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amurigi
Community Member

Frustrated writer

Hey guys,

I have been working on this platform for a decade now and truth be told, getting hired is becoming extremely difficult. I would probably have more luck herding cats.

 

I have sent numerous proposals in the last two months  I haven't been hired even once.  I know that a majority of the clients in the writing category look for cheap labor. So I wonder, is this why I'm not getting hired? I charge 32/hr and for fixed jobs, I negotiate with the clients. But is it that my rate is an issue or is it possible that the clients cannot see my proposals? Or are my proposals getting filtered out because of my location? 

 

Are there any other freelance writers facing the same problem? Two months without landing a single job for a freelancer who has been working consistently on this platform for ten years is a bit worrying. For me anyway. I need some solid and helpful advice guys. Is this juice worth the squeeze anymore? 

ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Hey Sunny,

 

Oh yes, I agree... but there are some times you can get a feel for the client from the way they've posted, and from experience can deduce the level of work they have in mind, and what their budgets will allow... Then, of course, there's the budget they suggest in the posting and go from there....

 

I actually think Melanie might be on to something here, though- as counter-intuitive it may be, an increase in rate could be the way to go. With a long track record working on the site, some large contracts, and happy clients... this isn't a case of just getting noticed to get started... it's a case of getting noticed by the right people

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18 REPLIES 18
web_dezine
Community Member

Hello Anne,

 

My first reply in the community!

 

After reading your post here, I think the major reason you are not gettting hired or being noticed by clients is because of your hourly rate. There are other writers who charge very very less and also are proactive with their skills and experience.

 

I think you should try by submitting proposals with half the rate, Yes $16/hour and see if you get some replies. Something is always better than nothing.

 

Good Luck!

Hi Sunny,

 

Thanks for your feedback. Given the crazy competition that's here on Upwork for jobs. I might just do that. But last year I was getting hired. The rate was not an issue. So I'm not really sure what to do. But thanks for the suggestion.Smiley Happy


Anne M wrote:

Hi Sunny,

 

Thanks for your feedback. Given the crazy competition that's here on Upwork for jobs. I might just do that. But last year I was getting hired. The rate was not an issue. So I'm not really sure what to do. But thanks for the suggestion.Smiley Happy


I go through dry spells. It gets scary at times; then the work comes flooding back in. I really think:

 

1. It's the nature of freelance: feast, famine, feast again (hopefully).

2. Competition is TREMENDOUS when it comes to freelancing, and everyone fancies him/herself a writer. And the category is growing, according to stats, anyway.

3. Weird glitchy things seem to have happened lately. For instance, supposedly the whole "What? I got zero views last week?" debacle didn't result in fewer actual views, but I had a huge slowdown during this period, so...who knows.

 

I do NOT think you should lower your rate. Please don't do that. You're in a kind of murky area for rates. You're a little too expensive for the bottom of the barrel but you're a little too inexpensive for the "I want a top tier writer" faction. I wonder whether you should actually bump your rate a bit and see what happens. What do you have to lose? 

 

Good luck!


Sunny L wrote:

Hello Anne,

 

My first reply in the community!

 

After reading your post here, I think the major reason you are not gettting hired or being noticed by clients is because of your hourly rate. There are other writers who charge very very less and also are proactive with their skills and experience.

 

I think you should try by submitting proposals with half the rate, Yes $16/hour and see if you get some replies. Something is always better than nothing.

 

Good Luck!


lol

Hello Jennifer,

 

As I am new to the community, does your "lol" anywhere means my reply to the post is "irrelevant" or "childish" anywhere.

 

I would love to learn what could be the best solution here regarding the post.

 

Thanks!


Sunny L wrote:

Hello Anne,

 

My first reply in the community!

 

After reading your post here, I think the major reason you are not gettting hired or being noticed by clients is because of your hourly rate. There are other writers who charge very very less and also are proactive with their skills and experience.

 

I think you should try by submitting proposals with half the rate, Yes $16/hour and see if you get some replies. Something is always better than nothing.

 

Good Luck!


No offense but this answer is way off and makes a lot of assumptions.  I have been charing between $55-$90 for a few years, and I'm still gettign work, but it has become much harder because the type and quality of writing contracts has severely declined in the past year and esepcially the past six months.

petra_r
Community Member


Brian F wrote:

Sunny L wrote:

 

I think you should try by submitting proposals with half the rate, Yes $16/hour and see if you get some replies. Something is always better than nothing.


No offense but this answer is way off and makes a lot of assumptions.  I have been charing between $55-$90 for a few years, and I'm still getting work.


Ah, but you are a native English speaker and US based and have very different credentials. That is what (the right) clients expect to pay (a lot) more for.

 

They don't expect to pay anywhere near that for freelancers who are not native speakers, don't have your background and are not US based.

 

Hello Petra,

 

Yes what you said is what I was suggesting to Anne. Just "try" to submit proposals with low rate and see if this makes any changes, because there are many reasons one getting paid high hourly rate.

 

Thanks!

amurigi
Community Member

"They don't expect to pay anywhere near that for freelancers who are not native speakers, don't have your background and are not US-based." 

 

Surely, we live in a global market. 

 

You will not believe the amount of time, effort, and resources that people put into learning a new language or acquiring new skills to be able to compete on a global level.  To assume that because I'm not based in the US or I'm not a native English speaker,  I don't deserve to be paid well for my work is super disturbing. 

