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ruth_bowles
Community Member

**UPDATED 06/25/2019**Something Positive for a Change

I've come to the forums with my own questions and frustrations (although I switched to just my friends when it dawned on me that clients could see the boards), and I wanted to share something good instead. Today, I accepted an offer for a job with a client that gives me confidence I will be able to quit my 9-5 and write full time. 

 

My goal to work as a freelance writer was really more of a dream until a couple months ago (I started in July, but felt like I gained traction in September/November). I got a client that pays a decent amount for my work and trusts me as the expert (which is refreshing right?). The offer I accepted today though actually pays a bit more per hour than my 9-5. 

 

A lot of people get on the forums and bash the platform, and while it does have its issues, I will always be grateful I found it and created a profile. 

29 REPLIES 29
imakeinternet
Community Member

This is so refreshing to hear.  Your hard work and persistence is finally paying off and you're achieving your dream.  2018 is going to be your year.  While I usually don't advise quitting your 9-5 based on one contract, I definitely think that you should because based on your profile and experiences with Upwork, you're definitely doing the right thing.  Congratulations! 

My goal is to build my reputation here (and elsewhere if those opportunities present themselves) to a point where I don't feel like I'm struggling to get jobs that pay what I'm worth. I think that once I feel that way, I will be able to quit my 9-5 and not worry about negatively impacting my family 🙂

 

Things really started picking up steam once I learned about SEO friendly writing. Once I started marketing myself as a SEO friendly health/fitness writer, I stood out more, and was able to target a more specific clientle. Then I learned more about how blogging supports marketing (when done properly) so I learned about inbound and content marketing. The day I revamped my profile to market my own writing skills from that angle (removing the health and fitness focus) was the exact day I heard from the client who hired me this morning.

 

So I really feel like I have found my "thing".

Good for you, Ruth, WELL DONE!

 

Taking the step from being an employee and part time freelancer 5 years ago was the best thing I ever did. I got to move to my dream country and am doing work that was never on my roadmap (I was never one for roadmaps though 😉 ) Like you I started off just for fun along my full time job, and then leaped into the unknown lol. LITERALLY!

 

Keep at it! Once you gain traction it gets easier, and don't hesitate to post if you have questions.

 

Like Mike said: 2018 will be your year!

Petra,

I have to say, your responses (and a few others) to posts have been incredibly educational. If I could kudos your reply more than once I would. I really appreciate the encouragement! I'm pretty close with two of my clients to the $500 mark, which means that Upwork deduction will go down!

 

I'm happy to be contributing to clients' good experiences on Upwork, basically helping every other hard working freelancer here 🙂

e_luneborg
Community Member

Congrats Ruth!

Enjoy life without a boss, I know I am! 🙂

________________________
Freelancing is a gamble - To win you need skill, luck and a strategy

I'm trying really hard! I was thinking it would be a couple years off, but I'm wondering now if I can make it happen this year!

Congrats. I wish I could say the same. Been on Upwork since October and haven't one proposal even looked at. 

Harry, 

I started in July, and I didn't really gain any traction until November/December, and then it wasn't until January when things took off for me. March has been an explosive month of growth and opportunity for me .

I'm glad March has been good for you. I'll admit I haven't been aggressive in writing proposals. I'm currently working on four screenplays, so my time has been devoted to that more than Upwork. However, after I finish my scripts, I may go back to it again and see what happens. 

jr-translation
Community Member

I am also confident to finally be able to work as a fulltime translator this year. I really enjoy to be my own boss (ignoring my kid for the moment) and to stand up for myself.

 

I started dreaming about a years ago when it became obvious that I would have to take on a job cleaning in an hotel or just stay at home (and receiving more money through the wellfare sytem [which I also sponsered more than I got out of it]) after my parental leave. I was just getting sick and tired doing nothing productive but only had the option work 100% or 0. After the summer holiday I just said heck and started working on my plan.

