There’s some interesting experiences and questions that you lot are sharing.
And I’m loving hearing from you.
One reply that rolled in said:
Good email, Chris.
I’m just replying with 2 questions:
1. Did you ever hear back from this company about the job?
2. Did you ever get to talk pricing?
— N. Quiry
Thanks for asking, considering that wasn’t really the main point of the “Networking niceness” email from a couple of weeks back. 😃
So… getting us all up to speed…
There was a cold email writing contract advertised through Upwork. And I’d written a proposal and heard back from the prospect. Then I was running around asking everyone what to charge per email because I’d not written this sheer amount of personalized cold emails before.
Anyhoo…
No. We didn’t quite get to the stage of talking pricing. They went with someone else who made it a little bit easier for them because they lived just down the road. (Me? I’m just down the other side of the world from them.)
But I did do a “little” test for him.
And I got the feeling he was pretty happy, considering I also wrote him a page of tips specifically to help with the cold emailing he was doing. And he wanted to pay me for the sample work, even though it was never stated up-front that I’d get anything for doing it.
(I didn’t actually take the cash. The reason why is for another email.)
In the end he asked the “If it doesn’t work out would you…?” question. So, something might come of it in the future.
Which is also why I’ll be checking back in with him in a month or so to see how things are going.
Even though I didn’t get the job, it iniated a conversation and a relationship.
(FYI that’s kind of a tip to think about right there.)
Hey, Chris!
Not really a horror story per se, but an uncomfortable experience with Upwork.
I decided to set up a profile there to see if I could get some “foot in the door” clients.
I never got through all their legalese. I know so many folks (myself included) ignore or skim through those gray blocks of text. However, since this site might be responsible for sending me money, I figured I’d better read it carefully.
Nope. Didn’t happen. I’d go through a few pages, note where I stopped, and pick it up again later. After 4 or 5 days of this, I decided it wasn’t worth it.
— Wal Kinthrutar
Yeah. What a veritable quagmire the fine print is.
And it’s there — so they tell us — to protect everyone. I’m no lawyer so have to take their word on that.
And, like you’ve experienced, it might not be worth going through it.
Good news is: Upwork’s not the only client-landing game in town.
Conversations with friends, family, local business owners you’re friendly with… all can open those initial doors. And can also lead to fruitful long-term relationships.
Not to mention LinkedIn and other social platforms.
For me, Upwork provided the opening. Only a small crack at a time mind you. But enough to just get my foot wedged in. And leverage it open a bit more with each client I worked for.
It’s where I landed my first subscription client (call it a retainer if you will… but that’s something for me to debate another day!).
I’m continuing to work with them… and we’re both loving it!
Ready to build your email list? Go here…
EmailForTheWin.com
Chris Milham