[Emil]

I’ve been trying various ways to discover who the top tier freelancers are so I know who I can look up to, but there’s absolutely NO RESULTS to this question no matter how much you look.

I’m curious if you know any fullstack devs who are top of the food chain in upwork, since I want to go and pester them for their knowledge

Discussion

[Mahogany]

Hi Emil,

Here are a few:

• https://www.upwork.com/fl/barryjohnson

• https://www.upwork.com/fl/danilomalisic

• https://www.upwork.com/fl/yoandrogonzalezvizoso

• https://www.upwork.com/fl/rayrasheed

• https://www.upwork.com/fl/antonanisimov

• https://www.upwork.com/fl/yoandrogonzalezvizoso

With that question answered though, I think a good further question would be related to strategy. “Pester them for their knowledge” is one approach, but perhaps Adam has some guidance here on a less bothersome way to approach other freelancers. If the end goal would be to develop a relationship, befriend and/or collaborate with these people, it may be better to start by considering ways to ADD value first (instead of TAKING value first).

Like link 1 – Barry, he’s experienced with iOS SDK 10.x. Maybe you read about a recent update plan that you share an article about when you reach out (educate on something that maybe he hadn’t heard about) or a resource to make developing for WeChat more appealing to the end users in Asia (WeChat’s highest adoption is over in Asia).

Additionally though, how would you even reach these guys? Figure out their social media handles then message them on there? Send them invites for jobs on Upwork that you have zero intention of hiring them for? I’d just be careful not to waste a freelancer’s time is what I’m getting at.

So, if I were you, I’d consider having a honed strategy for how you’ll add value and also how you’ll reach them in the first place (in a way that doesn’t waste their time).

[Emil]

By top freelancer developer I mean someone who is in the top 0.1% in terms of income. Generally speaking the difference of skill between someone in the top 0.1% and someone in the lower 1% is as big as the difference between lower 1% and the average dev.

I was exaggerating when I said i’ll pester them nonstop. Usually people in the 0.1% exude value whatever they do or wherever they go, so just stalking them a bit and their past work would answer 98% of the questions you can have and is extremely beneficial if you’re a newbie to have someone like that to compare yourself to.

[Mahogany]

Hi Emil,

Thanks for the aded context. Still though, some of the points may still apply for what you are trying to do. Let’s look at Yoandro. He’s a Top Rated freelancer who has made over 200k on the platform from 44 jobs on the platform since 2016 and has a 98% JSS score. Even if you were to look at that 200k+ as “but it is over a FOUR year time period” and average it out to 50k annually, that’s still not bad (he’s still doing some things right as a freelancer – especially when you consider that he’s earning more on there than the average U.S. annual salary). Could that make him top 0.1% like you are looking for? Probably not? But, can he still provide you some success clues? Sure. So why not also include someone like him in your list of profiles to analyze?

I actually agree with your thinking (sorry I didn’t make that clear last time). I do agree that it makes a lot of sense to look at what successful freelancers are doing. That’s why I took time out to do some research for you (not getting to top 0.1% because I, also, do not know how to find those freelancers), but enough research to help with spotting some trends maybe.

So yeah, learn from ones who have made a notable amount of money on the platform. And ok, I was mistaken in thinking that were saying that you were interested in connecting with these freelancers somehow. My apologies for an incorrect interpretation there.

I DO feel that it’s worthwhile getting to know other freelancers too though (isn’t that part of why we’re all here chatting and knowledge-sharing)? For one, it is a good thing because who else understands this type of work? And there ARE enough jobs to go around, so why not take an approach of “a rising tide lifts all boats”?

With that point noted, I do think that it would be worthwhile to have a talk with Adam about his views on effective ways to get to know other freelancers who you take notice of on the platform. Or, better yet, Adam could share with us all his thoughts in this area for folks who encounter this thread down the line.

Anyway, the key takeaway from me Emil is that we know you’re trying to better understand how to improve on the platform (and how to get out from under your current agency). We (other freelancers) can share various different perspectives to help inspire new ways of approaching things. It may be worthwhile to embrace that. 🙂

[Emil]

Yea I agree with what you’re saying. Also, thanks for taking your time to write all of this and putting effort to find these freelancers! I appreciate it.

[Mahogany]

You’re welcome Emil. 🙂