I believe everyone who reads my blog knows UpWork already. But for those who didn’t, let me tell you a little bit about UpWork. UpWork is a freelancing site where you can sign up as a contractor who looks for a job or as a client who posts a job and looks for an agency or contractor. In this blog, I will share my journey on how UpWork Made me a Millionaire.
Since I was a kid, art is my passion. It’s my scapegoat for things that I’m not good at. Everything about art excites me. Growing up, I became interested in Digital Design and attended college taking up B.S. Information Technology. Unfortunately, I stopped studying due to financial issues, and to help my family, I sold pancakes on the street.
Despite everything, I still believed that all the hard work would pay off.
When the opportunity knocked on my door, I grabbed it instantly. That was before I started freelancing in 2012, I was employed in my first ever job at Gleent Inc., a Software Company located nearby our residence. I worked for them as a part-time graphic designer with a 25PHP or 0.55USD rate per hour. It was one of the toughest parts of my life. My skills weren’t broad enough but I used this opportunity as a stepping stone to my career. I was very eager to learn at that time, to learn everything I could.
I learned about oDesk/UpWork.
One day, there was a gathering where I had a conversation with a friend who is a developer. Let’s call him Jerome. We talked about our line of work and what intrigued me was there were other guys that were mocking him with his highly-rated job. He is working in oDesk, I didn’t even know then what oDesk was. Surprisingly, his rate is far from my ideal rate. I was really envious of him because I knew I have more skills than him and yet my weekly earnings is just a couple of hours for him.
During those times, I aimed for having a laptop so I could try freelancing after my day job, but I couldn’t afford a good one. It costs $900 here in the Philippines. So I borrowed money from Jerome. He lent me $220 after working with him for a few days. Then got a client who gave me a bonus of $100 together with my personal savings. I was able to gather a few bucks but it’s still not enough for the Laptop that I’m planning to buy. So what I did is I ride on my other friend’s credit card covering the balance which I paid in installments for a year.
I felt such extreme happiness when I bought that laptop.
I registered on oDesk and looked for a small job. Starting without a profile is indeed like a baby learning to walk. It was really hard that time, I even applied for a logo designing project for just $10. It was also hard-working on a day job and freelancing at night. I made up my mind and resigned from my day job. Without any assurance, I took a leap of faith and started my freelance career full-time.
Freelancing ain’t easy at all BUT… UpWork Made me a Millionaire!
It wasn’t easy as others thought about freelancing. I suffered financially that I could only eat once a day for 3 consecutive months. I was thinking of quitting but knowing that someone else has done it, I could surely do it too.
After several months of sleepless nights & empty stomach, My career started to bear fruit. Creating my online portfolio and investing time in it, helped a lot. It made it easier for me to get a job as I’m using it to invite and engage with clients. In the first year of freelancing, I earned my first Million.
Now that I delivered the utmost services to my clients. I was able to buy things that I need in my career as an investment.
I bought a house & cars and even gave my wife a decent wedding. We traveled to our country’s wonderful Provinces. And most of all, I am able to start a Design Agency and grow my own BRAND!
Fruit of Labor – Cars, House & a Happy Wife.
Creative Bananas Agency
So, do you consider me a Millionaire? Let’s not settle for that yet.
But what I can assure you is I earned $200K + since I started in UpWork in 2012. You can check my UpWork account here.
Do you want to earn that too? I’ll be happy to help!
Just sign up for my Newsletter and I’ll connect with you directly. I’ll give you tips on how can we earn Million on UpWork. Meanwhile, you can check “9 Freelancing Tips For Startup Freelancers“. It helped others, it might help you too.
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