OMG! I just realized I had already read and commented on this same article after I posted this new comment below! Oh well, I hope it's useful and adds more value to your nicely written and very writer relevant piece.

Regarding "Cold Emailing":

I did this myself when I first started. I actually got a couple of clients this way. But the whole "cold emailing" approach felt and still feels spammy, no matter how well I "crafted" my emails.....

As far as Upwork, I've recently been on the platform, rewrote my profile, but there's so much crap.

And now along with flawed plagiarism checkers they are insisting on even more flawed AI detector passes. Crazy!

Even Google said long ago that AI content is treated the same as non-AI content in their searches. So why clients are insisting on this extra hoop is baffling. Either something "resonates" and is well written that people enjoy reading or it isn't....

Anyway, when you calculate the average amount of connects it takes just to even apply, 12-17 connects at .15 per connect along with their fees, and the time wasted either applying or screening out scammers, it's simply not worth it....