I've been freelancing remotely as a front-end web developer for over 3 years now. Here's my advice:

1. Get off of Upwork, now. You're only getting into a bidding war with low-priced overseas developers.

2. Instead, search remote job boards, Twitter, Facebook Groups, and LinkedIn for freelance remote contracts related to your field.

3. Find the client's email and send them your portfolio directly.

Following this strategy is what has landed me the most freelance gigs these past years.

There's also aggregation newsletters like RemoteLeads that send you remote freelance gigs a few times a week directly to your email.

https://remoteleads.io/

Shameless Plug: I started RemoteLeads to make finding remote front-end freelance leads easier for myself.