A question posted to Twitter…
How much were you paid for your first gig on @upwork?
(Upwork is a big freelance marketplace, btw)
Responses are all across the board, from $0 to $7000 💰
Morgan Overholt responded that her first gig as a graphic designer was for $10. She’s since gone on to earn more than $600,000 via Upwork.
🇺🇬 Mike K from Uganda responded…
$5 for a month 😭😹 The man was a user 💀
Good thing is he gave me access to courses that boosted my skills. I am now top rated plus so I don’t regret that gig.
He’s gone on to earn $20,000+ on Upwork and now charges $30/hour for social media advertising.
Matt Ruiz responded…
$1k up front.
$7k when the project was complete.
Sounds like a lot, but I found an interview with Matt and it seems he was one of the lowest bids for that first project…
Matt specialized in Salesforce applications… [he] needed to brush up on his coding from his college days to cater to other frameworks. He spent the next couple of months living off of his savings. He searched for clients on Upwork but he was in a bit of a bind due to his limited experience.
He decided to price himself much lower than his competition. Once again, all he needed was one person to take a chance on him. He bid on jobs from small businesses. His rationale was that these companies would be more inclined to hire scrappy employees who lacked traditional credentials. Matt’s thinking paid off and he landed his first client. Many soon followed.
Anyway, the point is that it’s normal to work for peanuts 🥜 when starting out. So if you’re fresh out of the gate, don’t turn your nose up at low paying gigs.
As long as you’re learning from those gigs and building a portfolio, you’re making good progress 📈
