FREELANCER GUIDE

Bringing your Elanceprofile to UpworkWe’re here to help Elance freelancersget started quickly and easily on Upwork

Bringing your Elance profile to Upwork

How can I bring my Elance profile to Upwork?

What is happening to the Elance site?

What happens to my Elance profile after I connect it to Upwork?

What Elance profile information will you bring to Upwork?Profile InformationWork HistoryNot Carried Over

How will my Elance clients find me on Upwork?

I already have accounts on both Elance and Upwork. Should I combine them?Combine (Suggested)Replace

What should I do once my account is successfully copied to Elance?

Where can I get an overview of the Upwork product?

How to get started on Upwork4 tips to keep in mind before submitting proposalsFinding jobsApplying to jobsCommunicating with clientsContract types on UpworkGetting paid on UpworkTips for success

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Table of contentsPlease read this document carefully for detailed information. Additionally, feel free to contact our support team, or connect with our active community. We’ve also created a self-paced online course that covers this material.

3Bringing your Elance profile to Upwork

Honoring Your Fees

When you begin a job on Upwork with a client you’ve worked with on Elance, we’ll honor the fee you paid before!

Bringing your Elance profile to Upwork

• You’ll be emailed an invitation with a unique link to create a new account or combine your work.

• Already invited but can’t find your email? Access your invitation from My Jobs on Elance.

• If you wish to copy over your Elance reputation to Upwork, please wait for your invitation.

• We’re honoring the 8.75% Elance service fee for jobs begun on Upwork with clients you’ve worked with before on Elance.

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How can I bring my Elance profile to Upwork?

4Bringing your Elance profile to Upwork

As we recently shared, we will soon wind down Elance to focus on a single platform. Important dates for Elance freelancers:

• New customers are now being redirected to Upwork to post jobs.

• Starting in November, we’ll begin to limit the ability to post new jobs on Elance.

• Through early 2016, you can continue your current projects on Elance. However, we encourage you to begin all new contracts on Upwork and move existing contracts to Upwork when possible.

• Through mid-2016, you will still be able to access your messages, contacts, and files on Elance.

What is happening to the Elance site?

Nothing about your Elance account will be changed. The connection only runs one way: from Elance to Upwork. We will continue to import your completed jobs and feedback from Elance once per day so you get credit on Upwork for your work on both platforms However, nothing from Upwork will be added to or shown on your Elance profile.

What happens to my Elance profile after I connect it to Upwork?

Ongoing Work Transfers

Any work you continue to do on Elance will be reflected on your Upwork profile.

4Bringing your Elance profile to Upwork

5Bringing your Elance profile to Upwork

• If you create a new Upwork profile (or replace an old one) by copying over your Elance profile, we’ll carry over your:

Profile photo

Title

Overview

Portfolio items

• If you combine your Elance account with an existing Upwork account, your other Upwork profile information won’t be changed.

• By default, profiles are set to private on Upwork. We recommend you make your profile visible to potential clients so they can invite you to jobs. You can update your privacy settings via the Profile Settings page.

• By default, your language setting will be set to English. Take a look and change the setting if you’d like.

• On Upwork, your hourly rate and earnings are displayed on your profile. This is different than on Elance. We’ve found through testing that having visibility into earnings gives clients confidence and leads to more hiring, so be sure to add your hourly rate to your Upwork profile if you didn’t have one listed in your Elance profile.

What Elance profile information will you bring to Upwork?

Profile information

Certifications

Education

Employment history

Profile and Language Settings

By default, profiles are set to private on Upwork and your language setting will be set to English. Take a look and change the setting if you’d like. On Upwork, your hourly rate and earnings are displayed on your profile. You’ll also find that you have a Job Success score on Upwork, which includes your Elance history.

5Bringing your Elance profile to Upwork

6Bringing your Elance profile to Upwork

Files, messages, funds in your account, withdrawal methods, tax forms, reports, skill tests, Connects, and ongoing jobs cannot be imported to Upwork. You will still be able to access them on Elance. Also note that while your work from Elance is shown on your profile, it is not included in your Upwork account’s other records or reports.