 

I am happy about every job I am offered and even happier when I can turn down one because his/her budget is too low. :smile:

 

 

@Jennifer R

Woop woop! 

And I thought I was the only freelancer in the forum living in Norway. 

 

Velkommen! 🙂

________________________
Freelancing is a gamble - To win you need skill, luck and a strategy
ruth_bowles
Community Member

Just an update. It's been a little over 3 months since I posted this. Things have been going AMAZING y'all! So great, I can't even believe it. I'm managing to network OFF platform as well and will be taking freelance writing work from a company that a former soldier of mine owns (I was in the Army, and I was his sergeant). 

 

I landed a client on Upwork at my dream rate (at the time. Of course now the dream is higher!). I'm really excited and motivated. In just a few weeks my maternity leave will start, and that is when I'm test driving freelancing full-time. I'll have the security of receiving short-term disability for having my baby, still having my nanny to take care of the other kids, and the little baby if necessary, and trying to pull together enough clients to pay my nanny and my taxes. That is my goal for putting in my two weeks notice! Being able to pay my taxes and my nanny, haha. 

 

It will be hard, I know. This isn't my first birth (it's my third, and I have four kids), but I'm thinking hard work now for my dream career THIS year. THIS summer. How can I pass that up? 

ruth_bowles
Community Member

UPDATE:

Baby is here! She arrived on her due date, April 20th! 

 

I landed my newest big client two days later, and I have some off-platform prospects in the pipeline! The plan is coming together!!!!!!

Evelyn, my first girl, and last little baby!Evelyn, my first girl, and last little baby!

 

 

Evelyn is beautiful - congrats on your first (and only) baby girl!

 

Ruth, I know I speak for many of us long-time successful freelancers when I yell HOORAY YOU

 

Without a doubt you are the exception to the norm - a skilled, talented, business savvy, FLer who knows exactly what she is doing.  My bet - you'll more than cover your taxes, nanny, and the occasional incidental.  

ruth_bowles
Community Member

ANOTHER UPDATE!!!

I've been meaning to get back on here and update you guys on my progress, but I've been so busy. I've done it!!! I'm at full capacity! I kept raising my rates, and I'm pulling in more than what I need to cover my nanny and my taxes, and maybe a little extra! I'm working with 6 different companies on their content creation and marketing strategy!

 

I'm really glad I made this thread. I hope everyone who thinks they can't do it sees this progression over months. There are moments of doubt laced in here too, but I just kept going. My daughter will be 8 weeks old this week, and next week, I'm giving notice at my 9-5. NO WAY am I going back! 

 

I've been looking at the next phase of my professional development. It can really go one of two ways. I open an agency and hire employees (which sounds like too much work, and I wouldn't open an agency on Upwork anyway, no one wants to hire them seems like), or I scale in a different way.

 

I've decided that I'm going to go the route of online education. I'm in content marketing and strategy (with content creation as a serious part of that; I love to write), and I'm passionate about it. My niche is B2B content marketing, and I know I could create really high-value courses for small-midsized business owners and marketing managers. And maybe others who want to get into content marketing. For this, I may end up hiring a VA once it really takes off (I almost wrote "if it really takes off", but I know I can do this!). 

 

Alright, I've got client work to get back to! *first time I've ever said this but* Happy Monday!!!

@Ruth, I'm really glad that things are working out for you! 

 

You mentioned in another post/thread that you took Danny Margulies' course. Looking back now, how much of your success can you attribute to the course, and how much of it do think you did for yourself? 

 

If I'm to hazard a guess, I'd say that you did it all by yourself, and that you didn't need the course as much as you thought you did.Smiley Wink 

Reinier, 

 

I guess I would say both yes and no to needing the course. Even as I took it, I realized that a lot of it was just changing my perceptions, or understanding how clients think. Stuff like that. I'm a people person, so I think I would've picked it up eventually. Or if I had had a freelancing mentor to show me the ropes, then maybe I wouldn't have felt like I needed his course. 

