Here is a copy of 99% of @SinisterLex's posts in this thread. Enjoy!
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum:
Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.
Join over 90,000 entrepreneurs who have rejected the paradigm of mediocrity and said "NO!" to underpaid jobs, ascetic frugality, and suffocating savings rituals— learn how to build a Fastlane business that pays both freedom and lifestyle affluence.
Free registration at the forum removes this block.Thanks!Here is a copy of 99% of @SinisterLex's posts in this thread. Enjoy!
Very enlightening thread & a testament to how valuable this forum is. I read Lex's initial posts here over 3 months ago and was charged up with enthusiasm to try the whole freelancing route out. Needless to say after 10+ attempts and no replies, I began using templates as cover letters before giving up entirely.
One thing that has left a lasting mark on me though is copywriting and the whole psychology behind it. I agree with other posters' comments on not learning copy just for the sake of it, but it really is a skill that can only be beneficial to you in regards to learning how to communicate value/sell.
Will be trying the freelance thing again to build up a side income, and this time I won't give up until I get a reply.
Here's my Upwork profile intro below, any critiques are welcome!
View attachment 11145
Here is a copy of 99% of @SinisterLex's posts in this thread. Enjoy!
now my profile is completely trashes, not a single person will hire me now, they would be foolish to.
So, don't do that...
Good tip, I did some research on removing negative feedback, it looks like if you give a full refund the feedback gets removed, he never paid me for the job, but he did pay me a 1 dollar milestone first, the rest wasn't approved of course and he ended the contract. I refunded the dollar this morning, we'll see if it works.Can you still give him a refund?
If you can, do it.
That should remove his negative feedback from your profile. Your job success score will be affected, but you can work harder to improve it.
Next time when you outsource a gig, use copyscape (or another plagiarism checker) to check if the content/copy is original.
Good tip, I did some research on removing negative feedback, it looks like if you give a full refund the feedback gets removed, he never paid me for the job, but he did pay me a 1 dollar milestone first, the rest wasn't approved of course and he ended the contract. I refunded the dollar this morning, we'll see if it works.
I knew there was software to check for plagiarism but never looked into it, copyscape is it? I'll look into it. Thanks.
I dropped freelancing. Although I needed the quick cash , it sucked my time like a $2 whore. I capped out at 3-4k a month and it would be damn near impossible to expect freedom while doing it. I'm surprise MJ let this thread go on for this long. Good luck to the rest of you guys.
I dropped freelancing. Although I needed the quick cash , it sucked my time like a $2 whore. I capped out at 3-4k a month and it would be damn near impossible to expect freedom while doing it. I'm surprise MJ let this thread go on for this long. Good luck to the rest of you guys.
I meant no offense . I dropped it because it's not for me. I've thanked @SinisterLex in the past for getting me started.
It's been a long journey and I've decided to let it go . That's all I'm saying.
OR
'Thanks SinisterLex for all the value in this thread. I got up to 4k a month which has given me some options and plenty of experience to move on to the next stage. Ultimately I found it too hard to focus on both freelancing and ______ so I had to choice one. Wish everyone else the best of luck.
My main big takeaways are
1) ____
2) ____
3) ____
Thanks again for all the for value provided.'
Not-so-subtly-pissing all over someone who has provided NUMEROUS threads, videos and PMs to lots of members isn't a great move in what is ultimately a small enough community (online business). Business, and life, is all about connections.
I am going into copywriting knowing that initially the money won't be great. I am under no illusions since there is none given in this thread. It has been mentioned many times what to expect paywise and that it takes focus and time. I think there is more here then just making X amount though and the common trend between forum members who have studied copy and then also succeeded in other areas is clear. I think you missed out on some valuable lessons by purely taking a dollar/month view of the whole experience.
Okay. It didn't read that way though.
Mind sharing how long it took to get to 3-4k? And also how consistent that was once you got to that level?
Thanks Hererace. Why not specialize in only quick fixes and jobs that are under an hour?
