Graduating from Upwork - From Zero to $1,000 in 5 Days

[KopyKidd]

After 2 years and more than $100k made, I deleted my Upwork profile last week.

I'd been pussyfooting around taking my copywriting business off of Upwork for months. My workload had gone down, my feedback score was sinking, and I was getting frustrated with Upwork in general, but every day I had a different excuse.

"I'll have to build a website..."
"I won't be able to find clients on my own..."
"I'll lose my feedback..."

Last Wednesday, after closing out my last contract, I decided to just pull the plug. I didn't think it over any longer, I didn't talk about it with my husband, I just did it.

Once my account was closed, I stared at my laptop for a full 10 minutes, half excited, half horrified... "Now what?"

After glancing at my sleeping 3 (nearly 4) month-old daughter, I didn't give myself any more time to freak out over it. I took a deep breath and got to work.

I decided I wasn't going to invest any time in things that didn't make money, so instead of building a website, starting a blog, or even setting up a merchant account, I decided to get someone to pay me something first.

In my time on Upwork, I got really good at writing landing pages. I can fix crappy landing pages, and I can split test & optimize good pages to make them even better. I got my best feedback and made more money writing landing page copy than I did anything else, so I decided to laser-focus on landing pages to start.

I'm a huge Reddit nerd, so I turned to the forHire subreddit and posted a short cover letter with some links to some of my work.

2 days later, someone contacts me saying he likes my style and "needs my help" to fix his poorly-written landing page.

So I do a Skype call with the guy to find out what his problems are, and instead of trying to sell him right then and there, I offer him some great advice on how to fix his landing page, without asking for a dime.

After hearing my suggestions, he goes, "You're absolutely right, that makes so much sense... Could I pay you to write up something like that for me?"

I didn't even have to ask for the sale. He asked for me.

After talking for a few more minutes about his other copy needs, I send him a proposal, detailing exactly what I'll write for him and how it will help him with his launch.
The total price? $1000. I tell him I want 50% upfront, plus an ongoing hourly rate for landing page optimization.

It's a far cry from what I was making on Upwork, but I wasn't worried about money. I was focused on helping this guy. The money would come later.

The next day, he gives me a very enthusiastic "YES."

I draw up the contract, sign up for Quickbooks Self-Employed, and send out my first invoice (he signs the contract and sends the first $500 that same day).

So I got my first quick win. I'll get 1 or 2 more clients before I worry about building a website, just to prove that there's a reliable base of folks that are actually willing to pay me for this, and test my pricing and service offerings out.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Fox]

Nice. What do you use to build the landing pages? Any lead magnets etc?

 

[KopyKidd]

Nice. What do you use to build the landing pages? Any lead magnets etc?

Thanks. I'm no web developer, so I typically use Unbounce or Instapage. If the client doesn't have an Unbounce/Instapage account, I'll send them a PNG mockup and create a prototype website with Wix or InVision for them to hand over to a 3rd party developer.
And yes, I've written lead magnets, mostly ebooks & whitepapers, but a few email courses as well.

 

[Roli]

So I do a Skype call with the guy to find out what his problems are, and instead of trying to sell him right then and there, I offer him some great advice on how to fix his landing page, without asking for a dime.

After hearing my suggestions, he goes, "You're absolutely right, that makes so much sense... Could I pay you to write up something like that for me?"

Exactly how I got my biggest gig when I was a videographer. The psychology goes like this; "if this person is giving me this info for free; imagine what they'll do if I pay them!" :-D

Good luck; I think you're on the right path, just keep looking for clients and keep improving and you'll be fine.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[RazorCut]

Excellent post. Congratulations on ditching the safety net and showing what can be done without a domain name, web site, business cards, logo, expensive accountancy package etc. etc.. All the things that people get fixated on and often are just action faking.

I have a friend that is going into partnership with a quantity surveyor (they are setting up a small construction business) and they have been dicking around for ages trying to find the best domain name. I've tried telling them the perfect domain name isn't important as it's a local building firm not Uber. Total waste of time and resources.

