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

[MJ DeMarco]

you're competing with the 3 who actually bothered to read the job details

Yup, I love using "trip wires" in my briefs.

"After applying, please indicate whether you prefer Star Wars, or Star Trek (or neither) and why. Thanks!"

Immediately disqualifies 90% of the applicants.

Marked NOTABLE.

 

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[luniac]

1) Who says you have to sell copywriting? Pick anything you're good at and do that- web design, programming, PPC, graphic design, whatever.

2) The very things you have to do to convince the client are the same things you have to do for a copywriting job-- research, articulating the problem, taking them through the benefits of the potential solution, etc. If you can "seduce" them into going with you, you have the skills you need. Also, no one said you have to start with a major job for a multinational company. It can be as simply as writing a 2 page letter.

You're absolutely right and i know it.
There's something wrong with my brain... i blame the school system.

edit:
scratch that... i blame myself.

 

[Cosmin Gabriel]

Working 8 hours a day in a factory for 300$ a month.... I want to start freelancing and make some money to invest in other things! Thanks for your threads.

 

[tinyrick]

Thank you so much for this thread. I've been really discouraged with Upwork as of late and I changed up my approach and I've already been hired for 2 new jobs.

 

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[ljb7]

This is awesome. Getting started as a freelancer seems incredibly straight forward.

1) Research your client. Send a personal proposal touching on the pain points they're currently facing.
2) Give your potential clients an offer they can't refuse (it doesn't have to be incredible, you don't have to sell yourself short, just like in your case above, a couple free samples).
3) Provide a quality end product. Repeat business and great reviews are sure to follow. Profit.

Good work man!

 

[Stoic Ant]

I went and read your other threads about bidding on UpWork. The 'you' focused proposals work. I sent 5 proposals on Thursday last week and was hired for 2. That's a pretty good success rate. One involved writing two 500-word articles for $125. Yes, $125!. DMing you screenshots shortly. Thanks Lex.

 

[ZF Lee]

So just a little update...

Remember, this is from my FIRST proposal and I sent it before I even had anything in my profile other than the basic bio so I could get signed up.

My offer to the client:

I'll make a few free samples for you based on your business and if you like them we'll go from there. Since Twitter & Instagram posts are short I'll do them for $2 each after that.

I ended up sending 2 Instagram posts and 3 Twitter samples.

This morning the client responded:

View attachment 14084

Let's recap...

I said those posts were FREE and now I'm getting $30 which is over $5 per sample piece when my offer was $2 per post. I'm getting a contract from a business that was on Shark Tank and got a deal with 2 Sharks (Barbara and Mark) and all of this within 72 hours of launching a brand new account on Upwork.

So what's your excuse now?

P.S. 10 to 15 people applied. 7 Got interviewed. 1 got hired.

View attachment 14085

You overpowered the client's expectations!
I mean, I have looked over at Fiverr and trust me, it is hard to find a freelancer that actually tailor-makes a specialised selection of free samples FOR YOU. Seriously!
You won the client over. Won him!

@Waspy , you are right. It's that damnit simple.
After reading such Fastlane threads, I wonder why unemployment is even still a menace....
This is a defiant middle finger to Slowlane mediocrity!

 

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[InspireHD]

Trust me, you can do it . Just grind and refine. Once you have your first review it gets even easier.

Honestly, the greatest thing you can keep in mind for Upwork/Freelancing/Life is too persevere. Don't expect it to be easy or for the wins to come again and again. Just keep moving forward. Do the work, refine your technique, do the work, refine, work, refine, work. The process eventually gives you the wins.

Don't think, "Well this is too hard, I'd be better off I tried to do ecommerce." Just keep pushing.

I love this post. I've read it a few times just trying to let it sink in.

I am trying to be super-selective and only applying for the jobs that I believe I can do well. I can type really fast so I've been going after some of the transcription projects. I tell people I can have a 5 or 10 minute audio recording transcribed and returned in the next 20-30 minutes, bidding $2, and then I have to wait an hour+ for a reply. I'm trying to be patient, but getting that first win seems to be slow. I also can't do this on days I have to work since I'm away all day and can't commit to a project at 8pm at night if they are going to take all night to award it to someone and then be back at work the next day. I'm going to keep going after the transcription projects until I get something. I have zero experience with copywriting.

