How Freelancers Can Get Off Upwork, Raise Their Rates, and Run Ads For Their Services

Want to Get Clients Without Upwork, Fiverr, or Job Post Boards So You Can Start Growing Your Freelance Business? Write a Book.

Here’s How…

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Are you one of the millions of workers (and counting) who’ve turned to freelancing in the past few years?

You may have pursued freelancing in search of a higher income, more flexibility, or better working conditions.

Maybe you’re even loving many aspects of the freelance lifestyle. But…

Now you’re looking for alternatives to Upwork, Fiverr, and job boards…

…because, if you’re relying on sites like Upwork to get gigs, chances are you’ve faced some frustrating realities of this particular approach to freelancing. 


Things like…

• Clients who ask you to do unpaid “test projects” as part of their “interview process.” (You can control the types of clients finding you so this stops happening. We’ll show you how below.)
• The “race to the bottom” — you’ve had to underprice your services just to compete on the platform. (Instead, you can get customers on your email list for $0. So you’re no longer competing with those 50+ Upwork applicants for each gig.)
• The “feast to famine” experience. You’ve had weeks with plenty of perfect leads. And then uncomfortably long periods with nothing in the pipeline. (Platforms may feel safer, but the flow of prospects is much steadier when you take control of your marketing.)
• That 20% Upwork fee cutting a little too deep into your pockets. (Look at those fees as your “marketing” spend. Wouldn’t you rather set yourself up to market your services more effectively… for free?)
• On top of your skillset, you have to be a great salesperson. You spend hours writing proposals even though only a small percentage win you worthwhile work. (This steals time you could spend delivering premium services for clients who actually pay the rates you deserve.)

 
We get it. Because many of us have been in your shoes. 

In fact, our founder Mike Shreeve developed the client-getting process explained below to get out of that “stuck” freelancing feeling. 

He shares a bit about that at the start of Chapter 2 of his book, The One Book Millions Method: 

 
Mike has helped thousands of service-based business owners, experts, and people who help others develop their own client-getting methods. 

He and our team have helped thousands of freelancers, coaches, consultants, and many others take control of their own client-getting using simple, predictable, and easy-to-implement methods that don’t take up all of your time. 

Simple matters. 

Because complex client-getting and marketing often leads to more stress, wasted time, and burnout. 

So, we stick to simple…

Because Making Your Own Life Easier in the Long Term Is the Best Way to Grow Your Freelance Business

So, let’s talk about Upwork and alternatives to Upwork, Fiverr and other sites like them. Maybe they’re “easier” in the short term…

But here are some stats taken straight from freelancing platforms:

 
While you may have felt stuck in your old 9-5, many freelancing paths can lead to a different kind of “stuckness.”

But you don’t have to get caught in the scarcity and instability other freelancers report experiencing. 

We’ll cover the exact steps we take to help freelancers scale their businesses more efficiently in this article. 

And you’ll walk away knowing how to quickly get your own leads, pay net zero for them (that’s $1 in = $1 out), and grow great relationships with those leads so you can raise your rates while consistently attracting ideal clients. 

This isn’t just great for your freelancing career. It’s crucial for a sustainable livelihood as a business owner. 

Before skipping ahead, really think about this question…

What Would Happen if Upwork (or Your Preferred Job Board or Freelancing Platform) Disappeared Tomorrow?

Would you have a plan for getting new clients if Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer.com, People Per Hour (etc., etc.) just… vanished?

Let’s say you’re a woodworker renting space to sell your furniture in a shop.

The owner of that shop is the one bringing people into the business to see your products. 

For the most part, they control the foot traffic, and by extension, they control who buys your wares. Maybe that’s fine for a while.

But what happens when that shop owner increases rent, so it’s no longer profitable for you to sell there? What if they kick you out or close their shop for good?

Having no control over: 

• Whose eyes are on your products
• How much you’re spending to get those eyes on your products
• And whether or not the flow of customers will continue… 

 
Well, that’s probably not the smartest way to run a business, right?

It’s more like the shop owner owns your business, not you.

This is exactly why relying on Upwork, other bid sites, and job boards is not true business ownership. 

You don’t “own” the leads that come to you. These sites do. 

And if you don’t own the leads, you don’t have a business. Not really.

Wouldn’t it be better if you had full control of all of the leads coming into your business now and into the future? 

Want to See How to Get Your Own Clients For Free…with a Book? 

From here on, you’ll see us recommending Mike’s book, The One Book Millions Method. That’s us putting into practice the system you’re about to learn. 

We’ve seen low-ticket offers (we prefer books) help thousands of client-based businesses bring a steady stream of high-ticket clients into their businesses. 

