Today, I am going to interview Azanta Rezwana Mirza. She is very inspiring to the people who actually love writing and want to turn their hobby to career. This interview is between Al Jovayer Khandakar and Azanta Rezwana Mirza to give insight into the writing industry. She has earned more than $30,000 from upwork only. Besides, she has a training and mentoring institution named “Content Writing with Azanta” that helps new writers. These are not enough. Let’s learn about the writing industry and know her journey to success.
Jovayer: Would You Please Introduce Yourself to Our Audience?
Azanta: I have always loved to write, even as a child. However, I only took it professionally in 2010, when I joined a renowned education and social development organization as a content writer. I used to write all the content for their multiple websites, social media pages, and internal communications. Beside my regular duties, I was also in charge of all media representations for the institution as their PR & Publication Head.
There was a lot I learned from my time at that organization. It was, however, the daily commute that was literally killing me. Due to the heavy traffic in Dhaka, I had to spend at least 3 hours on the road everyday – 1 hour in the morning and 2 in the evening. It was exhausting, and I was tired all the time!
I left the job back at 2012, when I had my first child. From a friend, I learned about an online platform where I could get writing jobs. I opened my account on oDesk (now Upwork) that very day. The money wasn’t important to me at that moment, but I didn’t want to be idle. I always knew that I would go back to my job when my child was older.
Jovayer: What Was Your First Freelancing Project, and How Did You Land it?
Azanta: My first instinct upon creating an account was not to apply for jobs, but to make my profile worthy of international standard. Therefore, I spend the next two weeks doing a lot of things instead of applying for jobs.
I spent a week looking through the profiles of other top freelance writers on UpWork. Since I was in charge of all the publications at the education and social development organization, I was successful in quickly putting together a portfolio that had all my work. At the same time, I browsed the Internet to look for samples that are acceptable in the International marketplaces, and created works of my own.
In short, I took two weeks to apply for my first job on oDesk. I consider myself to be quite lucky with my freelance career. Within the first 7 days of applying for jobs, I landed my first job on Upwork.
My first project on UpWork was a 40-minute audio transcription that only paid $5. I had to work 8 hours to finish this single project, but my client was very happy with my work. He gave me a good feedback, and another similar project to finish. Not only at, he gave me the names of some software for transcription that made my work easier, and taught me to use them.
I completed a total of 6 or 7 projects for my first client, who was a journalist who interviewed people and wrote about them – and my profile slowly accumulated several positive feedback. From him alone, I got a total of 3 jobs and great reviews.
My second month on UpWork brought me 10,000 BDT (around $150), and in the third month, I earned another 23,000 BDT (somewhat $300). It was hard for me the first few months – working night after night with a small baby to look after.
I had to bid for 15 jobs to even get a reply from one, that too, for a very small rate. But I didn’t mind; I knew I had to pay more attention to my work and my profile than to my earnings. At that point, I didn’t think of how little or how much I was earning. I only thought about the hours I was accumulating on my profile and the positive feedback that I was getting.
Jovayer: What Type Of Work Do You Do In Upwork?
Azanta: After working on transcription for about 18 months, I finally got a project writing articles. This transition wasn’t easy. My first article-writing jobs required me to write 600-word articles for $2 each, which was a very low rate. However, I didn’t give up and very soon, I had a few great reviews on my profile for writing articles.
At the moment, I only write non-fiction eBooks for my clients, especially books on mental health issues and parenting. I also write eBooks and blog on various lifestyle topics such as health, relationships, family, home improvement, etc. However, I am only focusing on eBooks for now.
Jovayer: Do You Work on Other Freelance Platforms? Which Platform Is Best And Why?
Azanta: I have worked both on oDesk and Elance, before they merged to become Upwork, where I work at the moment. I have also created accounts on Freelancer.com and Fiverr, but I don’t work in these platforms. I have also worked with local clients, especially writing SEO articles and Affiliate Marketing content.
I always feel the most comfortable on Upwork. It seems the most user-friendly to me, and the best clients are on Upwork.
Jovayer: What Challenges Did You Face Early In Your Freelancing Career, Especially in Upwork, And How Did You Overcome Them?
Azanta: While I was lucky to get my first job on Upwork within 7 days, it was very hard to raise my rate/payment on Upwork. Because I am a non-native speaker, I was never paid as much as any native writer would get. Even though I was just as good at my job, it took my thrice the time to raise my rate from $3/hour to $25/hour.
I overcame this problem with diligence and patience. I took a lot of jobs and always gave them my 110% effort. Even when the payment was small, I never let that interfere with the quality of my work. Within 3-4 years, I had, Alhamdulillah, a good enough account to show my potential clients.
