How to acknowledge orders on freelance marketplaces (from a $180k/year freelancer)📈

This might be a post for a niche group of people, but I hope it's helpful.

If you're NOT a freelancer, this isn't for you ❌

If you're a freelancer working on a marketplace (i.e. Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer, Vettted, Toptal & others), you need to know how to acknowledge your orders.

Does this sound boring yet?

...well, that's because it is.

however, knowing WHY and HOW to do it, WILL make you reach that $10k/mo mark.

But why should you even listen to me?

Well...

This is me 👇

I've been freelancing for over 7 years now (exclusively on marketplace platforms).

I've gone through a LOT of different marketplaces and have learned a few things along the way.

Besides learning (and also failing a lot) I managed to grow a multi 6 figure a year business around freelancing.

My latest accomplishment was making $400k on just 1 platform in 4 years (currently ~$180k ARR) - this is NOT a flex, it simply serves as proof so you know I'm not just faking it.

bUt VaScO tHaT cAn Be tHaT "iNsPeCt ElEmEnT" tRiCk!!!

Well...

(it's really not)

Getting back on track:

That's just for one marketplace, since 2018. It's currently around a ~180k ARR business.

Now, how did I accomplish this?

I can tell you that it was not just with knowing how to acknowledge orders...that's just 1 piece of the puzzle.

There's a lot you need to know, such as not being entirely dependent on these marketplaces, building a personal brand, copywriting, thumbnail making etc..

My goal is to give YOU all of the puzzle pieces (for free).

But let's focus on this 1 piece first.

So now that that's out of the way and you see me as somewhat qualified to lecture you, let's get back to the main topic at hand:

How I Acknowledge Orders on Freelance Marketplaces 📈

Truth is that it's not just about acknowledging them, it's about knowing what and how to write the message you send your clients.

Note: If you don't like to read, you can just watch this video 👈

In this short video I go over the exact message and tactics you should apply when sending out messages to first time (as well as repeat) buyers when acknowledging their orders.

If you prefer reading...then here we go:

Firstly, why is this important?

• Shows professionalism & that your serious about your business
• Assures the buyer (people like to be assured you have all you need to get started)
• Builds trust (not sending a confirmation message is a red flag)
• Creates opportunity for upsells/downsells and brand building

All of these are all key pieces in ANY business, and freelance isn't different.

People often think that just because you're working for yourself, that YOU aren't a business...but YOU are a business!

Think of yourself as a business-person, not a person and not a business.

And as such, you need to act like one (of course you also need to show your personality, which is easier for a person than a business to do).

What we do then, is take all the above and craft the perfect order acknowledgement message.

Here's a visual breakdown:

1. No fluff: people don't read. people don't care. be straight to the point.
2. Acknowledge the buyer "Hey Sam, thank you for the order"
3. Assure them you have all you need to get started, otherwise they'll always be stressed out
4. Offer your TIME to help in case they need it (most often they won't, but they'll know it's there in case they need to)
5. Sign off professionally (or not. depends on the positioning/personal brand your trying to build for yourself)
6. Have a clear CTA (call to action) - after a successful sale, the buyer will be keen to see what else you have to offer (i.e. other services, a YouTube video, blog, Facebook group, email list, etc..)

This has all the key ingredients that make the buyer read what you say, get their delivery, trust you, and click your CTA.

It's that simple. I don't know what else to say.

If you're interested in this topic (i.e. making money on freelance marketplaces), make sure to watch THIS video as it breaks it all down.

My CTA

Making all of this money on marketplaces is one of the reasons why I'm building Vettted.com. It's a marketplace where we put YOU (the freelancer) first.

0% in fees and some other pretty cools perks..

This is not a pitch though. My goal isn't to get people to register from IndieHackers.

I just like to share my knowledge around freelance marketplaces, which even though is boring at times, was what made me scale a freelance marketplace business to over 6 figures a year.

So I'm sharing it here so that hopefully some of you can benefit from it.

If you want to apply it to Vettted.com great, if not, that's fine too 🙂

Cheers,
Vasco

P.S.: If you're into startup #buildinginpublic, this video might interest you https://youtu.be/oZmk0Gayfnc