How I Made My First $10K Freelancing on UpWork

My real (and slightly chaotic) journey into freelancing, and the smarter path I found along the way.

Before I ever made six figures a virtual assistant, or $500K from digital products, I was just trying to figure out how to make some money online.

I was sitting in a cubicle, reading travel blogs during my lunch break at my 9-5, trying to convince myself that it wasn’t crazy to want more out of life than two weeks of vacation and a morning commute I hated.

In one of those blogs, I learned that a lot of these travel bloggers make money as freelancers. I learned about UpWork, which seemed like the go-to platform for freelancers.

It seemed simple enough - making extra money by doing side gigs as a writer, assistant, web designer, editor, translator, the list goes on.

People were using it to make money from home (or the road), and I figured… why not me?

Getting My First Job on UpWork

I created a profile, labeled myself a writer (because why not?), and started sending out applications.

Was I a professional writer at the time? Not really. But I was good at writing. I had a degree. I had thoughts and opinions. And more importantly, I really enjoyed it.

It took only a couple of weeks to land my first job. That first “yes” felt like magic. Like I had cracked some secret code to online income. It wasn’t huge money, but it was a start.

What Helped Me Land That First Job

Here’s what I did differently that made a real difference: