Although today’s article is focused on Upwork Proposal writing, I would invite you to read through and perhaps learn a thing or two about effective proposals that make you stand out from the red ocean of competition.

What you will learn here, you can apply elsewhere easily - be that your cover letters to job applications, pitches to potential investors, or just cold outreach on any networking platforms.

So let’s get to the meat of it.

How to write an effective Upwork Proposal or Cover Letter?

Before you start writing your proposal, you need to understand how your proposals appear to the end client. 

This is how you appear to the end client:

Now the key takeaway here from the perspective of proposal writing is the first 2 lines.

Yes, that is all that it takes to miss out on an opportunity - the first 2 lines of your proposal.

If you’re wondering what everything else is supposed to mean, I would request you to read the full Upwork Masterclass guide here.

Structuring your Upwork Proposal / Cover Letter

The base structure for any kind of proposal is usually similar, especially that is oriented at answering a requirement or job application.

1 - You lead with a strong and relevant Hook

2 - You add your best piece of portfolio in an accessible manner

3 - You introduce yourself in elevator pitch style (learn how here)

4 - You list out your relevant past work or portfolio

5 - You close out with an enticing CTA

If you’re writing a cover letter for a corporate job, you may get a bit more formal, but the core structure will remain the same.

That being said, let's breakdown the most important aspects of an Upwork proposal.

How to Write Good Hooks For Any Proposal

So as you saw above, you have 2 lines to grab all the attention there is.

First thing you need to learn is to write good Hooks. 

What is a hook?
Anything that grabs attention - usually in a professional manner

My go to tip for writing good hooks is to learn about the common pain points within the industry of your particular skill set, understand what the clients hate, what the clients love, and use that to your advantage to grab attention.

For example, in PjM work, clients hate dealing with poor communicators, so if I see a job which requires good comms, I would lead with something such as:

“You’ll never have to follow up on pending work when I am there. Documentation, communication, and deeply understanding the problems at hand is what sets me apart.”

This covers a pain point that is common in these categories of gigs, it shows the top 3 skills I am adept at while linking it back to the role at hand.

Basically the gist is to say something in this format:

"Having worked with clients in [specific industry], I know what it takes to deliver results that exceed expectations [mention 1-2 expectations typically common in these kinds of jobs]."

Or

"With [X years] of experience in [specific skill], I bring a unique perspective that can help [insert the problem you will solve]."

Or

"I understand the challenges you're facing with [specific issue]. Here’s how [Insert how you will overcome it]."

Must Have for an Upwork Proposal

If your hook worked, the client is in, now what?

They expect to learn about you - quickly.

What’s the most effective way to showcase yourself?
Add a video to your proposal.

A picture tells a thousand words, and a video shows what they mean. (patent pending)

Now I understand that recording a custom video for each new job application is basically impossible in most cases. But, you do need to make a habit of it for the jobs that really matter.

Custom videos catered around the client’s job application is the best way to convince the client that you are willing to go the extra mile, and work their pain points out.

The best way to record a video is this

1 - Open the client job application in a tab
2 - Open 4-5 tabs of relevant work you have done related to the specific job
Or
2 - Open 4-5 tabs of portfolio items that you have done related to your skillset
3 - Have a nice canva graphic with a CTA to end the video on - an image that says something like ‘Message me on Upwork to proceed’

Now open your favorite video recording app, mine is loom, and record 3-5 minutes just walking through everything.

Start with a short intro, don’t bother naming yourself, get to the point, walk through the job application and tie it to your past work or portfolio, and end on the CTA screen.

How to close it off

With a strong Hook, and a good video - you’re 80% there to be honest.

The rest of the proposal can pretty much be a template, stating your short introduction, past work, key achievements - etc 

I highly recommend creating blocks of texts you can mix and match depending on the specific proposal. See this.

Once that is done, here is the last important bit - ending with a CTA.

A call to action is the most important part of the proposal after the client has viewed it. They need to be reminded that you are available and willing to work on the gig - right now.

Here’s an example:

Let’s schedule a quick 20 minute introduction call so that we can discuss the engagement in more detail. I work UK hours and am open 9AM GMT to 5PM GMT. 

Here are some more you can use:

1 - If this seems like a great opportunity, let’s connect today! Here’s how you can reach out:
Click the green Send a Message button.
Drop me a message and share any relevant details you think I should know.
Hit the green Schedule a Meeting button to pick a time for a Zoom call.

2 - To proceed, the best next step is to have a brief Zoom meeting to discuss the project and determine if we’re a good match. Just send me a message below, and we’ll arrange it!

3 - How about we schedule a quick call to discuss your needs? I can give you feedback on whether we’re a good fit after just a few minutes of conversation!

Try these out and see which perform better for your category of clients.

The main goal here is to remind the client you are available and willing to talk about next steps.
This shows your seriousness and commitment beyond just showing that you’re the right fit for the job.

What matters most in Upwork Proposals and Cover Letters?

Consistency and iteration.

Over the 2 years I have worked on Upwork, I have a living document with 25+ versions of the cover letter I have used and improved over time. That's 15,000+ words for those who don't get it.

Things change, trends change, but the fundamentals stay.
And you can only constantly improve if you constantly iterate.

Lemme know what are some of your favorite ways to write Upwork proposals? Email me at admin@sknexus.com

See the thing is, in order to beat competition, there are 2 universal truths

1 - Offer the same value for a lower price
OR
2 - Offer more value for the same price

A lot of folks out there, focus a bit too hard on the first part.
There is only so much you can cut in terms of your prices as a service provider before you burn out or realize it’s becoming impossible to scale.

So enter option 2 - Offering more value.

And as soon as you think about that, what comes to your head?
Usually a whole lot of things that don’t make any sense.

If you are like any other hard-working citizen out there, I am sure you are already providing the best quality of work there is, then how do you offer more value on top of that?

Well, you have to think outside the box - think from the other perspective. 

Who are you selling to?

Let’s take an analogy (hope it works well)

If I have a gold ring I want to sell, who will give me a better price for it?
A jeweller who deals in gold and understands what gold is worth
Or a scrap buyer who buys anything based on weight

The answer is obvious, but we often don’t apply this obvious logic when it comes to selling our skillset.

