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[Daily Update] Watch me go from Freelancer To Entrepreneur

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

MaxKhalus

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MaxKhalus

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MaxKhalus

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These two days, I've put 5+ hours of quality work before 2 pm. Never felt happier!
I earn about $60 in those six hours.
 

MaxKhalus

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There you have it. The last video I shared is the real deal for those who work from home.
 
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MaxKhalus

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MaxKhalus

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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.
 
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Nick M.

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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.

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.

Also, I sent three easy-entry proposals on Upwork. Over 1000w for $5. Nothing yet.

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.


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.
  1. Decide the type of client you want to attract
  2. Research their job postings
    1. We're just doing research, so find the ideal gigs for you
  3. Create a client account
  4. Post a job posting that mimics the type of client you want (you don't need to hire anyone)
  5. Look at the proposals you get
    1. Pay attention to the high earners. What do they say? How do they say it?
    2. Pay attention to the low earners? How do they speak differently?
    3. Pay attention to the proposals that bore you to death. Why are they so boring?
    4. Pay attention to the proposals that grab your attention. Why do they do that?
  6. Take everything you learned and use those skills to write proposals.
 

MaxKhalus

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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.


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.
  1. Decide the type of client you want to attract
  2. Research their job postings
    1. We're just doing research, so find the ideal gigs for you
  3. Create a client account
  4. Post a job posting that mimics the type of client you want (you don't need to hire anyone)
  5. Look at the proposals you get
    1. Pay attention to the high earners. What do they say? How do they say it?
    2. Pay attention to the low earners? How do they speak differently?
    3. Pay attention to the proposals that bore you to death. Why are they so boring?
    4. Pay attention to the proposals that grab your attention. Why do they do that?
  6. Take everything you learned and use those skills to write proposals.
Hey Nick, thanks for the insightful response.

It all started with content mills paying under a cent per word. I proved my quality there and now work with two clients: one for 2.2c, another for 1.3. Both independent, no middleman in between.

What you say about Upwork is good, but I never made any money there (yet). You say to charge around $100, not $5. The quality won't definitely be 20 times better, and my conversions want to be 20 times lower. That's smart advice I'll try, thx.

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.

Hey, thanks for your time :)
 
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serge94

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Hey Max, I agree with Nick: you're selling yourself too short (extremely). You have great written english, I see no reason why you couldn't charge a ton more. I did the same mistake as you did even but in a different field (web development), though I knew it was wrong, something inside me (fear) was holding me back from charging more. Look up imposter syndrome if you haven't heard about it. I was working for $5/hr doing web development when with my experience I could have easily found $30+/hr paying clients. I'd say you should spend a ton more time looking for higher paying clients than delivering to your current ones. Also, I haven't read the entire thread, but it might be a good idea to get into copywriting. All the best!

P.S. Look up The Futur on YouTube, it's a really helpful freelancing channel.
 

Nick M.

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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.

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.
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
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.

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.

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.
 
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MaxKhalus

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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.
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
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.



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.
Ok, I'll do those. A+ Advice!

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.
 

Nick M.

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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.

Yeah, getting those first few reviews are difficult. Since you're brand new to UpWork, though, they aren't as crucial as you might think. Definitely they'll help you get jobs in the future, but you don't need them to get your first one on UpWork.

Bringing your two clients onto UpWork is a great idea to get reviews! Just two things to be aware of before you do that.
  1. UpWork takes 10-20% of your earnings. Not terrible if you're getting $50-100/article. But you will see a dip in the short term.
  2. Double-check UpWork's policy on leaving the platform. They do make it difficult for you to leave, but I believe that doesn't apply to clients you bring onto UpWork. Double-check that so you aren't trapped on the platform with them.
P.S. The UpWork algorithm loves repeat clients. Since these clients already like your work, do 2-4 gigs for each of them on the platform and try and get a review for each one. That will give you 4-8 reviews (more than most have when starting out) and you'll start beating the algorithm.

And if you can (especially if these clients are still the low-paying clients), ask them for 5-6 articles per gig. Or enough the total price to your target price point. UpWork doesn't really know how much work goes into each gig. So if you can make a $5 gig look like a $30 gig, it looks the same as if you did one $30 article.
 

