Not long ago, there lived a happy marketer.
Who was doing well as the little marketer that he was.
Working with a few clients and a small team.
Things were going well. Peace was all over the valley.
But nature had other plans for him.
One day, he got back home from work, and he felt a severe headache and sore throat.
He took that lightly and went to sleep.
That night, he woke up with severe back pain and a high temperature.
He had to be rushed to hospital.
He got very ill.
It was so severe that he thought he was going to die.
Fortunately, I didn’t. Otherwise, I’d be a ghostwriter. Not a newsletter writer.
Anyhow, during my sickness, I couldn’t work for a month.
And I lost all my clients.
When I came back, I had mounted expenses to pay off.
At the time, my brother was working on Upwork. And he was doing well.
He suggested that I should try on Upwork.
I knew how to land clients. Secured a $1400 client on Facebook with just 1 post.
I have landed them through cold emailing and cold outreach as well.
However, these platforms require a lot of time. Content, visuals, networking, and outreach.
I needed hard cash.
So, I listened to my brother and revamped my old Upwork profile, which I created in college in 2014.
It had:
- 0 jobs.
- 0 clients.
- 0 reviews.
Now, before sending out proposals as a marketer, I decided to use all my marketing knowledge and apply it here.
The worst that could happen would be, I won’t land any clients.
I was still doing this on the side.
Mainly, I was focusing on landing clients from LinkedIn.
So, as always, I started with niche research.
Because every marketer would do this whenever he or she is setting up a new marketing channel.
And now, most people don’t know that the best marketing campaigns are based on market research.
The more market insights you have, the better marketing campaigns you will have.
Based on my niche research, I created my offer and how I would stand out in the market.
And then I started sending out proposals after 2 weeks.
I started seeing results after a week.
- 17 proposals sent
- 8 calls scheduled
- 5 clients closed
- 1 retainer
My strategy was simple: Find a niche where I could be the go-to expert.
It made it easier for clients to hire me.
Based on my insights, I created a framework so that I can repeat this again and again.
As Upwork niches become saturated after a time.
I am sharing this framework with you today.
Framework – Niche-Specific Profile Optimization
Step 1 – Define Your Niche
Don’t be greedy and think that you can do everything.
Jack of all trades doesn’t pay off on Upwork.
Think about your skills and experiences.
What sets you apart?
Everyone has something.
For me, it is my experience of managing pipelines of agencies and consultancies in Notion.
For you, it could be your background in digital marketing for e-commerce stores or your expertise in writing for the tech industry or SaaS industry.
If you can’t come up with something, use tools like Upwork’s job feed, forums, and niche-specific groups on Reddit to see what clients are looking for.
Focus on in-demand skills that align with your expertise.
Step 2 – Write a Attention Grabbing Profile Summary
After reading your proposal, the client will go to the profile for further validation.
So your summary should highlight your niche expertise.
For example, “Helping B2B consulting agencies scale their MRR to 1 million dollars in revenue in 12 months”
Pro tip: Search for the key phrases clients use to search for freelancers with your skills.
Add those key phrases or keywords that clients in your niche might search for.
This improves your profile’s visibility in Upwork’s search results.
Step 3 – Showcase Niche-Specific Projects
Highlight projects and roles that demonstrate your expertise in your chosen niche.
Be specific about the results you achieved.
Use metrics and data to show the impact of your work.
For example, “Increased organic traffic by 50% for an e-commerce store through SEO optimization.”
Step 4 – Build a Niche-Specific Mini Portfolio
Your portfolio should showcase work that is directly related to your niche.
If you specialize in tech writing, include articles, blog posts, and case studies related to technology.
Ensure your portfolio is easy to navigate and visually appealing.
Use high-quality images and a professional layout to present your work.
Step 5 – Request Feedback from Niche Clients:
Ask clients who hired you for niche-specific projects to provide testimonials.
This adds credibility to your profile.
Create a feedback form in Notion and ask your clients for feedback.
Ask targeted questions so that you can get the information that you need to feature the testimonial that emphasizes your expertise and success in your niche.
For example, “Talha’s digital marketing strategies helped our agency land 3 clients consistently.”
To make things easier for you, I have created a Niche Profile Builder Checklist in Notion.
