How I Earned $2 Million On Upwork

Today, clients know me as Mr. SharePoint. When you look at my Upwork profile, you can see that I have earned over 2 million dollars on the platform. I've worked with clients from all over the world while being able to travel and make my own schedule. I am an Expert Vetted talent, which is the highest talent badge, and I have a 99% job success score.

I started from square one, just like any other freelancer. I made an Upwork account after being laid off from my job. I didn't know exactly what I was going to do. I had no reviews or clients yet, but I was determined to figure it out and give it my all.

Once I decided what my skillset would be, I worked hard every day to become an expert. I wanted to be the go-to person for SharePoint and Microsoft 365—AKA Mr. SharePoint.

By consistently delivering high-quality work and going the extra mile to keep my clients happy, I was able to build a successful business that continues to grow. In this story, I’ll cover how I became Mr. SharePoint, learnings and key takeaways from the experience, and steps you can take to find similar success.

Becoming Mr. SharePoint

Before joining Upwork, I worked as a sales engineer. When I decided to start freelancing, my first step was doing a self-skills audit. I needed to figure out what I was good at. Once I had an idea of what I could offer, I went to Upwork's Talent Marketplace™ to check the available jobs.

The goal for me was to find a niche—what I call a freelancer's superpower—that was in high demand and become the best I could at it. Even if you're great at what you do, if clients don't have a need for your skills, it will be hard to get work.

I saw many projects for SharePoint and other Microsoft-related automations, which I had worked with before. I knew I was good at it and could become an expert. This is how Mr. SharePoint was born.

Scaling my business

When I was just starting out, I only charged $45 per hour, which was towards the lower end of the market rate. Now, I charge $155 per hour and am firm about my rate, especially when clients reach out to me directly. I market myself as an expert at what I do and charge a premium for my services.

After working on Upwork for a few years, I realized that I could offer more services if I expanded my skill set. I started offering Microsoft 365 consultations and digital process automation. My goal is to be the one-stop shop for clients, so I don't miss out on any business.

As I built my brand on Upwork, earned talent badges, and became known as Mr. SharePoint, I saw my success grow. I got to the point where I couldn't take on any more new clients without help–I didn't have enough hours in the day. Instead of turning down work, I decided to hire other freelancers. This is when my business really started taking off.

Keeping the personal touch

I am still the main point of contact for my clients, Mr. SharePoint. They work directly with me, and I am able to develop and maintain that connection. Instead of creating an agency, I hire other freelancers to work under my brand.

I oversee all of the work that my small team does, making sure that it's up to my standards and quality. Subcontracting my work has allowed me to take on more contracts and clients than I would ever be able to do on my own. Learning to delegate tasks, especially the busy work that I don't need to do myself, lets me use the time that I have in my workweek more efficiently.

While earning my first million on Upwork took a few years, the jump from one to two million was only about a year once I implemented this new business model.

Top 3 Takeaways from building a freelance business

When I joined Upwork I was new to freelancing. I had worked in a regular 9 to 5 corporate environment and was confident in my skills, but had to learn how to be an independent professional. Building a freelance business is different from being an employee. You’re the boss, and you’re running a company.

Many new freelancers don’t realize that freelancing is a business. You have to do sales, customer service, marketing, and administration. Freelancing gives you more freedom but also more responsibility. You’re in charge of your own successes.

The three top takeaways I’ve learned from building a freelance business on Upwork include:

1. Sell yourself

Quickly, I realized that being technically the best at what you do isn't enough. Working as an independent professional on Upwork also has a functional component: sales.

When writing your proposals and interviewing with clients, you have to sell your services to them. This can be uncomfortable at first, especially if you don't have a background in sales. You have to confidently explain to clients why you're the best freelancer for the job.

Think about what your unique selling proposition (USP) is—what sets you apart from the competition. Mine is my expertise in Microsoft, and that I spend time building relationships with clients, which I have turned into my personal brand. I give each client a one-on-one personalized experience from start to finish. They know they can count on me and that I will be there for them.

