When I tell people what I do for a living, they almost always ask the same question... How did you get into that? I can tell you with absolute certainty that it didn’t happen by accident. There are a lot of negative reviews written by freelancers who have tried and failed to make a living off their craft, and honestly, I’m not surprised.
My success didn’t happen overnight, and it takes work to maintain. In case you’re wondering if I was paid to write this article, the answer is no. However, if I can help other writers make their dreams a reality, this article will have served its purpose. Keep in mind that there is no right or wrong way to build your freelancing business. I can only speak from my personal experiences, but I’m happy to lay out what I’ve learned through trial and error.
#1 Create a Complete Profile
Upwork holds your hand through the entire process of creating your profile, so there’s no excuse for not completing it 100%. This is not like working a regular 9 to 5 where all you have to do is show up. You’re competing for every gig you apply for, and if your prospective clients are going to take you seriously, they’re going to want to see that you took the time to put some thought into your profile. There is even an option to take readiness tests and display your scores. I suck at tests, so I gave up on that after the first few tries, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t worth your time. Anything that you can do to give yourself an edge is worth the effort, especially right at the beginning
#2 Establish Trust
So, you’ve sat down and invested the time in making a badass profile outlining all your extraordinary skills. Great! Now the real work begins. The first mistake that a ton of new freelancers make is expecting work to fall into their laps. Yes, I get job invitations pretty regularly, as do most veteran freelancers. You will too, but that will only come after you’ve already established a long list of happy clients.
I’ll tell you right now that this is the part where most people give up. The reason is that writers take a lot of pride in their work. They want to get paid what their time is worth, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But consider this; when your profile doesn’t show any jobs having been completed, the client has no way of gauging the quality of your work. At this point, they don’t even know if you’re a real person or just someone looking to take their money and run.
#3 Be Open Minded
For people who genuinely love writing, we’d be doing it for free even if we weren’t getting paid. That’s not to say that I think you should undersell yourself forever. After all, the goal is to support yourself by doing something you’re passionate about. You need to be willing to put in the work to develop your portfolio, even if that means getting underpaid.
That doesn’t mean you should accept every single offer you get. Only take on a project when you’re confident that you can deliver a quality product on or before the deadline. At this stage in your career, a client’s review is worth more than their money.
When I first started out, I admit I took on a few jobs that made me want to punch myself in the face. There were plenty of times I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at some of the ridiculous stuff I had to write during those first few months. But the truth is, I did it because I knew it would get me where I wanted to go… and here I am.
#4 Be Real With Your Clients
Bid low, and make sure to speak like a human being in your cover letter. When you reach out, let the client know upfront that you want their five-star review, and you’re willing to work for it. You’re going to give them a killer deal to take a risk on a new freelancer, and don’t forget to be upfront with the fact that you’ll want more in the future.
After my first clients received a few completed projects, they were perfectly okay, paying higher rates for the quality I delivered. I have had very few clients try to get out of paying me, and when they did, Upwork’s payment protection made sure that didn’t happen. This brings me to my next point.
#5 Cover You’re A$$
Some clients will try to get you to work for them outside of Upwork, and if you decide to take that risk, that’s your decision. But before you make that stupid mistake, consider this… The reason Upwork charges fees is because you wouldn’t have been able to find that work without the use of their platform. By taking that business away from the site, you’re breaking your contract and risking never being able to use Upwork to find clients again.
This sucks considering how fickle these freelance gigs can be. If you think that the prospective client is trustworthy and you’re relatively sure they’re offering a lifelong career, then be my guest. Several perks come with using Upwork rather than trying to start my own site and go fully independent. When a client hires you, the money gets placed in escrow, meaning the client can’t take that money back unless you release it. This comes in handy when your client disappears and won’t return your messages. If two weeks go by with no correspondence after you request payment, it automatically gets deposited into your account.
#6 Be Proactive
Don’t get discouraged when you don’t get the job you’re applying for. You’re a writer now, remember? You have thick skin and eat rejection for breakfast. Make sure you’ve always got several proposals in the pipeline at any given time. Keep your profile up to date and remind your clients to give honest feedback after each job is completed. Include a video and a website if you have one. Anything that adds credibility to your profile will help build your career.
Keep an eye on your job-score, read through the articles, and learn about how you can raise that to 100% and maintain it. That means keeping your deadlines and managing your workflow like a boss. As you increase your job-score and amass good reviews, you’ll find that you have to spend less and less time chasing after clients.