Let’s say you are a web developer, do you think most clients care about what tech stack you know, or what tools you use, or how many years of experience you have?

Not really. And if they do, they aren’t clients, perhaps they are looking to hire an employee.

A realistic client will only look at 2 things - are you the right fix for the problems they have and if you have relevant past portfolio/samples to show for it.

For building a portfolio, I cover a technique here: https://sknexus.com/how-to-create-better-portfolio-website-with-a-case-study/

As it comes to fixing problems, you need to pick and choose what you offer.
Niching down is the best way to offer more value. 

If you do everything under the sun, you will seldom outshine the competition.

Do a quick google search on how to niche down your services, and you will find a LOT of frameworks to adopt. And some of them work. Some of them don't.

One of my favorite ones is the Elevator Pitch Framework that helps you figure out your business or product strategy.
If we take the three core parts from it, you can focus on

THE - what kind of services you are looking to provide. i.e web development, design, writing, etc
FOR - what kind of industry or niche you want to target. i.e ecommerce companies, telehealth companies, auto insurance brands, etc
WHO - what kind of outcome is the audience seeking. i.e increase sales, reduce churn, optimize performance, etc

This sounds simple enough, but is really hard to get to. If it works for you, great, no need to read further. But if you are still lost, let's look at my approach.

My approach tends to work better for folks just starting to niche out. I am also placing an assumption that you already have some level of success as a freelancer or a Small Business. Here’s my step by step plan I want you to execute.

1 - Make up your mind

Acceptance is always the first step. You need to accept that you want to niche down in the long term until you find success with a specific problem-solution pairing.

The problem needs to be well defined, tested and validated, and be available in decent supply.

The solution you will offer is well equipped to deal with the problem, is messaged in a way which is easy to understand for your clients, and it covers your core skillset.

2 - Exploration

Now I am assuming you are already a relatively successful Freelancer/Small Business, so the next step is to explore your options. The goal is to find what is happening in terms of market trends and organic results.

Let's say, you are providing copywriting services.

For exploration, I need you to take inspiration from the biggest/best copywriters out there and see how they are defining themselves.

Like this guy specializes in B2B content marketing - https://www.linkedin.com/in/contentkuba/

You can find folks in your industry by a simple google search or going through listicles of featured folks.

This step is just to get a high level understanding on what the space looks like currently for successful industry leaders. If they are showing up organically (ignore ads or sponsored material), means they are doing something that is working.

3 - Before you Imitate, Learn to innovate

Now you know what the top looks like, but to get there, we have to first look at how to package ourselves better.

I, myself have recently gone through this exercise when I wanted to package my services for my PM site. What worked for me, might as well work for you. 

Which was, going on Fiverr, and doing a simple search for the premium sellers and identifying niches they are targeting.

Let’s stick with our example of copywriting.
A quick Fiverr search hits you with a reality check, niching down the query:

Even Fiverr wants you to be more specific, so let’s say I want to niche down into writing 'Sales Copy'.

We get: https://www.fiverr.com/search/gigs?query=copywriter&source=drawer&ref_ctx_id=937962199e0d4c93b5f97cc2d4242ea2&search_in=everywhere&search-autocomplete-original-term=copywriter&sub_category=336&ref=seller_level%3Atop_rated_seller

Now if you browse around and open the full profiles of some of the best sellers, you will notice a trend.

• Profile 1

• Profile 2

• Profile 3

See, although all of these profiles are for ‘copywriters’. They have ‘packaged’ their services in different niches.

And if you dig around enough you will quickly notice that even though Fiverr might not be the best freelance platform, it is the best platform to sell packaged services.

4 - Learning through Execution

Now comes the hard part, go create a Fiverr account. Create 4 gigs. Go through the process of forcefully learning how to offer what you want to sell as packaged services.

The goal here is not to win projects on Fiverr, it is just to go through the exercise and forcing yourself to think in terms of a product offering rather than a service offering.

Here are some prerequisites to keep in mind when creating these gigs:
- All gigs need to be tied to your core skillset, so if it's web dev, it needs to be related to web dev
- In your Gig title, you will message the problem you are solving, not the tools or tech you will be using to solve
- Have at least one gig which has multiple pricing options, this will help you figure out how to tier your offering
- Have at least one gig which is a low entry point or a low budget gig, this will add to the variety

If you manage to create 3-4 gigs based around your core skill set, and these gigs seem to get good impressions over time - it means you are now ready for the next and last step.

5 - Select, Test, Repeat

By now you should have a good understanding of how to package your services better. But you still need to test what works in the long term. This is where step 1 needs to be reminded of.

You start with 3-4 services, you create your proposals and pitches around that for your future clients, and you see what works best.

Whatever outperforms, eventually becomes your niche, and whatever doesn’t perform MUST get eliminated.

By the end of it all you will have identified your niche that will finally help you offer more value to your clients and make it easy for you to scale in a predictable direction.

As a Small Business or a Freelancer, it is becoming near impossible to stand out in the red ocean of competition. Niching down is your best bet to stand out. 

The goal is to figure out one core problem, different ways you can solve it, and then packaging yourself to show yourself as a specialist rather than just another xyz skillset person.

And always remember, optimization is a journey, not a one step action. What matters is your long term goal being met, not the short term actions you experiment with.
As long as the collective of all actions you take result in you niching down - you will be successful.

Here’s what needs to be realized:
Mechanics will give their own cars to other workshops
Financial consultants will hire accountants to manage their finances
Software development companies will hire agencies to build their website
Branding companies will hire design agencies to refresh their look

Notice the theme?

Working on your own thing is a challenge.
You are stuck in a bias, it makes you jaded.
You struggle with thinking outside the box.
As the cobbler, your own children often have no shoes.

So what do you do?
You find inspiration elsewhere.
You get an outsiders perspective.
And you iterate year over year towards a goal.

Over half a decade, when it came to my messaging, I struggled.
Figuring out who I want to be perceived as in one line, was a challenge.
As someone who wore many hats in his career - picking one was not easy.

- I love working with businesses, helping their ideas turn to reality.
- I love technology, learning about innovations that make our lives easier.
- And I love working with people, coming together to solve problems.
- capturing all that information in one line, felt mountain of a task.

