Jovan Cicmil's Blog - Proposals

Two Cold Email Examples That Worked

June 14, 2023

Today’s blog post will be short and to the point - just like a great cold email. Many people think they need to amaze a cold prospect with their writing skills, amicability, and humor. As someone who has been pitched probably thousands of times across various platforms, I think I speak for all prospects when I say: If I’m after writing skills, I’ll read a novel. If I’m after ...

How To Double Your Rate as a Freelance Writer

May 3, 2023

Imagine you’re a freelance writer charging $0.50/word. How hard do you think it would be to grow your rate to $1/word? How many hours of practice? How many referrals? How many writing samples? How many years of hard work? What if I told you that pricing is a function of positioning rather than a function of delivery? In other words, it’s a function of marketing skills rather than ...

How To Make Money on Upwork With No Experience

April 5, 2023

I’ve been freelancing since 2011. From 2012 to around 2018, I used Upwork as my primary way to get freelance clients. Since then, I have helped many freelancers find their first projects. The one question that always comes up is: how can I make money on Upwork with no experience? Is it even possible? The resounding answer is: it’s not only possible, it’s inevitable - if you adopt the ...

90% of My Freelance Work Comes From Recurring Clients and Referrals

February 15, 2023

Most freelancers dread the process of looking for new clients. It can be frustrating and time-consuming. Worse still, it can take away our focus from what matters most: delivering superb results for our existing clients. The first several years of my freelance career were a constant tightrope walk between working and finding more work. However, in the last 3 years, this changed. During this ...

How I Write Proposals That Win As Many Freelance Clients As I Want

February 1, 2023

What if I told you that you could get as many freelance clients as you want by following a few straightforward principles? Finding freelance clients can be more simple than you think. Note that I said “simple”, not “easy”. Writing great proposals to prospects is something most freelancers never master. I have over a decade of freelance experience and I’m still learning. Here’s ...

Should You Use Upwork or Cold Email as a Freelancer?

October 26, 2022

Freelancers face the same dilemma all the time — should you sign up for a freelance marketplace like Upwork or Fiverr, or make your own way by directly contacting business owners and offering your services? Some freelance teachers swear by one approach. Some swear by the other. I swear I will help you understand both approaches so you can make an informed decision. Is the Upwork fee ...

How To Find the Best Clients on Upwork in Three Steps

January 25, 2022

A lot of people complain about the quality of projects available on Upwork these days. Cheap clients , ridiculous requests, impossible projects — you name it, it’s there. Well, I’ve got some news for you. First of all, none of this is new. Upwork (and every other freelance platform, for that ...

The Best Ways To Find Freelance Clients in 2021

June 9, 2021

The freelance landscape is a constantly shifting one. This is a wonderful thing for adaptable, entrepreneurial people — and freelancers are nothing if not adaptable and entrepreneurial. Still, some dangers lurk in the mists of this landscape. For instance, it is not beyond imagination that you might find yourself looking for freelance work in an ecosystem that clients have migrated away ...

How to Find Meaningful Work

November 3, 2020

What is meaningful work? The answer to this question changes from age to age and from society to society, but only on the surface. The essence remains the same because it comes from the very core of our humanity. “Deprived of meaningful work, men and women lose their reason for existence; they go stark, raving mad.” — Fyodor Dostoevsky Philosophy is no match for evolution For ...