Attracting High Quality

Clients on UpWork
Especially if You’re a Writer


Hi there!

Just a little backstory para hindi ako stranger to you…




My name is Niel Reichl.

I signed up to UpWork early this year and had difficulty getting

clients. I was sending close to 8 proposals per day for 2 weeks
and wasn’t winning any jobs.

My rate was $5/ hour. I wrote personalized proposals. I did

everything that UpWork told me to.

Pero wala….

So I did a little research, a huge investment and turned into this:

!

Money was really good at that time.

Now let me share with you several HACKS that I’ve personally used.
HACK #1: GET NOTICED
(Dear JTL, I’m sure this does not apply to you anymore.)

• Create your niche profile backed with research as to what

clients are out there. 


• Remove the “I”s and focus on “You”s in your profile. - I

know it sounds super simple but it works.


• Please, increase your rate to at least $25/hour 


Even if your rate is $5 right now

Even if you don’t have awesome reviews yet

Even if you haven’t won any jobs yet



This is perceived value - Which happens to be the first example
by Robert Cialdini in his book Influence.

In the book, Cialdini tells a story about a store owner who had
trouble moving inventory especially with one specific item.

It was tourist season and she wanted to get the thing sold. FAST!

So the logical thing was to slash down the price just to get it off
the store. Right?
She wrote a note to her employee and instructed to lower the
price by ½.

But the employee misunderstood it and instead doubled the price.

The next day, as people were coming into the store, it was the
first thing that got sold!

Crazy right?

Cialdini explains that the human brain isn’t wired to always

analyze before it makes a decision.

The brain most of the times, goes into default and just when it
needs to make a quick decision, it goes into default and just like
that says -

“This is expensive, it must be something really precious.”

Anything that’s super cheap is like seeing a human kidney on

OLX that’s priced at P500 - SCARY

People default to the logic that you get what you pay for.

In the client’s eyes, $5/hour spells HEADACHE, TROUBLE, PAIN

IN THE NECK
HACK #2: TAPPING THE
HIDDEN UPWORK ECONOMY
Getting Invites from Clients instead of Sending Proposals
guarantees you a more than 50% chance of getting the job since
they came to you in the first place!

How?

SEO Baby!

UpWork is a search engine. And the way search engines work is

by identifying keywords.

What specific keywords are your target clients using when they
post jobs?

Check my profile above:

Email and Chatbot Marketing Copywriter that gets your Messages

Opened, Re…..

How did I create that headline? I reverse engineered the process.

I went through jobs posted and looked at the titles of the postings
created by my ideal clients.

“Email Copywriter…..”

“Email Marketing Copywriter….”

“Chatbot Marketing….”

And it doesn’t end with the title.

I continue on with the keywords in my description. And I also

make the client feel that I was talking to him.

My description revolved around the benefits for the client.

I never mentioned that I was hard working or goal driven or the

usual things we write in our CVs.

***BONUS HACK - Always use the Client’s

Name ***

Try to search for their name using previous reviews given by other
freelancers. Baduy pero effective.

Quick Tip lang. Never misspell their names. :-)

HACK #3: SECRET TO
AWESOME REVIEWS

Reviews are one of the biggest if not, the biggest deal breaker
when it comes to being hired.

Now the secret to awesome reviews is to think out of the box.

How?

You write the testimonial you want and then tell them before you
end the contract.

Now this may sound like cheating but the question is: where’s it
written that you can’t write a testimonial in behalf of the
client?

And it’s also how you look at it. Instead of seeing it from your
point of view asking for a testimonial, look at it from the client’s
point of view. 



Here’s how:

It’s like hitting three birds with one stone. 




You get the testimonial you want… 



You also help the client save time and the headache of having to
write one (I’m sure you’re not the only person he’s hired so
imagine how many reviews/testimonials he has to write) plus you
get a keyword rich testimonial that will help future clients find you.





HACK #4: ANSWERING
SCREENING QUESTIONS ON
UPWORK


Which of the required job skills do you feel you are strongest
at?

Have you taken any UpWork tests and done well on them…..

These are just some of the more common questions that a client
may require you to answer.

Many of us fill the cover letter to the brim and make sure that it’s
perfect for the job that we’re applying for.

[If you’re still using a one size fits all template to apply for jobs
and going guerilla mode and sending it to everyone, there’s a high
chance that you’ll get suspended] - please stop this. NOW

Back to the cover letter.

So you exert all effort. You make sure that it’s all nice and tidy.
And then…

There are 3 more screening questions…

And you’re TIRED!!

Come on! I just spent a good hour answering the cover letter and
now you’re asking me to answer a couple more. 



GIMME A BREAK!!!

And this where the pros stand out from the rest..

The Pros answer the questions in the same manner that the client
will see them.

Here’s the secret:

As soon as the client gets a response to his job posted, he sees

the last screening question first, and then the next and the last
thing that he sees is the cover letter.

You know where this is going right?

This means that if he receives 20 applications for the job posted,

he has to go through 60 answers (2 screening questions plus 1
cover letter).

Do you think he has the time to go through all the answers? 




Right! He doesn’t!

Now let’s put ourselves in the client’s shoes and see what
happens.

He goes through each applicant’s answers to the screening

questions.
He he sees yours with an answer that looks like you could barely
type in 30 words, so good luck if he’ll continue on reading.

Clients see your answers to the screening questions first before

the cover letter so make sure that your answers stand out from
the rest.

Here’s how the client sees the order of your answers:

First: Q2
Second: Q1
Third: Cover letter

If you’re interested to learn more, email me lang at

Niel.reichl@gmail.com

Much Love,
Niel Reichl