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Lex DeVille's - I Deleted My Upwork Account...

Christian McGhee

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I was able to successfully join upwork. Took about 3 hours. I used the recommendation for customer service, and made sure that my profile was 100% completed. I am having a problem with my ID being verified, but we'll see. Thanks for the for all your contributions @SinisterLex
 
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Hi @SinisterLex, really inspirational thread. I was wondering what you think I can improve about this proposal I just sent. Your feedback would help others on the forum too I think.

I'll post the job description and my proposal as well. There wasn't much info for me to go on, but I tried making the most out of it.

Job Info
upload_2018-4-2_19-26-55.png

Proposal
upload_2018-4-2_19-27-46.png
 
G

Guest24480

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Hi @SinisterLex, really inspirational thread. I was wondering what you think I can improve about this proposal I just sent. Your feedback would help others on the forum too I think.

I'll post the job description and my proposal as well. There wasn't much info for me to go on, but I tried making the most out of it.

Job Info
View attachment 18951

Proposal
View attachment 18952

Being honest? I think you had the opportunity to sell yourself a bit more than you did. You focus is important but the client still has to know what you can do for them. If I were a client and I read this proposal, I would think "Okay cool, he actually talked about my problems, etc. But he didn't tell me how he could solve them."

Just my two cents.
 

Lex DeVille

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Hi @SinisterLex, really inspirational thread. I was wondering what you think I can improve about this proposal I just sent. Your feedback would help others on the forum too I think.

I'll post the job description and my proposal as well. There wasn't much info for me to go on, but I tried making the most out of it.

Job Info
View attachment 18951

Proposal
View attachment 18952

Something like this is good enough for most clients most of the time. Addressing them first and following up with questions is more than enough to get a response and show you probably care. Other freelancers will send shit proposals, so this will stand out at the very least. If you don't get the interview it won't be due to a poor proposal. It just means someone wrote a better one that said more of what the client wanted to read. I'd use less questions.

One area where the proposal doesn't connect is the tone. Notice how the client uses an excited tone in their writing. To match that, you also need to show excitement in your writing. They use exclamation points. You don't. So it doesn't send the same vibes back. This is a basic principle of "liking." We like people who are like us. Overall it's a good enough proposal style for most gigs.
 

SquatchMan

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Decided to restart Upwork for some extra cash. I have a few jobs and 5 star reviews from last year.

Went from $0 to $500/week in a little under a month. Higher than the minimum wage and good business experience.

Also, still not saturated lol.
 

Valsore

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Being honest? I think you had the opportunity to sell yourself a bit more than you did. You focus is important but the client still has to know what you can do for them. If I were a client and I read this proposal, I would think "Okay cool, he actually talked about my problems, etc. But he didn't tell me how he could solve them."

Just my two cents.

Thanks for the feedback! I'll take this into account for my next proposals.

Something like this is good enough for most clients most of the time. Addressing them first and following up with questions is more than enough to get a response and show you probably care. Other freelancers will send sh*t proposals, so this will stand out at the very least. If you don't get the interview it won't be due to a poor proposal. It just means someone wrote a better one that said more of what the client wanted to read. I'd use less questions.

One area where the proposal doesn't connect is the tone. Notice how the client uses an excited tone in their writing. To match that, you also need to show excitement in your writing. They use exclamation points. You don't. So it doesn't send the same vibes back. This is a basic principle of "liking." We like people who are like us. Overall it's a good enough proposal style for most gigs.

Thanks for this. Good point about the tone. I see what you mean, but you had to point it out haha. It's interesting how you just spot these things, I guess it just comes with experience.
 
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Dave Daily

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I've now read 2 of your threads @SinisterLex and all I have to say is "Damn YOU!" ;)

I'm trying to focus on my fastlane biz, but your copy is so good here at TFLF that I'm having a hard time resisting your spell. You paint such beautiful and tasty word pictures.

As I read, I keep telling myself I'll just practice my copywriting on my own project and ask for feedback, but I feel like the opportunity to replace one of my two jobs while honing a skill and helping real clients may be unbearably seductive. Opportunity cost is such a bitch. Decisions. Decisions.

Whatever I decide, thanks for all the value. You're definitely one of the givers.

P.S. Cute baby. I've had three.
 
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itech

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The dude is spastic and weird, but he delivers high value applicable content. There's always a market for value.

That comment is bang out of order, sinister lex is great and hilarious, i like his "weirdness". And lex takes the time out to come on here and offer a ton of value to this forum and other mediums.
 

PabloBlanco

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I've now read 2 of your threads @SinisterLex and all I have to say is "Damn YOU!" ;)

I'm trying to focus on my fastlane biz, but your copy is so good here at TFLF that I'm having a hard time resisting your spell. You paint such beautiful and tasty word pictures.

As I read, I keep telling myself I'll just practice my copywriting on my own project and ask for feedback, but I feel like the opportunity to replace one of my two jobs while honing a skill and helping real clients may be unbearably seductive. Opportunity cost is such a bitch. Decisions. Decisions.

Whatever I decide, thanks for all the value. You're definitely one of the givers.

