Marketplace Updates: Boosted Proposals and Connects

[4f19aa7c]

Two new Marketplace updates: 

1. Introduced a fourth slot in Boosted Proposals, increasing your chances of being noticed, while continuing to let clients see who is most interested in their job post.
2. Adjusted the range for the cost of Connects per job to better match the demand for jobs in the Marketplace.

Check out the product release for Marketplace Updates: Boosted Proposals and Connects and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

[d7f0c067]

I just came across a job where client is looking for entry level freelancers but cost of posting proposal is 8 connects??

[feed_my_eyes]

Me too. I just saw a post with an $80 budget that costs 8 connects to apply, and it's not even a real job - it's a freelancer ad from somebody wanting a copy-typing job.

[sofia2008]

I understand what you saw is not the best example, but it has more to do with the demand for the job (to hopefully reduce the number of proposals), not necessarily the value of the budget.

[feed_my_eyes]

There were only 5-10 proposals - most people would be able to tell that it wasn't a real job.

[3518b4ed]

how can i earn money in this website anyone tell me !! 

[pradeephele]

Hi Gajender,

Welcome to Upwork! I checked your profile and noticed that you need to improve your profile to increase your chances of getting hired. I suggest you take a few Upwork Academy courses to help you get started:

• How to create your profile
• Finding work
• Profile Title & Overview
• Building Your Portfolio
• Submitting Proposals

Additionally, feel free to sign up for upcoming events and webinars to learn more about how you can boost your success on Upwork. We hope you find these online resources useful in your Upwork journey.

Thank you,

Pradeep

[lbooth]

It'd be nice if someone from the company actually answered our concerns over the "boosting" scheme.

[williamtcooper]

Gajender,

Please click the Academy link on the top of this page for success TIPS and view other successful freelancer Profiles. Thanks!

[d7f0c067]

Exactly, I just saw couple of just under $200 and required 8 connects.

[7designgroup]

That is insane! $80? then your only making like $60 after Upwork takes their 20%. BS!

[206189ca]

excuse me, im a newbie so how can I know what is a real job and whether the budget matches the connects or not? 

[dcd35ae7]

Hi Muhammad, I'm new here on the platform, but from what I've learned so far, you have to watch out for job posts seeking for entry level freelancers. Do they have a verified payment method? Have they paid for freelancers prior to posting this job? If the answers to these questions is no, then it could be a scam and you could be losing 8 connects.

[e796b5d7]

Same here I have seen many jobs that require 8 connects where client are looking for entry and intermediate 

[b8b80eb0]

How will eight connects can reduce proposals for jobs?

Where 20,30,40 connects are being used by freelancers.

This will not change the scenario.

[k_froudarakis]

Seeing how the boost bidding wars have escalated, I don't think that the initial connect cost of a job will make any difference. I think that it would make more sense to award a large connect amount when you get hired for a job. More hires, more ammo to go to war basically. It sounds bad, I know, but I am getting the feeling that that's how it is now.

[konraad2015]

Has anyone noticed that some jobs now require 8 connects to apply? It's just getting more expensive being here.

[sofia2008]

You can see the Update here : 

Marketplace Updates: Boosted Proposals and Co... - Upwork Community

[pankajthakur4547]

Yes, I too. In fact they changed the whole previous scenario.   😞

[mdbutnayem]

Hello Khangelani,

Yes, Upwork recently implemented a change to its connects system, where freelancers are required to use 8 connects to apply for certain jobs. This change was made to encourage freelancers to apply to jobs that they are more likely to win, instead of applying to a large number of jobs without much consideration.

While this may increase the cost of applying to certain jobs, it can also help reduce the number of low-quality proposals that clients receive and increase the chances of winning a job for those who apply. It's important to carefully review the job description and requirements before using your connects to ensure that you are a good fit for the job.

In addition, there are still many jobs that require fewer connects or no connects at all, and you can also consider upgrading to a paid membership plan that includes more connects if you find yourself frequently applying for jobs.

Thank you 
Nayem

[feed_my_eyes]

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MD N wrote:

While this may increase the cost of applying to certain jobs, it can also help reduce the number of low-quality proposals that clients receive and increase the chances of winning a job for those who apply.

---

It's highly unlikely than an extra 30 cents is going to discourage anyone from bidding. If Upwork really wanted to increase the quality of its freelancers and reduce the amount of useless spam bids that clients receive, there are much better ways of achieving this.

[7ba9aa11]

I was already careful about what I applied to.  You have to be... Anyone that's truly experienced in their field isn't going to jump on every low-quality post on the site (of which there are countless), or waste time and money applying to things that aren't a good fit. 

My guess is this won't affect the more unskilled sets of freelancers that are already just applying to everything, or will only impact countries with poorer economies.  

Frankly, it's off-putting.  Six connects already caused me pause enough to apply, now eight!?  It makes me not really want to apply to anything...  you already take 20% of my hard-worked earnings... for what?  Now it's more expensive to apply as well.  Upwork is practically stealing from freelancers.  I mean, taking 20% of all my earnings is hardly a fair referral fee for a marketplace, and things just keep getting worse.  On top of that, because it's contract work, the tax rate is higher.  Does Upwork even consider that using this site basically means throwing away half of all your money!?  If you guys are concerned about your revenues, maybe you should consider that this is only going to push more and more people to contract outside of Upwork.  You're actions are pushing more and more people to consider breaking ToS simply to be able to earn a fair income.  

And what's worse is there was ZERO communication about this.  You just changed all the costs to apply without warning.  Wake up, and everything is eight connects.  It's like your company mission statement is "to piss off freelancers more than anyone else possibly can."