 

[InspireHD]

Maybe I spoke a little too soon. I got my first offer! It was to transcribe 10 minutes of audio. It was only $5, but it's a start. The project took a little longer than I expected, but I wanted to make sure I had everything typed out accurately. I probably listened to the 10 minutes of audio about 3 or 4 times.

The first offer was from my 4th proposal.

I can't thank you enough, @SinisterLex and everyone else. I'm super pumped!

 

[Lex DeVille]

So I officially earned my first Upwork dollars.

$24 of them to be exact. Thats a couple days worth of food, even here in the Texas.

Hit a minor snag when Upwork wanted extra account validation (this time on video).


I was a little annoyed that they took over 30 minutes to get back with me on their chat system.

Then they made me go on Skype for the video call instead of using their own platform...

Other than that, here's a vid I made for the channel today about why I don't apply much on weekends and what I do to make the most out of that time instead.

 

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[Utopia]

So I officially earned my first Upwork dollars.

$24 of them to be exact. Thats a couple days worth of food, even here in the Texas.

Hit a minor snag when Upwork wanted extra account validation (this time on video).

View attachment 14104
I was a little annoyed that they took over 30 minutes to get back with me on their chat system.

Then they made me go on Skype for the video call instead of using their own platform...

Other than that, here's a vid I made for the channel today about why I don't apply much on weekends and what I do to make the most out of that time instead.

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

 

[AllenCrawley]

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

 

[DesignerOne.]

I was a little annoyed that they took over 30 minutes to get back with me on their chat system.

Then they made me go on Skype for the video call instead of using their own platform...

This was a huge issue for me last friday, for those who read around on the forum and know @jpanarra and I, you know why. (took me a few hours) and had me fuming over how many Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) rights they violated when they did that with me. They had to talk to me through 3 different channels to validate who I was. Something that needs to be improved for Upwork.

Thanks for the new video, great amount of valuable insight. I did send out some proposals over the weekend but I'll definitely apply what you said and work on my profile through the week too and really focus on my skills and other things to be improved on rather than send out proposals.

As for the withdrawing, that's if they never reply I assume, but what If they do reply, and they then never get back to your response after a few days? Follow up after that or don't bother and move on since there's tons of people to reach out to?

 

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[SquatchMan]

This was a huge issue for me last friday, for those who read around on the forum and know @jpanarra and I, you know why. (took me a few hours) and had me fuming over how many Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) rights they violated when they did that with me. They had to talk to me through 3 different channels to validate who I was. Something that needs to be improved for Upwork

Heads up for anyone reading this thread. I had to do a video verification for Upwork in December and my webcam wouldn't work for some reason... the customer rep said it was fine and approved me anyway.

 

[Tiago Ladeia]

Great content and great style, thank you very much @SinisterLex.

Just as brain food for you guys – with US$25 you can buy food for a whole week in Brazil. Imagine it in cheaper countries (such as Argentina).

Cheers

 

[InspireHD]

I just got the alert to verify my account too. I don't have a webcam so they suggested I download the Skype app on my iPhone. I was able to verify my identity through them calling me and showing myself on video. I waited in chat for about 20 minutes, but once I got the Skype call up, it took just over 1min.

 

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[thinkandgrowrich]

I honestly don't see this Upwork stuff as worth the time.

I can put in a few months of work and get a 100k plus job with the same amount of time that I would put into Upwork and get less than half the money.

I understand the working from home aspect, but the time you put into it still feels like a job.

 

[Lex DeVille]

I honestly don't see this Upwork stuff as worth the time.

I can put in a few months of work and get a 100k plus job with the same amount of time that I would put into Upwork and get less than half the money.

I understand the working from home aspect, but the time you put into it still feels like a job.

If that's true, why did you make this post:

I read through some of his copywriting threads and applied his principles and I got a freelancing gig. It's nothing huge, but for someone who has not seen progress in a long time any movement forward means so much.

Progress Thread - God Bless Sinister Lex

Your post would get more likes if you went and got that job and showed people how you did it along the way.

 

[InspireHD]

I honestly don't see this Upwork stuff as worth the time.

I can put in a few months of work and get a 100k plus job with the same amount of time that I would put into Upwork and get less than half the money.

I understand the working from home aspect, but the time you put into it still feels like a job.

