Why I Started Freelancing (The Real Objective)
At the beginning of 2020, I wanted to test something very specific.
I had already spent the first 5 years of my professional journey (2014–2019) mastering digital marketing and web development. I had also validated these skills by generating revenue through affiliate marketing and display advertising.
I was earning well. But one thing was missing that I had not built a brand yet.
So, I decided to take one step ahead to build a more value-driven brand in the future, where I could:
- Create an impact on others’ lives
- Use my skills to grow other businesses
- Help others make money by working with me
- Grow my brand and my clients’ brands as well
I wanted to figure out whether I could use my existing skills to:
- Sell digital marketing and web development services to international clients
- Generate revenue through freelancing platforms like Upwork
At the same time, I also wanted to validate a bigger idea:
‘Could I sell services globally on my own?’
If this worked, the plan was to eventually:
- Hire, train and build a team
- Build a service-based global marketing technology company
The Major Skill Gaps I Had
Even after years of technical and marketing experience, I had no prior freelancing experience, so there were many challenges for me, such as:
- How to write proposals that clients would respond to
- How to get client attention and initial replies
- How to communicate confidently and convince clients
- How to negotiate effectively
- How to increase pricing
- How to sell high-ticket services
- How to deliver quality work within agreed timelines
- How to earn genuine 5-star reviews by supporting clients properly
Also, I never believed that I could do one-on-one sales or sell high-ticket services to international clients.
So, I started researching and studying how to sell anything to anyone. I studied the consumer mindset, psychology, sales processes, and everything I thought could help me.
How I Started on Upwork
At the end of 2019, I created and set up my first Upwork account. In 2020, I started setting up my profile and testing project bidding.
Skill level at start
I had 5–6 years of proven digital marketing and web development experience.
I had strong technical and in-depth work experience
Early Challenges
However, I had no freelancing experience, so there were many challenges in this journey, like:
- How to write proposals to clients,
- Getting clients’ attention and replies,
- Communicating confidently, and
- Negotiating with clients.
Capital and Tools
Initially, it does not require much capital to invest in but one must have strong skills sets to deliver the project.
So, I relied mainly on my in-depth skills and experience to solve client problems. I only needed:
- A laptop
- Internet
- Electricity
- Purchase approx. $100 worth of Upwork connects to start bidding
Tools I used:
- Upwork platform and Upwork Time Tracker for hourly tracking
- Skype and Google Meet for client communication
- Loom for sharing quick project updates
- Basecamp and Asana for project management
- Slack/Gmail for communication
Strategy I Followed
I did not approach freelancing with a “make money fast” mindset.
Instead, my focus was:
- Learning how to write proposals that get replies (through A/B testing)
- Creating a compelling profile
- Being honest in communication
- Bidding only on projects I was confident I could deliver
- Starting with lower pricing to deliver initial projects perfectly
- Gradually increasing pricing after successful delivery
I started focusing on Indian clients first to understand how Upwork works as I was comfortable dealing with them.
I wanted to fully understand the platform before approaching international clients, so that I could position myself as an expert, not a beginner.
I aimed to get initial projects without focusing on money. My belief was that if it worked once, I could repeat the process consistently.
Here’s What Happened in Execution Phase
First Revenue
I focused on quality over quantity in proposals. So, I preferred to send
- Fewer but quality proposal
- Highly personalized proposal
Within my first 10 proposals, I received a couple of responses from Indian clients. One client from Mumbai agreed to work with me at a negotiated price.
My priority at that stage was not money. It was understanding the platform.
I delivered my first project worth $60 within a week. That gave me clarity on how the system works.
After that, I shifted focus to clients from Tier 1 countries like the US and Canada.
Turning Point
I continued bidding and interacting with US-based clients. I tested different proposal approaches to understand what worked.
After about a month, I got an interview opportunity from a US-based client for a marketing automation project.
The client asked how I would approach the project and I provided a detailed, technical, and confident response aligned with his goals
This resulted in my first hourly contract at $15/hour.
Major Breakthrough
While working on that project for a couple of months, I continued bidding on other projects
I secured another project from a US client at an increased rate of $25/hour.
At this stage, I started understanding:
- How to win high-ticket projects
- How to communicate effectively
- How to sell services
Thus, these learnings became the most valuable and rewarding skill sets in my journey.
I continued getting more valuable projects, and my hourly rate increased step by step within a year.
Started from $15 → $25 → $35 → $45 → $65 → up to $75/hour within a year.
Overall, I earned more than $12K within a year from Upwork by selling services as a freelancer. That’s a decent income by Indian standards.
Also, I received 5-star ratings (with positive reviews) from most of my clients after project completion, along with a 100% Job Success Score on Upwork.
Challenges I Faced in Freelancing Journey
My freelancing experiment was rewarding for not easy at all. There were following challenges as well:
1). Time Zone Impact: I had to stay awake at night for meetings and work. This affected my sleep cycle and health.
2). Pipeline Instability: While working on projects, I had less time to bid. This created uncertainty in income.
3). Constant Client Pressure: After completing a project, I had to find new clients again. This caused mental pressure.
4). Platform Costs: Upwork charged around 20% commission at that time. This reduced actual earnings. Although the platform fee is now reduced to 10%.
5). Competition: There is a strong global competition in most common niche. So, picking a service niche is crucial for every freelancer.
Conclusion: Why This Matters
This experience helped me validate something important:
- Technical skills alone are not enough
- Sales, communication, and positioning directly impact outcomes
- Freelancing is not just about doing work, it is about consistently acquiring work
It also helped me test whether I could sell services globally on my own.
This was not just a successful experiment, but the learnings from the journey also became the foundation for a bigger challenge for me: setting up my own marketing technology company with a larger vision and operating with a team instead of working individually as a freelancer.