Invitations to interview will start trickling in, and this is good for multiple reasons. It instantly opens a line of communication between you and the client, and you don’t have to spend connects, which are like tokens that allow you to submit proposals and apply for jobs. When I first started on Upwork back in 2017, they started me out with 30 free connects. After that, I paid for a monthly allowance for a while. It more than paid for itself, but after a year or so, I didn’t need the paid membership because of my Top Rated Plus status.
#7 Be Selective and Respectful
Remember when I told you to take the initiative and apply for lots of jobs? That doesn’t mean you should be clicking through as many posts as you can. Don’t bid on a job without reading the entire post, and don’t copy-paste a generic cover letter. If you take the time to write an individual cover letter for each proposal, your prospective client will be able to tell.
They will also be able to tell if you’re throwing out blind bids without actually reading the post. Show a little courtesy and express interest in their specific project. Ask questions and engage with them. This is likely something they’re passionate about since they’re willing to spend money making it happen, and they are more likely to hire someone who appreciates that.
#8 Communicate With Your Clients
As you learn to navigate these alien waters, make sure you ask questions and keep an open line of communication with the client until you are confident that you know exactly what they want. There’s nothing worse than getting forty-thousand words into a project before realizing that you misunderstood a significant component.
Lengthy rewrites will leave you frustrated and discouraged and cost the client valuable time. If they’re working on a deadline of their own, it’s much better to ask stupid questions as you go and have them give feedback throughout the process than it is to try and wing it before you’ve gotten a feel for the industry.
#8 Check Your Ego at the Door
Artists and writers are a proud breed. We have a lot of love for what we do, and emotions can sometimes run high. It can sometimes be hard to remember that the project you’re working on doesn’t belong to you. The client is hiring you to help bring their vision to life, and sometimes it might not line up with what you wanted.
While it’s okay to give suggestions and have discussions with the client, always make sure that you maintain a respectful tone. It’s important to point out plot holes and things that don’t make sense to you. Not to mention, if you’re trying to write something that you feel is garbage without at least discussing it with the client, sometimes you end up with a crappy finished product.
Use tact and diplomacy when addressing that a love interest comes off as misogynistic, or the main character is too stupid for the average reader to respect. Sometimes a simple conversation can either sway the client into allowing you to try a different approach. Or if not, maybe it can help you at least understand where they’re coming from.
Either way, you need to do what the client is paying you to do, even if it feels like grinding shards of glass into your open eyeballs. Take solace in the fact that your name doesn’t appear anywhere on it, and no one will ever know that you had anything to do with the pregnant male werewolf that throws tantrums every time he doesn’t get his way.
#9 Don’t Get Too Attached
People sometimes ask me why I would ever want to write something I can’t take credit for. The answer is simple. I love telling stories. There is nothing that makes me happier than spending my workday creating something that people will read. Of course, it would be wonderful to be able to claim credit for the books I was proud to produce. But it’s important to remember why you’re doing what you do. If you only want to be a writer because you hope to get famous someday, this isn’t the job for you.
While I do hope to make the transition from ghostwriter to author one day, for the time being, I like to think of myself as a sort of surrogate mother to these stories. I spend the time nurturing them and growing them. Then when our time together is done, I put them in the hands of their forever parents.
#10 Do What Makes You Happy
I know you probably expected me to wrap this up by telling you not to give up. And yes, even now, there are times when my husband and my roommate have to remind me that my dream is still worth chasing. But that’s because I know I want to be a writer. Granted, I want to move forward and start writing my own books or maybe even branch out into screenwriting. This is in my blood, and I know I could never be happy working a typical nine to five job.
If that’s you as well, then I urge you to keep at it until you make it happen. Be open to feedback from your clients and do whatever you have to do to keep improving your craft. I love every single day of my writer's life, and I think that for the first time, I know where I belong.
It’s not always perfect. There will be frustration and boredom and impossible deadlines. There will be times when you burn out and need to recharge, and that’s okay. Things worth doing are rarely easy. Just remember that the whole point of all this is to do what you love. You should know fairly quickly if it makes you happy.
If writing brings you more joy as a hobby, then don’t be afraid of that. Every day of your life is precious, and life is too short to spend it, not doing what you love. So go out and find whatever that is and do it.
Also… if you’re a ghostwriter on Upwork and you have any tips for how new freelancers can succeed, please feel free to leave a comment below. Thank you for reading.
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