20+ Reasons You’re Not Getting Any Freelance Work

You’ve been applying to dozens of jobs on freelance marketplaces.

Sending proposals for all kinds of gigs.

But you’re still not getting any freelance work.

Sounds familiar?

If you’re going through this same phase, don’t feel bad. Every freelancer goes through it.

Some admit defeat during this time and go look for a normal job. And a handful of others choose it as an opportunity to learn and fix their mistakes.

Let’s face it, if you’re not getting any work on freelance platforms, you’re probably doing something wrong. Let’s find out what it is.

In this post, I talk about some of the most common reasons for not getting any work on freelance sites and getting rejected by clients. See if you’re making any of these mistakes.

1. Not Improving Your Skills

Most beginning freelancers try to just jump straight into work without even trying to figure out how things work.

Working online as a freelance is very different from working a regular job. Some of your skills won’t even transfer well online.

For example, you may be skilled at writing essays as a university student but that does not mean you have the right skills to write blog articles. Those require completely different types of writing styles.

So, it’s essential that you take time to learn and improve your skills before actually trying to find any online work.

Solution: Before applying to any freelance gigs, try to polish up your skills. Take a few online courses related to your skills and learn new tricks. I highly recommend Skillshare as it gives you access to thousands of classes for a single price.

2. Waiting For Work To Magically Appear

So you’ve uploaded a cool profile photo, wrote an awesome bio, and completed your profile on the freelance site. All you have to do now is wait for clients to contact you, right?

Wrong. Unless you’re Seth Godin, no one’s going to contact you to offer their projects on a silver platter.

The truth is you have to work hard and seek out clients yourself. You need to learn how to write great proposals and send cold emails to good clients.

Solution: Explore the freelance platform for appropriate jobs. Apply as many projects as you can, which are suitable for your skill set. And try sending a personal message to potential clients to tell them about your services.

“If you wait to do everything until you’re sure it’s right, you’ll probably never do much of anything” – Win Borden

3. Your Pricing Is Not Right

For some reason, most freelancers seem to think that lowering their price is a good way to win more clients. Clients actually see this as a desperate attempt made by amateur freelancers.

Low prices not only lowers the value you put on your experience but also exhibit low self-esteem.

Solution: Forget about hourly rates. Price per project according to the amount of work and time you have to invest.

4. Too Much Competition

Sites like UpWork and Freelancer.com are infested with cheap freelancers who compete for low rates. Trying to win on those sites will eventually force you to fall to their level as well.

Solution: Find a freelancing site with low competition and stick with it to build your reputation. And then slowly start working with clients outside those sites.

“The problem with competition is that it takes away the requirement to set your own path, to invent your own method, to find a new way.” – Seth Godin

5. Incomplete Profile

Completing your freelance profile is the first step you take to make money online. This is the page your clients come to learn about your skills and experience.

Sadly, most freelancers don’t even take five minutes to complete this step.

Solution: Complete your profile with a solid bio and a front-facing picture with a smile (no selfies). Show that you’re a professional.

6. Your Pitch Is Bad

No matter how many projects you apply every day, you will never get accepted if you write a bad pitch. The tiniest grammatical mistake in your pitch could have your clients doubt your abilities.

Solution: This may sound a bit cruel, but here’s a sneaky trick to find how to write a good pitch: Post a fake job on a freelancing platform and see how other freelancers apply for your fake job. Take note of the pitches sent from people who’ve made big sales.

7. Not Showing Genuine Interest

This is a common mistake that part-time freelancers make. They don’t take their freelance work seriously enough since they have a “real” job. So, they apply to projects like they’re trying to do a favor for the client.

Solution: Take your freelance career more seriously. Do what you’re passionate and excited about. Otherwise, get out of this business because you won’t be a successful freelancer.

“Follow your passion, be prepared to work hard and sacrifice, and, above all, don’t let anyone limit your dreams.” –  Donovan Bailey

8. Trying To Fool Your Clients

“So, you’re 20-years-old and you already have 10-years of experience as a web designer? That is incredible. Here, please accept our project.” Said no client ever!!

Solution: Clients have experience dealing with freelancers. You can’t fool them. Be realistic and be honest about your experience and skills.

9. Bad Profile Description

Here’s a horrible profile description that I’ve read on a popular freelance platform with just one sale (name replaced) – “A former HR professional, [John Doe] is a certified PMP, freelance writer, and entrepreneur offering writing and graphic designing services to small and large businesses thereby helping them achieve their marketing and communication goals.”

Don’t you just hate it when people refer to themselves in the third person? Only egomaniacs do that.

Solution: Write your profile bio in first-person. Personalize your description to fit the freelance site and try not to brag too much. Instead, focus on telling others how you intend to help them.

10. Too Late to Reply To Client Emails

You’re not the only one applying for a project posted on UpWork. Dozens, and sometimes hundreds, of other freelancers are desperately competing to win that job.

To find the right person for the job, clients often send messages with questions to many of those applicants to see who’s capable of handling their project. And then give the project to whoever replies first. Yes, it’s a true story.

Solution: UpWork has a cool feature that allows you to enable desktop notifications. Enable that to stay updated. Also enable email notifications on your phone and be ready to reply instantly to your client emails.

“Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.” – William Shakespeare

11. Not Showcasing Your Work

Your potential clients will often ask to see your previous work to confirm your claims about your experience and skills. Do you have a portfolio to showcase your work for those situations?

Solution: Keep a list of links and files of your best work ready at all times to show to your clients. If your freelance site allows to showcase your work, fill out that section as well. If you don’t have any work to showcase, start working on that right away.

12. Bad Communication Skills

Good communication is key to building long-term relationships with your clients. Copy pasting the same message to all your emails and pitches will never work.

Solution: You should never address your clients the same way you talk to your friends. Be respectful and friendly. And always double check your messages for typos and grammatical mistakes.

“Take advantage of every opportunity to practice your communication skills so that when important occasions arise, you will have the gift, the style, the sharpness, the clarity, and the emotions to affect other people.” – Jim Rohn

13. Applying For The Wrong Jobs

An eBook writer should never take a job for writing product descriptions. Those jobs require two different sets of skills that most writers don’t even understand. Applying for this type of jobs will waste both your and your client’s time.

Solution: Apply only for jobs that you would feel comfortable with. See if your skills set matches the requirements first. This will help you write a better pitch for the project.

14. Trying Too Hard To Make Money

Desperate times call for desperate measures. There will come a time when you have zero cash in your pocket and you feel like applying for any kind of job that appear on your job feed.

It happened to me more than once. Don’t let that happen to you.

Solution: Plan ahead. Even if you have a ton of clients right now, you’ll never know when they might disappear. Always keep a small “rainy day” fund to cover your expenses during those occasions.

“Never spend your money before you have earned it.” –  Thomas Jefferson

15. Asking The Wrong Questions

You can’t understand your client’s needs without asking the right questions. It’s a crucial step you can take to determine the project’s requirements and also show your enthusiasm to your clients.

But, I’m not talking about questions that are in your favor, like how much they’re willing to pay you or if you can take breaks whenever you want.

Solution: Don’t rush to accept projects or propose your prices. If you have any questions, ask them first.

16. Not Promoting Your Services

There are thousands of potential clients who don’t even know about freelancing sites. Are you promoting your services to them?

Solution: Build a following on social media and start a blog to promote your services outside freelance platforms. Share links to your freelance profiles and service pages to show that you’re available for work.

17. Promising Beyond What You Can Deliver

Sometimes, when you’re super excited about a job, you might oversell your abilities and skills in a desperate attempt to win the project. Clients are highly suspicious of those guys who offer to do way more than they request.

Solution: Know your limits and understand your client’s needs. Don’t try to oversell your experience or to convince clients of your skills. If they see your potential they will offer you the project. If not, it’s their loss.

18. Imitating Someone Else

I’ve seen a fair share of freelancers who use fake names and profiles to promote their work, especially on Fiverr. I can’t blame them because people can be very judgmental when you come from a lesser known part of the world, or a third-world country, like me.

But, using a fake English name and a stock photo is not going to help you win any clients.

Solution: Be who you are. Focus on your talents and experience. Build your reputation around your personality instead of someone else and an endless line of clients will come looking for you.

“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.” – Bruce Lee

19. No Follow-Ups

Doesn’t it feel a little awkward to send a follow-up email to your clients? All freelancers suffer from that illness. I can’t remember how many times I’ve hesitated to hit reply to send a second email to a client.

Solution: Remember to send a follow-up email to your clients to let them know that you’re waiting for a response. Take a risk, it’s better to fail than not trying at all.

20. Trying To Do All Kinds Of Work

You’ll find plenty of multi-talented freelancers on sites like UpWork and you’ll also notice that they have a very low success rate, even though they excel at many fields.

Solution: Don’t try to be a Jack of all trades and master of none. Master a specific skill and stick to it.

21. Too Busy To Accept Large Projects

Unless you have too much work to handle, you should never say no to an opportunity to make a big pile of money. Doesn’t matter if you’re freelancing part-time or full-time, commit yourself to find time for large projects.

Solution: Treat your freelance work as a business. Keep a schedule to manage your time so that when you receive a new order, you are ready to handle it.

22. Scared To Step Out Of Your Comfort Zone

Freelancing is not the same as doing a desk job. If you’re just looking for job security and a safe way to earn a few bucks, go get a day job.

Freelancing requires commitment and the will to challenge yourself every day to learn new things.

Solution: If a client contacts you for a great job, but too afraid you can’t handle it, just take it. You can learn the necessary skills while working on the job.

“If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes – then learn how to do it later.” – Richard Branson

Aim To Succeed

Another reason why many freelancers fail in their careers is that they lack confidence.

You need to be confident in your abilities before pitching your service to a client.

When you contact a client without confidence, you tend to show it in your emails and proposals. Simple phrases like “I think I can” can often make clients think you’re not confident enough.

Instead of saying “I think I can do this job”, try saying “I know I’m the right person for this job because I know X and Y”

Next time when you’re applying for a job, try to write with confidence. And truly believe in your abilities as a freelancer.

Admitting you’ve made a mistake is the first step to getting out of the slump. And if you’ve read all the way down here, I’m confident you’ll get back up there in no time. Stay confident and keep trying!