Starting out on Upwork

I signed up to Upwork in October 2022. I hated creating my profile - I'm not very good at selling myself! My first job was writing copy for a website in Bulgaria selling greeting cards! I was happy doing that, but he soon asked me to come up with slogans for the cards, or even to suggest images for the cards, and that just wasn't my bag, so I stepped away from that one.

My profile photo - it's from 15+ years ago!

My next job was writing 25 1,000-word articles about freezers for the Freeze It website. When I applied for the job, I couldn't imagine what I would find to write that many words about on the topic of freezers, but I was assured the client would provide me with all the titles and I would just have to write the articles. I have now written 41 articles about freezers, so consider myself quite the expert! I've covered topics including How to defrost your freezer quickly, How to clean your freezer, and profiles on different manufacturers such as Miele and SMEG.

I initially agreed to 6 articles a week, and was able to keep up with that for the first month, but then told the client I would need to cut back as it meant I wasn't able to get any other writing done. I cut back to 4 articles a week, which was much more manageable. After the second month, the client asked me to start writing for one of their sister websites - Let's Foodie. I've only written a few for this site so far, including Why do deli sandwiches taste better? and Can you marinate broccoli?

I love working for this client as they give clear instructions, they give me the title for each article but then give me freedom on subheadings, and they communicate with me frequently. I also like the way their algorithms work so that my articles show up at the top of Google searches, as it really boosts my online presence. Plus they sort out all the formatting and add in subtitles and luscious photographs, so my articles look awesome! I also get full credit for my writing, and an author bio, which is a great way to boost my profile.

In November I also took on a client who specialises in creating online courses. I wrote a course on Traditional Chinese Medicine Reflexology. For this I had to write a 3,000-word module, 2 extended tasks and 10 multiple choice questions. This isn't available for free online, so I can't share it here. I had to do a lot of research for this one, as it was something I knew nothing about, and I really enjoyed getting to learn about something new.

Towards the end of November I was invited to write a trial article for a company promising ongoing work. I was given the topic "Do Jews Drink Milk", which I will share another time. I was successful and they added me to their pool of writers. I wrote two articles for them: How to cut thick toenails and 15 celebs who are expecting in 2023. I haven't seen the latter online yet, but if you click through to the former you will see that I didn't get author credit for this one. Furthermore, I soon discovered that not many articles came up that were topics I felt confident writing about or had any interest in learning more about, so I decided not to continue with this contract.

Through January I just focused on my work with Freeze It/Let's Foodie. Then in February, when I felt a bit more on top of my work load, I started looking for new contracts. Firstly I secured a contract supposedly writing about backyard birds. However, when writing my trial article I discovered that actually they were interested in birds generally, rather than wild birds of the UK, plus the copy was primarily for US audiences, and I am not confident writing in US English. So after writing this article about long-tailed birds, I stepped away from this client. Again, this was one where I didn't get author credit, but I wrote it, I promise!

Finally, and the contract I've been most excited about, in February I applied for a job with the headline "Pasionate writers wanted for a UK/rural countryside history website. This sounded like my dream job! For my test article I wrote about lost villages. This topic has since been taken up by another writer for the site, so I will share my original piece here at a later date. Since securing the contract I've not had chance to write much (my year 11s are nearing their GCSE exams and I've been focused on marking their work and giving them detailed feedback), but I have written this article on fulling mills. As you will see, this is another site that gives me full credit and an author bio, plus they format the article and add photos so the piece looks really professional. This is my favourite contract so far, as I love rural history, so getting the chance to immerse myself in researching and writing on this topic is a dream come true!