To promote yourself and find projects, WAYUP recommends working through two main channels:
P.S. Be sure to read here about healthy competition.
Freelance platforms: for getting started and short-term projects
Freelance platforms are the first step in remote work. Sites like Upwork, Freelance.com, and Freelancehunt are great for “right now” projects. Even with zero rating, you can get your first job within 24 hours. Long-term clients and ongoing projects are also common there.
We recommend working on 2–3 platforms simultaneously.
After a year, you’ll have profiles with decent ratings, reviews, and a portfolio across several popular sites. This approach takes more time but increases your chances of landing truly great jobs. For example, Freelancehunt has 73,000 clients, and Upwork — 5 million.
LinkedIn: portfolio and direct contact with companies
LinkedIn is useful for three main goals:
Essentially, LinkedIn is Facebook tailored for business. Instead of showing off personal life and hobbies, you list your education, work history, projects, and skills. You can find the art director of Banda Agency or the CEO of Tesla. We recommend creating a profile right away and building it while you freelance.
Two ways to find work:
Behance: creative portfolio and valuable connections
Behance is a platform for motion designers, illustrators, industrial designers, and game designers — basically, anyone who works with Adobe software. You can build a portfolio, find inspiration, follow companies and peers, and explore job listings and freelance gigs.
Right now, there are about 1,000 open positions on Behance: graphic design, UI/UX, art direction, frontend development, and more. Most are freelance and international — which means higher pay. Behance also offers tons of learning materials on Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects.
To grow on the platform, build your portfolio and stay active. Upload new projects, follow others, join discussions and challenges — just like any social network.
Dribbble: similar to Behance, but for designers
Dribbble’s functionality is quite similar to Behance.
You can build your portfolio, browse other designers’ work, follow top creatives. The blog features interviews, tutorials, and workshops. The Job Board has hundreds of listings in graphic design, UI/UX, visual design, industrial — across all design categories. There are also hundreds of open freelance projects, but to apply you need a Pro account — $20/month or $15/month with a yearly subscription.
TopTal and advanced freelancing
At the start of your freelance career, Upwork may seem like the best option. Hourly rates are 2–3 times higher than on Russian-speaking platforms. There’s a better chance of finding long-term, international projects, which are great for your portfolio.
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But there are platforms even better than Upwork — like TopTal. It’s a freelance platform for web developers, designers, and financial experts. It brands itself as a closed community, “The Top 3% of freelance talent.” In Russian-speaking freelance circles, TopTal isn’t discussed as much as Upwork because it’s harder to get in. The selection process has 4 stages and takes 3–4 weeks. Many just lack the patience and perseverance to complete it.
What do you get in return? Hourly rates of $50–60 — and that’s the low end. Advanced clients who won’t ask you to “play with the fonts.” And long-term projects. TopTal mostly hires freelancers for part-time or long-term commitments.
We recommend trying TopTal after 1.5–3 years of freelancing. By then, you should already have experience with a range of projects in your niche and solid client communication skills.
Want to learn more about freelance platforms? How to set up your profile, send proposals, negotiate with clients? Join the coaching program “Freelancer: The Big Game” and learn to earn up to $2,000/month remotely.
Want to get a feel for how the WAYUP school teaches before joining the coaching? You’re welcome at our Open Day next Wednesday.