Here’s how:

1. Use a book as an asset to get customers (not just leads) daily.
2. Nurture those customers as often as you can. (We prefer emailing at least 3 times a week. Sometimes we send more emails.)
3. Offer the best transformation and outcome you can at a premium price. So book buyers return to purchase high-ticket services, and you secure resources to deliver the best outcomes in your niche.

Most freelancers won’t do this. 

‘Cause between writing a book and running ads, it sounds expensive and time-consuming. 

But it doesn’t have to be.

Plus, think about it this way:

“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.”

• Henry David Thoreau

What amount of your life are you currently “paying” Upwork, between scrolling jobs, writing proposals, tweaking your profile, and communicating with prospects that never turn into paid clients?

Getting More Clients (Better Ones Too) Can—and Should—Be Simple. 

The bottom line is this. What you should be asking yourself isn’t: how much money will I need to market my services?

The real question is: how can I get my marketing to pay for itself?

Here are the exact steps we use to help freelancers get off Upwork, take control of the leads coming into their businesses, and set themselves up to scale with ease:

 
Step 1: Write a book.

Step 2: Bundle your book with some mini-courses.

Step 3: Run traffic to a simple webpage selling this bundle. 

Step 4: Book purchases offset your advertising costs. So you can afford to run ads to grow your business.

Step 5: Let your book sell, adding new customers to your email list daily (for net zero cost).

Step 6: Now clients come to you after reading your book… ready to ask for help!

That’s it. It really can be that simple. 

Now, let’s dig a little deeper into each of these steps. 

Step 1: Write a Book

There are several reasons we recommend writing a book to bring more clients into your business. Here are a few:

• A book allows people to get to know you and the value you offer. Without always having to show up on socials or pull elaborate marketing stunts that drain your time, money, and energy.
• A book is a low-ticket offer. Most of our clients sell theirs for around $5. So there’s less resistance to making that first purchase with you. 
• You get engaged buyers on an email list right away. If you’re going to build an email list (and you should!), get buyers on the list! They’re more likely to read your emails because they’ve already made a micro-commitment (buying the book) to you and your message.
• You write a book once, then automate sales of the book. So rather than putting your marketing on the back burner, it’s working in the background 24/7, 365 days a year to bring you new customers.

 
This isn’t meant to be a painstaking process either. 

This type of book takes our clients just a few weeks to write. (That’s if they write it themselves. Many choose to outsource.)

And this process works even if you’re not a writer. We help coaches, consultants, course creators, agency owners, and other service-based businesses create this type of book funnel to get new customers. 

Now, don’t get us wrong. We know a $5 book on its own doesn’t sound profitable. Because that’s not the goal. (You’ll learn how this process helps offset advertising spend in step 2.)

You’re not changing your business model here. The book is a marketing tool. 

Your services are still the primary driver of growth and revenue in your business. 

So you’re not aiming to profit from the book. You’re profiting on the back end as more customers learn about what you do and come back to buy your premium services.

Because they’ve already bought and read your book. They’re reading your emails. They like what you’re about and the value you’ve already offered them. 

So when they get to a point where they need services like yours… 

It’s a simple, logical step for them to decide they want to work with you specifically. 

Step 2: Bundle Your Book with Some Mini-Courses

We recommend bundling your book with mini-courses and other resources relevant to your audience in several ways.

• Throw in some “freebie” bonuses along with the book.
• Offer low-ticket upgrades customers can add to their order on the checkout page.
• Prompt additional purchases through upsell offers after checkout.

 
As customers spend more in this funnel, it becomes even easier to self-liquidate, or break even on your marketing costs.

What that means is a new customer. On your email list. Discovering your premium services. It’s possible to do this at no cost.

And this is easy stuff to throw together. You’re not spending months developing these offers. 

Maybe you whip up some quick, simple mini-courses and resources relevant to the content in your book. 

(Important to note: Don’t position optional upgrades as if they’re necessary to achieve the promise of the book. Customers should walk away knowing they got the value promised on the book’s webpage, whether or not they chose to upgrade their order.)

Offering upgrades creates a win-win situation: you’re giving more value to customers while bringing more of your ad spend back to you.

Step 3: Run Traffic to a Simple Webpage Selling this Bundle

Here’s where most freelancers will bow out, click away, or retreat back into the “safety” of freelancing websites. 

If you’re still here, you’re already setting yourself apart from folks that will stay stuck on those platforms. 

So let’s look at what you’ve accomplished by this step:

1. You’ve written your book.
2. You have the various components of the funnel you’ll need to get people to the ‘Buy Now’ button for your book. We go in-depth about each piece in The One Book Millions Method, but the basics are a sales page, relevant email sequences, upsell pages, and ads.
3. So here we are at Step 3. Paid traffic. This is actually a full lesson in our book because so many service-based business owners need to hear this: Paid Traffic Is Required For Scale.