 

Danny does say that he learned a lot through trial and error, and I know that taking the course kept me from languishing at the bottom of the barrel in terms of low paying rates. His course highlighted a lot of the mistakes I was probably going to make. My first job on here was a 500-word blog post for $25 and I asked $13/hr on my profile and I struggled to find work. Now I have a full-time income and have my pick of clients. 

 

So I feel like I had the passion, skill, and strong desire to work for myself. Which you have to have if you're going to be successful. Danny's course gave me the knowledge I needed to position myself properly. His course isn't going to give people talent if they don't have any. 

Whatever his course contains can be acquired for free. Heck, even by reading these forums and talking with seasoned freelancers, those who actually make a lot of money here. Not guys like Danny who take more than $1K from desperate people.

-----------
"Where darkness shines like dazzling light"   —William Ashbless


@Rene K wrote:

Whatever his course contains can be acquired for free. Heck, even by reading these forums and talking with seasoned freelancers, those who actually make a lot of money here. Not guys like Danny who take more than $1K from desperate people.


 Agreed. There is the old adage that says- Those who can, do. Those who cannot do, teach. 

Rene, 

Definitely agree that the information can be found elsewhere. I don't believe his course is the end all be all for freelancing here on Upwork or anywhere else. At the time, I didn't feel like I could approach anyone on the boards.

Who was going to be willing to hold my hand and walk me through this stuff?  After reading the responses here in the forum, yes there are nuggets of information to be had, yes. But with so many people running around misrepresenting their skills, farming work out, etc..... It is very hard to know whom to trust here. And I think that goes both ways (new people to experienced FL's, and vice versa). 

 

Honestly, with the level of help and mentorship I required at the time, I would've felt like I was bothering any one of you (the people I hold in esteem in the forums). There was no way for you to know that I wasn't a hack. 


@Ruth B wrote:

Rene, 

Definitely agree that the information can be found elsewhere. I don't believe his course is the end all be all for freelancing here on Upwork or anywhere else. At the time, I didn't feel like I could approach anyone on the boards.

Who was going to be willing to hold my hand and walk me through this stuff?  After reading the responses here in the forum, yes there are nuggets of information to be had, yes. But with so many people running around misrepresenting their skills, farming work out, etc..... It is very hard to know whom to trust here. And I think that goes both ways (new people to experienced FL's, and vice versa). 

 

Honestly, with the level of help and mentorship I required at the time, I would've felt like I was bothering any one of you (the people I hold in esteem in the forums). There was no way for you to know that I wasn't a hack. 


When I started out here I got plenty of help from a lot of regulars here, and I had no idea what I was doing. So in that sense Tiffany S, Jennifer M and Kat C (just to mention a few writers here) saved me a lot of money. I never thought I could get to the rates those ladies were charging. Don't think I would have done as well as I have if they didn't help me out answering all kinds of questions,.

 

But anyway Ruth, I'm really glad things worked out for you, and that you can finally do this full-time. And congrats on the new baby!

________________________
Freelancing is a gamble - To win you need skill, luck and a strategy

I believe I'm speaking primarily for the writers and translators who tend to post in the forums with the following ...

 

It's almost always easy to spot those with brains, determination, and talent - in no particular order. These are the people who ask questions rather than whine and bemoan the fact that "no one gets it". They are the people who listen, act on advice, and then ask follow-up questions.

 

Ruth and Eve, you both have all three attributes and, frankly, it showed from the start.

 

The 3 writers, an artist, and a book designer who mentored me have moved on ... but I will always owe a debt of gratitude to them. 

 

P.S. For those of you from the eLance era the names are Lisa, Hayden, Pete, Linda, and Daniel.  😉

 

Wendy, 

I really appreciate you saying so. I try to get on here and respond to people's questions like you all did when I had questions. All of you big writers in here just seemed so far removed from my position at the time. That's why I made this thread. I'm hoping that by leaving it up, my journey from the beginnings of success to full-time income success will help other people stay motivated.

I'm bumping this because it was lovely to read.

