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alex_shakhov
Community Member

Am I visible? Good profile: no invitations, no responses, no contracts.

Hello,

Not sure if this category is also the correct one to ask a question, but I will leave it here, expecting someone would get back to me with feedback.

 

The main problem is that I think that I have some problems with visibility on Upwork...


During my experience on Upwork, I'd been receiving many invitations to the interview, which allowed me to get well enough projects to stop sending the proposals and fill all the gaps in my schedule and work for 30h/w. I always had between 2 to 8 open contracts, however, anyway I'd been receiving invitations to the interviews on a regular basis. Because of this, I also was able to jump into a short term project, if I saw a time gap in a schedule or wanted to get an additional project.

Beginning in August, I stopped receiving the invitations to the interview and until today got just around eight invites which were not fit my specialization. 

I decided to send some proposals and faced with an issue, that almost nobody gets back to me and in most cases even do not hire anyone at all. That is why I started doubting, whether my profile is visible for most of the clients who are looking for a person from my industry?

 

I really feel that my profile looks amazing (let me know if I am wrong) and my experience and skills are in demand for sure, however, I have no idea why I can't receive any project on Upwork from the beginning of August.

Please advise, is that OK to have always just between 0 to 8 profile views and do not receive invitations to the interview for an experienced Top Rated freelancer with 100% of JSS, more than 3,100 hours worked, with 86% of long-term contracts, and around 80k earned on Upwork?

I was thinking the more good stats profile has the more invites to the interview freelancer gets.
No doubt, it should be the right scheme, but it doesn't look like it works well.

Or I just somehow became invisible for clients? 

So any feedback about my issue is much appreciated.

ACCEPTED SOLUTION


Alex S wrote:

 

Probably the reason is that my earings are hidden. I will unhide it and see if something changes - thank you for this advice, I did not know it could have an effect.


While you're at it, I would also strongly recommend that you tone down the boasting. Claiming to be better / faster / bla bla than ANY other freelancer on Upwork is nonsense, as you don't know all other freelancers in your field. It sounds disingenious.

 

Also delete "Please, don't contact me if you think $20/h freelancers are much more profitable for your business than the $50/h ones. Do the math." - it's rude and offputting and makes you sound unapproachable and arrogant, and as someone who has active contracts at that lower rate, ridiculous.


Clients are human beings, and human beings want to work with nice people they can get on with. It is important to come across as such a person and as an approachable person.

 

It's easier to turn down or negotiate a better rate on invites you do get, than to not get any at all because clients are put off by how you come across.

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22 REPLIES 22
volkot
Community Member

Forget!
Upwork dies!
I haven't projects since June

alex_shakhov
Community Member

I still look forward to any kind of feedback on this!


Alex S wrote:

I still look forward to any kind of feedback on this!


I see three main issues on your profile which are connected and, without any shadow of a doubt, affecting your invites and hire-rate:

 

1. You have set your earnings to private. This excludes you from any and all searches where a client sets a minimum level of earnings. Clients who want someone with some experience often set that filter to filter out anyone with 0 earnings. This also filters out everyone who hides their rates. It also looks sneaky and like you have something to hide (likely the fact that you work at a fraction of your profile rate, which is a red flag to any client.

earned amount.jpg

That brings us to...

 

2. You have set a very high profile rate, which means clients who are more than happy to pay the rates you REALLY charge, dismiss you because they think they can't afford you. Those who take the time to check and see that you actually work at a fraction of your profile rate, assume that you are some kind of chancer who is trying to take unsuspecting clients for a ride at a higher rate than you would normally charge.

 

3. Your profile rate at $ 130 means that you would only show up for clients who search in the $ 60+ range (when your existing contracts are at a small fraction of your profile rate of $ 130. Those clients who would be more than happy to pay you what you actually do charge, and possibly even more, likely filter in the lower ranges, and of course will not find you. Those who filter in the $ 60+ an hour range, won't hire you because they see that you're working at far less.

hourly rate.jpg

 

My advice would be to set your profile rate to something more realistic (not a multiple of what you work at) and to stop hiding your rates.

Hi Petra,

Thanks for your feedback. I changed (increased) hourly rates just yesterday - I hoped it would update my visibility for clients since when I had my normal $50/$33/$40 nothing happened - I took only one contract since Nov 1 despite I always available for work and sometimes even send proposals.

