My Upwork Freelance Writing Story: How I Earned $20K in 2 Weeks
Buddies, today I want to tell you about how I made over $20,000 on one 2-week Upwork freelance writing project. I am not kidding you when I say that this one freelance writing gig completely changed my life. Thanks to this one gig, I was able to pay off my credit cards and spend three months traveling in Europe.
I’m not telling you this story to brag. I am telling you this story so that you realize what’s possible!
Keep reading to learn how one Upwork freelance writing project changed my life, and the steps you can take to attract better freelance writing clients on Upwork.
THE BACKGROUND
Let me paint a picture for you. It’s the spring of 2018. I am living with my parents in Youngstown, Ohio, my hometown. About six months before, I moved to Ohio from Los Angeles in order to pursue my dream of being a freelance writer. My goal was to become a digital nomad and move to Europe in the fall. Unfortunately, I was only making between $3k and $4k per month, and I had over $10k in credit card debt. It was do or die time, and Europe was looking less and less possible every day.
I felt like a bit of failure at the time. It’s unfortunate that in our society, we often view adults living with their parents as failures. I knew I was doing the right thing for me and I loved spending time with my family, but it also made me feel bad about myself. I felt like I wasn’t making the progress in my career that I wanted to make. However, there was no way I was going to give up! This was my dream!
So, I decided to make some changes. I started reading about the Law of Attraction, and practicing some simple manifestation habits like visualization and keeping a gratitude journal (more on that later). I also started making big changes in my freelance writing business in order to gain new clients and make more money.
I loved living with my parents, especially because I had the cutest roommate ever.
HOW ONE UPWORK FREELANCE WRITING PROJECT CHANGED MY LIFE
There were many things that I did to improve my freelance writing business, but the thing that got me the biggest results was redoing my Upwork portfolio using tips that I learned from reading the Freelance to Win blog.
The result? I earned over $20k from one job on Upwork that only took two weeks to complete.
In the freelance world, everyone is so quick to criticize Upwork. Yes, their fees are high and there are tons of shady, cheap clients on the platform.
But what you may not know is that many Fortune 500 clients also use the platform to hire contractors for short projects. You see, it’s easier for them to hire a remote contractor to get something done quickly than it is for them to hire a new employee. And if they need someone with specialized skills (like, say, a beauty copywriter), they cannot just turn to a local temp agency. So they turn to Upwork. Big clients love Upwork because Upwork’s escrow feature protects them from getting ripped off. They can also vet a potential contractor by reviewing their portfolio and reading reviews of their work. And it’s super simple for them to pay contractors through the platform.
After I gave my profile a facelift, in March 2018 I received a job invite from an anonymous enterprise client. The invite was for a test social media copywriting project. The payout was $1000, so I was excited!
I responded to the invite right away. The client hired me and asked me to complete a mock-up rebranding of a major drugstore skincare line. I worked really hard on the project, and I thought that it turned out great. I submitted the final version to the client, they paid me, and then I didn’t hear anything again for three months.
Then, one day in June, COMPLETELY out of the blue, the same client sent me an offer for a $20,000 project. This is what I wrote in my diary:
“WOW!!! So this is so amazing. I cannot even BELIEVE that it’s true. I got a job offer from [Client] to work on a project for [Brand] for
TWENTY
FUCKING
THOUSAND
DOLLARS.
Do you even know what this means for me? This will change EVERYTHING for me. Namely, I’ll be able to pay off my credit cards in one fell swoop and still have some leftover. Well, a little bit. With fees and taxes taken out, it’s almost exactly how much I owe on my credit cards. Amazing.”
I specifically remember running around the house screaming because I was so excited!
The ask of the project was pretty simple: write as many emails and Facebook ads for the brand as possible in a 2-week period. I received literally no other direction (though I did ask for it!). So I set to work, cranked out a bunch of content, and delivered it two weeks later. Then the client paid me, and I was $20,000 richer.
My personal theory is that the marketing team at this brand had extra money in their budget, so they hired a contractor on a throwaway project just to spend the rest of the money in their budget. As far as I know, the client never even used the content that I created for them! That does sting because I was proud of my work, but making all that extra cash was definitely worth it.
Just overlooking the ocean during sunset. Nbd.
WHAT I LEARNED FROM MY UPWORK FREELANCE WRITING EXPERIENCE
Besides the opportunity to get out of credit card debt and leave my parents’ basement to travel the world, my Upwork freelance writing experience taught me a lot about how the Law of Attraction works.
