I joined Upwork about two months ago after leaving a job as the digital marketing manager for a mid-sized law firm in downtown Chicago. Before that, I worked as a full time web content writer for a design and development company. At the same time I was looking for a full time job, I also explored freelance web content writing services. One I had used a few years ago on a very part time basis for a short time is no longer in business.
Perusing the Upwork message board and other resources, I seemed to see a lot of complaints from users unable to land writing jobs after weeks of attempts. I signed up anyway, and refilled my connects multiple times as I applied to jobs that were anywhere near what I had previously written. Within days I had a couple of small jobs writing individual articles for lawyers and other industries. The first batch of jobs was a mix of decent and bad experiences, and at mostly low rates.
After a week or so, I landed a job with a company devoted solely to web content writing. The rates were low, at times embarrassingly low, but she had a lot of work and within hours I had dozens of articles she wanted me to write in a wide range of industries and topics. Over time, her rates gradually increased and I landed other one-offs that better suited my skills and experience, some of them still assign me smaller milestones from time to time. Last week, I landed two more potentially large, long-term accounts that tipped the scales to this being a legitimate full-time employment opportunity.
I haven’t bought a connect in weeks and haven’t looked at the job board in days. November rent is covered and my bills are paid. And I never had to pull one shift behind the pharmacy counter at Walgreens.
Everyone’s experience is different, but here are a few keys that have worked for me during my first two months of writing through Upwork:
- You Gotta Work It: The Monday after I left the law firm I set my alarm for the same time I had been, got up, and got to work on finding work. And I worked it, some days literally up to 12-14 hours a day. My wife marveled that I could sit at a computer for that long (I took breaks, I’m not a robot), but I felt that’s what it takes to make anything work, and this was no exception. I blocked out time to work the “regular job boards,” work the Upwork job board, and write my Upwork assignments, and some freelance articles I was writing for my former web design employer. Eventually the writing part took time away from the full-time job search time, and then the Upwork job search time. I don’t do either on a regular basis anymore, and I’m working at least a full day, some days still up to 12 hours.
- Write What You Know: It’s tempting to take whatever job you can, and I felt that I needed to at the time I started just to justify the hours I was putting in to get work. And maybe that’s how you have to do it. But things changed when I took a regular job in an area I was very familiar with and saw how much easier and time-efficient it was compared to topics I had to heavily research, and struggled to write. If you know how to write or have a niche writing talent, the jobs are there, I just had to take the time to find the right matches. When I found them, I knew it. It has gotten to the point where I can tell by their ad if they’ll respond to my proposal.
- Stick to the Rules: One of my primary clients and I have talked about working together after the two-year commitment to Upwork is over, we are counting the weeks. It may wind up being the company I work with for many years to come in a variety of roles. They are exploring Upwork’s opt out policies, though they are steep. Either way, neither one of us is doing anything remotely outside of Upwork’s legal terms of conditions to mess that up. One of my biggest issues with Upwork is the excessively steep 20% fee up to $500 per client. But I would never jeopardize the potential work that is on its way, and a potential future beyond Upwork’s legal commitment. I would never go for a client that wanted to pay outside of Upwork or do anything else against the agreement. I’m approaching it long term and it’s just not worth it.
- Bide Your Time: Those fees are ridiculous and I was really frustrated by them, especially when I first started and the writing rates were so low for early jobs with regular clients. I still was making enough to pay the bills, and by the time a client would go above the $500 threshold to cut the fee in half, the rates for their milestones were higher too, so my revenue was increasing while writing the same about of articles.The more I worked it, the better it has worked for me over time.
- So Far, So Good: I’m now making more money than I was at the web design place when I left there two years ago. In fact, last week I turned down an offer to return there, or at least I stopped the negotiation process when I didn’t get what I asked for. I’m not paying for parking, or gas, or the train, or expensive lunches. I work in sweatpants and a t-shirt. I have no boss, no stress, and no dry cleaning bill. I've projected that I will surpass my law firm salary within the next few months.
These are more my experiences that actual advice or tips for someone else. Everyone’s situation and skill set is different (I also get my health insurance through my wife's work). I just wanted to share my perspective to add to the complete picture new users are getting of what’s possible if you put in the time and effort. I did both in abundance and I’m set for at least the next few months and likely way beyond that.