 
The thing is, you need to get a lot of eyes on your offer to bring a consistent flow of new customers into your book funnel. 

You simply cannot achieve this through word of mouth, socials, or other types of organic traffic alone. And luckily, as you’ll see in Step 4, you don’t have to exhaust yourself trying. 

Step 4: Book Purchases Offset Advertising Costs. So Anyone Can Afford to Run Ads to Grow their Business.
 

This whole process is designed to offset your ad spend. Precisely because paid traffic is the engine that makes this type of funnel so effective. 

So if you spend one dollar on ads, you’ll get that dollar back right away by selling your book offer and upgrades…

Which means you can allocate more of your budget to paid ads… 

Which means you introduce even more of the type of clients you want to work with to your premium services.

As with everything else with your book and this strategy, your approach to paid ads shouldn’t be anything fancy. 

This is quick and easy stuff. In fact, some of the best-performing ads we’ve written for clients are something along the lines of:

“Hey, do you want to [Get Desired Outcome] without [Thing Standing in Their Way]? Here’s what to do and why it works. Grab your copy here.”

It’s super simple. But it works for several reasons:

• You’re speaking directly to the people who’d benefit from the services you offer as a freelancer.
• You’re dispelling any objections or resistance they might have to seeking services like yours.
• You’re entering the conversation already going on in their head. And speaking to them like human beings.

Do this and you’re already well on your way to earning more and alleviating a lot of the stress of freelancing. So you can finally start enjoying that laptop lifestyle you envisioned in the beginning. 

Step 5: Let Your Book Sell — Adding New Customers to Your Email List Daily (for Net Zero Cost)

At this point, your book funnel is up and running. It’s paying for your marketing. And it’s adding new customers to your email list every day.

The most important thing here is that you’re following up with the people you’re adding to your email list.

People get distracted. Even if they read your book, it’s important to remind them of the services you offer and how much they’d benefit from working with you.

When you reach out to these customers with nurture emails, you should:

• Ask them how they’re getting on with the products they purchased from you.
• Remind them of your services and the different ways they can work with you.
• Invite them to reach out, and let them know you’ll respond personally.

 
You can also automate these emails. Write them up once and send them out automatically whenever someone new purchases your book.

Step 6: Now Clients Come to You After Reading Your Book…Ready to Ask For Your Help!

Imagine how amazing working with clients becomes when they come to you to ask for help…

…instead of you asking them “can I help?”

The quality of every client you work with can dramatically improve.

They’ll listen to more of your feedback, input, and advice.

You can probably raise rates too!

Or, if you want to get out of the service game, create an online course or coaching program and start selling to your new list of buyers.

From there? Rinse and repeat as needed.

The fact that this process is easily repeatable is a huge reason it’s such a stress-free way to grow a business. 

You can create a new book or low-ticket offer and build a funnel around it any time you want to amp up your marketing efforts and generate more leads for your business.

In fact, at the time we’re writing this, Mike is working on his sixth book now (soon to be released).

 

Take a Second to Imagine a Freelance Business that Uses a Book to Bring in Clients…

 
We know this may sound cheesy, but we’ve seen so many freelancers transform their businesses by making this change in their marketing. 

(In fact, we’ll introduce you to some of them in a second.)

So if you’re still with us…

We want to take a second to share some of the ways your life can realistically change in the next few months if you implement the steps we’ve taught you here. 

You Control a Consistent Stream of High-Paying Dream Clients.

When you control the flow of leads coming into your business, you can charge more. 

You can target people you actually want to work with.

You can stop worrying about maintaining a full pipeline of rewarding and fairly compensated projects. 

And you can grow past your original expectations as a freelancer, just like all the clients we’ve helped.

I Want The One Book Millions Method

Ready to Own and Grow Your Service-Based Business the Simpler Way?

Things can feel really complicated for freelance businesses. We’ve been there, and lots of people will stay there throughout their careers.

But as you’ve seen, the right simple steps are really all it takes to move you from Upwork freelancer territory to scaling past your own vision of success.

If you like the idea of getting new freelancing clients this way, go ahead and grab a copy of The One Book Millions Method.

It’s a low-stakes way of exploring the options you have as a business owner. 

And there are plenty of takeaways no matter how you choose to move forward, from success stories to mistakes Mike’s made (so you don’t have to!).

Check it out. Borrow what resonates. Apply it to your freelancing business so you can finally get clients without job boards or Upwork. And reach out if we can answer any questions you have about this process.

To Your Success,

Mike & The Peaceful Profits Team