 

[Damon143]

Your story is very inspirational to me. You're a good example for all of us. You know your so lucky too because you find a good client even your not in Upwork anymore. So, for everyone there's not the end of your career even if you resig

 

[Damon143]

Your story is very inspirational to me. You're a good example for all of us. You know your so lucky too because you find a good client even your not in Upwork anymore.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Ika]

You know your so lucky too because you find a good client even your not in Upwork anymore.

She is so lucky to work with clients for 2 years.
She is so lucky to polish his skills in Landingpage Copy.
She is so lucky to have a great portfolio.
She is so lucky to go to the right place on the internet and write a compelling post.
She is so lucky to understand his potential customer by asking the right questions.
She is so lucky to give advice for free.

 

[KopyKidd]

Exactly how I got my biggest gig when I was a videographer. The psychology goes like this; "if this person is giving me this info for free; imagine what they'll do if I pay them!" :-D

Good luck; I think you're on the right path, just keep looking for clients and keep improving and you'll be fine.

Exactly. Solve people's problems first, and the money follows. Zig Ziglar said it best: "You'll get all you want in life if you help enough people get what they want."

 

[KopyKidd]

Excellent post. Congratulations on ditching the safety net and showing what can be done without a domain name, web site, business cards, logo, expensive accountancy package etc. etc.. All the things that people get fixated on and often are just action faking.

I have a friend that is going into partnership with a quantity surveyor (they are setting up a small construction business) and they have been dicking around for ages trying to find the best domain name. I've tried telling them the perfect domain name isn't important as it's a local building firm not Uber. Total waste of time and resources.

Especially when you consider the fact that, in the grand scheme of things, the website would really only be there for them to give/collect contact info...

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[KopyKidd]

You know your so lucky too because you find a good client even your not in Upwork anymore.

He is so lucky to work with clients for 2 years.
He is so lucky to polish his skills in Landingpage Copy.
He is so lucky to have a great portfolio.
He is so lucky to go to the right place on the internet and write a compelling post.
He is so lucky to understand his potential customer by asking the right questions.
He is so lucky to give advice for free.

First: "He" is a She.
Second: Luck had nothing to do with it. Calling me lucky is an insult to the years and money I've put into my copywriting skill. I started copywriting when I was 14, and I worked my a$$ off to get good at it.
You think I built my portfolio and won clients because I got lucky? Guess again.
I was working my a$$ off studying sales and copywriting when kids my age were screwing around on Myspace and worrying about prom, and I was spending 12 hour days as a saleswoman when my friends were partying and getting drunk every night in college.

I worked for that track record. Nothing lucky about it.

EDIT: 2nd point is directed at Damon143.

 

[RazorCut]

I worked for that track record. Nothing lucky about it.

Well said. Who was it that said the harder I work the luckier I get?

 

[Deleted25642]

Thank you for posting this up KopyKidd.

Over and over again I keep seeing, "Help enough people get what they want..." and "Fix problems."

You can read it over and over again but eventually it means something... and then you understand. *Facepalm*

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[fxmm]

Well done @KopyKidd =D

You took the plunge, time to go forth and kick a$$!

After 2 years and more than $100k made, I deleted my Upwork profile last week.

I'd been pussyfooting around taking my copywriting business off of Upwork for months. My workload had gone down, my feedback score was sinking, and I was getting frustrated with Upwork in general, but every day I had a different excuse.

"I'll have to build a website..."
"I won't be able to find clients on my own..."
"I'll lose my feedback..."

Last Wednesday, after closing out my last contract, I decided to just pull the plug. I didn't think it over any longer, I didn't talk about it with my husband, I just did it.

Once my account was closed, I stared at my laptop for a full 10 minutes, half excited, half horrified... "Now what?"

After glancing at my sleeping 3 (nearly 4) month-old daughter, I didn't give myself any more time to freak out over it. I took a deep breath and got to work.

I decided I wasn't going to invest any time in things that didn't make money, so instead of building a website, starting a blog, or even setting up a merchant account, I decided to get someone to pay me something first.

In my time on Upwork, I got really good at writing landing pages. I can fix crappy landing pages, and I can split test & optimize good pages to make them even better. I got my best feedback and made more money writing landing page copy than I did anything else, so I decided to laser-focus on landing pages to start.

I'm a huge Reddit nerd, so I turned to the forHire subreddit and posted a short cover letter with some links to some of my work.