Don't get me wrong -
I have done corporate identities
I have worked on countless landing pages
I have create dozens of carefully crafted elevator pitches
But when it came to my own thing - I just felt like I never got anywhere.

Until I saw this:

This is the banner image for Chris Do’s LinkedIn page.

Beautifully showing there is a 'home' for no matter who you are. A learner, an earner, or an entrepreneur.
Day in and day out I tell founders - you need to target your product to a specific audience.
And it's funny how I forgot that basic lesson when it came to my own messaging.

Seeing this banner though - clicked the thought in my head:

Who do I work with?
I work with people

What do I work on?
I work on products

What is the goal?
To build something great

My passion for tech and product will always be there - but when it comes to pitching it, the imposter syndrome in me (and most product folks) doesn’t feel comforting.
But there is something I am pretty good at, which is brining improvements to anyone - business or person.

Over the past year I started writing mentoring style experience based content over at https://thewanderingpro.com/.

It felt like a nice balance between pitching my services over here on https://saqibtahir.com/ and doing better for like minded folks over there.

Seeing Chris Do’s banner clicked with what I am truly passionate about.
It's as simple as - 

helping anyone, anywhere, wherever I can........with tech

Enter the problem -
Now that writing is part of my content ‘strategy’ so to say. I was interested in learning more on how to optimize my online presence. I talked to gurus, read articles, flipped over every top ranking platform - and generally speaking, everyone says the same thing:

- You need one audience
- One problem
- One solution

DON'T MIX AND MATCH

That didn’t sit too well with what I wanted to do.
I didn't want to be limited to one problem and one solution in all the things I write about.

So after years of iteration, I landed on this. I will enable:

Great People
Through my efforts on TWP I want to create high value professionals. My guidance, experiences and one-on-one help has resulted in inspiring many individuals to do more, do better.

See, at the end of the day, for any business:
Marketing doesn't matter
Sales doesn't matter
Product doesn't matter
Tech doesn't matter
If the people doing it aren't the best.

People are the only factor that keeps greatness ongoing.

To build Greater Products
Market aside, having a great Product requires a great team. My content around my experiences and learnings behind building products is meant to share all the secrets there are. But without a team, it doesn't mean much.
Greatness of people will result in Products greater than ever before.
Having the right team with the right product is the place where you want to be. So I have decided to work on both fronts - learning to be exceptional when it comes to building a product - alongside growing my reach to people who can come in and help where needed.

Resulting in
So what do we get now.
It's an end to end funnel.
If I help professionals get great
Then the products I help build will most likely be greater
Leading me to be someone who wants to help you however I can when it comes to tech and business.

If you have an idea:
- I Will help you research and plan your vision
- I Will help you discover and document the implementation
- I Will help you find the right people for the job
- I Will help you design and develop the product
- and lastly, I Will help you deploy and launch the idea

After all, I didn’t need one audience and one problem - I Needed One Mission

Helping great People build greater Products

I will often throw around this line when talking to a Dev Agency;

“What sets an Agency charging 30 USD/hr apart from one charging 100 USD/hr? – Process; 

And what sets apart an Agency charging 100 USD/hr from one winning quarter million contracts? – Branding”

In this article I will go over the top 3 ways how I have improved the process for various software development agencies 10xing their revenues.

1 - Getting off the right foot in your process

Delivering value upfront is the best way to stand out - even if the client doesn’t convert, the impression you will leave will be the long term worth you should look at as an agency.

When it comes to software development, the answer to a strong first impression is - Discovery

Integrating any basic system to do a discovery with your new clients will improve 3 aspects of how you deliver software:

A - It will show the clients you care about diving deep into their specific problem and are not having an ‘off the shelf’ approach to things.
B - It will help you with your design, development, and other stages of the delivery process if you do the documentation right as far as the discovery is done.
C - The discovery serves as an excellent test to see if the client you are about to get in deep with - is even a good fit or not? Learn to say No to clients that will without question cause you more pain later down the road.

Ok so I want to do a discovery, where do I start?

Well I can tell you how to offer it first -

The best way I have found on how to offer a discovery is to position it as an introductory service of sorts.

You let the clients know that this will be a paid engagement (could be a small payment to start with) - which will then be adjusted into the larger cost of the project if the client decides to go with you after the call.

What’s in for the client?

They get a blueprint for what they need designed and/or developed. A document that will help them understand their requirements better and help them get the work done from any other team - if they don’t choose to go with your team.

What’s in it for you?

The ABC mentioned above + an additional source of revenue for your efforts that can lead to higher quality of opportunities and  better outcomes for your new engagements.

2 - Get approvals done correctly

Clients WILL ALWAYS try to maximize their bang for the buck.

Which means they will always try to adjust or change the requirements as the project goes on.

In your Agency, you need to have strong processes for approvals - period.

If you don’t have strong and intermittent stages where approvals are done - the project will NEVER reach the finish line on time and in budget.

Here’s how you go about it:

Go with 3s - love the 3s. For your design and development stages, give your clients 3 rounds of feedback, be clear about it. Let them know they ONLY get 3 rounds of feedback (feel free to give an extra round if absolutely necessary of course) so that they LIMIT their feedback and think long and hard before passing it along.

Secondly, you need good feedback mechanisms for the feedback to be handled.

I am a Google Sheet veteran, Gsheets are a win in my book - but if there is something else that works better for you - more power to you. Just understand that clients are not savvy, and it needs to be easy for THEM not YOU so you can refer back to the feedback as the source of truth down the project pipeline. If you use a complicated tool, the client can always pull the ‘I didn’t know it did that’ on you leading to further dissonance.

3 - Documentation, Documentation, Documentation - Process everything through documents

BUT needs to be done right. The primary issue with documentation is that most agencies go overboard with it to the point where it is hard for your clients to grasp, hard for your team to follow, and what you get is a contract noone will bother reading. You NEED to learn how to do lean and effective documentation necessary to the point which protects you and your clients interests.

Here’s a free resource of mine to help you with it:

The funny thing is - these 'targets' are not realistic.

These are 'Ideals'
These are meant to be impossible

until a certain point

And if someone tells you to never compromise on your ideals -
• They either got extremely lucky
• Or forgot where they came from

The problem with success is that people often forget the rough path they took to get there.
And people on the outside never understand the pain one goes through.