The reason why you don't see Upwork as worth your time is because you're making it about YOU. SinisterLex never taught you to make it about YOU. It's about THEM. It's about the VALUE you provide to OTHER PEOPLE. The thing that Upwork can do for you is to help you build a skill while helping others. When you provide good SERVICE to OTHER PEOPLE, you never know what could come your way.

In the beginning, it might be slow and you'll only be making a couple dollars here and there. What you're not seeing is that you're building a track record and a reputation. When you offer amazing work and build a reputation, you become the expert everyone wants.

I probably won't do Upwork long-term as my new business venture is about to get started in the next week or two, but I can honestly say I have learned a lot in the last few days sending out proposals and refining my pitches. I wouldn't have learned anything like this in my regular full-time job. Plus, creating an income for yourself is awesome and much more fulfilling.

 

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[thinkandgrowrich]

If that's true, why did you make this post:



Progress Thread - God Bless Sinister Lex

Your post would get more likes if you went and got that job and showed people how you did it along the way.

That was more than two months ago, and because I've already experienced all this and seen how it all works, wouldn't you agree that my opinion would have some merit to it?

The amount of time spent doing all this is not worth it, espiecially with the menial amounts of money that comes along with it.

You could use the time you spend doing this hitting up legitimate businesses and making 100 times more than what you would make on Upwork, if you're already doing all that then more power to you.

Like I said, I can spend a few months putting in some work and getting a 100k+ job, 75k at the very least, and I would be using the same amount of time that someone would spend on Upwork doing menial jobs and trying to establish themselves.

No hate, you're very talented at what you do, I'm just speaking truth and offering a different perspective.

Just because its not a job doesn't mean its Fastlane.

 

[thinkandgrowrich]

The reason why you don't see Upwork as worth your time is because you're making it about YOU. SinisterLex never taught you to make it about YOU. It's about THEM. It's about the VALUE you provide to OTHER PEOPLE. The thing that Upwork can do for you is to help you build a skill while helping others. When you provide good SERVICE to OTHER PEOPLE, you never know what could come your way.

In the beginning, it might be slow and you'll only be making a couple dollars here and there. What you're not seeing is that you're building a track record and a reputation. When you offer amazing work and build a reputation, you become the expert everyone wants.

I probably won't do Upwork long-term as my new business venture is about to get started in the next week or two, but I can honestly say I have learned a lot in the last few days sending out proposals and refining my pitches. I wouldn't have learned anything like this in my regular full-time job. Plus, creating an income for yourself is awesome and much more fulfilling.

You can provide value picking up trash around the streets.

It's a service to other people.

You're helping others.

You're helping the world.

I would say its pretty fulfilling too.

Why won't you do that?

 

[Lex DeVille]

speaking truth

You're speaking your beliefs. The truth of your reality. Which any neuroscientist will gladly tell you is formed by your beliefs. So you're actually not speaking truth for anyone but yourself.

Just because its not a job doesn't mean its Fastlane.

Just because it doesn't make you hundreds of thousands of dollars overnight doesn't mean it's not Fastlane for someone else. Again, if you can go get a job making that much, go for it.

My last Upwork client before I deleted my old account was worth more than your job though. But that's just the truth of my reality based on my experience and won't apply for everyone.

 

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[InspireHD]

You can provide value picking up trash around the streets.

It's a service to other people.

You're helping others.

You're helping the world.

I would say its pretty fulfilling too.

Why won't you do that?

I'm avoiding any potential conflict because that's not my purpose in responding and I don't want to take away anything from this thread.

With that said, I actually have thought about picking up trash in the form of developing a volunteer group of high school students to clean up public streets. The reason I haven't done it yet? I've put it off and it's not the #1 thing I think about all the time. It was more of an idea floating around in my mind. It's still something that I think would be fun to organize.

In fact, I was a boy scout when I was younger and in a public service project to help my cousin obtain his Eagle Scout, we spent a day on the side of a hill picking up garbage. We picked up everything from trash to tires to a washer machine. So, yes...now that I think about it, I have done it.

 

[Tiago Ladeia]

Whoa whoa, guys, chillax. Jesus loves everybody and we are all getting rich in 5 years. No need to fight.

 

[thinkandgrowrich]

You're speaking your beliefs. The truth of your reality. Which any neuroscientist will gladly tell you is formed by your beliefs. So you're actually not speaking truth for anyone but yourself.