2 days later, someone contacts me saying he likes my style and "needs my help" to fix his poorly-written landing page.

So I do a Skype call with the guy to find out what his problems are, and instead of trying to sell him right then and there, I offer him some great advice on how to fix his landing page, without asking for a dime.

After hearing my suggestions, he goes, "You're absolutely right, that makes so much sense... Could I pay you to write up something like that for me?"

I didn't even have to ask for the sale. He asked for me.

After talking for a few more minutes about his other copy needs, I send him a proposal, detailing exactly what I'll write for him and how it will help him with his launch.
The total price? $1000. I tell him I want 50% upfront, plus an ongoing hourly rate for landing page optimization.

It's a far cry from what I was making on Upwork, but I wasn't worried about money. I was focused on helping this guy. The money would come later.

The next day, he gives me a very enthusiastic "YES."

I draw up the contract, sign up for Quickbooks Self-Employed, and send out my first invoice (he signs the contract and sends the first $500 that same day).

So I got my first quick win. I'll get 1 or 2 more clients before I worry about building a website, just to prove that there's a reliable base of folks that are actually willing to pay me for this, and test my pricing and service offerings out.

 

[Roli]

Your story is very inspirational to me. You're a good example for all of us. You know your so lucky too because you find a good client even your not in Upwork anymore.

The harder he works, the luckier he gets.

 

[furiousJ]

Great post kopykidd! This really is inspiring, it's not easy putting yourself out there. especially on reddit.

The harder he works, the luckier he gets.

^ She

Exactly how I got my biggest gig when I was a videographer. The psychology goes like this; "if this person is giving me this info for free; imagine what they'll do if I pay them!" :-D

This is qualification if you are teaching me how. Then that means you are more qualified then I am. Therefore "maybe i should get you to do it." I noticed this watching sinister lex's videos. I have been studying copy for a while and the second I watched his upwork vids I wanted to hire him instantly

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[KopyKidd]

Thanks for the replies everyone!
In the months since I posted this, I've steadily maintained a load of 1-2 projects per week, each project being worth $2000+.
I'm still only using Reddit for marketing. Really digging in and seeing how I can make the most out of it before investing any time or money in any other marketing tools. I've been testing different headlines & body copy, as well as posting on different days of the week and times of day.
Reddit is awesome because I can easily snoop through a prospect's posts and get inside their heads... I can find out what tools and software they're using, what problems they're having, what questions they've been asking other people, and what their interests are outside of their businesses.
It goes a LONG way in building rapport and makes me a hell of a lot more valuable (and likable) to them... Plus I find many other things I can offer them other than landing pages, and I can bundle in email copy, ad copy, and lead magnets as a part of my proposals.
A guy I talked to yesterday thought he only needed a landing page, but he just signed a contract for me to build out his entire marketing funnel, with ad copy, 2 ebooks, 2 landing pages, an autoresponder series AND a 7-page website.
What would've been a $1000 deal wound up being a 5-figure deal... And I don't have to give 20% of my revenue to Upwork.

 

[Roli]

^ She

Oops, 'scuse me; she

 

[RedKiteKid]

Bossing it.

Thanks for the replies everyone!
In the months since I posted this, I've steadily maintained a load of 1-2 projects per week, each project being worth $2000+.
I'm still only using Reddit for marketing. Really digging in and seeing how I can make the most out of it before investing any time or money in any other marketing tools. I've been testing different headlines & body copy, as well as posting on different days of the week and times of day.
Reddit is awesome because I can easily snoop through a prospect's posts and get inside their heads... I can find out what tools and software they're using, what problems they're having, what questions they've been asking other people, and what their interests are outside of their businesses.
It goes a LONG way in building rapport and makes me a hell of a lot more valuable (and likable) to them... Plus I find many other things I can offer them other than landing pages, and I can bundle in email copy, ad copy, and lead magnets as a part of my proposals.
A guy I talked to yesterday thought he only needed a landing page, but he just signed a contract for me to build out his entire marketing funnel, with ad copy, 2 ebooks, 2 landing pages, an autoresponder series AND a 7-page website.
What would've been a $1000 deal wound up being a 5-figure deal... And I don't have to give 20% of my revenue to Upwork.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.