As the founder of Sahoolat, an app for freelancers and taskers to make a living with a flexible schedule, I’ve been very active on multiple platforms, such as Upwork, Fiverr and Guru for many years now.
I’ve gone through thousands of quotes in many categories from people around the world. I’ve learned how to filter through freelancers, from bad, to average, to good.
In this article, I am sharing 10 points that will guarantee you to have better results on these websites.
Although, this article mainly targets the Pakistani community, the points mentioned here apply to any freelancer around the world who ho wants to be more visible and land bigger, more lucrative projects.

It is very important to review the project posted and understand what the requirement is. Go through all the details and links and make sure it aligns with your skillset. You do not want to be in a situation where you did a bad job and earned negative reviews because the task was something you couldn’t do as well as you thought.

This is a skill in itself. An unrealistic quote which would either be too high or too low will send a message that you are clueless and hence you will be passed on. Employers usually know ahead of time what is the right quote for a specific job.

Too often, the message itself is too long in your quote, and therefore employers don’t read it all. You must find the right balance in your personalized message.

Gather as much information as possible before sending a quote. A good analysis and some feedback on the project in your personalized message will get you noticed.

Too often, there is a disconnect between what is asked for and what you will provide. Therefore, when you quote, always include the things you are going to do for your employer and what you will deliver in the end. This way, you will not deviate too much later.

The links you provide in your message from your previous work should be few. It is very common for freelancers to throw everything they have at the employer. We only check the first few and ignore the rest. But if you provide only one or two links of the project that are very similar to what the employer is asking for, you should get a response.

If you already have an established account with good reviews, then you have an edge. But this should not discourage you if you don’t. We do read the message inside a quote from someone with no reviews more carefully, looking for that extra effort the freelancers may have to put in. Remember, your effort never goes unnoticed.

If the site doesn’t allow you to send a direct message, such as in Guru, it is worth buying a premium membership. A quote submitted by a premium member is always reviewed due to the fact that a member has invested time and money to get noticed.

If you are in the early stages of setting up your freelance profile, you should be willing to provide free samples to show your capabilities. If the employer asks you for one sample, you should send two.

Employers often prefer to hire freelancers who already have established history with them. The last thing we want to do is post a job and review hundreds of quotes. Building a relationship is extremely important to get recurring projects, even if you have to do first few projects for free.