After freelancing for 10 years, founding CoachLancer 5 years ago, coaching hundreds of freelancers since 2017, writing 70 articles on freelancing, posting 1,500 tips on LinkedIn, and having 3,653 morning coconuts, I thought I should create the best possible structure for all this knowledge: an e-book available for every single freelancer who is hungry for success.
But why book, nobody reads books anymore, right?
I think they do. Those who are interested in learning do read books. It’s still the golden standard for acquiring in-depth knowledge. Reading books offers a depth of understanding and a cognitive engagement that often surpasses what can be gained from watching YouTube videos.
Firstly, books encourage active cognitive processes such as critical thinking, imagination, and comprehension. When reading, the brain actively processes information, forming connections, and deepening understanding through reflection and analysis.
In contrast, YouTube videos as your learning media often provide passive consumption, where information is presented without much opportunity for reflection or deeper engagement.
Books also offer a more comprehensive exploration of topics. Authors have the space to delve into complexities, provide historical context, and present various perspectives in a way that short-form videos often cannot. This depth allows readers to develop a more nuanced understanding of subjects, rather than relying on oversimplified explanations common in many YouTube videos.
Additionally, reading books fosters patience and concentration, skills increasingly valuable in today’s fast-paced world. It encourages individuals to immerse themselves in a single topic for an extended period, fostering deep learning and retention of information.
Finally, books typically undergo rigorous editing and fact-checking processes, ensuring a higher level of accuracy and reliability compared to the vast array of content available on YouTube, where anyone can upload videos without proper oversight. This reliability is crucial for acquiring accurate knowledge.
While YouTube videos certainly have their place in the modern learning landscape, the benefits of reading books in acquiring knowledge, depth of understanding, and cognitive engagement remain unparalleled. Reading books still rocks!
Why I wrote this book
The purpose for writing ‘Go Straight for Coconuts, Part 1’ is rather simple: Too many freelancers work for peanuts. They start on freelance sites like Upwork with high hopes only to realize getting started isn’t that easy. Most of them end up quitting after a year of constant struggle with low rates—some even without getting a single Upwork gig.
In a sea of millions of freelancers on platforms like Upwork, how do you rise above the noise and earn what your skills are truly worth? The key is to learn business basics first:
- Who can you help most, who are your ideal clients?
- What’s your specific niche?
- How do you differentiate from your competitors?
- How do you land gigs that pay well?
- What does it take to make freelancing a long-lasting career?
Most signing up on Upwork find themselves being stuck without ever getting past working for peanuts. They are in the “race to the bottom” where there are no winners.
As a seasoned solopreneur for 10 years straight, I do remember how tough getting started was. I had zero business and a far too academic background that made going solo extremely risky for me in 2014. The only reason I survived my first year was that I figured out a smart approach to doing business on Upwork.
With minimal effort, I earned my first $10,000 from two perfect clients, came to dominate my niche in less than a year, and thus saved my family from a financial disaster. It could have gone horribly wrong had I chosen another way.
Through personal experiences and practical strategies, I demonstrate how I transformed myself from a $30-an-hour freelancer to a $300-an-hour solopreneur. It’s not just about making money—it’s about creating a lifestyle that aligns with your passions and priorities.
Whether you’re a seasoned pro destined to go solo or a fresh graduate dipping your toes into freelancing, my book helps you unlock your potential to earn what you deserve.
I guide you through every step of the journey with humor, wisdom, and a dash of tropical flair. You’ll learn how to use Upwork as a shortcut for creating a profitable niche in the global markets:
- Strategies for dominating your niche early on
- Insights to the client side of the platform
- Tricks for saving money and Connects
- Profile optimization methods
- The formula for winning proposals (+ real-world examples)
- Principles for acing interviews
- Hacks for landing your first gigs
- Rules for maintaining your Job Success Score (JSS) at 100%
- Tactics for raising your rates quickly
- Strategies for staying on top of your game as long as you like
I also share career-saving advice that helps you stay away from trouble in the deep jungles of online freelancing:
- Signing contracts with dangerous client types
- Getting bad reviews
- Communicating poorly with clients
- Paying Upwork for features that don’t help newbies
- Accidentally getting banned
- Facing surprising JSS drops
- Falling for classic scams
I wrote ‘Go Straight for Coconuts, Part 1’ as more than just a manual for navigating freelance platforms—it’s a manifesto for redefining your value and building a highly profitable niche. Freelancers must embrace their unique strengths, turn them into lucrative freelance careers, and thus escape the “race to the bottom” completely.
Reading ‘Go Straight for Coconuts’ is like a voice in your head telling you how to freelance—and how not to. The structure is easy to follow, and the language is written specifically for non-native English speakers.
My book is your coconut-green ticket to success as a starting freelancer!
