Constant Content

Do you promote your Constant Content portfolio and if so, how? Writer's website, blog sidebar, landing page, etc.
Any impact on sales or more for SEO? Thanks.

I link to articles when I bid on Upwork. Not sure if it helps. lol I've gotten a few gigs from it. My website is purposely removed from search with robot.txt. I'd rather get paid directly or through escrow from Upwork since it's only a 10% cut. Plus, the escrow puts money down so I don't need to worry about clients never buying like private requests here. The 35% cut is a killer and if you add editor issues on top of it (even though they are occasional), it's better for me to tell people to go to Upwork and escrow the money or pay me through Paypal direct.

Don't get me wrong. I still love that I can write anything that comes to my head and put it up for sale. That part is great.

Lysis wrote:I link to articles when I bid on Upwork. Not sure if it helps. lol I've gotten a few gigs from it. My website is purposely removed from search with robot.txt. I'd rather get paid directly or through escrow from Upwork since it's only a 10% cut. Plus, the escrow puts money down so I don't need to worry about clients never buying like private requests here. The 35% cut is a killer and if you add editor issues on top of it (even though they are occasional), it's better for me to tell people to go to Upwork and escrow the money or pay me through Paypal direct.

Don't get me wrong. I still love that I can write anything that comes to my head and put it up for sale. That part is great.

Can you write whatever you want on Upwork (never tried it) or is it a bidding site where you respond to customer requisitions and hope to out-bid the bottom feeders?

Hello Lysis and HG, and Happy New Year!

Lysis, do you write for UpWork in your real name or penname? I started creating a profile, but forgot to use my penname, and I'm confused as to whether I can do that on the site.....do you go under Lysis or your actual name?

Many thanks for any advice.

I never directly signed up for Upwork (I just had my Elance profile transferred over when they phased out Elance), but as of right now my Upwork profile is using a pseudonym, so I would guess that doing that is acceptable.

Also, Upwork is a bidding site.

Pellucidean wrote: Also, Upwork is a bidding site.

Thanks!

Isabelnewth wrote:Hello Lysis and HG, and Happy New Year!

Lysis, do you write for UpWork in your real name or penname? I started creating a profile, but forgot to use my penname, and I'm confused as to whether I can do that on the site.....do you go under Lysis or your actual name?

Many thanks for any advice.

No, you need to use your real name. They ID people sometimes, so you should create the account with your real first and last name. They have a setting that lets you just use your first initial for the last name, but that's it.

I do really well there. It's a huge learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, it's great for repeat business. I hardly ever bid anymore.

Pellucidean wrote:I never directly signed up for Upwork (I just had my Elance profile transferred over when they phased out Elance), but as of right now my Upwork profile is using a pseudonym, so I would guess that doing that is acceptable.

Also, Upwork is a bidding site.

Sorry, you must have the same name on your account that's shown on your official ID statements. Might want to change it. People can be vicious on there with the flagging of profiles. They will put a hold on your account until they receive official documentation, and well... since you can't do that with a pen name. I got mine flagged but they didn't strike my account. If you get hit with an infraction (or whatever they call it), you lose your top rated status for a few months. They were cool with me and just asked me to change a couple of links. It worked out because I got an official review from one of their marketplace people who said my profile is good now.

Thanks for the info Lysis, and Pellucidean.

My problem is that I can't refer to my previous writing as my work, since it's always been done under a pen name. I suppose I would have to build up a profile gradually within the site itself, rather than use work done elsewhere as a reference.

I'll have another look at it though because I know that Lysis would not be recommending any rubbish!

Good luck! I wrote some of my own samples to start off until I got some good reference material with my byline. I've had several Upwork clients put my author profile on their site, so now I just point to those.

It's a huge learning curve, and there are lots of scammers. The cashier check and captcha entry scammers are all over and they love the noobs, so be careful with those. Otherwise, Upwork pays for my car, house, and living expenses so I can't complain!

Lysis wrote:

Pellucidean wrote:I never directly signed up for Upwork (I just had my Elance profile transferred over when they phased out Elance), but as of right now my Upwork profile is using a pseudonym, so I would guess that doing that is acceptable.

Also, Upwork is a bidding site.

Sorry, you must have the same name on your account that's shown on your official ID statements. Might want to change it. People can be vicious on there with the flagging of profiles. They will put a hold on your account until they receive official documentation, and well... since you can't do that with a pen name. I got mine flagged but they didn't strike my account. If you get hit with an infraction (or whatever they call it), you lose your top rated status for a few months. They were cool with me and just asked me to change a couple of links. It worked out because I got an official review from one of their marketplace people who said my profile is good now.

Yeah, I went back to check and realized that on Elance I was listed as an agency or something like that, so that's also what I am now on Upwork. Presumably they don't want me to be in that category, though.

I haven't pursued Upwork at all yet, but I guess I'll have to change it if I do. I probably should, but trying to make progress on Elance was dispiriting and frustrating and put me off Upwork too.

I'm doing better on Upwork than I did on Elance. You'll hear a lot of Elancers complaining that it's cheap, but I've run into a couple of big players on there. The hard part is being new and then weeding out the terrible $1 article jobs. There is more crap than gems, and we're shielded a lot from client personalities here. There, you have to deal with different personalities and not everyone is very nice when they work with people online. It's just a different song and dance over there, but you can make great money if you have the ability to sell at higher rates.

For those of you using UpWork for a good portion of your income, might be time to start diversifying your income streams. Things not looking good over the long-haul:
https://medium.com/@ValleyInsider/anoth ... 708f2a6833#

HiredGun wrote:For those of you using UpWork for a good portion of your income, might be time to start diversifying your income streams. Things not looking good over the long-haul:
https://medium.com/@ValleyInsider/anoth ... 708f2a6833#

Yeah, there were a lot of haters after the increase in fees, but their fees are actually less than the others. I increased my rate by $10/hour.

I'm hoping the increase starves out the cheap clients and the $3/hour schmoes. They could kill of over half their freelancers right now and be fine.

The screamers are kinda funny though. Most of them said they were leaving 6 months ago after the merger but they come out of the woodwork to complain and don't follow through with their threats. Upwork will be fine.

HiredGun wrote:For those of you using UpWork for a good portion of your income, might be time to start diversifying your income streams. Things not looking good over the long-haul:
https://medium.com/@ValleyInsider/anoth ... 708f2a6833#

That's an interesting article! It seems they're dying a slow death behind the scenes, based on those financial figures. I've only recently signed up with UpWork based on Lysis's recommendations over the past few months, but I guess I won't focus too hard on it now. Not after reading that article anyhow.

Thanks for the link HiredGun.