These are some questions you can ask to help find your USP:

• What problem are you solving for clients?
• Who is your ideal client?
• Why should a client choose you over another freelancer?
• What is your specialty or niche?
• Why do clients keep coming back to you?
• What are your greatest professional strengths?
• What positive feedback have you received from clients?

2. Build client relationships

When you go to my profile and read my reviews, clients enjoy working with me. Being likable and providing a great customer experience is how you work with clients long-term, which is a significant part of my business model.

Personally, I would rather focus on client retention than client acquisition. Currently, 74% of my clients are long-term on Upwork. Many of these clients I've worked with for years.

Having repeat clients can help you build a dependable workload. When you’re working with the same clients each week, you spend less time on proposals and interviewing.

Building client relationships is about delivering on your promise and providing a great working experience. My clients feel like they know me. I am big on communication, whether that’s sending a quick message to check in or scheduling regular meetings to sync up. I want clients to feel like I’m an integral part of their business.

Try to go above and beyond to make sure that your clients are happy. The extra time you put into making sure that your clients are satisfied pays off when they choose to keep working with you and leave positive feedback.

3. Be resilient

An analogy I use is feast or famine. When you're working for yourself as an independent professional, consistency isn't guaranteed. Some weeks or months may be better than others. What you make during the feast has to be able to hold you over during the famine until you can build that steady workload.

During the slow times, I didn't give up, and now I have a business model that I can depend on. Because I have this financial security, I can spend time perfecting my processes, like proposals and responding to job invites.

If you’re considering becoming a full-time freelancer, take a look at your financial situation first. You can use the Freelance Rate Calculator to see what you would need to make hourly on Upwork to cover your main expenses.

What’s great about freelancing is that you get to decide how much you want to work and can start off part-time. Many freelancers on Upwork work outside of their 9 to 5 and on weekends to test the waters first. It can be your side hustle until you’re confident you can transition to full-time.

How to improve your Upwork business

I've been freelancing on Upwork for over nine years and know what it takes to be successful on the platform. Freelancing is a business, and you have to treat it like one. Success doesn't happen overnight; you have to work on it every day.

As you start to gain more positive feedback and earn talent badges, it can become a snowball effect. You then get to choose how you handle this momentum, whether you want to expand your business and hire help or raise your prices and only take on projects that really spark your interest.

If you want to grow your business on Upwork and make it a lucrative side hustle or your full-time job, my five best tips include:

1. Use strategic pricing

If you're just starting off, I recommend looking at the Upwork hourly rates guide. As you gain more experience and the demand for your skills rises, so should your rates.

Slowly raise your rates and see if that leads to fewer proposal views, interviews, and new contracts. You see this data on your My Stats page.

Increasing your rates lets you work the same amount of hours but earn more. Part of being an independent professional is that you get to give yourself raises based on the demand for your skills and expertise. You don't have to ask your manager or get approval—you have full control.

Of course, you have to deliver the work quality to match this. Clients want what they pay for. If they pay a premium price, they want a premium service. Make sure that you deliver every time.

2. Earn Talent Badges

On Upwork, one of the ways you can stand out as a freelancer is to earn talent badges. These badges let clients know that you're in the top tier of talent. I've seen my business grow more with each talent badge I've earned.

These are the badges you can work towards on Upwork:

• Rising Talent - promising new talent
• Top Rated - top 10% of talent
• Top Rated Plus - top 3% of talent
• Expert Vetted - top 1% of talent

Each talent badge comes with its own benefits. Once you earn Top Rated status, Upwork Talent Specialists will invite you to submit proposals for jobs. These jobs don't cost any Connects.

At the Expert Vetted level, you get a dedicated Talent Manager to act as your coach and opportunities to work with Enterprise Clients, which includes Fortune 500 companies.

When clients search for talent or view submitted proposals, your talent badge shows up next to your name. This can help you stand out and win more interviews and job invites.