In a line of work where you are constantly striving to be better and be validated.
You ARE constantly going to fail and have to settle for less.

But here's the thing
Your 'Less' is way more than what 'Most' put up as their ideals.

Setting high ideals will hurt you when you are not at your best.
It will make you feel like an imposter all year long.

But setting high ideals also pushes you to do the max possible.

At the end of the day what makes the difference is the same damn thing you read on every article - consistency.

Be that consistently setting targets you can't meet every year.

Do you like setting unrealistic goals - only to never meet them?
+1% better than nothing, right?

Especially, if you are a dev or a designer - you likely have an outdated habit of listing your projects like this:

- Insert Project Name
- Insert Images that show off? Something that Google Images doesn’t?
- Insert Spam Keywords that don’t translate to anything
- And if you were smart, you added a link or two to the work you did
All snark aside, this is no longer enough to stand out.

Having a bunch of pictures and logos won’t tell anyone, anything
I mean you could have put anyone’s logos and claimed you worked on it -
Who has the time to verify, am I right?

Enter ‘Case Study’

A way to showcase your impact without breaking your back with design and dev updates.

Here's the thing, generally speaking, people do portfolios for 2 reasons:

1 - To have a place to showcase themselves
- for no reason at all - more power to you

2 - To have a place to showcase themselves
- to get hired/get work - this is for you

Small difference in perspective - Big impact on your wallet

Now what does a case study achieve that your older style of showcase didn’t?

1 - It shows you actually know what you did - didn't just paste logos on your site
2 - It shows you are willing to share value by showing your process behind the work
3 - It shows you have the skills to document, present, and communicate your work - not just showcase it
4 - And, It shows you are smart enough to know that SEO is a thing - ok a little bit snark

Don't get me wrong
A few case studies won't rank you at the top as a dev or a designer - blame the SEO spammed sites -
But, a few of them DO get you to a place where many are not

Just google my name 'Saqib Tahir' and then google your name - notice a difference? 

If you do here’s why:

https://thewanderingpro.com/how-to-improve-your-presence-online/

If not, then I am delusional, I suppose

JK, I too don’t have case studies either,
'Insert Brain Explodes Emoji'
Just like you, because -

Writing case studies is painfully annoying - who wants to write about what they worked on?

Until it clicked me - it doesn’t have to be arduous anymore - as cringe as it is - GPT can be useful here:

All you need is to input this to generate a Short Case Study

Project Name: Name
Some Details of the Project: A summary of what the project/work was based on
Tech Stack in use: Any technical aspects of the project/product
Key Challenges: 2-3 points of main issues you had
Key Solutions: 2-3 points of how you solved the issues
Key Impact: 1-2 points of how you created impact

Feed this 10-12 line excerpt into any gpt and you'd be surprised with the output.

Adjust and repeat till you have something that explains your work in greater detail than anyone else's out there.

Here is the result for a Simple Case Study

Prompt

Write me a structured case study in the order of:
Summary
Challenges
Solutions
Impact

Here is what I have:

Project Name: Saqib's Big Case Study

Details of the Project: A lot of freelancers and solo folks don't have case studies on their portfolios and that harms their chances of standing out from the crowd.

Tech Stack in use: WordPress or any website builder, Writing tool like GPT to structure information,  Canva to design assets

Key Challenges: Most folks don't know where to start writing a case study, most folks shy away from showing their work, most folks don't have the time to detail out their work

Key Solutions: People can use tools like GPT to write out their initial variation of a case study, people should be proud of their work and show it on a pedestal, people should understand that this time investment is the largest leverage they will have when they are negotiating their next gig

Key Impact: Stand out as a professional with case studies to back your skillset and expertise

Results

Summary:
The "Saqib's Big Case Study" project aims to address the challenges faced by freelancers and solo professionals who struggle to showcase their work effectively through case studies on their portfolios. Many individuals in these fields lack the guidance, time, or confidence to create compelling case studies, hindering their ability to stand out in a competitive market.

Challenges:

1. Lack of Direction: Most freelancers and solo professionals are unsure about how to initiate and structure a case study, leading to hesitation and avoidance.

2. Reluctance to Showcase Work: Many individuals shy away from showcasing their projects, fearing criticism or underestimating the value of their work.

3. Time Constraints: Limited time resources prevent professionals from investing the necessary effort into detailing their work comprehensively.

Solutions:

1. Utilizing Technology: Encouraging the use of tools like GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) to assist in the initial stages of case study creation. GPT can provide a structured foundation for content, making it easier for individuals to build upon.

2. Promoting Pride in Work: Fostering a mindset shift where professionals take pride in their achievements and recognize the importance of showcasing their projects. This involves creating an understanding that displaying one's work is not only a testament to skills but also a valuable asset in career advancement.

3. Time Management Education: Providing insights into the long-term benefits of investing time in creating detailed case studies. Emphasizing that the time spent on documenting work can serve as a significant leverage point during negotiations for future projects.

Impact:

By implementing these solutions, the "Saqib's Big Case Study" project aims to achieve the following impacts:

1. Enhanced Professional Visibility: Individuals adopting these practices will stand out in their respective fields, showcasing their skills and expertise through well-crafted case studies.

2. Increased Confidence: Encouraging professionals to take pride in their work will lead to increased confidence, positively influencing their approach to client interactions and project presentations.

3. Negotiation Leverage: Investing time in creating comprehensive case studies will serve as a powerful tool during negotiations for future projects, enabling professionals to command higher rates and secure desirable opportunities.

In conclusion, the project seeks to empower freelancers and solo professionals with the tools, mindset, and understanding needed to overcome the challenges associated with creating and showcasing impactful case studies. Through these efforts, individuals can position themselves as standout professionals in the competitive landscape.

So here we are

Now I am no Proompt Engineer and neither am I claiming to be one - the example above shows with just 5 minutes of brain usage you can get something that actually does 10x more than anyone out there showcasing their work.

Will you be working on case studies now?
I know I am getting 5 done this month. Hopefully….

Case up your portfolios!

I did 'X' - but it didn't work out - so now I am gonna try 'Y'

The 'Attempt Paradox’ - let's coin it

Attempting and Trying - when it comes to career - need to be separate things.

