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All that work made behind the scenes... the first 100 days it never went over $200. Last two weeks, almost $1,000 (savings, not revenue). I must be faster. These daily expenses are slowing it down. Time is money.
Also, I sent three easy-entry proposals on Upwork. Over 1000w for $5. Nothing yet.
Hey Nick, thanks for the insightful response.Great that you're putting in effort every day! And tracking it!
Here are three things that could help out.
My apologies if you've moved beyond UpWork and freelance blog writing, but that's the last thing I saw in the thread, so that's where I'm going to help out.
First, for reference, my first gig on UpWork for freelance writing was 7 1000-word articles for $235 (after UpWork's fee), or ~$30 per article. When I left UpWork, I was doing around $60-70 per article.
There's a lot of competition at the $5 mark because everyone thinks they need to get their foot in the door. So odds are no one will hire you, even if you're the best candidate. There's like 30 people applying!
I have no idea how good your article writing is, but simply raising your can show you're higher-quality. If I charged $100 per 1K words (which I do when I occasionally need some freelance work now), people think you're good—just because you charged a higher price. One client even said to me something along the lines of "you're too qualified for the job" because the price was too high. I actually pitched the price ~20% higher than I expected. So when I adjusted it down, I got the job.
Also, fewer people are competing at higher price points. Of course, you need to deliver higher quality for higher prices. But there isn't a huge quality jump between $20 and $50, or between $60 and $100. The difference is the clients.
Second, if you really need the cash and don't want to sell yourself as much, get onto Verblio. Clients submit articles, you write the articles, and they buy the best ones. If they don't buy yours, you can submit it to another client. It will allow you to be more proactive and earn money sooner. And by the way, there's less competition than on UpWork.
They do have a more rigorous screening process, so be prepared to wait a week.
The simplest, most flexible freelance writing gig out there - Verblio
Verblio writers are talented, detail-oriented, professional content creators. Sound like you? You do the writing, we do the rest.www.verblio.com
Third, selling yourself is a good skill to have, though. In fact, my early days of learning copywriting was applying for jobs on UpWork. You probably won't get the first few you apply to, but you'll learn by trying.
But a useful tactic for learning how to write a good proposal is to look at other freelancer's proposals and portfolios. Here are the steps.
- Decide the type of client you want to attract
- Research their job postings
- We're just doing research, so find the ideal gigs for you
- Create a client account
- Post a job posting that mimics the type of client you want (you don't need to hire anyone)
- Look at the proposals you get
- Pay attention to the high earners. What do they say? How do they say it?
- Pay attention to the low earners? How do they speak differently?
- Pay attention to the proposals that bore you to death. Why are they so boring?
- Pay attention to the proposals that grab your attention. Why do they do that?
- Take everything you learned and use those skills to write proposals.
You can check my quality here on my Upwork profile. Chances are I'm ready to find high-paying clients because I spend more time writing than trying to find the right people. My mistake.
As for Verblio, I guess I can reuse my already written articles, about ~100. So you suggest Verblio, Upwork? Aside from these two clients, the only experience I have come from low-rate content mills.
Ok, I'll do those. A+ Advice!I totally agree. I looked at your profile, and it's really good. Probably in the top 90-95% I've seen on UpWork.
The only thing I would add is some portfolio items. Maybe I didn't see them because I'm not signed in, but portfolio items really make you look credible. They say you've done this before (even if you're new to the site).
There are two strategies I used on UpWork proposals regularly that practically doubled my response rate. And nobody does these, so you'll instantly stand out.
Then the final comment about UpWork is to apply to 2-3 jobs twice a day. Many jobs lead to recurring revenue, so if you can get one, you'll likely get 10+ articles later from the same client.
- If you can write fast, write the article before submitting the proposal and send it to them. Results speak louder than words. It shows your quality, that you're fast, and that you care about them. You can't copy-paste custom writing. If they don't hire you, you can always reuse the article later.
- Start with a short testimonial. No one does this. That will make you stand out, and other people's words are more impactful than yours.
Verblio has a strong stance against plagiarism. So you can't use articles you've already sold to other clients. You can use articles you haven't sold.
Hope this helps.
Also, one reason I'm struggling with Upwork is reviews. I think I'm going to ask my two clients to join Upwork to help me with one article. And get testimonials along the way.
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I got more work and almost completed it.
It sucks when Upwork clients don't reply to you despite being better. But it's not frustrating, because all I need is one or two good responses. Finding the right contacts are game-changers, no matter how many hundreds reject you first. I guess you all agree.
Good question.Hey, if your plan was to start with e-commerce, how come that you didn't start sooner?
Looking to get into e-com as well. Have a good day
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