 

Probably the reason is that my earings are hidden. I will unhide it and see if something changes - thank you for this advice, I did not know it could have an effect.

I will keep you posted on how everything is going in a couple of weeks.
Thanks!



Alex S wrote:

 

Probably the reason is that my earings are hidden. I will unhide it and see if something changes - thank you for this advice, I did not know it could have an effect.


While you're at it, I would also strongly recommend that you tone down the boasting. Claiming to be better / faster / bla bla than ANY other freelancer on Upwork is nonsense, as you don't know all other freelancers in your field. It sounds disingenious.

 

Also delete "Please, don't contact me if you think $20/h freelancers are much more profitable for your business than the $50/h ones. Do the math." - it's rude and offputting and makes you sound unapproachable and arrogant, and as someone who has active contracts at that lower rate, ridiculous.


Clients are human beings, and human beings want to work with nice people they can get on with. It is important to come across as such a person and as an approachable person.

 

It's easier to turn down or negotiate a better rate on invites you do get, than to not get any at all because clients are put off by how you come across.

grimesr
Community Member

Also, why quote yourself in the first paragraph. Obviously you said it if you wrote it.

 

Also, I personally don't like sentences that aren't or buzz words like "lead gen". If you say your are the best professional, then write like one.

petra_r
Community Member


Robert G wrote:

Also, why quote yourself in the first paragraph. Obviously you said it if you wrote it.

 

Also, I personally don't like sentences that aren't or buzz words like "lead gen". If you say your are the best professional, then write like one.


I agree with both those points... His profile reads as if he's taken "advice" from a well known "How to make 200k on Upwork / Freelance to win" marketer...


Alex, have you?

grimesr
Community Member

Petra, I agree with you.

 

Also, (and I don't know how to say this politely), it sounds like some of the "arrogrant" younger generation who think they are better than anyone and are intitled to be recognized as such. [that really sounded harsh]. 

 

We always have to remember, there are probably a number of people with similar talents, how do we differentiate ourselves. For me, how you speak/write is the deciding factor.


Petra R wrote:

Robert G wrote:

Also, why quote yourself in the first paragraph. Obviously you said it if you wrote it.

 

Also, I personally don't like sentences that aren't or buzz words like "lead gen". If you say your are the best professional, then write like one.


I agree with both those points... His profile reads as if he's taken "advice" from a well known "How to make 200k on Upwork / Freelance to win" marketer...


Alex, have you?


Petra,

 

I have not.


I even have no idea what kind of "marketer's advice" you're talking about.

 

Firstly, I don't have time to read articles about how to raise money on Upwork.

Secondly, I am well enough experienced in marketing in order to have an understanding of how to make my profile more attractive to potential clients.

 

However, this issue with visibility is absolutely unclear to me. I was thinking, Upwork is interested in professionals who bring money to the marketplace, which means Upwork has to recommend my profile to people who are looking for individuals where my knowledge required, but it looks like it doesn't work this way.

 

That's why I'm wondering, how this recommendation option works.


‎To be honest, when I look for a professional for my project (as a client), I do have in recommendations (best match) the freelancers with ~80% JSS instead of the really best ones within the Upwork marketplace.

It is really strange.
Anyway, thank you for the advice, Petra, I will try to put my overview in order and will get rid of the incorrect phrases.

You are wasting all of your above the fold space on a quote that is packed with jargon and difficult/boring to read. Also, don't disclose your last name on your profile (it violates TOS). 

Upwork rotates profiles in discovery so you will have a tough time landing gigs via invitation only. Also, different types of clients respond to different approaches. Your copy may be too self-focused for some prospects. Keep everything short and hyperfocused on WIIFT.  


Firstly, I don't have time to read articles about how to raise money on Upwork.

Secondly, I am well enough experienced in marketing in order to have an understanding of how to make my profile more attractive to potential clients.

 

However, this issue with visibility is absolutely unclear to me. I was thinking, Upwork is interested in professionals who bring money to the marketplace, which means Upwork has to recommend my profile to people who are looking for individuals where my knowledge required, but it looks like it doesn't work this way.

