Join our Early Access Program for Project Catalog

[Lena E]

There’s an additional way to earn on your terms. Are you in?

We’ve got exciting news that could mean big things for your business. Based on an overwhelming demand from our talent community, we’re launching a new way to earn on your terms called Project Catalog.

Formerly known as Pre-Packaged Projects in its beta form, Project Catalog allows you to package your services into pre-scoped projects that are easy for clients to browse and buy. 

Creating your own project offerings can help you gain new client exposure, land more projects, set clear expectations, and manage your workflow. It can also help you get clear and intentional about how you want to grow your business.

We’re committed to continually improving our platform and creating new ways to help you earn  — because growing your business starts with having the tools to run it well. 

Here’s how Project Catalog works: 

With Project Catalog, you can create a project offering that includes a set scope, cost, turnaround time, and number of revisions — neatly packaged up into a ‘purchasable’ project. Meanwhile, a client can search and browse based on offerings, and know right away if you’re a good fit for their needs.

How does this work in terms of your business? Good question. Consider one of the service offerings you provide frequently. If you’re a web developer, this could be something fairly concrete, like a 10-page website. While the details may change slightly from project to project, the offering is usually similar in scope. This makes it simple to wrap up your “10-page website” service offering into a set price that clients can easily buy.

If you’re a social media manager, for example, client requests may be less concrete. You may receive requests based on a goal rather than a deliverable. For example, a client comes to you wanting to increase their social media following to 100K. As the expert, you know the strategy, cadence, and deliverables necessary to make that happen. Instead of having a back and forth negotiation via messages that may go on for days or weeks, you can create a purchasable project template with a fixed cost that reflects your recommendation for these types of requests.

This process means clients come to you — all while helping simplify contracts, cut down ramp-up time, and more clearly sets expectations from the start. That means less time combing through postings, submitting proposals, and negotiating contracts. It’s another way to do more of the work you love to do.

Ready to try Project Catalog?

We believe that the best product experiences are created in collaboration with the people they’re made for. So we want to invite you to be part of making Project Catalog everything it can be with our Early Access Program.

With the Early Access Program, you’ll get to:

• Start creating your own projects today
• Try out and review new features 
• Be first in line for exposure when the client experience launches this fall
• Enjoy new project protections: cancel a project within 24 hours of initiation, and remove one client review per month

How does the Early Access Program work?

Joining the Early Access Program gives you immediate access to Project Catalog, where you can start building out your projects in a way that’s digestible for clients and easy to sell. 

Over the next few weeks, we may reach out to you to check in on your progress and invite you to participate in one-on-one research sessions and private forums.

The work you do never ceases to impress us, and we can’t wait to see what kind of projects you create. The input you provide will also have a real impact on how Project Catalog works — so you have the opportunity to make it work for you.

We hope you’ll join us in making Upwork everything it can be — for you, for professionals like you, and for the clients we all serve!

Click here to get a first look at Project Catalog and join the Early Access Program.

If you'd like to learn more about Project Catalog and how to create your own projects, check out this helpful article.

[Wes C]

I have questions, the most important of which is this:

When a client selects one of these, does it automatically cause a contract to be started at the price listed, or does it start an interview where the final price is still to be negotiated based on the details of the client's needs?

[Salima N]

Hi,

While I was creating a project in the early access program I noticed that the project categorization does not include categories related to  Accounting, Finance, Tax, Audit. I am a Chartered Accountant so these categories are relevant to the services I provide. 

I would like to know if I am not able to see them or they are not really there? 

Secondly, The closest category I found is "Financial Consulting" which is listed as the subcategory of "Consulting & HR." Should I select that while creating a project? I think it doesn't really fit for services like preparing historical financial statements, Tax filings, Bookkeeping services, preliminary analysis for review engagement assignments, etc.

[Bojan S]

Hi Selima,

Financial Consulting is the closes category for you to choose at the moment. Since we are in the early stages of testing, you will see some areas that are still under construction. We appreciate your feedback and will definitely share it with the team.

[Tiffany S]

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Salima N wrote:

Hi,

While I was creating a project in the early access program I noticed that the project categorization does not include categories related to  Accounting, Finance, Tax, Audit. I am a Chartered Accountant so these categories are relevant to the services I provide. 

I have the same problem, though in a different category. Within writing, there are no subcategories for technical writing or white papers, and there's no option to just choose the high level category without a subcategory. None of the subcategories are relevant.

[Theresa C]

Hi Wes,

When a client buys your project, the idea is that they are agreeing to what you've pre-defined in your project. So a contract will be created and the milestone will be funded.  You'll be notified whenever a purchase happens and a contract room will automatically be opened, at which point you can start messaging.

The next step is waiting for the client to provide requirements to you, which were also defined upfront by you when you created the project.  Only until the client submits requirements does the due date get set and the "clock" starts for you. We understand that this is a different model from job posts, so during the Early Access Program period you also can cancel a project within 24 hours of the contract starting without impact to your JSS.

Once you deliver the work by the due date, the client can approve (just like a fixed-price contract) and the funds will be released and the contract will be closed automatically and feedback will be prompted.  After your project has been completed,  if you determine there is additional work to be done (or you and the client enjoy working together), you can connect directly with the client, creating a longer term relationship, where you negotiate based on scope.

[Tiffany S]

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Theresa C wrote:

Hi Wes,

When a client buys your project, the idea is that they are agreeing to what you've pre-defined in your project.

Unfortunately, you don't provide a space to spell out parameters, and force three levels for each project, leaving no means of differentiating the top-level product from the first-tier product.

[Susan S]

That was my concern.  It's too cut and dried.  Three choices only and nowhere to explain how you price your work, and I'd like to have that space for some explanation of what I do and don't do.  And I'd like to have a client be able to message me instead of outright buying a project.  Send me a message and we'll talk.  Why do they have to buy the project first?  If I were a customer, I don't know that I'd like that.  You would possibly buy a "product" blindly.   It just seems to be a bit of a bug.

[Usama T]

This seems veryyyy much like (if not exactly like) how fiverr works. So if they really just took that model completely like i think they did, There will be a way to make custom offers That exceed the limits you put on your project.

[Anna B]

Agree, we should have customized fields to be able to add additional content to the top tiers. For me as a brand designer that would be so much easier to pack logo, branding, marketing collateral and social media and even a landing page in just one package instead of having a few different projects for the same client.