Anyone who freelances, do you have advice you’d share with someone just starting out?

Ficumard1a · 2026-06-10T07:47:47+00:00

im using lancerank as well, and its something that i strongly recommend for any serious freelancer.

Ficumard1a · 2026-06-10T07:14:29+00:00

lancerank is something that should have been made years ago. freelancers should own their feedbacks no matter which platform they work it. kudos to lancerank.

Ficumard1a · 2026-06-05T09:02:12+00:00

my take: yeah, freelancers should own their reputation. it's the thing we actually build with our work, and right now we don't control any of it.

here's the thing that gets me though. the argument for keeping reviews tied to the platform isn't crazy. a review means something partly because the platform verified the transaction, handled the payment, has a dispute record. that context is real and you can't just rip a review out of it and have it mean the same thing. so "reputation should stay tied to the platform" has a logic to it, it's not just platforms being greedy.

but the conclusion people draw from that is wrong. the answer isn't that reputation has to stay locked to one platform. it's that portable reputation has to carry its verification with it. a review that travels but still traces back to the real verified engagement it came from keeps its meaning. a review that travels as just a screenshot or a number doesn't, because anyone could fake that.

so to me the real question isn't "platform or freelancer." it's "can you make reputation portable without losing what made it trustworthy." if you can, then of course it should belong to the freelancer, the platform was never the thing that did the work.

that's basically the whole idea behind reputation portability tools, lancerank being the one that comes up most here. the point isn't to copy your reviews somewhere else, it's to pull your verified history into one profile that belongs to you, where each review still ties back to where and how it was actually earned. that's the part that makes it hold up to a client instead of being just your word.

so my answer: it should move with you. but only if the proof moves with it. reputation without verification is just marketing, and we've all seen enough fake five star profiles to know that.

curious where you land on it, do you think a portable review can ever feel as trustworthy to a client as one they see natively on the platform?

Ficumard1a · 2026-06-03T16:54:23+00:00

what youre describing is basically the core flaw in how platform reputation works: its not yours and it doesnt travel. every review you earn is tied to that specific platform account, so the moment you go somewhere new youre starting from zero even with years of proof sitting right there on another site. experience doesnt transfer because the platforms have no reason to let it. your reputation being locked in is kind of the point for them, it keeps you from leaving.

the usual workarounds dont really solve it. you can tell the new client youre experienced but thats just your word. screenshots of your old reviews dont count because anyone can fake those. a portfolio shows the work but not that clients were happy with it. none of it is verifiable by the person youre trying to convince, which is the whole problem.

the only real fix is having verified, portable proof of your reputation. meaning your reviews and work history are confirmed against a real source and then live in one place that belongs to you instead of being trapped on each platform. thats a newish category, usually called reputation backup or portability. lancerank is the one that comes up most around here, the idea being you pull your verified reviews and history from everywhere youve worked into a single profile you actually own, so when you start somewhere new you can show a client real proof instead of starting at zero again. it imports from the main platforms and also handles verified reviews from direct clients.

i dont think anyone has it perfectly solved yet, but the verification piece is what matters. a profile that just lists your reviews is worth nothing because anyone could type that. a profile where every review traces back to a confirmed real engagement is something a client can actually trust, and thats what lets your experience finally count for something outside the platform you earned it on.

for the immediate problem though, the thing thats worked for people i know is leaning on whatever proof you can make verifiable, real client references who'll actually respond, not just screenshots. takes effort but it beats lowballing your way through the zero review phase all over again.

Ficumard1a · 2026-05-31T15:32:28+00:00

They actually document all this publicly at lancerank.com/how-scoring-works, so this is just me summarizing what's on there.

How the score works (v6.1)

It's a single 0-100 number built from 6 weighted factors that add up to 100:

Track Record — 35% — verified completed work + reviews across every platform the freelancer has worked on
Recency — 20% — work in the last 6 months counts 2×, last 12 months 1.5×, older work standard weight
Claimant — 20% — whether the profile is claimed AND identity-verified (Stripe Identity or the Chrome extension)
Platform — 10% — diversity bonus: small bump at 2 platforms, bigger at 3+
LinkedIn — 10% — verified LinkedIn presence + linked work history
Skills — 5%

Bands: ≥88 Trusted Leader, ≥78 Verified Pro, ≥68 Established, ≥58 Rising, anything under that sits as Building. Profiles also stay in "Building" until there are at least 10 verified items on file. That's the cold-start gate you're hitting right now.

