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#242 · how to make ride-or-die friends as an adult

youtube ↗Agency Operations

I have a strong freelancer account with solid earnings, five stars, top rated. I also set up an agency account earlier this year but haven't pursued any jobs through it, so it has zero earnings and zero reviews. I'm transparent about my structure and only apply to jobs that are a correct fit. What's the best way to land those first agency clients? Should I keep applying through my freelancer profiles and move clients to the agency account where it makes sense, or should I apply directly through the agency account despite the empty history?

No, you should continue applying your freelancer account and you should move clients over to the agency account only where it makes sense. Agency accounts are typically much lower converting. They have lower view rates, lower reply rates, much lower booked meeting rates, uh, and are just significantly harder across the entire stack. And you get virtually zero payoff for that as well. Unfortunately, it's Upwork trying to fill the obvious kind of question, which is like, what if the freelancer I hire just contracts work out? You know, we need to give them a quote unquote legitimate path to doing so. Unfortunately, it just does not work in practice because when somebody makes a job post on Upwork, they want to work with the person that applied and they want to see a face. You know, it's the people that they're looking for uh and who they can readily assess the quality of. Agencies are just one additional barrier because you're communicating with a faceless sort of company and then that company could pass you off to one of very many, you know, account managers and vendors and stuff like that. So, there's no benefit to positioning or pitching yourself as an agency basically whatsoever. Um, I would not do this. I would always pitch as you. I would then amass as many points, earnings, stars, whatever the hell JSS on your profile as possible. And then, you know, if you wanted to get a few reviews in the agency profile, you could do so. [sighs and gasps]

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Related answers

youtube ↗Lead Generation

I have a question on Upwork: many clients request not to work with agencies. What is your experience with this?

Most clients on Upwork don’t want to work with agencies. I recommend not using Upwork as a primary agency growth channel; treat it as a way to get an initial foothold while you’re still freelancing. When you’re selling yourself, you want the client to feel they’re hiring you, not an agency. Avoid agency language on your profile—use “founder” if you like, and bring up any consultants only during calls after you’ve secured the project. Start as a freelancer, deliver a high‑quality first project, get a great review, then gradually introduce others or a consultant on later projects. Don’t say you’ll hand the work off to an agency; keep the work yourself initially. In short, don’t label yourself as an agency on Upwork—position yourself as an automation specialist or similar, because Upwork users dislike the word “agency.”

upworkagencyfreelancing
youtube ↗Niches

If I had to start over with no agency experience, only foundational business knowledge, how would I pick a niche?

I've owned a few profitable indoor mini golf businesses for three years and even attended some Los Vegas trainings with Horos's team to help grow them, but I'm a bit burnt out on brick and mortar and love the idea of running a one-man business, though I'm struggling to decide on an angle. Yeah, well said. So, if I had to start over with no agency knowledge, only my foundational business knowledge, what would I do? I'd definitely go back into agency work, even without any agency experience, because it's the quickest zero-to-one path for me. It's less important to get things perfect right away and more important to pick something quickly and then evolve alongside it. So I'd pick an agency model. My foundational business experience would help, but whether I had zero or a ton of experience, I'd still go into agencies. The only thing that might change that answer is distribution—if I had a large following and network, I might consider something else. But assuming I'm starting with no leverage, no distribution, no money, and just what's in my head, I'd absolutely start delivering services to clients, get a return on my time, use that to bootstrap my operations, grow them, and then be in a more financially privileged position with knowledge and experience in whatever niche I ended up picking. Hopefully that makes sense. Yeah, I'd start there and work my way down.

nicheagency model
youtube ↗Client Acquisition

I'm 19, just started an automation agency with two co-founders; we have our setup, portfolio, website, and LinkedIn done, but no clients or revenue. What should we focus on to turn this into a real business?

Well, you guys don’t have any revenue or clients, so you’re really just working on a project. Your first priority should be solving the no‑clients, no‑revenue problem. Don’t waste time building out a product or website—just get something sold. I’d have you and your friends create profiles on Upwork, Freelancer.com, and Fiverr. Each day, pool your school money or whatever you can and submit ten Upwork applications. In those applications, tell prospects exactly what you can do (X, Y, Z) and how you’d approach their project, showing rather than just telling your experience. This avoids the inevitable ‘show me your portfolio’ question because you demonstrate your process. If you do this for three days you’ll have sent about ninety applications, and the odds of landing at least one $200 project are high. Once you have that $200 project, you now have a real business—you’ve made money online and can stop pretending. You’ll learn more from that small project than from hours of my talking. After you land a client, get them on a call and confirm the money is changing hands or there’s a monetary agreement, like escrow on a platform. If I built you a solution that automated all of this outreach and follow‑up, it would definitely save you time and money—that’s the vibe I’m advising. So give it a try.

upworkfreelancerfiverrclient acquisition
youtube ↗Agency Operations

Can you explain your agency structure and how many employees you have for running a $2 million business?

I run the agency with zero employees. I prefer contractors over employees because with contractors I just give them the work and a deadline, without managing their hours or schedule. Employees require a set schedule, clock‑in/out, and more regulations. Contractors have more flexibility, fewer legal constraints, and I can hire fantastic people who have their own systems. I give them a deliverable request, like “I need this done in two days, I’ll pay X amount,” and they deliver. Currently I have a YouTube editor, a strategist, a community manager, an agency partner who gets a percentage of projects, and previously a VA. This lean contractor model lets me move faster and focus on high‑margin direct work rather than scaling the agency.

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