I think what really made the difference for me is that I had a clear, defined, and exciting end goal in mind. I knew that I wanted to pay off my credit cards and start making enough money to move to Portugal in the fall. I had my WHY, which is so important when you are doing something as vague and undefined as launching a freelance writing career.
I was so excited by that goal. I fantasized about my new life in Portugal, walking the tiled streets, eating pastel de natas, and watching the sunset over the Atlantic Ocean. I could see it in my mind’s eye. I even had a Pinterest board about it. With that exciting end goal in mind, it became much easier to identify and execute what I needed to work on to level up.
So, I started to work on how I was presenting myself as a freelance writer. How could I come across as an expert so that I could gain better clients and make more money?
At the time, I was also writing in my diary every day. But I wasn’t just complaining about my life. I was taking time every morning to write at least three things that I was grateful for.
I believe that this daydreaming of Portugal and practicing gratitude raised my vibration high enough to attract exactly the kind of project that I needed to manifest my goals. And since my vibration was so high, I was able to work harder and stay focused on the tasks I needed to complete in order to make those goals happen.
The view from my neighborhood in Lisbon.
You can do the same thing! If you’re struggling to make enough money as a freelance writer, take some time to get crystal clear about why you’re doing this. Of course you’re doing this to make money, but what are you going to spend the money on? Think beyond just making ends meet. What if you had an extra $1000 per month? What would you do with it? Would you travel? Buy a BMW? Keep brainstorming until you land on something that really makes you feel excited. Then, before you begin work each day, spend a few minutes just meditating on the thing that you want to spend your freelance writing money on.
The other thing you can do to raise your vibration and attract abundance is to keep a gratitude journal. I don’t care what your life situation is. If you have enough to eat, clean water to drink, and a safe place to live, you have something to be grateful for. Thank the Universe for those things if you can think of nothing else. By showing the Universe that you’re grateful for the gifts that you’ve already been given, you set yourself up to receive more gifts. After all, why would the Universe give you anything if you’re not already grateful for the gifts you have?
I know that all of this sounds New Age-y and “out there”, but don’t knock it ‘till you’ve tried it. I used to think this was literally the biggest load of bullshit and now I’m a total believer.
Me! In Europe!
FREELANCE WRITING ON UPWORK: HOW TO SUCCEED
Okay, besides the fact that I was practicing some basic Law of Attraction techniques to call in this manifestation, I also did some things to my Upwork profile that helped to attract the right kind of client to me. Here’s what I did:
1. I slummed for reviews. When I first began using Upwork, I took on several low-paying clients in order to get some 5-star reviews under my belt. Ratings really drive Upwork, and high-paying clients aren’t willing to risk spending time or money on a writer who isn’t proven to be reliable and effective.
2. I made my niche super clear on my profile. I’m a beauty copywriter, so I made sure to state that multiple times in my profile, particularly in the headline. This strategy really paid off because now if you search for “Beauty Copywriter” on Google, my Upwork profile is one of the top search results. Don’t have a niche? Read this article on why you need a freelance writing niche (and how to choose one).
3. I asked an editor to review my portfolio to make sure that it was 100% perfect. Why would a client hire a copywriter who can’t even get their own profile right?
4. I added my portfolio samples to my profile. You can add any portfolio samples to your profile. They don’t have to be associated with Upwork projects. Then, as I continued working with clients, I added new portfolio pieces to each review.
Don’t have any portfolio samples? Read this article on how to create a freelance writer portfolio with zero experience!
5. I improved my job success score. When clients look up freelancers to fill a role, the job success score is displayed right next the name and rate of each freelancer. So if you don’t have a good job success score, you won’t receive many invites. Upwork is not fully transparent about how the job success score is calculated, but I’ve found that these things help:
Kick ass on every project (obviously). Be super clear about the project expectations and deliverables up front.
Close projects when they are complete. If a client ghosts you, follow up a few times and then close the project if they don’t respond. Open projects seem to drag down your job success score.
At the end of each project, ask the client to leave a positive review for them. Tell them that reviews are how you grow your business!
5. I kept an eye out for big fish. Big clients on Upwork don’t usually post open jobs that everyone can apply to. Instead, they have secret jobs to which they invite a select few elite freelancers. I find that the big clients on Upwork use code names like “JJ348” or “PG8210”. In these cases, “JJ” stands for “Johnson & Johnson” and “PG” stands for “Procter & Gamble”. They also use budget placeholders like “$1234”. So, if you receive an invite like this, don’t sleep on it! Respond RIGHT AWAY. YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN!
I hope this blog post inspires you! The sky is truly the limit for you, buddy. Get clear on your goals and go after them. I believe in you!
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