Totally agree. This place is full of incredible information given by people who continue to walk the walk. Thanks @SinisterLex for his continued insights - I find there's so much that's transferrable to any business.
 
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hughs

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I'm going to give it a try, been having some technical issues making an account. got ID through and currently under review.

it does sting a bit that they take 20%! but lots of promising jobs posted.
 

DClaiborne

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Decided to jump in the copy writing freelancing pool as I try to figure some other things out.

Started my upwork profile back on Friday, took the weekend to craft my intro profile and write copy about my own copy. After 2-3 revisions, I posted it this morning and already jumping into proposals.

It's been a few years since I did copy outside of my daily sales job, but I forgot how much I enjoy it.

Thanks for the inspiration @SinisterLex and I'll keep things updated in here until it really starts moving along.

edit: Tried typing this before coffee... Bad idea
 
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OlaWebEmpire

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I have an upwork account that's about a month old since I opened and verified it.

Now I got @SinisterLex 's upwork proposals submission course... I just finished watching them and I am looking at using the method to jump start my freelancing career.

I will update this post as everything goes.

Thanks
Ola
 
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PabloBlanco

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I'm going to give it a try, been having some technical issues making an account. got ID through and currently under review.

it does sting a bit that they take 20%! but lots of promising jobs posted.

80% of something is much better than 100% of nothing.
 

DrunkFish

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Definitely not saturated. I only used half my connects over the course of a week and I had 5 bites and 2, potentially 3 new clients for $600-2k a month services. I had a fleshed out portfolio with some good reviews from previous work that was from a few years ago (which was sparked originally by Lex, but not this time, but thought id contribute for anyone else thinking about it)
 

Rammsteinfanboy

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Do you mean I can start with zero skills, when I am good at solving problems? Is there a problem solving training course? I mean how
much experience do I need? What is the minimal amount of Training I need to get started?f
If you would have to give me basic tasks, which courses would you assign me to?
 
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Lex DeVille

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Do you mean I can start with zero skills, when I am good at solving problems? Is there a problem solving training course? I mean how
much experience do I need? What is the minimal amount of Training I need to get started?f
If you would have to give me basic tasks, which courses would you assign me to?

You will need skills. You will need the ability to solve problems. If you lack either of those, you won't make any money on Upwork, and probably won't get approved for their platform.

Skills you can learn from a course.
Problem solving is something you just do.

You need to be able to find solutions on your own, especially for super simple questions like, "what are the minimum requirements to get started on Upwork?"

That isn't a question we should have to answer for you. Instead, you should search the forums because it has already been answered many times.

A better route to answer your question would be to visit www.Upwork.com and read their requirements so you get the most up to date information.

How can you develop your ability to solve problems? Google it. Read the blogs. Listen to podcasts. Try different things.

If you want to be an entrepreneur and if you want to build a business, you will have to solve hard problems every single day for the rest of your life. So you need to figure it out.
 

Ninjakid

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Do you mean I can start with zero skills, when I am good at solving problems? Is there a problem solving training course? I mean how
much experience do I need? What is the minimal amount of Training I need to get started?f
If you would have to give me basic tasks, which courses would you assign me to?
Do you have a skill people are willing to pay money for?

If not, learn it. There's so many resources online. It could be web development, copywriting, social media marketing, proofreading or almost anything else. Do your research.

Next, become competent in your skill.

Then all you do is find people who could benefit from your skill and willing to pay money for it.

It's really that simple.
 

cwalto12

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I've been on Upwork for about 2 weeks - started it because of this thread and signed up for the email tips with Lex. Over delivered on my $5 an hour Instagram marketing job and now my client is recommending me to other business owners in San Diego (without me asking). I even got the "rising talent" badge next to my name. HA!

I appreciate this thread Lex. I am just getting started on there, but the future is looking a lot brighter than it was 2 weeks ago.
 
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Nomadic

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Wow, don't know how I am just now seeing this golden egg of a thread. Thanks for keeping it going so long and updating! Some life changing value & knowledge in these posts.
 

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Here's today's video. It's my entire thought process as I write a proposal.

This one's kinda long, but you'll experience the process from start to finish if you've got the will to finish and can deal with my nearly-mental head chatter. >)


P.S. Don't bother stealing my proposal for a template. I guarantee it won't work for you.


where to learn this? You are awesome. How can I learn to be so persuative and moirring other people? You are damn good!!!!
 
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Lex DeVille

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where to learn this? You are awesome. How can I learn to be so persuative and moirring other people? You are damn good!!!!

There's a link in my signature if you want to learn from/with me. But I don't have any courses on copywriting or influence and persuasion right now (at least none that are available to the public).

Otherwise you could read a lot of books and spend time applying what you learn. Anything by Dale Carnegie, Robert Greene, or Robert Cialdini would be a good start in the right direction.
 

ChrisV

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Otherwise you could read a lot of books and spend time applying what you learn. Anything by Dale Carnegie, Robert Greene, or Robert Cialdini would be a good start in the right direction.
You speak about ‘types’... type 1 type 2, etc. Where is that concept from?
 

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