Project Catalog™—now available globally!

lenaellis · ‎01-13-2021

Over the past few months, many of you have helped us test and refine our newest Upwork offering: Project Catalog.

Through your contributions, feedback, and support, we’re thrilled to announce that Project Catalog is now officially live for the entire Upwork community—talent and clients alike.

If you’re not familiar with Project Catalog (or just want a refresher), here’s a quick introduction:

Project Catalog is where the work you love finds you. Build and sell your own project offerings based on the type of work you want more of. Each project will be listed on Project Catalog, ready for clients to purchase for a fixed price in just a few clicks. Once a client purchases, they’ll fill out any requirements you’ve requested, and you’ll be set to get to work.

It’s an easy way to get more eyes on your offering and land new projects quickly—all while putting you in the driver’s seat. That means you and your clients can get started right away, and with confidence.

Check out this video to learn how clients will discover and purchase your projects.

Stay tuned for more exciting rollouts

Project Catalog is just the beginning of a series of exciting new ways to land clients on Upwork, adding to Talent Marketplace, the current platform you already know and love.

But no matter how you choose to use Upwork to grow your independent work, know that we’re dedicated to helping you build the strong and profitable relationships that are the foundation of a growing business.

We want to thank you for your hard work and the contributions you make to creating a thriving community on Upwork.

Happy New Year—may it be your most rewarding one yet!

gina-herrera · ‎01-26-2021

Alexandra H wrote:
What I did is point out to the "client" that she should post her project on the UW marketplace instead, where she can state her budget limit. And that the project catalog is not the right place for her request.

Obviously the PC needs an absolutely massive flashing banner that states "the budget for projects listed in the catalog is not negotiable"

abdo-senni · ‎01-26-2021

Hey guys, my project was not approved (yet) the account is inactive, I tried to verify my ID but the software isn't approving it. My ID just died a few weeks ago, I have a new one but it's not scanned like the old one, I'll send you both to verify and activate my account.
I'm not feeling comfortable sharing things in public, support should be private.

PS: In case there's an issue about this gig or like you call it "project" I have done very well at Fiverr and earned thousands, I have a very good rating, I'm thinking of trying Upwork new catalog program, I was waiting for this..Check me out, I'm legit

**Edited for community guidelines**

I know it's not allowed to share personal information, what about including our agency official website in both the project description and my description?

**Edited for community guidelines**

It's a great way to establish trust, in my experience, as soon as they see the awards we won they jump in, thank you guys, and let's make some money.

JoanneP · ‎01-26-2021

Hi Abderrahim,

That’s fine as long as it’s being shared to direct potential clients to a portfolio, not to take business off-platform.

gina-herrera · ‎01-26-2021

In all seriousness - anyone in here have a great project catalog experience with a client who:
• didn't question the scope or attempt to haggle price
• proceeded with the job
• didn't try and bully you into doing more than what the project advertised
• paid in a timely fashion and seemed satisfied with what you provided them

for once I'm not trying to be snarky or obnoxious, I'm genuinely curious. Thinking about posting something similar but tailored to the client perspective on the Client board as well.

(obviously I am not expecting to hear from the "regulars", because I am pretty sure that most of the people who post most in here are not currently participating in the catalog, myself included)

gina-herrera · ‎01-26-2021

COOL i love how the admins merged my above topic so that no one is going to see it now.

I wonder why they did that? Can yall be a little less obvious that you don't want people to know that this does not benefit freelancers at all.

rockycse21 · ‎01-26-2021

Hi,

Yesterday I Create Project Catalog. It was approved by Upwork. When I go to the link, It shows "We can't complete your request" and also it says "Error 500 (N)".Did I make any mistake?

Any help will be appreciated.

Need assistance.

Thanks.

AleksandarD · ‎01-27-2021

Hi Ahammad,

I'm sorry to hear about this. One of our team members will reach out to you directly via a support ticket to assist you further.

Thank you.

seobuzz55 · ‎01-27-2021

How many projects I can create a single account?

kam_andru · ‎01-27-2021

Hi Mokammel, you can create up to seven projects.

lenaellis · ‎01-27-2021

Hi Gina,

We merge posts with feedback and questions about Project Catalog to keep the conversation in one place and organized. That way it's easier for community members and members of Upwork team to find and follow the discussion.

As for your question regarding peoples' experiences using Project Catalog, we definitely see examples of both clients and freelancers using it successfully as an additional way to do work on Upwork. Just recently on this thread Scott shared his experience using Project Catalog successfully in addition to the way he's always used Upwork. On our earlier announcement thread here, we saw a lot of interest in the feature and examples of folks getting so many contracts through Project Catalog, they are constantly hitting the limit of 5 active contracts per project.

But your view shares a good point, that we aren't highlighting and sharing these use-cases well. We are working on different ways to share stories from talent on how they use Upwork. We have a podcast starting soon on Project Catalog and we will also be doing some content here in the Community, like a virtual roundtable that we record about how our Community members are using Catalog. I'll follow up with more details on these soon.

As for clients, I speak with clients regularly. What i've heard is that Upwork is often utilized when looking for long-term freelancers or large projects. This is because it takes time to post a job, sift through proposals, interview, and then send an offer. Many clients prefer to use other resources when looking for short-term, quick projects and they go elsewhere to get those projects done. We want Upwork to be a one-stop-shop. Why utilize several different resources when they can find all their project needs in one place? Project Catalog is fulfilling this gap for many clients- quick hiring, quick turnaround. Clients have told us that they find having multiple ways to use Upwork- the marketplace and Project Catalog, more convenient. It isn't changing how clients do work, it's offering an alternative in a space where they didn't use Upwork before.

I understand that this alternative way to use Upwork will not be useful for all. And as Valeria and others have shared, this is just another way you can use the platform- it's an option not a required way.

The feedback everyone has shared is helpful as we shape Catalog into a better experience, it's not going anywhere, and we will continue to make improvements.