Keep in mind that you can lose your talent badges, too. It’s not a one-and-done. You have to maintain the criteria. If your job success score drops below 90% or you’re not active on the platform in 90 days, your badge can go away, and you’ll have to re-earn it.

Once I earned the Expert Vetted Badge, I started getting more job invites from Enterprise-level clients. My enterprise clients have offered large and longer-term contracts with higher budgets. In my experience, they are willing to pay more for higher-quality work.

3. Expand your skillset

In the beginning, as an independent professional, you want to find your niche and work on building your expertise. Once you've established your reputation and have a steady workflow, you can expand your skillset within your specialty. Offering more skills that fit together can help you land bigger and more long-term contracts.

Think about what other skills complement yours. What other services would a client need from you? Once you have an idea of what else you can offer, you can check to see if there's a demand.

You don't have to be an expert at this skill yet. You can take online courses and learn a completely new skill. One of the benefits of freelancing is that you can learn something new and take on smaller projects to gain experience. This also helps you build up your portfolio.

If you want to offer more than one skill on Upwork, you can create up to two specialized profiles. These profiles can have different rates, and you can choose which portfolio items to showcase for each skill.

4. Prioritize feedback and reviews

Feedback and reviews can make or break your freelancing business on Upwork. If a client goes to your profile and sees recent negative reviews from other clients, this can be a red flag. The client may choose to go with someone else to lower their risk. Negative reviews can prevent future work.

Upwork calculates your Job Success Score every two weeks. This score can go up or down based on your 3-,6-,12-, and 24-month history on the platform. Upwork uses the best score from these timeframes.

Clients see your JSS next to your name and any talent badges when they search for talent or view proposals. If your JSS drops, it can impact your business.

Before you start working with a new client, jump on a call to go over the project’s scope so you’re on the same page and can set client expectations. I also recommend that you check in with clients along the way, whether that’s sending drafts or asking for feedback, to make sure that you’re on the right track. If something isn’t working, you want to find out sooner rather than later.

Make a habit of reading the feedback that your clients leave. You can use this to see what you’re doing right and what you could improve. Try not to take it personally but view this feedback as an opportunity for growth.

5. Grow your business

Working with other freelancers can take your business to the next level. There are two main ways you can do this: subcontracting and starting an agency. When you subcontract or start an agency, you can take on more contracts and clients than you could by yourself. Your business potential becomes unlimited.

Subcontracting: When you subcontract, you hire other freelancers to work underneath you. This is helpful for administrative tasks or busy work for which you don't feel the need to be hands-on. You're still the face of the operations and the one who interacts with your clients; you just delegate certain tasks to other talent.

You want to make sure that you oversee all of the work that your subcontractors do and that it's up to your quality standards. At the end of the day, you're the one getting the review, and are responsible for the deliverables.

Starting an agency: Starting an agency is partnering with other freelancers. Instead of working with you directly, clients hire your agency on Upwork, and you divide the tasks and responsibilities. Each member of your agency can have different roles and skills.

Depending on how you want to structure your agency, one agency member, like the project manager or owner, may be the primary point of contact for clients.

Agencies let you expand your niche and offer all-in-one services to clients. You can build a team with different skill sets and offer full solutions for your clients.

This could be you

When I set up my Upwork account, I had no idea where it would lead. I didn't know I would be making millions of dollars on the platform. While I hoped I would be successful and find an alternative to the corporate world, there was no guarantee.

What I've learned is that you have to treat freelancing as a business. I built my brand, Mr. SharePoint, and gave it my all. I put the clients first and make sure that I overdeliver every single time, which is reflected in my long-term clients and positive reviews. Once I had more work that I could do by myself, I created a small team to help with the overflow.

Success like this on Upwork is possible. Unlike traditional work environments, there are no limits or caps on what you can achieve. Once you have a solid foundation with the right processes, you can keep building and growing to unlock your potential.

If you need assistance with digital automation or Microsoft 365, you can hire me, Mr. SharePoint, to help with anything from consultations and implementation to ongoing support and mentoring.