(This is a guest post from Les Blythe, a freelance copywriter living in South Africa. Les booked a chat with me a few weeks ago about taking his freelance career to the next level. He has been doing fairly well as a higher-end writer on Upwork.com but had sort of reached his ceiling there and was looking for new avenues. While I typically don’t recommend that people pursue content-mill oriented sites like Upwork, I know that for many of you, these sites are your immediate reality, so I asked Les to put together some tips on how to maximize your time there and get the most from your efforts.)
Conventional wisdom says the freelancing website Upwork.com is a waste of time and effort.
Many consider it a soul-sucking, lowly paid content mill where you need to write 5,000 words for $20 just to compete.
Such is the opinion of many successful writers I know of and respect.
If only life was that simple…but of course life rarely is.
It’s definitely possible to earn $125/HR and more on the Upwork platform.
I can guarantee it’s possible because it’s exactly what I’m doing right now.
My Personal Upwork Journey
First off let me say I’m fighting with one hand tied behind my back when it comes to landing clients on Upwork.
Many of the jobs posted on the site ask for native English speakers from North America.
Now, I’m from the UK but live in South Africa.
While there’s nothing particularly wrong with my ability to write native English (I can even do American English), I don’t think having Africa plastered all over my profile helps my cause at all.
So, there’s a tick in the negative column for me when most of my potential clients reside in the US.
Back to the story. I started on Upwork 15 months ago and I’ll come clean and say I did initially work for a pretty lowly rate; one I immediately click away from these days I’m pleased to say.
My first real gig was ghost writing 800 word articles about event management for $25. In total I wrote over 40 of these articles for a single client.
Next I wrote dog breed articles at $30 for 1,300 – 1,400 words. I did over 20 of those.
I sort of believed it’s what you had to do on Upwork to make money.
But, right from the start there was one thing really bothered me about Upwork.
I kept seeing writers earning thousands of dollars – like $30,000 or $40,000 showing up on their profiles. I didn’t get it. I was obviously missing something.
At first I naturally assumed they must be much better writers than me. It seemed a reasonable assumption to make.
However, I eventually figured out the secret and it’s actually not a secret at all.
In fact, it’s blindingly obvious.
The secret to earning $125/HR or more on Upwork is to ask for it!
This statement isn’t as crass as it might appear at first glance.
Let me explain.
Do You Have The Right Mindset?
Ah, mindset – that old chestnut!
I’ve got to be honest here and tell you I’m not a great believer in all things motivational.
I’ve been self-employed for years now and firmly believe the best motivation of all is self- inflicted.
So, when I talk about mindset, don’t get confused.
I’m simply talking about a mindset that allows you to recognize your true worth and charge accordingly. Nothing more.
It’s the mindset you need to adopt if you want to make decent money on Upwork.
That said, getting to $125/HR on Upwork is a process. A process I personally could have completed a lot faster if I’d known in the beginning, what I know now.
So, let me give you some of the most important steps in the process. These are steps I’ve worked out, learned from other people or simply stumbled across on the road to earning $125/HR on Upwork.
Why Your Upwork Profile Should Not Be About You
Sounds crazy – of course your profile is about you.
It’s your way of telling potential clients how fantastic you are.
It’s how you tell them about your amazing qualifications, how experienced you are and how their business can’t possibly survive without you – right?
Well, actually…wrong, to a point at least.
To start developing a convincing profile you need to go back to copywriting basics and consider one of the most important words in our craft “you”.
Put yourself in your potential client’s shoes. Generally, they don’t really care whether you have 5 years of journalistic experience behind you or a creative writing degree. Really, they don’t.
As a rule, they care about one thing and that’s solving their problem.
The problem they have is they need well-written copy (an article, blog post, press release, website content, email series etc.) from a reliable writer who delivers on or ahead of schedule and with the minimum of fuss. That’s it.
The mistake I see people making all the time is filling out their profile with how amazingly qualified they are without taking the time out to think about the client.
You need to relate your profile to the client and resonate with him.