So glad to see that months later you are still active, your profile looks great, and you're achieving your goals. Thanks for posting this way back when. It's very inspiring!

Victoria, then this thread is serving it's purpose for sure. Things are still going amazing. I've hired a VA (from Upwork!) to help me with the admin side of things, and that's made a positive difference in my workflow.

 

I'm acquiring more clients outside of Upwork, since I've been attending networking events local to me. This has worked out wonderfully, although the pipeline is longer than using Upwork. I'm preparing to speak at a couple of these events about content marketing for one of them, and about using Upwork as a freelancer and as a client at another! (So you're welcome everyone, because these people will know how to write their job listings and what to look for in proposals!)

 

I've also gotten a couple of clients off of LinkedIn. Things are moving really well, and I'm getting more comfortable charging rates that I'm worth. While I'm still writing quite a bit, I've moved up into the strategy side of things. I'm also getting ready to start the first class for my marketing degree. 

 

Things have been busy! Which is why I'm not on here a lot. Just super super busy!

Zowie! Better and better. 

Thanks for the update. Sounds like a grand adventure.  ^.^ 

It'll be fun to see where you go with it next! When you have time, of course.

Thanks Eve, 

She's a little darling and sleeps really well which is great for my need to work during the day. 

 

I think I was still suffering from "imposter's syndrome" when I was getting started, which reflected on my uncertainty about asking for help. I don't feel that way now, thankfully 🙂

 

Ruthie

ruth_bowles
Community Member

You know.... Life has changed so much since I created this forum thread. I feel like I'm really settling into my life as a freelancer. Working for myself is fun and mentally challenging. It's everything my 9-5 wasn't. I didn't have a 6-month financial buffer when I made the leap, so that's a little stressful sometimes. However, I can't say I regret it because I had to quit my 9-5 when I did, or I was never going to do it. 

 

Still working with a VA, although I ended up finding a new one because my first one struggled to balance her clients and school. My new VA has skills that compliment my own, so that is working out wonderfully! I've added a couple of new clients each month, and I've lost a couple or let them go. Some of them just haven't needed as much content which is natural. 

 

I'm really excited about 2019. I'm not sure what my business is going to turn into. I get contacted by people who really want me to work on their websites all of the time. I'm getting referrals from my burgeoning professional network and leads from LinkedIn. I'm not chasing down leads anymore either. It's more like we stroll casually until we decide to work together or not. 

 

The biggest thing I changed in 2018 was my mindset. It sounds corny, but when you view your prospects differently, you mentally feel less desperate. Desperation is what leads writers to write for pennies because "that's the only kind of job" they can find. You don't quote rates that you think the client can pay. You quote your rate, and they can take it or leave it. The only person who controls your rate is you. If they don't like your rate, then they aren't the client for you. 

 

I've noticed that writers still struggle to find clients when they DO write for pennies, so what do you have to lose? Set your rate at something you'd be happy to work for. Then STOP applying for the "pennies" jobs. You aren't going to change their price. Look for clients who understand quality, and don't waste your time on the ones who won't budge on the rate. 

ruth_bowles
Community Member

Oh wow. So my last update was December 2018. It's now June 2019. So much has changed. SO MUCH! Where do I even start? 

 

So I have largely moved off of Upwork in terms of getting clients. I do still check though! Most of my clients are ongoing, so I haven't needed to search for new clients to often. I'm still getting them from events and LinkedIn. 

 

I've been doing guest blogging and podcast interviews to create and raise my credibility, and it's been working! I actually just started my own podcast, so that's awesome. 

 

I started writing a book as well, about my freelance business journey, and I have some publisher interest, which is amazing! 

 

I'm really happy with the rates that I'm charging now. I've managed to land projects that are about $1 per word or $200 per hour (both internal metrics, I only do project rates). Just wrapped up my first white paper, and I charged $3,000 for it. 

 

This last 6 months has just flown by. I don't even know how awesome the next 6 months is going to be. I just know it's going to be awesome!