

When filming your video, you should have a script in mind. You don't have to memorize it word for word, but plan out what you want to say. Your video should be high quality and have clear audio. Dress professionally and choose a clean background.

You'll need to upload your video to YouTube and disable ads, and then you can add the link to your profile.

Check out these example intro videos from some of your fellow freelancers:

• Czarina de los Reyes-Guevara — Customer Service Manager
• Chris Warren — Motion Graphics Artist

12. Decide your hours per week availability

Setting an accurate availability helps clients know what types of projects you can take on. Upwork will match you with jobs based on the availability you select. Consider your other responsibilities outside of Upwork and decide how many hours per week you can work.

You can also choose whether you're open to contract-to-hire opportunities. When working contract-to-hire, you start on a short-term contract with a client that has the potential to turn into a full-time job.

Keep in mind that you can turn your Availability Badge on or off depending on your workload. Turn the badge on when you're ready to take on new projects and off when your schedule gets full.

13. Fill in your background

Don't forget to fill in the rest of your background information on your profile.

Language. Choose the language(s) you can read, write, and speak and your level of proficiency. Make sure you’re honest about your capabilities so you're matched with the right projects.

Verification. Verify your ID to make clients feel safer. You can also let clients know if you're a military veteran.

License. You can add a government-issued or professional license to your profile to establish credibility and expertise.

Education. If you went to a secondary education institution, you can add your school and what you studied to your profile.

Diversity certification. The Diversity-Certified Badge lets Enterprise clients and Upwork recruiters know that your freelance business is diverse.

14. Request testimonials

Testimonials from past clients that you worked with before joining Upwork can help you land your first few freelance jobs. When you're new to Upwork, you won't have any reviews on your profile until you complete contracts with clients. As you complete jobs, seeing positive feedback from other Upwork clients helps to establish trust in your work quality and skills.

You can request testimonials from people that you worked with before joining Upwork. You can send up to 20 testimonial requests; all you need is their email and LinkedIn profile. Each client can provide only one testimonial.

15. List your certifications

You can add any certifications you have to demonstrate your expertise to clients. If you have a Credly account, you can use the “import from Credly” feature. These certifications will say "verified from Credly" next to them.

You can also manually add certifications to your profile. Choose from the list of verifiable certifications from the drop-down menu. Fill in your information, and Upwork will add the certification to your profile once it is verified.

16. Develop your work history

You won't have a work history until you start accepting and completing contracts on Upwork. Once you accept a contract, it will typically be added to your profile within 24 hours. Taking on projects also helps you earn a Job Success Score (JSS).

Your JSS is a measure of client satisfaction on Upwork. You'll need to maintain a JSS of 90% or more to earn the Top Rated Status. Freelancers earn a JSS after having two or more contract outcomes within 24 months with two or more clients on Upwork.

Many new freelancers take on smaller and lower-paying projects at first to build their job history and earn a JSS.

17. Add other experiences

The "other experiences" section of your profile is where you can add informal education and other activities that don't fit the other profile categories but are relevant to your skills. These work experiences could be research projects, competitions, or other interests that have helped you develop your skills.

Land your first freelancing gig

Whether you're looking for a side hustle outside of your 9 to 5 or want to become a full-time freelancer, you can find work that you're passionate about on Upwork. Clients ranging from single-person startups and small businesses to 50% of the Fortune 500 turn to Upwork to hire skilled independent professionals.

Freelancing is a flexible career that lets you decide when, where, and how you work. You can work from home around your other responsibilities and decide which projects and clients you want to take on. See what jobs fit your skill set and start submitting proposals to the ones that interest you. You may never look back.