 

Your comments are exactly what has been discussed about being wrong with the tone of your profile. I always have time to better my knowledge of how to do a better job. I really think your prespective is misguided if you think all you need to worry about is upwork. I do everything I can to better my chances of getting selected and if upwork profits, so be it. Also, if you are so well experienced in marketing, why are you asking here for help?

 

Humility goes a long way, and I don't see it here.

 

Again, just my opinion and probably not worth much.


Alex S wrote:

Firstly, I don't have time to read articles about how to raise money on Upwork.

Secondly, I am well enough experienced in marketing in order to have an understanding of how to make my profile more attractive to potential clients.


If you say so...

How's that working out for you?

(Not so great, apparently, or this thread wouldn't have been started in the first place, would it?)

Petra, I really appreciate your advice and help you provided me with. And I also apologize if my previous message looked rude - I did not want to be disrespectful. Your advice was really helpful to me and I am going to follow it hoping it would allow me to get more projects on Upwork, 


My question was more about my profile visibility because I really did not think that 0 to 6 weekly profile views is a good statistic for an active profile which regularly brings money to the marketplace. Upwork is not the only place I work at, however, it could have been if I have more offers there.

 

Probably my overview doesn't look good to many potential clients and I agree that probably its style is one of the reasons why nobody wants ho hire me, however, it could have made a sense in case if I have 100+ profile views a week and no invitations to the interviews. But right now I do see 0 views of my profile and I don't think this is due to my overview.

I have already made my earings unhidden and changed the rates to the normal ones, so I hope this would affect positively my Upwork presence. Thank you for this advice!


Alex S wrote:

I have already made my earings unhidden and changed the rates to the normal ones, so I hope this would affect positively my Upwork presence. Thank you for this advice!


Good for you! Also, start applying! Many of us have noticed that once we started applying, we started getting more invites. This is just based on the experience of many freelancers, including my own.

It's as if sending applications signals to the algorithm that we are available and actively looking for more work, which then improves visibility.

Again I have to stress that this is circumstantial evidence, but it would make sense for Upwork to show those profiles to clients who are clearly available and willing to take on work.


Petra R wrote:

Alex S wrote:

I have already made my earings unhidden and changed the rates to the normal ones, so I hope this would affect positively my Upwork presence. Thank you for this advice!


Good for you! Also, start applying! Many of us have noticed that once we started applying, we started getting more invites. This is just based on the experience of many freelancers, including my own.

It's as if sending applications signals to the algorithm that we are available and actively looking for more work, which then improves visibility.

Again I have to stress that this is circumstantial evidence, but it would make sense for Upwork to show those profiles to clients who are clearly available and willing to take on work.


Thank you very much, Petra!

Happy Holidays! 

.

grimesr
Community Member

At this moment your profile is not public, at least to me. That will make it hard to see what you can do.

petra_r
Community Member


Robert G wrote:

At this moment your profile is not public, at least to me. That will make it hard to see what you can do.


His profile is set to Upwork users only, which means it can not be clicked through from the forum profile directly.

feed_my_eyes
Community Member

Our invitations have decreased because Upwork decided that clients could only have three invitations per project unless they pay extra. I think that this policy has done a lot of damage to both freelancers and clients and I'm still hoping that Upwork will reconsider.

 

I am going to disagree. I have seen too many projects with numbers bigger than 3, some greater than 10. To me, that means the client really doesn't care about reading a proposal and looking at how freelancer can help, but more wanting to look in a phone book and taking the first 3 listed.

 

I will admit that since I rarely rely on invitations, I maybe really biased.

 

There might be differences based on the type of projects and that might change my mind about this issue, but for my group, I would rather it be limited. Maybe 3 is too small, maybe 5 is ok. Also, maybe the client could have a way to have 3 active invitations and add another if somehow one of the 3 is no longer considered. I just thing think there needs to be some limit to help focus more on getting a good freelancer for the client.

Robert, that's unfortunately not what the limit is about--it's about getting clients to pay. Those who are willing to fork over $49.99 for a monthly membership can send a great many more.


Robert G wrote:

Maybe 3 is too small, maybe 5 is ok. Also, maybe the client could have a way to have 3 active invitations and add another if somehow one of the 3 is no longer considered.


Totally agree - I think that this would be a lot better.

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