Can we vote to return Upwork proposals boost ...

shynkarenko_yuri · ‎02-06-2022

I think this is a great feature which can help to stand out most motivated freelancers. During the beta-version I got a lot of jobs thanks to boost feature. You know, 90% of freelancers bidding do it for fun, in an unprofessional way, which makes skilled freelancers get lost in this crowd.

If I represented Upwork, I would increase price for connects 3x. Upwork provides best platform in the world for online jobs, which is unique in its own way, and I think that 15$ for 80 connects or so are cat tears.

petra_r · ‎02-06-2022

Yurii S wrote:
Can we vote to return Upwork proposals boost feature?

This isn't some kind of democracy or "vote for your feature" gameshow, so no, we can't "vote on it..."

If we could vote on it it would never come back because the overwhelming majority of freelancers absolutely detested it. Look at the mammoth thread on the matter.

Yurii S wrote:
You know, 90% of freelancers bidding do it for fun, in an unprofessional way, which makes skilled freelancers get lost in this crowd.

They did while they could do so for 1 connect. Clients were drowning in proposals. Skilled freelancers were getting lost in the crowd. Being able to afford to buy connects says NOTHING about the quality of the freelancer in any way at all.

petra_r · ‎02-06-2022

Farag S wrote:
What about that new availability badge then, if you can’t spend minimum of 24 connects per month to have it on, it will very likely suggest you’re busy and may result in less invites…

Unless you regularly get plenty of invites, it has no effect at all. It ONLY shows in search results, not in proposals, so unless you are high enough in the search results to get plenty of unsolicited invites, having the badge is a complete waste of money.

Do you? (Regularly get unsolicited invites?)

Farag S wrote:
It’s not a bad idea, it’s kind of the same thing but for invites, and everyone is ok with it.

Where did you get that idea from? (It's factually incorrect).

petra_r · ‎02-06-2022

Farag S wrote:

everyone is turning it on, which means they are ok with it.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

And how does people turning it on mean they are ok with it? (Hint: It doesn't)

Farag S wrote:

So, it’s the same thing but only useful for invites, less effective promotional strategy in general to us freelancers, at the same cost of a better one we had (proposal boost), which you are saying the majority disapproved.

No, it isn't "the same thing" and I think both are a super bad, bad, bad idea, with the boosted bids being much, much worse on every level.

martina_plaschka · ‎02-06-2022

Nothing wrong with stating your opinion, but stop talking for everybody. You don't represent anybody but yourself.

And for the "everybody is using it" - look at my profile, I don't. I bet you some connects that all the other experienced freelancers also don't. I don't speak for them, though. Just a lucky guess.

martina_plaschka · ‎02-06-2022

I don't. Boosting proposals is an utterly useless and overall terrible idea.

I don't care if people choose to somewhat cheapen their profile with the availability badge, but I care a lot about what proposals clients see and in which order.

Once you understand upwork better, you will understand what the experienced freelancers in the forum really care about - it's customer experience. The customer being the client, not the freelancer. We want clients - who are the ones bringing money into the platform - to have a great experience and keep using upwork longterm. How can that be achieved? Clients need to be able to connect with freelancers that are qualified and professional, that can get the job done, and help the client to achieve his goals.

Boosting connects make the client believe that these freelancers are endorsed by upwork. They will expect great results from them, which will often not happen. We have a reasonably good metric for a client to evaluate a freelancer - a great JSS. That, together with a convincing profile, and a good interview performance, should be enough to connect the client with the freelancer who is best for him.

It doesn't always work out. Read about client's complaints in the client section.

feed_my_eyes · ‎02-06-2022

Farag S wrote:
What about that new availability badge then, if you can’t spend minimum of 24 connects per month to have it on, it will very likely suggest you’re busy and may result in less invites…
It’s not a bad idea, it’s kind of the same thing but for invites, and everyone is ok with it.

No, everyone isn't okay with the availability badge.

martina_plaschka · ‎02-06-2022

The thing is, serious clients don't expect serious freelancers to respond within seconds. They expect them to be busy, maybe in the middle of work they can't interrupt that very second, maybe in the middle of hourly tracking.

Yes, there might be jobs that need to be done in the next 5 seconds. I don't want those.

pgiambalvo · ‎02-06-2022

And the chance to get hired should be based on who's most qualified and the best fit for that postion, not on who's willing to boost their proposal.

martina_plaschka · ‎02-06-2022

Yes, let's put it to the vote:

I'm 100% against it the bidding on jobs.

For the bidding on the availability badge: don't care about it one way or the other. I'm never going to use it because IMO it looks cheap and desperate on a profile, but for the people who like it, go for it.

pgiambalvo · ‎02-06-2022

I vote no.

moonraker · ‎02-06-2022

It's an easy no from me.

data_divas · ‎02-06-2022

Voting NO to both.