A good way of doing this is to pre-empt the issues he might be facing. Here’s an example of how to do it:
“I know it can be difficult for you to find a good writer, one who consistently delivers great work on time, every time. That’s exactly why I give you a realistic lead time for all my work, one I meet or exceed every time. I’ve never yet missed a deadline.”
By doing this you’re showing potential clients you understand their problems and your mission in life is to solve them.
This is way more powerful than simply reeling off your qualifications, which by its very nature means you’ll be talking about “I” rather than “you”.
I’m not saying don’t talk about the qualifications you have. I’m saying make sure your profile is client-centric and shows you’re going to make their life easier if they work with you.
A final word on profiles – there’s no such thing as the perfect profile.
In the first couple of months, expect to come back and re-visit your profile many times over. You’ll add to it, subtract from it and alter it as you gain more experience and think of different ways to more effectively phrase its content.
How to Avoid Killing Your Cover Letter
There are two fatal mistakes you can make with your cover letter when you send a proposal for a job.
Just as your profile is not exclusively about you, neither is your cover letter. The same rules as your profile apply to your cover letter, customer problem solving first and you next.
The second mistake is the big one and the kiss of death for your proposals – sending out standard cover letters.
As well as working on Upwork, I’ve also employed freelancers from the platform.
I can tell you, a standard “cut and paste” cover letter stands out like a sore thumb.
It says to your potential client you didn’t even take their job seriously enough to write something original. Pretty bad as you’re supposed to be a writer in the first place!
That said, writing a cover letter from scratch each time can be daunting and eat up a lot of time.
Here’s what I (eventually) did and it works for me.
I developed what I call my “perfect storm”.
It’s a very comprehensive, customer-centric master cover letter from which I can pull certain paragraphs as I need them to make up individual cover letters.
It’s written in such a way it can be made to sound very personal to each client.
One of the ways I do this is to make sure I slot the customer’s requirement in at least three places in the cover letter.
So, if the client wants a press release, I’m sure to mention the words “press release” at least three times in the cover letter.
It took me a while to work out my “perfect storm” but now I’ve got it to the stage where I can apply for a job, with a very personal looking cover letter, in about ten minutes.
Even so, I still write original content when I know it makes my cover letter even stronger.
Final Tips You’ll Thank Me For
Let me finish off by giving you 5 Ninja tips that also answer some common problems new freelancers face on Upwork:
1. Help! I’ve Never Written a Blog Post, Article, Press Release, xxx (fill in the blank)
With the help of a simple Google search you can quickly arm yourself with the knowledge you need to tackle just about any job. I usually look at 2 or 3 sources, prepare myself a summary sheet (which I keep for next time), and go from there.
2. What Came First, The Chicken or the Sample?
When you initially get started on Upwork, you might well not have samples to show. Just go to 1) above, write a sample of 200 words or so and include it in your cover letter. Save that for next time also.
3. Continually Hone Your Craft
As I mentioned above, there are many online sources available for free. Use them, continue learning and be the best writer you can be. Oh, and ALWAYS over-deliver, clients love it.
4. Collect 5-Star Reviews Early
As soon as you start writing on Upwork start collecting 5-star reviews. Some people say you shouldn’t ask for reviews, I disagree. But be subtle, here’s how:
“If you think my work is 5-star a positive review would really be appreciated. It helps me a lot. If not, please let me know immediately and I’ll do my best to put things right.”
And finally,
5. Become Your Client’s Trusted Partner
I can’t overemphasize the power of this, it’s made me thousands of dollars. You’re asked to write a blog post or article for a client’s site. That’s great, but you should always be on the lookout for other ways you can help your client. Maybe you notice some bad copy on the site, misspellings, out of date content – whatever.
By simply mentioning it to your client, it’s amazing how much extra work you can generate.
Just ask your client straight out if there’s anything else you can do for him. If you do a 5-star job and he has more work available, he won’t say no. Trust me.
Always be on the lookout for extra work and, most importantly of all, repeat business.
After all, it’s far easier and much more profitable to look after an existing client who gives you a steady, reliable income stream than to be continually hunting down new business.
But, that’s just common sense, right?
