Freedom is what we want as freelancers, but comfort is what keeps us from going out and getting it.
One of the first things you do as a freelance contractor in any creative field is head to the cheap, bid sites and job boards.
- Upwork (formerly Elance – that’s where I started).
- Job Post Boards
- Fiverr
- Textbroker, iWriter, and Others
- Craigslist
Everyone you talk to will tell you “don’t do it.”
Everyone will say: Just “have a system for getting clients.”
You’ll see posts like this (above) all over Facebook – “Have a system for getting clients…” Um…ok, but what is it?
But what is that “system?”
It’s not Upwork. It’s not bid sites. It’s no job post boards. Let me tell you why:
Upwork Freelancing
is Not Freelancing.
Ok.
You “caught me.”
Yes. working for someone on Upwork is technically “freelancing.”
But it’s not.
Listen—
Go back to that idea of freedom.
- Some of us get into freelancing by accident.
- Some of us get into freelancing by necessity.
- Some of us get into freelancing to get paid what we are worth.
- There are a TON of reasons to start creative freelance career.
Along the way, those who are successful as freelancers find freedom.
This year I stand to make nearly 20 times what I made in my last J-O-B.
(Yes, that’s a true statement – I made, before tax, $18,000 per year as a Track and Field/Cross Country coach before I became a freelancer.).
20. Times. More. Income.
And you know what?
I still have the same beautiful wife and family.
I still have the same friends (and a lot of new ones).
I still have the same hobbies and interests and desires and wants (although a few have become more expensive).
The difference?
Freedom. All that money gives me the freedom to do whatever I want to do with my life.
That’s what we’re after, right? That’s what life should be about! So…
If “Freedom” is the Goal of “Freelancing,”
Why Let a Bid Site “Be Your Boss?”
Right now, I’m in the process of creating a training to show people how to use Upwork to find clients—that’s what inspired this post.
About two years ago I closed by bidsite accounts.
I shut them right off.
So, I had to create a new one—I was going to use it to walk you through a training on how to win proposals on Upwork.
Then, during the process of creating a profile, it struck me:
Using Upwork is Having a “Boss”
But with Uncertainty.
And it’s because Upwork is really in control of your future and freedom as a freelancer. Think about it:
- Upwork makes the rules.
- Upwork determines if they accept you as a freelancer.
- Upwork can close your account at any time.
- Upwork controls your freedom as a freelancer.
- Upwork determines if you can feed your family or not.
- PLUS – The market is filled with unreliable clients, it’s a race to the bottom for low bids, and it never seems like you’ll ever win enough proposals to have a full-time income!
Now—
The only reason most people have a J-O-B where they sit at a desk and put up with the day-to-day is for security.
If you can’t get security from Upwork, will you ever actually be able to become a full-time freelancer?
Now that’s out of the way, let me tell you the how and why of quitting bid sites like Upwork.
“From Dead Broke Wanna-Be to
6-Figure Writer with Everything”
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That’s me to the right. My first ever year on a bidsite full time (it was Elance) I made $24,715 on 39 jobs. I was a writer. One shift in the way I positioned myself as a writer allows me to earn what I made per year on bid site freelancing in each and every month. Lies? Ok, go ahead and believe that if you want to. I’ve got screenshots below to prove it. But here’s the deal: |
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One Random Discovery Changed Everything
(It Won’t Be Random for You).
This discovery was completely random for me because I met the person who showed it to me at random.
This discovery will not be random for you because I’m going to explain how to make it.
Before I explain how you’ll make this discovery (and what it was) let me give you a few more reasons to get off bid sites for good.
For Me, Quitting Bid Sites Like Upwork
Was Just as Liberating as Quitting a Job
(And 10+ TIMES More Profitable)
You’re about to make the same discovery that allowed me to quit Upwork.
As we talk about it, remember:
Just like a J-O-B, bid sites hold the keys to freedom. I never really understood this until I was able to stop worrying about getting clients without them.
And I know what you may be thinking because it’s what I thought for a long time.
“What about waiting for that one MIRACLE CLIENT to come along?”
Yes, it can happen.
Yes, it sort of happened to me—
The discovery I’m about to show you I made and then applied to Elance (now Upwork).