What the book is based on
Most of the experiences I talk about are available on this site and on LinkedIn. I mentioned the stats already. However, many of them are slightly sugar-coated sometimes. And sometimes they get too ridiculous. Alternatively, too grim. And once or twice, they look like something straight out of a Monty Python film!
Nonetheless, as I’ve coached so many freelancers to reach their goals that I got a hundred nicknames (up to 70 nicknames last year already), I realized that freelancers technically have all the information at their fingertips. Unfortunately, the information is too fragmented, spread around the interwebs, and generally not always that helpful. Some tips given are false and straight-out dangerous on purpose!
In 2021 I crawled through the Upwork Community Forum. It wasn’t a pleasant experience, I can tell you that! It was demoralizing to see so many freelancers struggling with the basics knowing that all that knowledge is already out there written down and made videos of by so many successful seniors. They just can’t find it! That’s why creating a logical structure for the entire journey from $0 income to something decent and stable is probably the biggest contribution of the book.
A fresh up-to-date book is a perfect vessel for structuring all those tips and guidelines in a way that sticks in people’s minds and thus, actually helps. Important things are separated from less important things. Here’s what the contents look like.
Table of contents of ‘Go Straight for Coconuts, Part 1: How to Start Freelancing Without Ever Working for Peanuts’.
Everyone gets it. First, it’s important to know why it might still be worthwhile to start as a freelancer and use Upwork as the smart way to build a global one-person business. Second, before diving into the ‘how’, you should recognize and understand the risks involved. You will encounter all kinds of hazards, accidents, and scams before you get things going!
Then only we go to learn the ‘how’ part: Profiles, proposals, interviews, and all the tricks that help you land your first job. This is followed by tips for finishing those first Upwork jobs with flying colors, getting your Job Success Score (JSS) 100% from the start, and gaining a Top Rated badge too. Finally, it’s important to learn from other people’s mistakes: my mistakes and the mistakes of my past hires. These real-life freelancing stories are golden coco-nuggets on their own!
It makes sense, right? Everything essential is presented in less than 300 pages with loads of screenshots. No need to guess what is what… And all of this comes to you with a humorous and conversational CoachLancer tone that keeps you reading the whole thing in one day.
Here’s a little teaser.
Foreword of the book.
What people say
I had a good mixture of freelancers, juniors and seniors, reading parts of the book. Here are some comments that I got during my editing iterations (that took about 1 month):
“In chapter 4, writing a winning proposal and getting that contract, I have read and attended multiple webinars but the use cases used as examples in the book really put a lot into perspective for me.”
“This was new to me: A) Match my Upwork title with the titles clients often use as the job title, and B) prepare for the interview by doing a thorough background check of the person I am interviewing with.”
“The book is relatable and interesting due to its informal, conversational tone. The idea of aiming for coconuts instead of peanuts is remarkable.”
“This ingenious strategy of leveraging his Upwork profile’s popularity to get non-Upwork clients is rarely discussed in the community.”
“The writing style is like a voice in my head telling me how to freelance!”
“I recommend this book to anyone on Upwork considering freelancing as a recommended option. It is an engaging read for independent freelancers at any level of their careers since it hits the ideal balance between inspirational material and helpful guidance.”
“I learnt how to avoid overcompensating my skills in my portfolio or job proposal as it might come back to bite me.”
“Some of examples you gave of past experiences were downright hilarious!”
“Bad client roster… Memorable funny names, this is engaging and important, and very accurate.”
“What was new to me: 1) Setting expectations with the client right from the start. Address the certainty AND the uncertainty. 2) Awareness of the dangers within freelance sites (scammers, etc), 3) Advice about the TOS, connects, all the connects boosting nonsense (case study included) and avoiding the race to the bottom.”
“Even as someone not new to freelancing would learn new things that would help elevate your business.”
And the best part: Everything stupid, boring, and not so helpful has been treated as peanuts and thus, The Butcher of Peanuts axed all of them for good! Many of my friends were honest and straight about what was not really necessary for the story or for the guidance. Big thanks to those true friends!
Many missing pieces were added to make everything complete. And pages after pages were deleted as unnecessary. All peanuts were butchered, I left none alive and took no peanut prisoners!
Everything unnecessary for the purpose of the book has been axed!
The Acknowledgements page lists all contributors in alphabetical order. Go take a look!
Want to “Go Straight for Coconuts?”
‘Go Straight for Coconuts, Part 1: How to Start Freelancing Without Ever Working for Peanuts’ is out soon. If you’re reading this, that means you’re probably an avid reader of CoachLancer. Go get your copy on Amazon, and discover how much love I have for you with this massive value bomb of 453 print pages!
I know you will like it!
(PS. Part 2 will come sooner than you can say ‘coconut’. It’s all about the art of solopreneurship, the leveled-up version of freelancing.)