I really hope someone who works at Upwork sees this... they are alienating their client-base over and over, and at some point, this is going to topple.  Given the economy, if one strong competitor gets an injection of funding this year, I can see someone taking a large chunk of Upwork's market share out the gate.  People are fed up, and Upwork isn't listening.  No company can be successful while ignoring the market.

[jgellock]

Has anyone else noticed a recent uptick in required connects for jobs? It's like all of the jobs that were six connecta now require 8? Has anyone else noticed this?

[brinwillmar]

Pay To Win! That's it!  It's never going to be a level playing field. 

I guess Upwork will need to be more creative in order to be fair on both sides of the isle.  On the contractor side, yes you are goijng to be careful in applying for too many projects and just apply for those you THINK you have a good chance of getting hired.  But that is never a guarantee, there will always be a freelancer who will bid very high even if everyone is cautious in applying.  In the end you still have a good chance ending up towards the bottom of the bid, again, NEVER A GURANTEE! Chances are, the one's who could consistently pay are those with deep pockets to apply for each and every opportunity in our NICHE, bid very high and never let any other freelancers get a chance to be seen and heard because they are alwyas being bumped by those who could do the outbidding.  

For the employers, they probably get more quality proposal, but it still a voluminous amount of applications and bids. Its still not a guarantee, those who could pay high for bids can and bid splurge those bids to be on top of the list everytime.  

What am I saying now?  UPWORK NEEDS TO BE MORE CREATIVE OTHER THAN CHARGING A LOT OF FEES ON THE FREELANCERS.  I dont think the bidding process is beneficial to us, it's only beneficial to UPWORK becase we ultimately spend for the connects.

SAD TRUTH:  Since we are in their platform, we don't have a choice but to comply. In the future, we should be expecting more monetization from their end. 

[54642b27]

Any one tell me upwork change his policy all job charge 8 ,6, 4 connects. so any one explain . thanks 

[kelly_e]

Who is most interested has nothing to do with who is most qualified for the job, which should be Upwork's aim.

And heck, who is willing to *spend most* doesn't have anything to do with interest, either. I never send a single proposal where I'm not sure of my qualifications *and* tremendously interested. Yet my proposals never even get opened anymore, nevermind responded to, because of the utter glut of garbage that potential clients are seeing.

Upwork makes more $$$, on more freelancers using up more Connects, boosted and not boosted (no more 1 Connect jobs, I note), and clients (and freelancers) get zilch in relief.

I thought UW was trying to go upstream—but it appears to be a race to the bottom now.

[jvbonzi]

I agree. All updates come to make the platform worse for the users. Never an update that improves our end.  

[jvbonzi]

I just came across this Job post, and it's the first time I have seen a job that takes 8 connects to apply. Wasn't it 6 the max? Is it new?

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[harisfaisal1]

I haven't ever seen a job post that costs 8 connects to apply to, is this a new change or a bug?

[konraad2015]

I have seen a job which costs 8 connects to bid, and it already has 50+ bids. Will wait and see, but seems plan is dead from the start.

[jvbonzi]

I think I will just stop investing in it, stop applying for jobs, and just answer the invitations.

I feel that I am putting in so much effort, 2+ hours a day analyzing and sending proposals, and answering clients, and instead of things getting better, it just gets worse.

Availability Badge Connects, Boosted Proposals, Increase in Jobs Connects Costs.. the list goes on..

Every month there is a new update to squeeze out the max of us without any improvement on our end. It's just not paying off anymore.

I make less money now that I am a Top Rated Plus with 100k profit than before that, without those updates.

[feed_my_eyes]

---

Vitor G wrote:

I think I will just stop investing in it, stop applying for jobs, and just answer the invitations.

---

You still get invitations? I don't. 

[jvbonzi]

Not sure if they are legit though. I get invitations, but they rarely reply back. I don't understand.

[jelenaj3]

I can't say I like this. This means we have to invest more and more in purchasing connects. This platform should serve people to earn money. 

[cjourney]

"This platform should serve people to earn money." You're exactly right. Freelancers shouldn't have to "pay to play." Upwork already charges both freelancers and clients on the backend during active contracts. They're getting greedier. Charging more and more to use a WORK platform defeats the purpose of helping people earn a decent living. 🙄

[jelenaj3]

Yes, this is a little bit disappointing.

I'm begging my freelancing career here and it's challenging to win a job because I'm new on the platform, so investing money in proposals and connects is not so easy.

[feed_my_eyes]

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Cicely C wrote:

Charging more and more to use a WORK platform defeats the purpose of helping people earn a decent living. 🙄

---

"Helping people" is not Upwork's purpose - it's not a charity. This website exists to make a profit, like all businesses. (Whether it ever achieves this goal is another matter.)

[cjourney]

"it's not a charity" - True, but as I stated, they already make revenue by charging both freelancers and clients during active contracts. I've used this platform for quite some time, off and on, and I've seen the number of new paid features they've added over time. They want to continually increase their revenue, which is understandable for any business, but adding gimmicks like connects and bids cheapens the platform in my opinion.  

[ri3dviz]

They are reluctant to charge clients to list a job, which makes the platform a free for all of scammers, bad clients and low ball job listings. If they charged clients to post the number of jobs would go down but they would be better, that's not their business model though it's volume equals more profit.

[ri3dviz]

If they don't help freelancers then they will fail because they're not the only game in town, freelancers are paying their salaries all through the process with little regard for all the crap here.
I understand their business model it's a numbers game, more jobs on the books more profit. Precisely why they don't charge clients to post a job, which if they did it would weed out a lot of the BS postings.
It's not my company but I certainly wouldn't run it this way, I'm not sure it'll get better since I have been here since day one and it's much worse now than ever.