Freelancers Who Apply for a Job with a Single URL to Their Profile or CSV

[Jody P]

Dear Community,

Don't you love it when you post a job, as a client of course, and a few freelancers reply with a single URL and nothing more? No cover letter, no introduction, and no mention of anything in your job post.

Well, here's the solution: Don't respond with any words, just post the URL below right back.

https://isitchristmas.com/

Best regards,

Jody PM

[Robin H]

That's amazing since they are paying to apply to your job. 

On the other hand, I'm applying to 2-3 jobs a day with customized responses.  I'm putting everything into each response, calling out elements from the post, attaching relevant examples, etc.  And I get....lots of crickets!  Most of these jobs never hire, never close the job and therefore, I'm losing money.  

So what's the solution for both sides?  You can at least click "decline" and give a reason why you're not choosing the freelancer.  Hope you have a pool of possibilities among the URL responses.  

[Mark F]

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Robin H wrote:

That's amazing since they are paying to apply to your job. 

On the other hand, I'm applying to 2-3 jobs a day with customized responses.  I'm putting everything into each response, calling out elements from the post, attaching relevant examples, etc.  And I get....lots of crickets!  Most of these jobs never hire, never close the job and therefore, I'm losing money.  

So what's the solution for both sides?  You can at least click "decline" and give a reason why you're not choosing the freelancer.  Hope you have a pool of possibilities among the URL responses.  

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Robin, I suspect that you are in the upper end of what you do rate-wise.  You are in marketing and looking at your profile I think you should take a very deliberate step back and try to review objectively what you have written. 

Personally I am not sure I like the question you have started with, I think I would try to find a bold statement about yourself rather than start it as a question, I would much prefer I am the real deal to that although I am not sure I like the phrasing.

The first two lines are critical as you probably know in both your profile and your proposals.  You need to say something distinct and attention grabbing.  I don't introduce myself typically I just throw something down.

I don't spend a lot of time on proposals and I spend connects like water when I am looking and see good oppurtunities.  I try to never go back and look at anything I propose on but just keep plugging.  

I also try to be very brief in my proposals because a lot of them will turn out to be a complete waste of time so I see no point in writing novels.  I try to say something powerful and memorable and move them from my proposal to my profile to messaging me.

[Robin H]

Thanks for your feedback.  I will take it into consideration. 

[Jody P]

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Robin H wrote:

That's amazing since they are paying to apply to your job. 

On the other hand, I'm applying to 2-3 jobs a day with customized responses.  I'm putting everything into each response, calling out elements from the post, attaching relevant examples, etc.  And I get....lots of crickets!  Most of these jobs never hire, never close the job and therefore, I'm losing money.  

So what's the solution for both sides?  You can at least click "decline" and give a reason why you're not choosing the freelancer.  Hope you have a pool of possibilities among the URL responses.  

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Hi Robin,

Yes, I understand your point about them paying to do this. I'm a freelancer, too, but when I put in a great deal of work in my proposals, it is very disconcerting to have freelancer apply to a job that I've posted with a single URL and nothing else. That tells me that they are not even reading my job description. I would rather spend my time talking to freelancers who are professional and have taken the time to actually submit a professional proposal, not a simple copy and paste URL redirecting me to some external profile or CSV.

I would never apply to a job this way. Ever.

The solution for both sides? From the freelancer's side the solution is obvious: invest time in the proposal and customize it for the client's needs professionally. The solution on the side of the client is to either ignore those that invest 5 seconds (if they are slow) by pasting a URL and decline them, or, as I do, get creative with a 5 second (when I'm slow) resoponse: https://isitchristmas.com/

Best regards,

Jody PM

[Valerio S]

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Jody P wrote:

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The solution for both sides? From the freelancer's side the solution is obvious: invest time in the proposal and customize it for the client's needs professionally. 

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I am one of those freelancers that does copy and paste of a prewritten proposal 90% of the time...I know it's bad, don't judge me.

[Tiffany S]

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Valerio S wrote:

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Jody P wrote:

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The solution for both sides? From the freelancer's side the solution is obvious: invest time in the proposal and customize it for the client's needs professionally. 

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I am one of those freelancers that does copy and paste of a prewritten proposal 90% of the time...I know it's bad, don't judge me.

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Is it bad, though?

I see a lot of drama about this, but depending on how narrow your niche is, the stuff to say may just be the stuff to say. I write a fresh proposal for every bid, but I strongly suspect that if I pulled them out and analyzed them, 90% of them would be nearly identical. 

[Jody P]

But have you ever submitted a proposal to a job with no cover letter and no attached proposal? Just a single URL like the one below?

http://example.com/tiffanys-csv

[Jamie F]

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Tiffany S wrote:

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Valerio S wrote:

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Jody P wrote:

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The solution for both sides? From the freelancer's side the solution is obvious: invest time in the proposal and customize it for the client's needs professionally. 

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I am one of those freelancers that does copy and paste of a prewritten proposal 90% of the time...I know it's bad, don't judge me.

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Is it bad, though?

I see a lot of drama about this, but depending on how narrow your niche is, the stuff to say may just be the stuff to say. I write a fresh proposal for every bid, but I strongly suspect that if I pulled them out and analyzed them, 90% of them would be nearly identical. 

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I use a base template.

It makes sense because I would likely just be writing the same thing from memory a lot of the time anyway. Of course, applications are modified for each job where necessary. 

[Remi O]

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Tiffany S wrote:

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Valerio S wrote:

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Jody P wrote:

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The solution for both sides? From the freelancer's side the solution is obvious: invest time in the proposal and customize it for the client's needs professionally. 

---

I am one of those freelancers that does copy and paste of a prewritten proposal 90% of the time...I know it's bad, don't judge me.

---

Is it bad, though?

I see a lot of drama about this, but depending on how narrow your niche is, the stuff to say may just be the stuff to say. I write a fresh proposal for every bid, but I strongly suspect that if I pulled them out and analyzed them, 90% of them would be nearly identical. 

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True for me!