Discouraged :(

melaniekhenson · ‎03-19-2018

TLDR: My JSS went UP...and I stopped getting jobs. Would love any input as to what I may be doing wrong.

*

Somebody talk me off the ledge. Or slap me. Or say something nice. Anything will do. 🙂

Since I started Upwork last October, I haven't had any problem getting projects, and have been approached as well. That (the approaching) waxed and waned but either way, if I wanted new jobs I could manage to get them; if I didn't, and I got offers, I could decline.

My JSS took a giant hit to the 80s following a couple of flights of idiocy on my part, including not having vetted a client properly to see that he hadn't had great FB (he left me great FB, BTW), and having to close a job he opened but never assigned me work on. Then there was a client who asked me to do way out-of-scope work...like, graphic artist work. So down I went.

BUT I kept getting work. It was no problem at all. This went on for a couple of months. I have an ongoing client so I wasn't taking numerous jobs on. That means I didn't push my FB up as quickly as I otherwise might have, but I bumped up to the 90s and now...crickets.

I mean literally, immediately after my JSS going UP I got NO MORE jobs. Period. It was just nuts. Granted it's only been three or four weeks but I am really, really scared.

I changed my profile up a bit...not much. I changed the wording to be a hair less "sales-y." I thought maybe that was the problem. Nope. Nothing. Now I just increased my rate by $10 as I am in that middle range. Still nothing.

This month, for my first time ever, I used all my connects. 😞 I used the very last one today. I reset tomorrow. I am very, very scared. Nobody is hiring me, and I don't know why.

Anybody have a clue? BTW, I am in an "up"-cycle of getting approaches but they're largely not appropriate, or I have answered and didn't get a response after that. It's not a question of not personalizing my proposals. I definitely do, and I'm not talking a template with the client's keywords put in or anything. I mean specific to each job.

Anybody have any ideas? At all? I have ongoing work that is keeping me going, but if that job were to suddenly end, I'd be in trouble. Thanks so much!

petra_r · ‎03-19-2018

Melanie, have a hug 🙂

That's freelancing, and it will happen again and again and every time you think the world will end a wonderful new client will miraculously fall into your lap until next time things go t*ts up again.

You'll be fine.

Keep going!

melaniekhenson · ‎03-19-2018

Thanks so much to both of you.

I shall keep on keepin' on.

I appreciate the advice very much and I'll keep it in mind...and just keep swimming, swimming. 😄

melaniekhenson · ‎03-20-2018

@Petra R wrote:
Melanie, have a hug 🙂

That's freelancing, and it will happen again and again and every time you think the world will end a wonderful new client will miraculously fall into your lap until next time things go t*ts up again.

You'll be fine.

Keep going!

I don't think I answered the first two replies with a personal note...I'm sorry...I appreciate your kind words very much, Petra. I'll plug along.

charles_kozierok · ‎03-19-2018

Here's what you are likely doing wrong: nothing.

Follow sports at all? Players get into slumps, and they always try to find reasons for it, change things.. and usually they were never doing anything different at all, it's just the way randomness works. Then the streak ends all on its own, and they do funny things like refusing to shave their beards or wearing the same pair of socks for a month because they're convinced it broke them out of a slump. 🙂

Freelancing is also streaky. Notoriously so.

Last year when I got very active here again after being on Elance/oDesk years before, I hit the ground running and got a lot of projects very quickly. Then, after a few months, it all just dried up. Dozens of proposals with no interviews. I'd finally get an interview.. and it wouldn't work out. When I got a client, it turned out the job was fraudulent and got cancelled.

This went on for two months! And I mean dozens of project proposals. The same ones that worked before. I wasn't doing anything different, just the ball kept bouncing the wrong way.

And then, like the sports players, it went away on its own.

Last week I went a week with no invites or interviews and started to get antsy.. and then 3 invites appeared in the span of 2 hours. Streaky.

It's not a bad idea to review your profile, the types of jobs you apply to, and the proposals you send in. But chances are that it's just "one of those things."

melaniekhenson · ‎03-20-2018

@Charles K wrote:
Here's what you are likely doing wrong: nothing.

Follow sports at all? Players get into slumps, and they always try to find reasons for it, change things.. and usually they were never doing anything different at all, it's just the way randomness works. Then the streak ends all on its own, and they do funny things like refusing to shave their beards or wearing the same pair of socks for a month because they're convinced it broke them out of a slump. 🙂

Freelancing is also streaky. Notoriously so.

Last year when I got very active here again after being on Elance/oDesk years before, I hit the ground running and got a lot of projects very quickly. Then, after a few months, it all just dried up. Dozens of proposals with no interviews. I'd finally get an interview.. and it wouldn't work out. When I got a client, it turned out the job was fraudulent and got cancelled.