They are very close concepts, but one has to understand that just because you attempt a bunch of skills that does not mean you tried them.

Attempt vs Try

Attempt is when you upskill for the sake of pure learning. 

The goal you set was to explore a new domain, or a new vertical - you just want to broaden your horizons. 

See what's out there.

Trying is when you learn a skill with the explicit purpose of:

- Generating a non-zero amount of revenue from the skill
- Have work/social proof to show progress of the skill you honed
- Or, upskilling to provide more value to your existing core competency

You need to have an outcome, a goal, in mind before you put the effort into trying a skill

Attempt is short-term - not serious, not focused
Trying is long-term - is serious, is goal-based

If you attempt many things
You gain knowledge

If you try many things
You gain experience

If you mix them
Well, you gain wisdom

At the end of the day, you can call this tricky semantics

But do understand, as you grow, in age, and in your career - your time needs to be allocated appropriately.

Don't fall for the trap of making progress when you haven't made any.
Set goals, place systems, and execute based on results, not flukes.

Before you jump onto the next shiny "Y," ask yourself:

- Am I attempting or trying? Am I just curious, or do I have a tangible goal in mind?
- Is this a long-term play or a short-term fling?
- If it is long-term - then what is my success metric?

Remember, knowledge without application is like a library without books – it's full of potential, but gathering dust.

Choose your "tries" wisely, set clear goals - and follow systems to execute.

Provide more value

You provide more value for what you take home - and you keep growing
Usually
- You do more for the same price
- Or you do the same thing for cheaper

But one important step is required before you can

- Go ask for that next raise
- Go ask for a contract renegotiation
- Go ask for an upsell

Validating Your Value

In a silo, it is easy to think that you are running the show. 

Oftentimes, it feels like that without you, the company will be handicapped.
That you are invaluable.
That you are irreplaceable.

But how do you know that for sure?

I mean just go talk to any manager out there, they will proudly tell you how they run the whole ship - come next firing round, the company is fine letting go 10s of the likes of them.

So were they running the ship?
Or were they just running their delusions?

Hard to say

But what I can say is in many cases, even when people are providing value, they aren’t doing a good job of validating it.

Without validation, your value….is well, not valued enough.
And without blinking, you will be replaced with the next best offer.

So you know you have to provide more value
And now you know validating that value is important

What next?

Go to our new best friend gpt
Ask ‘How does one validate the value they provide to the stakeholders’
And honestly, you will get some pretty good suggestions:

- Defining Objectives and Metrics to deliver upon
- Communicating regularly and often
- Working with feedback loops
- Working your skills benchmarking
Etc etc

But in my experience, when you know, for sure, that you are not being valued enough, you need to ‘all in’.

The ‘All In’

The ‘All In’ can take many shapes depending on your role, skills, and arrangements.
But basically, it's a gamble against all odds.

It has to be something where 

- If you win, you make significant progress in your career
- If you lose, it is time to find new work

Don’t read this as simply as ‘hold your client/employer hostage’ - that never works or increases your value - at most, it will make you an exploitative failed professional.

But do read this as knowing your worth, knowing what you should be valued at fairly, and then demanding what is due - if you care of course.

Typically any CEO, Client, Customer - will need a promise of two things:

1 Feasible Budget
2 Longterm Trust

And you offer them both by lessons taught earlier

- You justify the budget by the value you are providing, ensuring there is no better offer out there compared to you
- You justify the trust by committing to the relationship long term, ensuring you will stick to the arrangement agreed upon

Have you ever validated your value? If yes, then what method did you employ?

Keep Growing!

That is what the top of the top are making on Upwork

Over the past while I have spent my resources going through every Top Rated Plus Pakistani profile on Upwork

Here is what I found:

No. Top Rated Plus Freelancers = 2000-2500
Average Hourly Rate = 25-30 USD/hour
Average No. Jobs Done = 25-35 jobs over 2 years

After spending six months in freelancing communities, the key misunderstanding remains:

"There is too much competition in Freelancing"

People need to give up thinking there are millions of freelancers earning billions of PKR.

The average hourly rate for a dev house is 70 USD/hour - freelancers barely match half of it.

Having been all through this, here are the things I think we as a community need to change if we want to scale as a whole:

Value over Volume:

Don't succumb to cheap gigs. Boost your value and raise your rates. More work at a lower rate isn't the path to success; offering greater value is.

Quality Trumps Quantity:

Ditch the 2rs/word mentality. Writers, especially, take note. Expand your services. Don't just write; offer marketing too. Elevate your overall worth. This can be said about every domain, there is always a way to add more quality.

Avoid Burnout:

Freelancer burnout is real. Once you hit 30-35 USD/hour, many jump ship to start a business or go solo. This isn't healthy for the platform. Upwork has a role here to fix their offering. As freelancers we need to understand this barrier better and figure a more feasible way forward.

Lastly, in a silo, this data doesn’t prove much, hence I am working next on getting data for the Philippines (the lowest rate FL zone) and USA (the most expensive) - would be fascinating to see the differences between these regions and the approach to freelancing.

Spread the message!

P.S - This data is just for 'Top Rated Plus' freelancers, the best on the platform according to Upwork's metrics. If we take all Freelancers into account, the numbers would be much worse, unfortunately.

Preparation
Execution

You can go online and learn about succeeding on any platform.

But generally speaking, the advice shared does not emphasize this outcome:

Getting your first gig, is all about getting lucky - there, I said it.

But people don’t understand luck.
Think they can’t change luck.

The simple fact is that one needs
To prepare better, execute better
To be more ‘available’
To get struck, by luck.

Here are my (ugh I know it’s a listicle   - I am sorry) tips to succeed on Upwork:

Preparation

1  -  Start with 3 profiles
On Upwork, you have a general profile, + you can set up two additional.

Use them to your advantage, it will improve your discoverability and give you more flexibility when applying to jobs.

Just make sure these profiles are not duplicates of each other and add on to your offering, not cannibalize it.

2   - Get off-platform testimonials
On your profile and in your cover letters, include endorsements from other platforms, getting some LinkedIn endos are an excellent way to get started, ask your past coworkers/employers.