 

petra_r
Community Member


Anne M wrote:

To assume that because I'm not based in the US or I'm not a native English speaker,  I don't deserve to be paid well for my work is super disturbing. 


Did I say that? (Hint - I didn't.)

 

Much as I often disagree with Brian, if you look at his professional background and portfolio, it is pretty obvious why clients pay the rates he charges.

 

bfry1981
Community Member

I know she's not in the US but she's Kenyan.  English is one of two official work languages in Kenya, so she's probably native in terms of her English.  Even for people like me, the quality of writing contracts is terrible though. People want to pay native speakers $10 or $20 a 1,000+,researched article or $25 a day I see for like 4-5 articles... I don't know where Upwork gets these people from who offer non-native rates asking for native speakers...


Petra R wrote:

Brian F wrote:

Sunny L wrote:

 

I think you should try by submitting proposals with half the rate, Yes $16/hour and see if you get some replies. Something is always better than nothing.


No offense but this answer is way off and makes a lot of assumptions.  I have been charing between $55-$90 for a few years, and I'm still getting work.


Ah, but you are a native English speaker and US based and have very different credentials. That is what (the right) clients expect to pay (a lot) more for.

 

They don't expect to pay anywhere near that for freelancers who are not native speakers, don't have your background and are not US based.

 


 

petra_r
Community Member


Brian F wrote:

I know she's not in the US but she's Kenyan.  English is one of two official work languages in Kenya, so she's probably native in terms of her English. 


It's an official language, that does not make every person there a native English speaker. It's also a different "kind" of English. It's very obvious in some writers from Kenya (not so obvious in Anne's case.)

 

My point was more that there is a world of difference between the two profiles, backgrounds, credentials and portfolios which account for the difference in rates.

simonhumphries
Community Member

Hi Anne,

 

The marketplace is definitely more competitive now than it was even last year- I find myself applying for projects that have only been posted for an hour or two, with 15 proposals already having been sent for quite niche jobs... wasn't the case a year ago

 

And yes, there's a question about whether a client is more interested in quality work from a higher paid writer or a string of words by someone who can charge $5 an hour... but that's up to the client and what they need

 

The good thing about your published hourly rate is that you can adapt it to market conditions, but cutting it in half might be a little drastic... after all, you can tweak and change it when sending proposals.

 

My advice would be to try and be sending proposals when there's been less than 5 already sent (annoying to be online that much, but such is life), try and get a feel for the rates the client is expecting before messaging them and decide if you're willing to drop to that number in your proposal... and maybe get in touch with some former clients (you have lots that seem very happy with the work you did) and see if they've got anything going

 

Purely a race to the bottom with costs is never going to work well... you'll get annoyed, future clients will see you as being cheaper so won't pay as much, and it'll all become more effort than it's worth

Hi Simon,

 

After reading your message I almost agree with you on not decreasing the rate as that can destroy the marketplace and the platform itself.

 

BUT: I don't know how to message a client before even getting their first reply on this line of yours "try and get a feel for the rates the client is expecting before messaging".

 

I am not sure if there is a way to send a message to client before that "feeling" & getting their first response.

 

Also I just suggested the decreasing the hourly rate method, so that Anne can see if her proposals are not getting lost or ignored as she mentioned in the first / original post. My suggestion was just to see if there is some chance for clients to put attention to her just because of less hourly rate.

 

Thanks!

Hey Sunny,

 

Oh yes, I agree... but there are some times you can get a feel for the client from the way they've posted, and from experience can deduce the level of work they have in mind, and what their budgets will allow... Then, of course, there's the budget they suggest in the posting and go from there....

 

I actually think Melanie might be on to something here, though- as counter-intuitive it may be, an increase in rate could be the way to go. With a long track record working on the site, some large contracts, and happy clients... this isn't a case of just getting noticed to get started... it's a case of getting noticed by the right people

"BUT: I don't know how to message a client before even getting their first reply on this line of yours "try and get a feel for the rates the client is expecting before messaging".

 

I am not sure if there is a way to send a message to client before that "feeling" & getting their first response."

------------------

Sunny, this is not done by messaging the client; it's done by looking at their history, what they've paid other freelancers for similar work. The only way you won't be able to tell is if there's no hiring history, or if they've only hired people to do wildly different work. Hope that helps.

 

BLU

dsmgdesign
Community Member

Do-not-lowe-your-rate. Period. 

 

I agree with the commentor who said freelancing is about feast, famine, feast again. I've hit the same thing, and probably will again. It stinks. We all go through it for one stretch of time or another. Anyone who says they don't is lying. 


David S M wrote:

Do-not-lowe-your-rate. Period. 

 

I agree with the commentor who said freelancing is about feast, famine, feast again. I've hit the same thing, and probably will again. It stinks. We all go through it for one stretch of time or another. Anyone who says they don't is lying. 


This is a very dismal perspective. Fluctuations are common in freelancing, sure. But, there are a great many freelancers who have built stable businesses and have downtime only when they choose it. Perpetuating the myth that it has to be a scramble and anyone who has created a solid foundation must be a liar is very, very bad for freelancers--when you lead them to expect nothing but struggle, they're far more likely to accept that state of affairs and never level up.

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