Can I get opinions on boosted proposals?

[#1]

*Clarification*: this question is about how *clients* treat boosted proposals they receive. So I'm looking for input from the client's side of things. Thanks! 😊

Hi, clients!

I am a freelancer most of the time, and a client for things I don't feel qualified to do (like tech issues on my sites, for example).

The new "boosted proposal" system has freelancers up in arms. I see freelancers casually talking about how they buy as many as 50 or 60 or more connects for just one job. (IOW, freelancers are "buying" visibility for $9 or more, per proposal.) At this point, there are freelancers who believe they have to significantly "boost" proposals or they simply will not get hired, period.

The common belief is that clients are more likely to "see" and therefore hire freelancers who boost proposals. I want to ask other clients: do you feel this is true? Are you more likely to hire based on someone's "boosted" proposal? Or do you still go through proposals the same way you used to? Or are boosts a pain...or...what's your view? 😄

I rarely send proposals anymore. Most of my work comes from repeat/longterm clients. I'm asking so I have something solid to answer on the freelancer side of things. I'm just curious how this is working out for clients...or whether it even makes a difference.

Thanks!

[#2]

Great, but when having to come again to apply to novel jobs, you can get a surprise. Now you have to spend all your connects pocket, and no single response. At least is what has happened to me. That unsertainty is pushing me off from freelancing, but, well earlier I was "pushed" to freelance by not getting any traditional job. Sometimes I don't know what is the universe pushing me to.

[#3]

Hey Melanie, I have averaged 4 Invites per day this year which is much more effective than sending proposals. Proposals have become a simple game of math. If there are 50 proposals, you have a 2% chance of getting the Job; not good odds. Bid on proposals if there is an exact match and only 20 or less applicants regardless if there is a Boost or not. Again this is a game of math. This is all math - make the math work in your favor IE less proposals and Boost equals more profit. Have a great day!

[#4]

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William T C wrote:

Hey Melanie, I have averaged 4 Invites per day this year which is much more effective than sending proposals. Proposals have become a simple game of math. If there are 50 proposals, you have a 2% chance of getting the Job; not good odds. Bid on proposals if there is an exact match and only 20 or less applicants regardless if there is a Boost or not. Again this is a game of math. This is all math - make the math work in your favor IE less proposals and Boost equals more profit. Have a great day!

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Hi, Wlliam. I'm asking clients what they think of boosted proposals.

I'm not asking how to get hired. I rarely submit proposals. The bulk of my work is from returning clients.

[#5]

Hey Melanie, I am both a freelancer and a client. I am indifferent to the boost from the client side and am proactive and strategic from the freelancer side. As a client, I care first about the Cover Letter not if they bid for position 1 to 3. If the cover letter is good, then I care about their profile, reviews and portfolio. Have an awesome day!

[#6]

Do you read every cover letter if you get 50 or 100 or 273 proposals?

[#7]

Tiffany,

I have never recieved more than 15 proposals and read them quickly. I would feel spammed if I recieved 50+ proposals. Maybe Upwork should limit to the first 50 proposals?

[#8]

I think that would backfire because the freelancers who are quickest to propose are often those who have fewer skills, have no work and are sitting around refreshing the feed, maybe  using cut and paste proposals for speed, etc.

[#9]

Very possible especially since there have been some dramatic changes occuring on the site in the past few months. I do think I have figured out what is happening based upon on the specific issues, the timing and various freelancers screenshots. It's not going to be good for a large portion of the freelancers without dramatic skill increases as this year progresses and it's not Upwork's doing either; outside force that can't be stopped.

[#10]

Those chances varies greatly depending on location of your proposal and badges associated with it.

[#11]

Hey Nabeel, Agree as a general rule, but not usually for the type of work I do or for other Expert Freelancers. My hourly rate is $200 and my clients simply want the best expert in Marketing and Sales and are willing to pay for it. They could care less about the bidding position. Is this bidding issue happening mostly for entry level jobs? I don't see it happening on the Expert side near as bad as others are stating.

[#12]

Surely you don't believe you have the same mathematical odds of getting a given job as someone with no experience in your field who sent a poorly written cut and paste proposal with irrelevant skills and history listed?

[#13]

This is not true for me. I get a fair amount of work through invitations, but the best fits for me are almost always the jobs that I select, not the ones that people reach out to me for. I turn down the vast majority of invitations and like to browse the feed every now and then and look for jobs I want instead of ones I happen to have been offered.

[#14]

I think client do not appreciate the boosted proposal. There concern seems to be the low quality of proposal that get into their queue and here client lose confidence in the submitted proposal. I believe boosting could be a sort of scnerio where you jump the queue in hope of getting attention to your solution. It might be a fair chance by freelnacer that atleast he get impression on his submitted proposal.

Winning proposal is different aspect, you will need to post another query for the same.

[#15]

A while ago, this thread was active. Boosted Proposals Negatively Impacting My Ability to Filter and Vet Freelancers 

[#16]

The thing is, clients don't really come here unless they have an issue or are also forum-frequenting freelancers. This is just going to turn into the same conversation we're seeing all over the forum atm.

[#17]

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Liz S wrote:

The thing is, clients don't really come here unless they have an issue or are also forum-frequenting freelancers. This is just going to turn into the same conversation we're seeing all over the forum atm.

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There's activity here daily, and clients answer other clients' questions. IMO, if this feature mattered much to clients in general, they'd have at least some opinion on it. To me, that speaks volumes and pretty much matches my feeling about boosted proposals when I'm a client here. Freelancers, as you've noted, have tons to say about the boosting feature. Clients seem to all but ignore it, at least for the larger part.

[#18]

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There's activity here daily, and clients answer other clients' questions. 

As I said, clients with issues come here so yes, there is activity. But very few clients, as far as I can tell, browse the forum looking for questions to answer like a lot of freelancers do. So, I thought it unlikely that you would get many helpful replies. I agree with your opinion though - I don't think most clients care much either way.

[#19]

I think it's not what clients or freelancers think or want, but what Upwork has decided to do. It's down to the freelancer to buy into it or not. 

[#20]

Sure, and the single most important variable for a freelancer making that decision is how clients respond to it.

[#21]

I'll pile on to the freelancers who will only answer this cuz clients don't sit in the forums  lol I think one of the hardest parts of Upwork is releasing your bias and thinking about what you would think if you just showed up on here and just needed someone to do a thing. We freelancers know a lot and even though I think I'm pretty good at this, I probably don't completely understand because I know the system so well. But if you can unlearn everything about connects and JSS and whatever, think about if you would truly think someone is desperate or care about someone paying to be at the top. 

[#22]

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