At the same time, I had accumulated a huge portfolio in my spare time. That made it easy to get better jobs with better payment.
Jovayer: Can You Share Some Key Milestones In Your Freelancing Career That Contributed To Your Success?
Azanta: The first job I got as a writer to write articles was one of the key milestones in my freelancing career. Before that, I used to do a pretty basic job – transcribing audio and video into texts. It was an easy but time-consuming job. It paid me, but it wasn’t work that I enjoyed very much. To be honest, it got pretty boring after a while.
When I got my first job to write 50 articles, the payment was much lower than what I got for transcription jobs, but the work was much more satisfactory. After that, I gradually stopped taking transcription jobs and focused mostly on writing articles and blogs.
My second milestone would be my first job writing an eBook. Before I got that job from an old client, I didn’t even know what a non-fiction eBook was. My first eBook was only a 3500-word one that took me 4 days to write and paid only $25. But I fell in love with the concept of eBooks. After that, that’s the only kind of job I applied for.
One of my most memorable jobs was writing a non-fiction book of 120,000 words. It took me 2 months because I had to research a lot and give the job my best. It is, still now, one of my favorite jobs for my clients on Upwork.
Jovayer: Tell us about your Accolades from the Freelancing Community
Azanta: In September 2015, I was awarded the “Best Female Outsourcing Professional” by BASIS.
This was one of the best things that have ever happened to me in my life. This award changed my life. This was the appreciation that I believe I deserved after my hard work. It was also the encouragement I needed to go ahead further.
In the same year, I also received another award by the Daffodil International Academy, Transpay, and Belancer. It was from the same category – Female Outsourcing Professional.
I was further awarded the “Best Female Freelancer” by the ICT Division of Bangladesh in December 2016.
BFDS – Bangladesh Freelancer Development Society honored me with a plaque on “International Women’s Day” in March 2021.
In 2023, at the National Freelancer’s Carnival, One Way School & CSEDIU Alum. Association awarded me the “National Tech Award” for “Award of Excellence – Women Freelancer Category”.
Jovayer: How Do You Manage Your Time Effectively To Handle Multiple Projects?
Azanta: These days, I only take a single project at a time and give it my 100% time and attention. Since I usually work on large eBooks at the moment, I take a month or two to complete each of them. This way, I can ensure that all my work is top-notch and perfect.
However, there was a time when I used to take multiple jobs and work with multiple clients at the same time. It was hard and I had to work 7-8 hours every day, almost the same as a full-time job. My strategy was to take projects that are of different types, i.e. one eBook, a project to write articles in bulk, and a whole group of product-related articles.
When I worked, I created small milestones and touched each of these projects at least once every day. Such as, I would write one chapter of the book, 5 articles and 3 product descriptions on a single day. This way, I could stay on top of my workload and not lose track of any of them.
Jovayer: How Do You Balance Work and Personal Life as a Freelancer?
Azanta: I only work for a few hours every day. My work starts at 9:00 AM and ends at noon, during the time my children are in school. After that, I spend time with my family and my other hobbies and favorite pastimes.
Jovayer: What Strategies Do You Use To Consistently Attract New Clients And Projects?
Azanta: I only apply to jobs that I have personal experience in, i.e. mental health, relationships, parenting etc. This way, I use my personal experience and ideas to convince my clients that I am the perfect person for these jobs.
Although a lot of writers are now using AI to create their content, I prefer to do things the old-fashioned way. I don’t use AI in my work, especially because I am writing on topics that require human ideas and opinions. Everything I write for my clients, I write myself, based on my own ideas and opinions.
Jovayer: What is the best way to get jobs on a freelance platform?
Azanta: When a client posts a job on Upwork, we’re not the only ones applying for it. Within the first 10 minutes, each of these jobs gets 30-50 applications. We have to apply for the same job in a way that makes us stand out.
It is essential that we apply in a way that makes us stand out from the crowd. I do this by making sure that my application matches the tone of the job post and answering the questions precisely the way the client wants to hear. To stand out in a crowd, it is crucial that we understand exactly what the job entails and what the client is looking for.
Jovayer: How Do you Establish and Maintain Good Relationships with Your Clients?
Azanta: Just as you need to stand out in a crowd, it is also very important that you always maintain a good relationship with your clients. Whether you have worked with a single client for only $5 or $5000, you should always do the job exactly the way they want it to.