This went on for two months! And I mean dozens of project proposals. The same ones that worked before. I wasn't doing anything different, just the ball kept bouncing the wrong way.

And then, like the sports players, it went away on its own.

Last week I went a week with no invites or interviews and started to get antsy.. and then 3 invites appeared in the span of 2 hours. Streaky.

It's not a bad idea to review your profile, the types of jobs you apply to, and the proposals you send in. But chances are that it's just "one of those things."

This is really heartening. I appreciate it so much. Yes, I do follow sports, somewhat by proxy, I'll admit (my husband is the commissioner on something like 8 fantasy football leagues) but yes...I get the analogy.

I'm encouraged to hear this.

tlbp · ‎03-20-2018

I wonder if when a freelancer is in the high 80's they are perceived as a good deal because the client assumes that the freelancer is at the top of the "less than 90%" pack. Perhaps clients think they will pay a premium for Top Rated and an almost Top Rated then becomes a bargain. You are competing against the 90 and down JSS group.

Once you become Top Rated, a client who is seeking TR is comparing you to a smaller, more closely scored group.

melaniekhenson · ‎03-20-2018

@Tonya P. wrote:

I wonder if when a freelancer is in the high 80's they are perceived as a good deal because the client assumes that the freelancer is at the top of the "less than 90%" pack. Perhaps clients think they will pay a premium for Top Rated and an almost Top Rated then becomes a bargain. You are competing against the 90 and down JSS group.

Once you become Top Rated, a client who is seeking TR is comparing you to a smaller, more closely scored group.

I've wondered about the psychology of all this, especially since it seemed like such a drastic 180 immediately after I got past the 80s. I can't do anything about this right now until I get more work to change the score one way or another, I guess. So I'll just keep plugging along.

I am glad in the meantime that I do have one ongoing client. I'm really thinking toward the future. I worry about this constantly and am trying whatever I can to fix this issue.

Thanks so much.

tatianart · ‎03-20-2018

Hi Melanie!

Unfortunately I can’t answer on question what are you doing wrong and be optimistic.

I have similar sad story. I am active here from 2012, permanently TR, completed more than 370 projects. Last month I run out of connects because almost all my applications were without answer. Looks like all suddenly became wrong with me.

I have never got “ a lot” of invitations here, never complained about big attention from talent Specialists and so on, but I could get jobs on regular basis all these years. I didn’t complained, now I am nasty, angry, disappointed, frustrated.

Last month, when I had to sit without possibility to apply on new jobs, I had invitations and all of them were without result or I got 2 clients with no actual jobs and with very rude behavior. But I had to accept it, because I had no choice.

Before I had a lot of different working situations here, but my JSS continued to grow, I added nice projects to my portfolio, working on it permanently. May be it is not ideal, but I am upgrading it regularly with new styles. I have never stopped working or applying on jobs, always answered on invitations.

Now I just sending job applications the second month every day and looks like I am writing to nowhere. What is the next step: my account will be suspended, because I sent too many proposals?

I don’t see any solution, but I don’t believe that just personal bad luck is a right explanation… something is going wrong here. Not with you or me. Upwork was my unique income source, now it looks like it became just a hobby site, where one day I’ll get some job again, but that is too little result for all this hassle with JSS, stars, connects, huge fees…

I would be really happy to know if someone with similar background here is already overcome such “bad luck time” and can give advice.

lizablau · ‎03-20-2018

Your profile title says: Visual Artist (illustrations, amination).

Don't you mean "animation"?

tatianart · ‎03-20-2018

Certainly, that is a main problem:-) Thank you so much

melaniekhenson · ‎03-20-2018

@Tatiana T wrote:
Certainly, that is a main problem:-) Thank you so much

Tatiana, keep in touch and please update if you see any change!

tatianart · ‎03-20-2018

Yes, sure, and I am very interested in your news.

tatianart · ‎03-23-2018

Hi Melanie,

Hope things are going better for you?

From my side, I at least started to get small response on my applications and I managed to land 3 jobs ( 2 very small 1 time, one with some future potential) . I spent almost all my connects on this ( the next renew will be on the 16 of April…) I have some jobs to do right now but to compare: before I had 50-100 connects left almost every connects renew cycle and 5-7 active job projects at the same time in my pocket. So the result is much better than nothing , but not good from perspective. I’ll be slowly moving from this site to explore other possibilities.

Good luck with your jobs here.

