Just graduated college, now making $50/hr freelancing

That’s the story of a web designer posting on Reddit.

He’s self-taught – “googled pretty much everything I know” – and has been finding clients on Upwork with a mostly copy-pasted proposal.

Two things he mentioned caught my eye.

First:

I quickly put together a website in less than 8 hours showcasing my skills, and put together a few “mockup” websites on editors like Wix, Squarespace, and Weebly.

Doesn’t sound like much, but that’s probably way more prep work than most of his competitors are doing, and it gave him a solid portfolio right out of the gate.

Second:

Anyways, with my website up, I bought the Upwork monthly subscription and used all my connects applying for jobs. Surprisingly, within a day, someone offered me a contract to build their small website for $400. I took it.

Again, he did something most freelancers on Upwork don’t do: bought the monthly subscription.

That’s not guaranteed to land you clients, of course.

But, as a general rule, on a crowded marketplace like Upwork, doing a few small things to stand out can make a big difference.

• Related: What Ivan Did To Beat 50+ Freelancers On Upwork