3   - Don’t have templates, Have Blocks
I do not recommend using a template for your cover letters, instead what I will say is to have ‘blocks’ of text ready to swap in and out to your proposal as you apply, blocks like:
- Project History
- Client Testimonials
- Skillset or Tool

4   - Make a loom intro video
Yes videos are being abused by everyone, everyone that is doing well   - you know who doesn’t have a loom video in their proposal? Probably you   - so get comfortable, record a 2 minute general video going over your skill set. Do a custom one for jobs you love.

Execution

1   - Learn to search for the right jobs
You can use boolean operators on Upwork advanced search (Mind blown? Maybe?)
Make use of ‘Saved Searches’ feature and prep 3 -4 feeds for work that matters to you.

2   - Balance connect spend, optimize for stats
Yes every platform wants money now, no more VC money to burn, boo hoo, guess who gets to pay? You do, yes you.

But don’t fret, connects are still cheap, and if people don’t wanna buy them, less competition for you, right?
The number 1 goal should be to get viewed when starting out, not get hired.
Learn to track stats   - aim to get 5 views on 20 proposals consistently.

3  - Learn to write hooks
The first 3 lines of your cover letter is all that matters when you are a newbie, no other stats exist to convince the poster, work on your hooks, make them better, and make them stand out. Get a nice headshot too, that is a bonus.

4   - Keep At It
Sounds cliche but it works, the best way to get better at everything above is to keep applying, and keep optimizing   - untill you land that big first client -

Then you can also claim you got ‘lucky’

If you do all this, will you get your first job? Not sure
But are you more likely to get it faster? Definitely

Keep Applying!

A notion that escaped me for a long time — until it clicked

The Why is the gap between a mere Employee VS an Expert

A couple of years ago I got introduced to the concept of ‘discovery’
A concept foreign to a lot of early-stage Agencies/Service Providers/Startups
A concept, when armed effectively, can be the difference between a 1k USD client and a 10k USD client

Phrases like
White glove service,
Hands-on approach,
Tailored solutions are frequently thrown around the digital services space

But it all starts here — understanding ‘The Why’

Here are 3 ways how navigating the Why’osphere will help you jump the gap from where you are to where you want to be.

1 — Empathy and Scalability:

Everyone says they care about their clients, but if you are taking on 20 clients a month and taking them through a process optimized for a fast buck, do you really care?

You don’t — simple.

Instead, empathize with your clients, ask them the right why behind the what that needs to be done.

Do this well enough, you will need fewer clients, because the less will be more valuable over time.

Same logic applies to anything so claim you care about - be that learning, working, earning, etc - if you care, then care with focus.

Quality over Quantity

2 — Identifying The ‘Right’ Solution:

With enough time and money, you can build the next YouTube— maybe not so efficiently, but you can.

The question however is, should you be building the next YouTube? In most cases, the answer would be no.

In Software dev, tell me how many times you have heard ‘I want to get X built which is like the Uber/Air BnB/Spotify/Facebook BUT for Y’

Again, in many cases, that is just. not. feasible.

But if you can uncover the why behind the what. You will be armed with the knowledge to direct them to a more feasible future.

Rather than signing up for something, there is no budget or no time for.

Minimum viable product is the goal (although that term has its own issues — for another time perhaps).

3 — Identifying Opportunities:

This is the money maker, the main difference between companies that provide services and companies that provide true partnerships.

If you never work on the why behind the initial needs, you will never know where else you can fill the gaps for your clients and offer them a better solution as a package.

I know every Agency tries to do ‘everything under the Sun’ — an approach which isn’t a good idea in the long run —but in the short run you should try to accommodate wherever you can. Partner with your clients instead of just being on their payroll.

You are limited by the value you provide

Asking the Whys will:

- Filter your clients for a more scalable business model
- Help you identify the right solutions to a problem
- Create a better long-term opportunity for your business

So next time someone wants something done, ask the Why first
Then jump to the What.

And his one exercise can help you deal with figuring out when and if you should take the leap, take the risk, and run away with it.

Enter: Fear-Setting

Here is the full resource: https://tim.blog/2017/05/15/fear-setting/

When I worked a full-time job along freelancing part-time, the question always loomed over my head.

Whether switching to freelancing full-time is the better outcome for me?
- What if the income is not stable?
- What if I can’t get new clients or work?
- What if I can’t get hired in a timely manner again?
- My resume will probably be destroyed, I will be unhirable forever?
- I’ll be stuck on a platform alone without any network or people to talk to?
- How will I manage my work-life balance working without bounds?
- How will I get paid safely and timely (considering Pakistan’s horrible state of foreign remittance support)

All existential dreads anyone would have in a corpo job.

I did the exercise, and the gist of it is

All the concerns listed above were solvable
Either by X extra amount of income I will be making
Or actions I can take to set my fear free

- Freelancing isn’t secure?
Having 4x the income is the best job security — your bank account is your job security now

- Can’t find new clients?
It turns out it is easier to find new clients than a new job for most roles — at higher pay and better terms

- Income not stable?
Figured out how to push fixed-price long-term retainers

- My resume is no longer relevant?
I will make a personal website with a portfolio of clients and case studies

- How will I manage my work-life balance?
2 years in, I haven’t ‘worked’ on weekends, actually, I am working less than I did at my job. Turns out working with small teams you and your time is valued much more than a corpo with 100+ employees.

- Will I receive payments safely?
Honeslty, to this day, I can’t say 100% for sure if freelancers will have a stable payment source. Wise got killed this year, Payoneer is probably next in line. But what I know for sure is, that 2 years into freelancing — I can just move to UAE and open an account there to bypass this issue.

And hey, it’s not just me, I heard 4000+ businesses registered/moved to UAE this year alone.

At the end of it, if you are fearful of a decision you need to make
Document it
Debate it
Equate it
and Resolve it

One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn’t do.

