Nick Tubis

Cogsworth wisdom for long-term Upwork success

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“This is yet another example of the late neoclassic Baroque period. And, as I always say, ‘If it’s not Baroque, don’t fix it!'”
— Cogsworth, Beauty and the Beast

A few weeks back, I was interviewed about freelancing on Upwork.

Nick Tubis, the guy who interviewed me, said something along the lines of, “Most successful freelancers get invited to jobs. What would you do if you’re not getting invited?”

To which I told him the truth:

Yes, I regularly get invited to Upwork jobs.

And I also regularly scroll through listed jobs, and apply to any for which I might be a good match. It worked for me at the start of my time on Upwork, and it’s working for me still. In the words of Cogsworth: If it’s not Baroque, don’t fix it!

Let me give you an example:

Earlier this year, I landed a daily email writing gig this way.

It paid $150/hr.

I didn’t get invited to this job. I found it and applied.

If I hadn’t searched for jobs that day, and I hadn’t applied, I wouldn’t have gotten this contract, which netted me about $6k before the client decided to take the work in-house.

The fact is, many potential clients who might be a perfect match for you will never find your profile.

They won’t invite you to their job.

They will pass like a ship in the night.

So my strategy now is the same as my strategy when I started on Upwork.

Each day, I take a bit of time, and go through the newest job listings.

And then, if I find something good, I send in a very brief and yet very effective job application.

It usually takes me about 2 minutes to write.

And yet, it routinely wins me 4-figure contracts, just like that daily email writing job.

I’ll lay out how I write this typical job application in my upcoming book about freelance copywriting on Upwork.

This book won’t teach you how to write copy.

Just how to win jobs, deal with clients, and get paid better and better rates on Upwork.

If that’s something you’re interested in, and you want to get notified when I finish up this book, you can sign up here:

https://bejakovic.com/upwork-book-notification-list/

How to succeed as a copywriter on Upwork

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A guy named Nick Tubis interviewed me tonight for a product he’s making.

He actually hired me on the online freelance platform Upwork, to talk about how I became successful as a copywriter, on Upwork.

So Nick and I talked for an hour, and I gave him the full story of my Upwork experience so far.

In the end, he asked me, “Do you have one hack you would recommend to anyone getting started?”

I told him the truth:

Anybody can compete for any copywriting job on Upwork.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how much copywriting experience you have.

How much Upwork history you have.

What your background is.

All you do need are a few pieces of relevant previous work.

In fact, even one piece of relevant sample work can set you above the rest of the hungry crowd of freelancers crawling over each other to get a job.

Don’t believe me?

Let’s say a client just posted a job ad titled “Looking for 10-part email sequence to promote new supplement.”

My “application” for a job like this would simply be:

“I specialize in email marketing and I’ve written a lot about supplements.
Here are a few relevant samples:
sample1
sample2
sample3
Take a look, and if you like what you see, let’s talk in more detail.”

I regularly get 4-figure copywriting projects — and I even got Nick to pay me for talking about my Upwork expertise. And the stupid-simple template above is the only way I ever apply for a job.

“That’s great for you, John,” you might say. “But where am I supposed to get those relevant samples? Nobody’s hired me, so I can’t build a portfolio, and therefore nobody will hire me!”

Easy, friend.

You don’t need any previous paying clients to build a small but highly targeted portfolio.

Simply find a job you would like to get.

Then write a sample that’s very close to what they are looking for.

For example, in the hypothetical job I invented above, you would just write one email  promoting a supplement.

Slap this into your application, send it over to the client, and you’re off to the races.

Will it work every time? No. But if you do this every day, I would expect you would have a paying client by the end of the week.

By the way, even though I’ve had a lot of success on Upwork, I’m actively looking to move off the platform for various reasons.

That’s why, if you are interested in hiring me to do your copy, don’t  go to Upwork. Instead, get in touch with me here.