It allowed me to get off the site for good by finding just one amazing client who replaced all the income I was making on the site.
But it took me over a year (and this discovery) to find that one miracle client.
And it only took weeks to multiple my income to 6+ figures per year after getting off bid sites.
My question is: Do you want to wait 365 days to build a true, J-O-B-replacing income? And do you want to just see if you make the same discovery I made on your own, without help, and at random?
What About “Just Waiting for that One
Upwork Job that Changes Everything“
Take a Look at My Elance Lifetime History:
My personal stats from just about ONE YEAR of Trying to Find Jobs and Make a Full-Time Living on Elance (Before it Became Upwork).
39 jobs.
5-star reviewed.
100% recommended.
10 total clients with a 20% “repeat” rate.
That was a “lifetime of data,” which for me was about a year. 365 days.
I was in the top 1% of Elance freelancers when Upwork took over and only had lifetime earnings $24,715 to show for it?
There are LOTS of reasons why bid sites are a poor long-term freelancing solution (a few? The 10-20% project fees they take from you, the no-one-will-take-you-seriously because the work is all “low quality,” the race to the bottom nature of contractors…you know them all right?).
“The Discovery”
That Allowed Me to Quit Bid Sites
Here’s what happened:
I met a mentor who started as a creative freelancer a few years before me.
I met him my accident. His name was Mike Shreeve and he told me this:
“You need to have a superpower. You need to be a superhero to your clients – that’s how you get paid more.”
I’m thinking: “Ok, Mike, sure.”
“A superhero freelancer.”
But it made sense.
Before “Superpower:”
$24,715 a Year as a
“Starving Writer”
Down at the bottom of this page you can learn more about what superpower means—what it means to have a “superpower” as a freelancer.
But here’s the basic idea:
When I was working on Elance and bid sites, I was a writer.
I called myself a copywriter.
But what I did is a looked around and bid on any project that interested me. That’s what you do right?
I said: Look, I have a background in history, photography, creative writing—I can take whatever.
And I did.
But what I didn’t do was be the hero my clients needed
Here’s the deal:
You want to be the hero who swoops down and solves your clients’ problems.
You’re not a writer.You’re not a designer.
You’re not a developer.
You’re not a creative freelancer.
You need to be a hero – a problem solver your clients look up to for advice.
As soon as I found my superpower and became a hero to my clients, my career on bid sites changed.
I became a hero to one client and, almost immediately, they hired me off site with a retainer I had only dreamed of before.
After “Superpower:”
$10k+ per Month
Retainer Agreements
PLUS:
$15,000+ Per Month in Side Projects.
All it Took Was Finding, Defining,
and Telling the Right People:
“This is
MY Freelance Superpower!
(but not in those exact words)
There’s more to this story…
- Because Upwork is not the best place to find clients who need your “superpower.”
- Because saying “I have a superpower, hire me” is not the best way to get hired (people think you’re crazy—heck, you might even think I’m crazy just because I said it).
- Because developing your superpower takes time and you need help from someone who has been right where you are (I 100% wasn’t able to do this on my own).
- Because the clients who need you and your superpower don’t just come out of the blue.
- And become of a heck of a lot more.
But, I am not the best person to tell you the rest of the story.
The best person is the mentor I learned it from, Mike Shreeve.
Ready to Learn Your
“Freelance Superpower?”
| I learned how to find my freelance “Superpower” from Mike Shreeve. It started as a conversation we had one afternoon and, since, it’s turned into a training that’s transformed the lives of thousands of freelancers.
Below you’ll find a link to Mike’s training How To Attract Premium Clients With A Two-Page Website & Authentic Selling. The training from Mike doesn’t cost anything. |
 This is Mike, he taught me how to find my Superpower. He’ll teach you too.
|
During this event Mike explains:
- #1: What Freelance “Superpower Means”
- #2: How to Find It
- #3: How to Find Clients Who Need It
- And MUCH, Much More
For me, it’s these 3-steps that are the true “discovery” behind my success as a freelancer.
I’m a writer – a direct response copywriter – but let me tell you: This process and your “superpower” works in absolutely ANY freelance career.
Learn it from the same person who taught me.