- Henry Ford

It just hits you in the feels

You do your best You learn the most You work the hardest

And still, deep down, a lingering feeling is always there

“You know you will never make it as big being born here”

What do most people do? Leave here, go somewhere where they can climb twice as fast with half as effort

Is that the solution? Of course not, if the capable and willing among us get up and leave, the future for all opportunities just goes downhill

For a very long time, I struggled with the question of trying to reach for the highest goalpost

This should not be the goal

We do not exist to maximize success We exist to serve a purpose

Being the best, being here, might be close to impossible Aiming high serves a greater vision than a number in your bank account

(Or a darker and Englisher version of it: The cobbler’s children have no shoes)

That is the reality for many small service providers/agencies

Can’t count the number of times I have seen

- A web dev company with a broken website designed in the 80s perhaps - A social media marketing agency with no engagement on their own accounts - A SEO agency that appears to be doing everything under the sun - A design agency with no website and only behance portfolios? Lolz - A mobile dev agency with portfolio of dead apps no one uses apparently

We often are so focused on current client work, that we fail to have anything to show for it

I mean, I get it

Why worry about improving your presence, when you already have active work, active payments, and so on — so forth

Well you are losing out on the best thing about being an entrepreneur/business

Organic Engagement

Your current clients know what you do best

And they might refer you to who they know

STILL

You are losing a big chunk of new work because you fail to rise organically among the competition

And I am sure you are nodding your head right now in agreement, issue is,

it is REALLY FREAKIN hard to make time to work on your own things, especially when you are kinda doing well without the need for it

I get it, I have been there, and it takes discipline to make time to work on your own website, brand, portfolio etc

BUT

Just focus on a few key things, which have the biggest ROI as a solopreneur/freelancer/small agency — things you don’t need hours but minutes to manage:

1  - Get testimonials every chance you get, get them on LinkedIn if possible as endorsements since that takes the headache of authenticity away

2  - Have a quick, easy, clear, no BS way to get in touch, no complicated forms, no 20 clicks, just 1 button, that takes the person to schedule a call with you

3  - Have a 1 pager of service offerings ready to go, a concise packages kind of document, google Saas Pricing templates, these are really easy to create with Mr gpt friend yes pal buddy

4  - For heaven’s sake get a domain, you can get one for like 5bucks, skip the Mcdonalds, have a domain YOU CONTROL, and then redirect it to whatever

5  - Don’t worry about having a fancy website, have a microsite (https://saqibtahirpk.bio.link) is mine — concise, clear, to the point and point your domain to it

And that’s it.

With growth and time, you can always optimize.

But don’t confuse current work with future stability, be on the lookout.

Baby steps.

Governments, Corporations, Cults, Groups — everyone has always struggled with the ever-evolving issue:

“People Problems”

Sounds simple? I mean you can define it pretty simply as well? But can you solve them?

Elon put a rocket into space, but couldn’t get users to keep using Twitter

People are complex, and there is no easy fix to meet everyone’s wants

• No matter how much you write, someone is going to hate your content

• No matter how much you teach, someone is going to call you stupid

• No matter how much you work, someone is going to call you lazy

• No matter how much you succeed, someone is going to point a failure in you

The takeaway is, you can’t satisfy everyone

have a larger vision, a bigger goal

I work in a very engaged client-facing role, day in and day out, I have to listen to people and their problems:

• I have to control their conversations

• I have to be the bearer of bad news

• I have to retaliate to their demands

• I have to constantly educate them

It gets tiring, but what has helped me overcome everything is one simple thing — I want to be of help, in any way I can

Sounds stupid and cliche, but talking is one thing, walking is another

• Calling Elon an egomaniac is easy, running multi multi-billion dollar companies is not

• Calling Mark Zuckerberg an alien is funny, having 2 billion people using your platforms is not

• Calling Sundar an Indian export is convenient, having the world’s internet rely on you is not

If you want to get to a high enough level in life, just remember, you will never solve people’s problems

You can only solve for people’s needs

Keep true to your vision

Set your goals accordingly

Haters gonna hate lol

They are not willing to fail, for a very, very, very, long time

I have been on a bit of a binge recently, just consuming creator and entrepreneur mindset content, (Thanks to Lex Fridman, Colin and Samir, Nilay Patel, Chris Do) — and the one thing that everyone clearly understands is:

You need to be humbled

You are going to fail at things when you start, you need to get comfortable with it

Years ago, I had no software background

Now I manage teams working on projects worth way more than I would have ever imagined

Years later,

- I fail at writing

- I fail at getting my ideas out there

- I fail at being my own boss

And

- I fail at being the best Product Manager out there

But as Giannis puts it, failures are just steps toward success.

Keep on failing!

But can’t help but notice the unsurprisingly low energy this past Independence Day

As a proponent of staying here, and making it here; it just breaks your spirit to hear a growing number of people ready to give up on the country.

I used to blame them, I don’t anymore, everyone should avail the opportunities that come their way.

My only concern is, that the people who are capable of surviving here, if they also get up and leave, who is left then?

Big words to say for a future that seems bleak

But I do want to end this on my philosophy in life

Many people refer to me as lucky, and maybe I have gotten lucky several times

However, I am a big believer in ‘making your own luck’

A far fetched concept that many won’t understand, but the key behind it is simple

Persistence

If you break life down to numbers, luck is statistics, the more persistent you are with something, the more chances you have to ‘make it’

- You can sit and blame the lack of opportunities present - You can sit and blame the government, or the institution perhaps - You can sit and blame traditions that plague the today and - You can sit and blame the lack of resources available

As a result You can leave and improve your odds Or you can persist and go against the odds

Be determined and persistent, and have the maximum chance to expose yourself to luck

Don’t always undermine yourself because you need to get lucky to achieve something

Sometimes you just need to be more available to luck

I will send this off with a recent quote that inspired this post:

Nothing in the world can take place of persistence.

Talent will not — nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent.

Genius will not — unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.

Education will not — the world is full of educated derelicts.

Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

Ray Kroc — Founder of McDonald’s

People who know me have experienced the simultaneous ranting and supporting of the SadaPay brand - the thing is clear, they have often messed up, but regardless of the mess ups, I believe they are the best EMI option right now in Pakistan.

Why?

Because they clearly care about the product

Just take one look at their marketing, design philosophy, branding, and any other metric - companies like them are far and few between.

I have been wanting to write about SadaPay many times in the past, but just didn’t have much to add to the general consensus, until today - because

SadaPay has opened a Discord community dubbed ‘SadaSchool’

Invite link: https://discord.gg/adJ2caXm43

(Coz I like SEO, I will be referring to it as a community for the rest of the article)

What is SadaSchool (SadaPay’s community)?

