Are boosted proposals a sign of desperation?

[#1]

I am referring to desperation by both Upwork, now trying to make its main source of profits the sale of connects and Freelancers, increasing their expenditure on connects, to try and get the number of jobs they used to get before Boosting was invented. 

I suggest this is due to a reduction of awarded jobs in Upwork.

In my line of work, I have noticed that there is already a top boosted place of 50 connects on virtually every job I look at. This is too much coincidence. I think there is someone who  automatically boosts every bid by 50 connects and that he seems to bid on ALL the jobs in my category.
I wonder if this person has worked out that it pays. Supposing he gets one job from out of 50 jobs (because of the boosting) in which he spends 50 connects, that is 2500 connects at $0.15 each = $375.00.  The then job he gets should be worth at least $1000.00, to make it worthwhile, because of the time spent preparing the bids or it may pay more to turn burgers in McDonalds than working in Upwork.

[#2]

Bots have free 50 connects. It is.

[#3]

Thanks but I did not undersand this. Who are the bots? How do they get 50 connects? How often?

[#4]

Fake users. Upwork welcoming each with 50 connects for free. Thats why legal users must boost for 51+ connects.

[#5]

That's around $6 for 1 proposal? Quite expensive and it looks like a casino or betting shop.

[#6]

it looks like a casino or betting shop,

Where the connects are the chips. 😀

[#7]

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Biljana V wrote:

That's around $6 for 1 proposal? Quite expensive and it looks like a casino or betting shop.

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How so? If you boost your proposal to the top of the list, then your bid will be at the top of the list. So, you're getting what you paid for, namely, an increased chance of being seen by the client. If some freelancers misunderstand how boosting works, and think that they're betting on getting a job, that's their mistake.

However, I will say that if I actually WAS at a casino and somebody told me that I could pay a few dollars extra for a 24% increased chance of hitting the jackpot, I would take some of that action.

[#8]

I dont think Upwork is looking like a place to keep working for the long run, the behaviour of clients can be insulting and downgrading and you cant blame them, when there is an over supply of labour, the labour loses value. A client will message 5 people for a job they plan to hire one, not only that , Upwork doesnt give connects for interview anymore, So right now its best you dont talk to me if you arent going to hire honestly. 

If jobs are posted some sets of freelancers post in seconds with boosted proposals of 50, these are new profiles that just got free connects spamming over and over and Upwork does nothing, I really wish i could see the type of proposals these spammers write. Theres no need complaining because nothing will be done, Just keep getting the little jobs that come until its time to leave, Not a place for the long term. 

[#9]

Yes, I am already cultivating my clientele outside Upwork and looking for other methods to make money as I think the Upwork bubble can burst at any time.

[#10]

It will burst if they don't make any changes, they (previously) haven't made a profit for almost a decade.

So maybe, they're trying something new, where 'quality marketplace' and 'happiness of freelancers and clients' are no longer the priority.

What they're doing might work, because they finally had a profitable quarter, although we still need to see how long it will last.

Are boosted proposals a sign of desperation?

I see it more like a scheme by Upwork to maximize income from the resources.

[#11]

True, But its quite tricky, The freelancers keep them in business, picture a scenario where all thats left on Upwork are spammers and quality freelancers that spent the time to develop skills left the platform, It will backfire and the site would be very whack for clients who might repetedly be getting poor quality work here. I think they need to find a balance, Make your profit but ensure your users are happy by making little changes here and there that would cost you nothing. They hardly make any suggested changes, and bank on good name to keep both freelancers and clients spending, But with time I wonder how things would go tho

[#12]

It will backfire, they need to find a balance, hardly make any suggested changes

There will be a saturation point where all good freelancers are not willing, or will be extra careful, in doing work here. Where it will result in so many "failed" jobs, leading to no more real clients, leading in the thinking of "there's no point of buying connects here"  for all freelancers.

It could take some time to reach that point, where I strongly believe Upwork already has some contingency plans that they will implement at the first sign of a problem.

What we're complaining here are either predicted, or read and studied to help in determining the direction of the grand scheme 😅

[#13]

Who knows what they will come up with in the new year.

They tend to make some crazy changes towards the year end or by start of the year.

Connects might even get more costly the way i see it and probably do something that will further frustrate people but they have built a large number of workers here, so definitely lots of loyal people to keep the spending going... It's all a matter of the CLIENTS , will clients keep paying enough to make the freelancers see the value of spending? I hope they do make the right choices.. because freelancers aren't stupid 

[#14]

My complaint about Upwork is that it has placed itself in the group of sites of cheapo freelancers, like Fiverr and Freelancer (although it is not quite as bad) so, if people are looking for cheap work, they may prefer those other sites. Fiverr does a lot of advertising, nothing like what Upwork does. Upwork may end up losing out to those sites.
I believe that the perception of Upwork should be the place where buyers find quality, not quantity of cheapos. I hear that Upwork is currently accepting lots of 'bots' (as the other poster here says) who find it easy to open provider accounts and I guess without having to prove their qualifications and abilities. Of the ones that are in the design field, I wonder where the pictures of 'their' work come from.

[#15]

When you are from the UK or other western expensive countries, platforms like this can make it hard to get what you are worth or need because you are competing with a global audience of workers who may not need to earn that much to live a good life in their country. 

[#16]

But a smaller number of quality freelancers would be far less profitabe for Upwork than this mess.

[#17]

A top executive from Upwork earned 8.5 million USD dollars last year, and the company took a loss. You would think bonuses would be tied to profits, not losses. 🙂 

[#18]

I won't comment on that because I don't know exactly how to calculate the value of a CEO. CEO might be using tricks to get high pay, although at the same time I feel it's not easy. It's different with Theranos where the thing they're 'selling' is new, Upwork (the predecessor) and the likes have been running for over a decade.

But some facts:

• The changes resulted in their first quarterly profit.
• (At least) Fiverr also book some profit around the same time, so it's not entirely happen because of the CEO and the changes? But I don't know if Fiverr made any changes that resulted in the profit though.

[#19]

• The changes resulted in their first quarterly profit.

The first quarter when a lot of us made little money.

That does not look very good does it?

[#20]

Does not look good from our point of view.

Can we reasonably expect them to sustain quarterly net losses for another decade?

[#21]

For Upwork, would say it may have been of necessity, but I wouldn't call it desperation. It was just a strategy to boost revenues quickly and it worked.

I think some freelancers boost because they are desperate and think it's the only way to land a job. I don't understand the thinking of people who claim to have spent hundreds of dollars bidding and not landed a job, but they're still spending money. But, different freelancers use the system differently. 

I boost when I am especially interested in a job and know that I'm probably the best candidate for it. My stats tell me I've spent $28.55 on boosting in the past 6 months. That's just under 13 minutes of earnings across six months, so no big trauma. 

[#22]

Good and had with the boosting. I think it cuts out the extreme low end prices but I also think it allows people who may not be qualified to get to the top. Similar to Google in that the first page results don't necessarily mean those are the best companies, just the ones that know/can afford to advertise. 

[#23]

While I understand that boosting helps Upwork's revenues, paying to boost proposals and profiles without any regard for freelancer quality and capability negatively affects the client experience.