'Quick Fix Wordpress Jobs. Any Problem Solved in Under An Hour - Immediate Response'
Max amount for minimum time while still having plenty of space for your new project(s). Either way its good to see that you were making money within two weeks.
One of the problems I've encountered is getting stuck with long-term clients for content writing. I initially wanted to do some content writing to build up my feedback on Upwork, but now I'm trying to move onto Copywriting and it seems as if I'm stuck with these clients writing articles for them. I want to keep my hourly rate at $6 an hour until I land a few Copywriting jobs, then boost up my rate. Right now I could boost up my rate for content writing because I have people messaging me a lot to do jobs for them, but they're long-term. I haven't received any Copywriting jobs on Upwork yet.
Basically I'm looking for advice.
Should I boost my content writing price and apply for Copywriting jobs with that rate or should I keep my rate at $6 an hour and pursue small Copywriting jobs and build up my portfolio? I feel like I'm stuck right now.
One of the problems I've encountered is getting stuck with long-term clients for content writing. I initially wanted to do some content writing to build up my feedback on Upwork, but now I'm trying to move onto Copywriting and it seems as if I'm stuck with these clients writing articles for them. I want to keep my hourly rate at $6 an hour until I land a few Copywriting jobs, then boost up my rate. Right now I could boost up my rate for content writing because I have people messaging me a lot to do jobs for them, but they're long-term. I haven't received any Copywriting jobs on Upwork yet.
Basically I'm looking for advice.
Should I boost my content writing price and apply for Copywriting jobs with that rate or should I keep my rate at $6 an hour and pursue small Copywriting jobs and build up my portfolio? I feel like I'm stuck right now.
I have 100% job success so far, but my contract for my content gigs haven't ended yet. They're ongoing jobs for $6 an hour, so I can't get any real feedback unless the job ends. People can still see that I've earned $100 working for them though.
The job success rating seems to have a pretty big impact too. In the 2 months leading up to last week, I had a total of 3 invites to interview. This week I've had at least 1 every day. Checked what's changed - I'm not longer unrated, feedback has been applied and got 100% job success. Pretty sure that's why I'm getting invites daily now. They're for pretty nice jobs too!
With that said I did have an unsatisfied client last week, the only copy I attempted to write so far. He wanted two pieces, was happy with the first, didn't like the second even with multiple revisions. He offered to pay for the first and part-pay for the 2nd, I refused, refunded, apologized for not delivering, and asked him to keep the other piece free. Is this likely to affect my job success score later on?
That was months ago, and it took several months to raise. Eventually it went up to 88% and now it's stuck there. I've had VERY few people contact me for jobs since that time. Upwork promotes 90% & above as top rated and gives them recommendations and priority in pretty much everything.
Is this no longer your primary income source? Just curious if where you're at now developed from your freelancing.
Apologies if it's already been discussed I haven't caught up on the whole thread yet.
It's hard to say because Upwork hasn't released all of the details that go into calculating job success rating.
The whole thing is crap as far as I'm concerned.
I had 1 client leave 4.97 rating after no contact for months. It's the only less than perfect feedback I ever received, and it dropped my score to 82% job success from 100%. I was like wtf?! I offered revisions / money-back etc. and he never responded so I was just stuck with 82%.
That was months ago, and it took several months to raise. Eventually it went up to 88% and now it's stuck there. I've had VERY few people contact me for jobs since that time. Upwork promotes 90% & above as top rated and gives them recommendations and priority in pretty much everything.
So not only does the score have a negative impact because it looks bad, it seems it drops you in search ranking, and also hurts where you show up when applying to gigs. The only gigs I've had through Upwork lately were gigs I specifically applied to, and they certainly aren't at my old rates.
This is why it's about time for someone to build a better system.
I hope it's a Fastlaner and I hope they crush Upwork.
In the meantime the best you can do is to follow their "guidelines" as best you can and do whatever it takes to avoid getting any kind of negative feedback, whether public or private, because both impact the score.
Join Fastlane Insiders.