With content writing, it’s normal that your client has certain expectations for the project. They want their articles and blogs to be in a certain way, and as a content writer, you have to make sure that you are writing the content the way they want you to.
Editing and making changes are also an extremely important part of a writer’s life. We need to remember that they know of what they want in their content, and we need to follow their guidelines to give them what they want. At the same time, we need to use our creativity in the work, make the content truly unique.
I also make sure that I don’t take any work when I am not free, i.e. when I am not sure if I can complete it within time. Commitment is extremely important to me and if I commit to a project, I will deliver it on time. I also never promise something that I won’t be able to do or something I don’t know how to do. When it comes to building and maintaining a good working relationship with a client, it is always better to be honest.
Jovayer: How Do You Handle Pricing And Negotiations With Clients? And What Is Your Advice For New Freelance Writers?
Azanta: For new freelance writers, I would say this: fix your own rate. Don’t let your clients dictate what you deserve to be paid. If you are a good writer and you have confidence in your work, don’t underestimate yourself.
Of course, you can negotiate with your clients for your rate or your payments but don’t lower it so much that you won’t be able to give them good work. If a client is quoting too little, politely but firmly let them know why you deserve higher payment. Never be rude to your client over negotiations, but don’t lower your rates to a scale where you won’t be able to work properly.
Jovayer: You Said You Have a Training and Mentorship Program. What Kind of Work Does it Do?
Azanta: Yes, I have a training and mentoring institution named “Content Writing with Azanta”. As the name suggests, I teach and train new writers.
In recent years, I have noticed a sudden demand in our local business and freelancing community. People are looking for writers. While there are a lot of people who are good writers around us, most of them don’t know the rules of content writing. I plan to teach these people – who are interested in writing and creating a career out of it – to write.
There’s a difference between regular writing (creative writing) and content writing. If you are an author or a writer, you can write anything. There are no rules in creative writing. However, content writing is different. You need to know the rules to write content.
People who are interested in content writing join my 15-day workshop, and I teach them the rules for writing 10 different types of content. Besides, I show them the right way to create their portfolio, look for jobs, build their online presence, and even stand out on international freelance marketplaces like Upwork and Fiverr.
That’s not all. My workshop is actually a mentorship program. I personally try to connect my students to potential clients, and oversee the whole conversation. I review their primary attempts at writing and help them to improve themselves. Once a student signs up for my workshop once, they are welcome to join any LIVE classes in the future.
Jovayer: Do you think that AI softwares are going to be a threat to content writers? How do you plan to face this problem?
When ChatGPT first surfaced in December 2022, many content writers thought that it would be the end of our career. However, that is the same time that I launched my workshop. Because I knew that any artificial intelligence, even something as sophisticated as ChatGPT, can never replace a human writer.
Over the last few months, this has been proved over and over. A content writer may use ChatGPT or any other AI software simply as a tool, but not to create the whole content. Even I use this software to generate titles and take ideas about formatting an idea, but I never copy the texts generated by ChatGPT.
There’s one thing that writers need to remember: ChatGPT or any other AI software are great tools that we need to learn for our work. They will be a huge help in making our work easier and faster. But it can never replace human emotions and opinions when writing.
Jovayer: What Are Your Future Goals As A Freelancer, And How Do You Plan To Achieve Them?
Azanta: I still have a few regular clients who I work for on Upwork, but I am focusing more on my workshop and mentoring program at the moment. I am trying to create as many as 500 amazing content writers for the local community, both in English and Bangla.
At the moment, I am only working on non-fiction books for my clients. My favorite niches include parenting, mental health, and relationships, and I feel the most comfortable writing about these topics.
Jovayer: Is There Anything Else You’d Like To Share With Aspiring Freelancers Or Any Final Thoughts?
Azanta: Yes, I would like to say that both content writing and working as a freelance content writer have a bright future ahead. From what I can see, companies are going to need a lot of new content in the future. With as many IT-based and entrepreneur-based companies that are rising every single day, everyone is going to need the support of a good content writer soon.
If you love to write, there’s definitely a chance to build a career based on it. All around the world, content writing is a valuable skill and it will always be so. If you are still wondering, I can assure you that if you have the skills, you can shine in this field.
Recap
I think Azanta Rezwana Mirza is an inspiring woman because she dared to follow her heart. When it comes to her career, she used her passion in life and her hobby to build one. Instead of trying to mold herself into a career that was common or popular, she did what she wanted to: become a writer and earn by writing.
I, Al Jovayer Khandakar, have tried to ask most of the questions that you may want to know. If you still have any queries, please let us know by commenting here. My team will try to give the best solution to your queries.