Les is a full-time copywriter with a background in business and IT sales. In a previous life he worked for IBM, Fujitsu and Xerox and owned his own IT company before selling out and moving to South Africa to live by the ocean. He writes in 3 main areas – general copywriting, email marketing and technical IT writing. You can connect with Les at LesBlythe.com
Hey Les!
Hi Jacob!
I hit upon this post entirely by accident… and I don’t regret every second spent reading it. It’s cool, inspiring, and motivating.
Copywriting spells casted are great too 🙂
Final Tips You’ll Thank Me For”” – nice one.
I abandoned my Upwork profile a while ago. Now, after your post, I’m rushing to update it!
Thanks you!
Hey Nick,
There’s definitely good money to be made on the Upwork platform and they’re continually bringing in new ideas such as the “Premier Author” program aimed at hooking up the best writers with the best clients.
Once your profile is up to date (use mine for inspiration if you want), concentrate on building your reputation and gathering some 5 star reviews.
One thing to bear in mind is that although there’s a healthy amount of competition on Upwork, the quality is generally not that great.
If you make a real effort and deliver quality work that ensures 5 star reviews, you’ll work your way up to “Top Rated” status and the will also help your cause.
The final tip I would give you is not to set your pricing too low. It just doesn’t inspire client confidence in my opinion.
I recently helped a writing colleague of mine in Australia get started on Upwork and advised him to start at $75 per hour. I’ve actually known people start and be successful at $125 per hour, but usually you’d need to build up to that.
Best of luck with your efforts!
Les
Les, thanks for sharing this. People need to know what you’ve covered here.
Folks, this works.
I’m on Upwork and am tracking nicely towards “Top Rated”. Hopefully I’ve got that in the bag within a month. And I’ve been following the same system you’ve outlined here.
I’m going to have to learn more about the “Premier Author” program, Les.
Gary
PS: I have a hunch I’m the Aussie mentioned in the last paragraph.
Hi Gary,
I’m glad it’s going well for you and you’re seeing success in your freelancing career.
Yes, you did get an honorable mention above!
As you say, this stuff does work and when you get “Top Rated” on your profile your credibility will go up another notch.
I see you have some excellent 5 star reviews on Upwork. Again, it all builds trust in the eyes of potential clients and ultimately makes it possible to up your rates – which is what we all want to do, of course.
Best of luck and continued success.
Hi, please l need guide on how to set up a good account and how to start getting work on upwork. Am good in editing and proofreading and video animation. Mail me on [email protected] so we can talk better sir
Hello, Les,
Thank you for a very good article. It sets out the Upwork situation concisely and is very useful to a person such as I who is fundamentally an imaginative writer, dipping into the transactional field only haphazardly, and only through Upwork.
However, you’ve encouraged me and helped me to understand Upwork more clearly.
My appreciation also to Jacob for the post.
Hi Judith,
Glad you enjoyed my article and it helped with your understanding of Upwork.
I’ve worked with a lot of creative writers and have written several fiction books myself, so definitely understand the mindset of imaginative writers such as yourself.
If you could bring a little routine/ consistency into your approach to Upwork it would probably help a lot, but I do get that some creative writers find this difficult.
Perhaps set a daily target of applying for at least 3 jobs for example. You get a certain number of free connects each month so it would make sense to try and use them up consistently.
I don’t just use Upwork to source writing work and am concentrating on building my “direct” portfolio of clients as well. I have an IT background so I’m looking to leverage those skills.
That said, with the right approach, you can make very good money on the Upwork platform – even if it’s only part of your overall strategy.
Fantastic article, Les. I’m going to check out your profile and use your tips. Many thanks. One question, when you take a job that has an hourly rate, how do you determine how many hours you work? Do you work that out with the client beforehand?
Thanks Helen, great question.
I’ve generally had this work one of 3 ways.
1) I GIVE AN ESTIMATE – I’ve given clients an estimate e.g. “Your job will take me about 2-3 hrs” – that kind of thing. I think it’s fair to give the client an indication of how much they’ll likely be spending, if you can. That said, be careful not to box yourself in and under-quote. We’ve all done it and it’s a real pain to find out your slaving away for 6 hours on something you thought would take an hour or two!