Work History

Not Carried Over

All linked Upwork accounts display your completed Elance jobs and client feedback on your Upwork profile. Bringing over your Elance work history means your Job Success score on Upwork reflects that history, so you can hit the ground running with a strong score. This is the closest equivalent to your Level and % Recommend scores from Elance (which cannot carry over directly). Top freelancers on Upwork typically have a score of 90% or higher, which reflects an overall track record of delighting clients and meeting or exceeding work expectations.

7Bringing your Elance profile to Upwork

Clients will see a list of freelancers they’ve worked with on Elance in their My Jobs page on Upwork. From this list, they will be able to re-engage you in one click, as long as you have accepted an invitation to Upwork. We are working on a way to display a link to your Upwork profiles on your Elance profile. In the meantime, we recommend you send your clients your profile link.

How will my Elance clients find me on Upwork?

8Bringing your Elance profile to Upwork

I already have accounts on both Elance and Upwork. Should I combine them?

Welcome

Combine (Suggested)

• Take advantage of both work histories to create one stellar reputation on Upwork.

• Combining allows you to display the strongest work history and most complete reputation to attract the best clients.

• We’ll import your work history from Elance, but your Upwork profile information won’t be changed.

Replace

• We’ll set you up with a new Upwork account containing only your profile and history information imported from Elance, as if you’d never had an account with Upwork (or oDesk) before. Do this if your Elance account has all the history worth keeping.

• Replacing means your existing Upwork profile, username, relationships, reports, and history will all be gone.

We Suggest Combining Accounts

Please combine—rather than replace—an active account you still need. You will not have access to any part of a replaced account. Even your username will change, though you can use the same email address.

8Bringing your Elance profile to Upwork

Please wait for your invitation to bring your Elance reputation to Upwork, as simply signing up for a new account using the same email address won’t allow us to carry over your Elance history or profile information.

You’ll need to choose whether to combine or replace when you accept our invitation to connect your Elance account with Upwork. Your Elance account can only be linked to Upwork once, and Upwork accounts cannot be merged. If you previously chose to cross the bridge and created a new Upwork account before combining accounts was offered, we cannot combine your histories now.

Choose Carefully

9Bringing your Elance profile to Upwork

What should I do once my account is successfully copied to Elance?

Post-migration checklist:

Add a withdrawal method so you can get paid

Ensure your profile is complete and strong

Set an hourly profile rate and indicate your English level

Refer to our profile blog posts for tips

Stand out even more by adding a profile video

Set up your job feed

Set your message notification settings

Take this self-paced course to learn more about Upwork

Track your performance using My Stats

10Bringing your Elance profile to Upwork

Our Hiring Headquarters provides a great overview of how to best use Upwork. In addition to our general-audience content there, we’ve created a free self-paced course specifically for freelancers like you transitioning from Elance to Upwork. Quick 5-10 minute modules will teach you everything you need to know, including:

• How to copy your account and reputation from Elance to Upwork

• Best practices for a strong Upwork profile

• Tips and tricks from Elance freelancers who have already started making money on Upwork

Though there are many similarities between Elance and Upwork, we’ve done our best to outline the main differences so you can start applying today.

Should you still have any questions, please feel free to contact our support team or connect with our active community.

Chapter 8

Where can I get an overview of the Upwork product?

Welcome

An Online Course Specifically for Elancers

We encourage you to take our self-paced course in order to learn everything you’ll need to know to hit the ground running on Upwork.

10Bringing your Elance profile to Upwork

11Bringing your Elance profile to Upwork

4 tips to keep in mind before submitting proposals

You’ll need to review your profile, set an hourly rate profile rate, and designate your English level before you can apply to a job on Upwork (click View or Edit your profile here).

Upwork Hourly Protection is available for hourly work—simply download and use the Upwork App for this coverage.

Upwork charges a 10% service fee from freelancers. We understand this is more than you’re used to on Elance, but Upwork provides access to more high-paying projects than any other workplace and better innovations. Plus, when you begin a contract on Upwork with a client you worked with on Elance, we’ll honor the fee you paid before.