Just because it doesn't make you hundreds of thousands of dollars overnight doesn't mean it's not Fastlane for someone else. Again, if you can go get a job making that much, go for it.

My last Upwork client before I deleted my old account was worth more than your job though. But that's just the truth of my reality based on my experience and won't apply for everyone.

That's cool, the opinion I'm offering is rooted in mathematics and numbers though.

Do the numbers and see how much you're actually getting paid.

If you're making a 100k+ working less than 40 hours a week on Upwork, more power to you.

If you don't care about money and you're doing this because you love it and you hate having a boss, then even more power to you.

 

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[thinkandgrowrich]

I'm avoiding any potential conflict because that's not my purpose in responding and I don't want to take away anything from this thread.

With that said, I actually have thought about picking up trash in the form of developing a volunteer group of high school students to clean up public streets. The reason I haven't done it yet? I've put it off and it's not the #1 thing I think about all the time. It was more of an idea floating around in my mind. It's still something that I think would be fun to organize.

Why isn't it the #1 thing in your mind though?

The world needs people like that more than ever, scientists would even agree.

Pollution and litter is hurting our wildlife and impacting almost every facet of life.

Is it because there is no money involved in something like this?

 

[CONCARL]

You're speaking your beliefs. The truth of your reality. Which any neuroscientist will gladly tell you is formed by your beliefs. So you're actually not speaking truth for anyone but yourself.



Just because it doesn't make you hundreds of thousands of dollars overnight doesn't mean it's not Fastlane for someone else. Again, if you can go get a job making that much, go for it.

My last Upwork client before I deleted my old account was worth more than your job though. But that's just the truth of my reality based on my experience and won't apply for everyone.

Hey man, are you uploading a video on your new account today. You are a huge inspiration.

Btw, did you actually lose all those faithful clients when you deleted your account, I hope not hahah

 

[InspireHD]

Why isn't it the #1 thing in your mind though?

The world needs people like that more than ever, scientists would even agree.

Pollution and litter is hurting our wildlife and impacting almost every facet of life.

Is it because there is no money involved in something like this?

I agree with you. I've actually seen people litter in front of me and told them to pick it up.

It has nothing to do with the money. The idea was strictly to create a volunteer group to introduce high school students to public service. I've had problems with being a self-starter, but now that I have other things in the works, I've put it off to the side. I may still do it someday, but not right now.

So anyway, let's get back on track. This thread is about SinisterLex and Upwork.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Hey man, are you uploading a video on your new account today. You are a huge inspiration.

Btw, did you actually lose all those faithful clients when you deleted your account, I hope not hahah

No video today. I got sidetracked with something.

I got rid of all my old clients except one toward the end. I took a huge risk with the last one which cost me $6,000 but it is what it is. But yeah, started totally from scratch.

 

[thinkandgrowrich]

I'll just say this and then I'll be out of the way. I am sorry if I have "hijacked" this thread, I wish you all success.

"LAW 29: Plan all the way to the end
The ending is everything. Plan all the way to it, taking into account all the possible consequences, obstacles, and twists of fortune that might reverse your hard work and give the glory to others. By planning to the end you will not be overwhelmed by circumstances and you will know when to stop. Gently guide fortune and help determine the future by thinking far ahead.


Most men are ruled by the heart, not the head. Their plans are vague, and when they meet obstacles they improvise. But improvisation will only bring you as far as the next crisis, and is never a substitute for thinking several steps ahead and planning to the end.

What good is it to have the greatest dream in the world if others reap the benefits and the glory? Never lose your head over a vague, open-ended dream—plan to the end. The only solution is to plan for the long run. Foresee the future with as much clarity as the gods on Mount Olympus, who look through the clouds and see the ends of all things.

According to the cosmology of the ancient Greeks, the gods were thought to have complete vision into the future. They saw everything to come, right down to the intricate details. Men, on the other hand, were seen as victims of fate, trapped in the moment and their emotions, unable to see beyond immediate dangers.
· Those heroes, such as Odysseus, who were able to look beyond the present and plan several steps ahead, seemed to defy fate, to approximate the gods in their ability to determine the future.
· The comparison is still valid—those among us who think further ahead and patiently bring their plans to fruition seem to have a godlike power."

Take it how you wanna