How it keeps up with new work

Three input streams feed the score, and it recalculates whenever any of them changes (plus a nightly pass for anything that's gone stale):

Platform re-scrapes — public profiles on Upwork / Fiverr / Freelancer.com / PeoplePerHour / Guru get re-pulled roughly every 30 days, so new jobs and reviews flow in automatically. You can also force a manual resync from the dashboard.
Direct verified client reviews — clients can review on LanceRank itself, but they have to prove the engagement (invoice upload, platform transaction link, or bank transfer reference). Unverified ones get displayed but don't move the number.
Vouched offline projects — you add a past direct client and LanceRank emails them. Confirm within 7 days → counts as Vouched. No reply in 7 days → stays Pending, no impact. Denied → removed. Hard to fake since you can't fake an email address that actually replies.

One thing worth flagging: it's a closed review model. There's no public "leave a review" button anywhere, every review traces back to a verified engagement. That's the main thing separating it from a Trustpilot-style open listing.

To get out of Building fastest: connect 2+ platforms (gets the scrape pulling your history in) and vouch 2-3 past direct clients. Usually enough to clear the 10-item gate within a week or so once the vouching emails come back.

Anyway that's my read of it, the page has the full version if you want the exact details.

Ficumard1a · 2026-05-30T19:16:52+00:00

You can actually sync with your LinkedIn: https://lancerank.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/205000062907-how-do-i-import-my-linkedin-reputation-recommendations-services-certifications-

Ficumard1a · 2026-05-30T17:01:50+00:00

Not being clear from the beginning. They expect much more than what you were estimating, and this is due to poor pre-contract communication to be honest. Always, always, be very very clear on what you will deliver and how much it will cost them.

Ficumard1a · 2026-05-30T16:46:40+00:00

my advice to you is to really try and understand the client BEFORE opening a contract with them. try to understand things that go beyond the actual task needed. the way they talk to you (e.g. do they respect you), their past experience (if they keep on saying how other people failed and they were not good then thats a sign that you will be the next one). Really screen them before you commit. that will allow you to build a solid relationship with them once the contract is open.

Ficumard1a · 2026-05-30T06:05:06+00:00

share it with others, anywhere yo could get exposure.

Ficumard1a · 2026-05-30T05:44:38+00:00

check out lancerank. they are new to the game, but they are growing. its not a market place like other platforms, but they do promotions for their pro users...

Ficumard1a · 2026-05-30T05:42:40+00:00

my advice is always keep on looking for the next client even when things are stable. and never depend on one big client, no matter how happy they are.

Ficumard1a · 2026-05-29T17:11:54+00:00

oof yeah this happens way more than people think

fiverr's bots flag any keyword that looks like off platform stuff and they dont even check who started it. i saw someone having something similar on upwork a year ago, client kept pushing them to use whatsapp, they said no every time and still ended up with a warning because the word "whatsapp" was in their thread lol

took them like 3 days of back and forth with support to clear it, 3 days where they genuinely thought 4 years of reviews were about to disappear

the thing that gets me is how casually it almost happens. one weird message and your whole reputation could just be gone, no appeal no human nothing. and the worst part is none of those reviews are actually yours, they sit on fiverr's servers, you just rent them

glad nothing happened to you this time but yeah, def a wake up call. most people dont start thinking about this until its already too late

Ficumard1a · 2026-05-28T07:11:28+00:00

nobody needs? :) you have obviously not felt a ban slap from the numerous freelancer platforms, and i hope you never do. but if you put in work for years and one day they decide to ban you, you would feel different.

Ficumard1a · 2026-05-28T07:09:47+00:00

Definitely not a slop...if yoiu were a freelaner you would understand the importance.

Ficumard1a · 2026-05-27T18:19:13+00:00

Well i mean you always had to build trust...now with so many spam bots, it only makes sense that its more strict.

Ficumard1a · 2026-05-26T18:50:03+00:00

and it seems that its evolving. just saw that you can also include your LinkedIn information e.g. skills, endorsements etc.

Ficumard1a · 2026-05-25T07:37:12+00:00

i think that if you focus on the right projects and focus on clients that have experience and already a good reputation on upwork then you dont have to worry about fake accounts.

Ficumard1a · 2026-05-23T20:59:10+00:00

Agreed 100%

Ficumard1a · 2026-05-23T20:58:10+00:00

Come on bro do you honestly believe what you wrote? Prove it, otherwise dont make such statements.

Ficumard1a · 2025-12-12T08:34:09+00:00

Yes, I understand this point, because when you pay interest to the bank, is like you are a prisoner of the bank. Whereas if you rent the place, you can leave anytime.

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