Get my free New Biz Jumpstart Kit! <\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nExample 2: YouTube script writer, bulk order, five projects for $50<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
First things first, this is already a terrible listing and here is why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s five projects for $50. No, one’s going to work for $10 if you’re asking them to do an entire script. What’s even worse about this is how grossly underpaid these people are. In this situation, they list that this is a long-term position, bonuses and raises are available for excellent work. $50 will be signed to escrow, and that they’re looking for 1500 word scripts, four to five times a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So here’s what’s wrong with this. 1500 words for $10 each is a very, very low rate. In fact, almost nobody on the planet that is a self-respecting content writer is going to actually apply for this job. So right off the bat, they are making the mistake of improperly budgeting for their RFP. And naturally you should see how on the right-hand side, they’ve posted five jobs and they’ve had a 0% higher rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It should not be surprising that this person, if they actually were a little bit more self-aware because they would realize that they are grossly underpaying people. So this is the biggest problem with this listing, but what’s also really challenging about this listing is that there is no understanding in terms of the actual work that’s going to be done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is no detail in terms of what niche this is even in that makes it really difficult for a content writer to actually understand whether or not their skillset is a good skillset for this particular job. So what you’ll notice in the first listing is that the other listing was actually smart enough to go ahead and include two example questions that they wanted the person to apply for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And actually now looking at this, I realized that they actually probably didn’t include a newsletter in that first listing. So my apologies on that side of things, but it really points out the differences in the second listing in which what we see here is pretty much no detail, and this was just posted about seven minutes or so ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it’s clear that probably no one’s going to apply for this job. In fact, it’s probably the case where they have four different open jobs and they’re seeing no proposals. And they’re wondering what they’re doing wrong. It’s really unclear what the expectations are. The title itself is actually generic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s just says YouTube script writer, bulk order. It’s as if they are going on Fiverr trying to find some sort of really cheap work. That’s why it should come as no surprise that this person has no proposals yet. I understand that it was just posted an hour ago, but I promise you when you actually post something meaningful that people are interested in, you typically will get proposals as fast as within the first hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So in this situation, this is just an agregious listing because it doesn’t have a lot of the things that a freelancer would find appealing to want to work for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example 3: Content Editor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
For the last example today, I’m going to show you a content editor role. In this example, this is a really interesting one because they’re making a ton of mistakes, but they’re actually probably going to fill this role just because of their existing reputation on Upwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that just goes to show you that these mistakes are not black and white, you can still have a bad listing and get it staffed, but it really depends on other variables in those situations. In this situation, this is an Upwork Plus client and they have 98 existing reviews and almost all five stars. So it’s really clear that they have spent a ton of money on Upwork, which makes it a lot more attractive for potential freelancer to want to work here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But right off the bat, some of the mistakes that this person is making is that they’re just naming it content editor, where they can include way more detail in terms of what the content editing is about. They could include exactly what topic it is. So for example, content editor for real estate blog, or a content editor for FinTech blog, whatever it is, it’s really important to provide specifics in your job listings. That not only helps you find the right candidates, but also helps the freelancers in building up their profiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other thing that’s not really helpful is you can see how this description is just saying review monthly newsletters, offer editorial and tone guidance. This is so generic that it’s really unclear if I was a legitimate editor, what you would want me to do, to what extent do you want the work to be done? So you’re not setting up the freelancer up for success because in this situation, you’re probably leaving it to them to actually define a lot of these things for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So to make this better, it would be ideal for this lister to actually post what their guidelines already are, or if they don’t have guidelines, to give some general parameters in terms of what they’re looking at. For example, are they looking for a content editor that has at least three years of experience? Are they looking for a content editor that can give specific details to a particular style of formatting, whether that’s MLA or APA or so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By providing these sorts of specifics, this listing would be able to take full advantage of their Upwork Plus status. Instead, what they’re probably relying on is just the fact that they have an existing strong profile, and then from there they’re pretty much leaving the freelancers themselves to actually be successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The problem with this approach is that if you don’t actually know what you’re looking for, it can lead to a lot of frustrating experiences for you as the manager. It’s going to lead to a situation where you’re going to have two or three editors, all doing different things. When you don’t have clear SOPs, you’re going to get different outcomes from everybody involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you found this article helpful, be sure to\u00a0check out my YouTube channel<\/a>\u00a0to get new videos every single week. I\u2019ll help take you from zero to self-starter as you grow your business, get more customers, and hone your business acumen. Also, feel free to share this with anybody that you think might also benefit from learning how to avoid these common mistakes when it comes to their Upwork listing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n