In their words: We're excited to have you ???? Here you'll be able to connect with other freelancers, join live streams with some of the most notable members of the freelance community, access our very own resources designed to polish your skills and share feedback regarding the SadaPay business account. ????

In my words: So we have this SadaBiz feature which now actually works, yes Saqib it does, after you tried to use it for the past 6 months with no success, it really does work now, it works so well that we have opened a community around it.

All the snark aside, it is actually a pretty good basis to open up a community around.

Why is having a community important for SadaPay?

Short answer: Social Media is dead
Long Answer: Social Media is dying every day

The thing is, people are just tired of jumping between 20 apps to follow what they like and engage in interesting things.

With the rise of Twitter and fall of X, dwindling numbers of platforms like FB/Insta etc with focus on Meta, and countless other examples,

It just feels like the internet is going back to the old age.

We had forums back in the day

We now have discord servers for every large body of following

What is important as a community?

SadaPay however, to my knowledge, will be the first brand in Pakistan to own and operate a discord - and by a brand I mean a proper in-business company, not your branded cotton suit wala brand.

I have massive respect for SadaPay for even attempting to do this, as usual, most people don’t realize how big of a lift running a community is, but if SadaPay strives it may very well become the biggest place for people going solo in their careers and using SadaPay as their premier service provider (cough cough StateBank pls no kill).

The biggest thing you need to understand as a Sadanaut, yes you, if you are here,

The 90-9-1 rule - which dictates: 90% of the participants of a community only consume content, 9% of the participants change or update content, and 1% of the participants add content.

Given the roughly 1,500 members right now, that means only 15 people will be willing to push the mountain - especially against the very critical and hard-to-bear Pakistani audience.

So what can you do right now?

Well I have some feedback, which I deemed better here than a channel no one might read, so here goes.

My Feedback for the SadaPay Community SadaSchool

In order of easiest to most complicated -

1 - Fix your rules ASAP

I am no Discord power user but am part of enough online communities to notice some glaring omissions from a channel-based community:

A - Do not post the same thing on multiple channels, this is a good way to get a lot of spam

B - Self-promotion is only allowed in the introductions channel - nowhere else. Just saying no self-promotion won’t help as people will still do it, but limiting it to one channel might be better.

C - No Job postings allowed, trust me, a lot of scams out there, you don’t want to be held liable for a story. Anything that involves money, needs to be kicked out, too much liability for the brand and for the community.

D - No sharing of leaked or pirated content. This includes any content that is not intended to be in the public domain or any illegal content.

E - A rule to specify who and how to contact in case of an issue, the current rule does not specify someone, create a moderator account that can be shared by multiple people.

Rules are important, as mentioned, most people want to lurk, and rules deter the space from becoming too lurker unfriendly.

2 - Reduce Channels and Make use of Forums

I had to learn this the hard way running so many slacks in my life, don’t create channels unless a need is obvious.

Right now, as you may have noticed, the activity per channel count is stupidly low - everyone just hangs in general mostly.

Cut down on them, you don’t need 3 channels per field, you need 3 channels in total - one per job function/department.

My recommendation would be to have a channel for:

• IT and Development

• Design and UI/UX

• Marketing

• Content Creation

• Product and Project Management

I would highly suggest using ‘forum type’ channels instead of text channels for things that revolve around a discussion point. That way the conversations could be better aligned across people's questions and discussions.

Also, why have intros and networking - get rid of the bot, just a manual intro channel is fine where people who care can do a write-up, less spammy.

3 - Need a daily hook (every day, even weekends)

The most successful communities are run by content creators, reason is simple, there is something every day to discuss and deliberate upon.

Their own content is often the discussion point of all the hype going on in the community and that keeps it alive.

Now I know this is new for SadaPay, but having a daily hook is needed. The weekly events just won’t cut it.

You need something on a daily basis to generate a discussion point for the community point, and it could be as simple as a question related to freelancing or going solo, etc

4 - Need an in-house moderator

In a country where ‘power’ is the most sought-after drug, I would highly advise against having community volunteer moderators. I understand this is the usual case for Discord, but trust me, you don’t want that here.

Everyone acts in good faith unless they have a clash with their ego here, and you just don’t want the bad press from it.

Hiring a full-time moderator that has a cross-functional role between this and managing other SMMs should not be that hard, but understandably it is a more complex thing to implement, hence number 4.

5 - Mission is great, Vision maybe not….

See the term ‘freelancer’ is very broad, and broadly mistaken - by the government, by the freelancers themselves, and by the working class.

So even though calling SadaSchool a place for freelancers to mingle right now is fine, it won’t guarantee long-term success.

In Pakistan, people say freelancer, and a bag of cash pops into their eyes, when the actual story is far from this made-up reality.

And I want SadaPay to be a more pure brand than just the money aspect.

As someone who has done branding in the past, I would highly suggest revisiting your vision with something that is more evergreen and aligns with what you have set out to do with your payments platform.

Sada is not all about simplicity, it also means to be humble and pure

If any of this gets implemented, great
If not, still great
At least I wrote it and someone read it 

SadaPay has my vote of confidence, at least for in the near future.
Might be a painful admission down the road, might be not.

Over the next few weekends, I will try to dedicate my efforts to sharing knowledge in the community - let's make growth Sada perhaps?

‘unforeseeable circumstances that prevent someone from fulfilling a contract.’

- pandemic - earthquakes - floods - world war?

Sorry, can’t deliver on our agreed-upon promise because THE WORLD is having a shitty day.

But let’s flip the script

Let’s talk about your life — think for a moment

What is the number one reason that prevents you to take high risks? Or better yet What do you fear the most?

“Circumstances that you cannot control”

There is a solution -

Name your fears, list them down, and you will realize Most fears are not based in reality

Don’t believe me? Do the exercise here: https://tim.blog/2017/05/15/fear-setting/

A very valuable tool well laid out by Tim

What I realized in my attempt was the fact, Why just ‘Force Majeure’ a contract, Why not have a ‘Force Majeure’ to your life and ambitions?

1 — Go out there 2 — Try your best 3 — Learn and Iterate 4 — Repeat

And you will outperform

And if you don’t

Hey well — it’s Force Majeure

Keep trying!