Upwork has escrow protection, using pre-set milestones for fixed-price work. Funds deposited for an active milestone are held in escrow and released when work is reviewed and approved by a client.

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How to get started on Upwork

12Bringing your Elance profile to Upwork

• You can apply to a job in any category on Upwork. This provides more flexibility, and you don’t need to pay to have additional categories listed.

• We recommend that you create job feeds, which list recommended jobs based on your profile information. Also, look for jobs that match your experience level, which can be set by clients to give freelancers a good indication of what they are looking for.

• Jobs on Upwork allow you to view:

Client activity

Other applicants

A client’s last job post

The number of applicants the job post has received

• You can also review a complete list of the profiles of other freelancers who have applied for the job.

Finding jobs

The number of applicants who have submitted bids

Average hourly rate for the bid

The number of freelancers who have been interviewed so far

13Bringing your Elance profile to Upwork

• On Upwork, freelancers need to submit an amount when applying for a job. On Elance, proposals can be submitted without an amount specified.

• Clients may choose to add additional questions that a freelancer needs to answer as part of the bidding process.

• Upwork has a minimum rate of $3 for hourly jobs but no minimum payment for fixed-price jobs.

• You’ll need Connects to apply. How many Connects you receive each month (or the amount you can purchase) depends on your plan. Choose between the Freelancer Basic (free) or Freelancer Plus plan. When you sign up, you’ll be defaulted to a free plan, but you can change this at any time. You can learn more about Upwork plans here.

Applying to jobs

14Bringing your Elance profile to Upwork

Communicating with clients

There is no Workroom on Upwork. Instead, use your My Jobs page to:

Access your active contracts

Send a message to your client (expanded features available in Messages)

View your Work Diary and payments

Leave feedback

Upwork Payment Protection

Hourly and fixed-price contracts are covered by Upwork Payment Protection, just as they are on Elance.

14Bringing your Elance profile to Upwork

• Elance and Upwork both have hourly and fixed-price contracts.

• Similar to Elance, both hourly and fixed-price contracts are covered by Upwork Payment Protection.

• Please note that for hourly contracts on Upwork, you will need to download the Upwork Team App (as the Elance Tracker will not be able to track contracts you begin on Upwork).

Contract types on Upwork

15Bringing your Elance profile to Upwork

Getting paid on Upwork

Tips for success

• You’ll need to enter a preferred method to receive your earnings.

• You can learn more about entering this payment method for your home country here.

• Due to a security hold, getting paid for fixed-price contracts typically takes 3-4 additional days and 2-3 additional days for an hourly contract, as compared to Elance. However, we are working to reduce this security period going forward. Enter your payment method right away, since it takes 3 days to become active.

• Upwork has a 10% service fee, which is higher than Elance. However, we’re honoring the 8.75% Elance service fee for jobs you work on with Elance clients and bring over to Upwork. We’ll honor that Elance fee automatically for clients you’ve engaged with and started working with on the Elance platform.

While you’ll find Upwork and Elance to be similar in many ways, there are some nuances to keep in mind. Here is a general overview of how to be successful on Upwork:

If you’re qualified, you can apply for a job in any category.

Your job feed shows projects Upwork believes will be a great fit for you, based on your profile. When you do a job search and like the results, add it to your job feed by clicking the button at the top right.

Filter your job search by your expertise in your field—entry level, intermediate, or expert.

Check out a client’s work history on his or her job post. You’ll see feedback left by other freelancers.

Look for a client with a verified payment method—you can see this in job searches and on the job post.

You’ll need to submit a bid when you apply for a job. On fixed-price jobs, covered by Upwork Fixed-Price Protection, enter an estimate (if you’re not sure, mention it in your cover letter). For hourly jobs, enter the hourly rate you want to earn on the project. Be sure to account for the 10% service fee when placing your bids.

An hour worked is an hour paid, with Upwork Hourly Protection. Use the team app to log hours and write memos for each time period.