My writing income is back to pre-COVID levels this month for the 1st time. I hope it continues.
Upwork clients are savvier these days, too. Now that the pandemic has clued people in to what works best for them (working for someone else or for themselves), a lot of people have decided to start their own businesses, and since they’ve been in the trenches for corporations many of them understand the enormous value of a good copywriter.
So, now I’m seeing projects that offer $100/hour for content and $250/hour for copy (sales) pieces. They were almost rare as hens’ teeth pre-pandemic, but I see a number of them these days, so I jump on them, and with my Top-Rated status at Upwork, I land a fair percentage of them.
The downside is that, of the $3181.50 I’ve made so far this month Upwork will get $520.65 of that in percentage and connect fees, so my net will be $2738.84 and then Uncle Sam will get his cut… so, even though it looks like I’ve made a bundle (working fewer than ten hours per week not counting search time very day of the week, which adds substantially to the time), a lot of it gets swallowed up in fees.
Which is why I’d love it if people would come to me direct, instead of involving a middleman who charges more than a good professional agent does for other kinds of talent… I think what Upwork charges is highway robbery, since most writing projects are one offs and so they rarely get past the $500 threshold so the percentage fees can drop from 20% to 10%. (And they don’t drop again until a single client has paid over $10K.) I don’t know how it’s even legal to charge that much for a mere introduction to a potential client: I wish the federal government would look into that. I wish Upwork charged potential clients instead of providers – or at least split the costs between them. The way they do it now seems patently unfair to me…
To find good providers off Upwork and other platforms, do a search on the kind of provider you want and define a region (example, “Tacoma WA copywriters”).If you see a listing you like as a result of that search (even if the search takes you to Upwork), do an additional search on (for example) “copywriter Kris, Tacoma WA”. (I even pop up on the first page when you search on “US copywriter Kris”.)
So see, it’s possible to find a provider without having to pay a middleman’s cost. You just have to be a semi-sleuth.
When you find providers who intrigue you, visit their websites and look for client testimonials/reviews and/or portfolios. The good’uns have one or both. (And if they’re on Upwork, the good’uns have extensive portfolios.)
Again, it’s okay to start your search on Upwork but don’t stop there. See if you can find the same provider direct in some other way. You’ll pay the same either way, usually, but the money will go directly into your provider’s pocket, making them a lot happier, because they didn’t have to spend hours looking for your listing on Upwork and then compete against a bunch of wannabes and others for your time and attention.
You’re in the driver’s seat when you reach out direct.
To find out if I’m available (if I serve the niche you’re in), and/or if I’m your best choice, send me the answers to the following questions:
- What general market are you in? What products or services do you offer?
- How long have you been in business?
- What are your website URLs? Approximately how much are you grossing right now?
- How much have you grossed at the highest point in your marketing efforts? (This information is confidential but if you’re squeamish about providing it, just say if you’re grossing more-than or less-than a certain figure.)
- Have you worked with a professional copywriter in the past?
- Do you have a budget for hiring a copywriter? If you do, what are you budgeting for your first project? (Please define the exact parameters of your project — including SEO keywords for each page/piece, if you want them incorporated to help search engine spiders find and rank your site higher than it will otherwise.)
- What do you believe are your biggest advertising challenges right now?