2) THE CLIENT OFFERS AN ESTIMATE – Sometimes the client will give you an idea of his expectations which, again, I think is cool. Just make sure you really think the time commitment through before agreeing. Most clients are not unreasonable and if they are, do you really want to work for them?
3) NO ONE OFFERS AN ESTIMATE – I have a client I work for regularly and we never discuss how long a job will take. I’m reasonable with him and he’s reasonable with me – works well.
USE COMMON SENSE – If no one offers an estimate, particularly if it’s a new client, get back to them early in the project to check you’re on the right track. For example, if you’re writing a series of 5 emails write 1 and get back to the client with it. Don’t write all 5 only to discover the client hates them.
The other benefit of doing this is that if you’re on an hourly contract, your hours for the first email will have been recorded by Upwork via their time tracking software. This gives you and the client an excellent yard stick for how long the whole series will take to produce.
Yes, Helen. I’d like to know what Les says about that too.
Gary
I’ve replied to Helen’s question above – thanks Gary.
Thank’s. Les. Again, great info. One more thing. Do you think your high rates are because you write in the tech industry? Or does it matter what sector you’re in? I’m interested in lifestyle though I can write in many genres, but I don’t have the specialized background you do.
No problem Helen.
Not all my writing has been in the Tech/ IT field. I’ve written for attorneys, medical clients and even a company that makes printers.
The way I view the rate you charge is to understand the value you represent to a business. For example, if an attorney is offering a package to business clients that runs to several thousand dollars a time (as was the case with a client of mine) they are going to pay you well if you can write convincing copy that guarantees them more business.
I come back to my point in my post that talks about making yourself the client’s trusted partner.
Also, something else to bear in mind. There are a lot of writers on Upwork but how many of them are top drawer and can write truly professional copy? For many, English is not their first language, so they’re at an immediate disadvantage.
My advice is to always spend time getting your proposal as engaging as you can (based on the approach I outline in my post).
Present yourself to the client as being professional, easy to work with and with their interests genuinely front of mind and you give yourself the best chance of being successful.
Hmm…
I wonder, if English is really not my first language, can I expect a decent payment? What do you think?
Good question Nick and that’s a tricky one for sure.
Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of a client for a moment. If I’m paying $125/HR on Upwork, that’s a pretty substantial rate for the platform. At that I’m expecting to get written work that’s spot on as regards content, grammar and spelling.
For example, I speak and write pretty fluent French but I would never dream of putting myself up against an expert, French native copywriter. I’d lose.
It really all depends how good your written English is. It might make sense to write copy and have it checked over by a native English speaker before sending it off to the client. If you’re getting a decent enough hourly rate, you can probably afford to pay someone to do that.
Don’t forget, there are all kind of other gigs you can do that don’t entail perfect English as well…
This sounds so glaringly obvious that it’s hard to believe we writers don’t work this out ourselves! Great piece. I totally agree, and I read a fantastic article of a similar ilk suggesting the same thing with freelance writing in general. Stop selling yourself short, and start pitching at a much higher level and you will eventually get there. I guess it’s a scary space to be in, leaving the comfort and convenience of regular work behind and relying on the bigger pitches, and the more difficult/hard to get work but ultimately it’s going to pay off! Bookmarking this for more uncertain moments!
I firmly believe as competent Freelancers we need to stand by the value we deliver.
Our clients are using our expertise to make more money – bottom line.
For that, they should pay accordingly. Makes sense? Of course, it does…
Hi Les,
A very informative post. Personally, I don’t use Upwork to land writing clients. Although, I did bag one client on the platform for a $100 article.
You certainly can earn well from the platform, and as you say, it boils down to that one single word – ‘mindset’. It’s worked wonders in my own writing career and it’s how I increased my own rates from $50 all the way through to $300 for a blog post.
Thanks again!
Cheers
Hi Nick and thanks for your comment, sorry I missed it!
I need say no more, your career is now on fire, well done.
Best,
Les