MaxKhalus

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I'm done with slacking.

I've just started today a full permanent dopamine detox. I want to switch to 12h workdays, but I expect lower results for this week. From there, it can only get better.

- I give up on those $400
- I get my clients' work done
- I use my free time for Upwork Proposals & Related

All I'll do in my free time, apart from health-related habits, is sleep and learning to work better.

*This recount is a confusion I made with both currencies. I was using an outdated exchange, so there was ~$55 less earned in total.
 
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MaxKhalus

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Now that I've finished the work, I'll keep on Upwork
 

MaxKhalus

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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.
 

Nick M.

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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.

Yep, especially at the beginning, it's totally possible to apply for more work than you get. But as you build momentum and hone in your proposals, you'll get more and better quality clients.
 
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MaxKhalus

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Hey guys, what apps do you use to process payments? This security measures are giving me just as many headaches as Payoneer.
 
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MaxKhalus

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So far, recounts have gone negative, which means I'm underestimating expenses. As I work for my two clients, I'll change this:
- Moving -$15 daily expense to -$20. After a monthly recount, numbers should be positive and cover unexpected losses (-420 was paying for rent early)
- I'll mark the daily revenue with the retainer, not after I receive the payment. It will make the data reflect my daily work.
- I'm buying JungleScout today to start the Second Phase of my Saas plan. Ecommerce. That will add some tiny costs plus research time. I'll adapt the table to reflect both projects.

Current daily goals are:
- Earning $40 over the $20 daily expense
- Product research for 6h a day

By the time I find a product, I'll have racked up $2K.

Ready set go
 

MaxKhalus

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As for day 138, it's been 6h of me writing and things not going as expected. I still did better than my other days at 3h/day, but there're new problems.
- Still not hitting the $40 mark
- Still not hitting the $40 mark with enough time to add 6h of product research

The reason today's number is lower is because:
- I'm working on two $20 articles with my second low-cost client. We'll use these for the first two upwork reviews.
- I've raised the standard from $15 to $22 to avoid unexpected losses on recounts. My real expenses will still be $15. Recounts go every few weeks.


I believe to have the skill to write 3000 words a day, then research for six hours. I'll keep on until I make it, and then the product will be funded and ready to ship.
 
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MaxKhalus

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Yesss, today I'm much happier with these results.

- Spent ~4h researching&writing two topics, 2300words.
- Spent ~4h researching with JungleScout, found some good stuff on Amazon

Versus what I had planned:

- Write 3K words
- Research 6 hours

Still not there, but I'm much better than yesterday, which makes me quite satisfied. Numbers may look like a mess now. Don't worry; by the time I find the product, these ones will make 2K. Paypal still hasn't unfrozen may account which sucks, but things are still moving.
- Tomorrow, today's client will move the completed work to Upwork to get my first to reviews ($20/h each)
- Bought JungleScout & started to research. It looks as an expense in the chart, but it's an investment. I may still get $15 back later.

Plans for the following days:
- Follow-up on the Upwork Review
- Write 3K words
- Complete 6h of FBA research

I guess it's going quite well.
 

MaxKhalus

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Objective reached, $40 & 6h of research. Let's call it a win
 

MaxKhalus

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On day 141, I've written 3,000 words worth $40 (plus $22 substracted of expenses) and spent ~5hours browsing on Amazon. Found a few products on Kitchen&Dining, Personal Care, and Home Improvement.

Most numbers I found look like this...
33000
But I'm not getting into deep research yet. Just looking for cool niche ideas to learn more later.

My no.1 worry is keeping consistency for this work ethics.
 
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juresesko

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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 :)
 

MaxKhalus

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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 :)
Good question.
I once started with $1300 thinking it'd be enough to succeed. It wasn't. I chose the wrong product and spent all of it trying to launch something that never sold.
Couple months sooner, I had no capital, no stable income stream (I still don't think I'm stable). That's about it.

If you really want an awesome course, you should try Yaniv's Fast Track program, which I never talked about. You can ask Biophase as well.
 

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