Tatiana

melaniekhenson · ‎03-24-2018

@Tatiana T wrote:
Hi Melanie,
Hope things are going better for you?
From my side, I at least started to get small response on my applications and I managed to land 3 jobs ( 2 very small 1 time, one with some future potential) . I spent almost all my connects on this ( the next renew will be on the 16 of April…) I have some jobs to do right now but to compare: before I had 50-100 connects left almost every connects renew cycle and 5-7 active job projects at the same time in my pocket. So the result is much better than nothing , but not good from perspective. I’ll be slowly moving from this site to explore other possibilities.
Good luck with your jobs here.
Tatiana

Thanks for then update! I have since been approached several times. I may have a "yes," fingers crossed.

melaniekhenson · ‎03-20-2018

@Tatiana T. wrote:

Hi Melanie!

Unfortunately I can’t answer on question what are you doing wrong and be optimistic.(snip)

Hi, Tatiana! I have a suggestion: I'd take out the disclaimer. Simply refuse a free test if it's suggested after you apply for a job. But it may look like you're going to be tough to work with from the outset if you have it right there on the profile. Putting it on your profile may also make it appear that for whatever reason, you're getting approached constantly for free work, and though this is probably unfair, it may be putting clients off. (Just thinking about the psychology here, as Tonya got me thinking, LOL!) Do you want to perhaps try that and see how it goes? Small changes...maybe we'll get there...

I'd welcome critique on my profile as well. I changed it again last night. I'm toning it down from my former "salesy" voice. But if you see anything...speak out...I'd be glad for the help! It's odd to be asking advice after almost 20 years in the business but perhaps I'm not staying relevant. It seems being a dinosaur does not equate to more work, LOL! 😉

tatianart · ‎03-20-2018

Hi Melanie, thank you for reply, I am ready to change things and getting critic. I am not pretending on perfection 😃 Just corrected spelling mistake in my profile. I had the same cycles of usless discussions from clients expecting all things listed in disclimer. I am tired to explain the same things again and again for years. And all worked quite well , at least they know what they can get honestly. I don't believe in it, but ready to make corrections in profile. Let's see could it change something or not😡

dossy · ‎03-20-2018

I've noticed that March has been _really_ slow -- the quality of jobs being posted to Upwork has noticeably declined, the amount of downtime/instability of the service has noticeably gone up -- and yeah, where I was regularly able to get hired to several projects per week from October through February ... has pretty much evaporated for these first 3 weeks (!!!) of March.

I suspect it might be partially seasonal as March into April is tough budget-wise for lots of people with income taxes due in April for the folks in the US, but since this is my first year actively being on Upwork (similarly, I started back in October 2017) ... I don't know if this is a seasonal cycle or just coincidence.

For me, I'm using Upwork as a kind of market research to see what kind of jobs are getting posted and the quantity of those jobs that I am interested in, then trying to formulate a plan to create some landing pages and ad campaigns around trying to do lead generation to reach those kinds of clients _outside_ of Upwork (not violating ToS -- this is generating new leads, not taking clients off the platform, tyvm!) ... so that eventually I can convert the 10-20% in fees into an advertising/marketing budget spend, instead.

I've been full-time freelancing since 2009 ... it's not easy to weather the storms that are inevitable as things swing up and down ... but, if you have both the stamina and the patience to wait it out ... nothing lasts forever, not even the slow times. Hang in there. We're here if you need a shoulder to cry on. 😉

melaniekhenson · ‎03-20-2018

Thank you so very much, Ed!

versailles · ‎03-20-2018

Screw a job or two which will lower your JSS and you're back on the tracks.

-----------
"Where darkness shines like dazzling light" —William Ashbless

melaniekhenson · ‎03-20-2018

@Rene K wrote:
Screw a job or two which will lower your JSS and you're back on the tracks.

Don't laugh, but I'm wondering if this is what it's going to take!

"OMG my JSS dropped...SWEET!" (fist pump)

Just kidding...

dalandanux · ‎03-21-2018

I think there's just some seasonality in this platform.

I've been working on smaller contracts lately than I was when I first started here because bigger contracts in my field haven't been available here in quite some time. There has been an influx of more postings (than usual) to the effect of "build me a whole website like Facebook for $100 by tomorrow". Plus, it seems there are a lot more people now who want to be freelance, remote UX designers - and not enough available good client work to support all of us.

We're in the same or similar boats. I've been Top Rated since I first became eligible for it in mid-2016. I made my profile public in January after getting some great testimonials last quarter.

But in January, while two other contracts were on hold, I took on a bad-fit client who left me negative feedback. (He's new to Upwork, and I've found out since that he has left bad feedback for everyone he's hired on here.) That caused my JSS to drop from 99% to 93%, and for several weeks I went from getting interview requests every day to getting none. I had that feedback removed and still have not landed any new work here since.

Key lessons learned:

On Upwork, don't take on a client you're not sure about just to be busy. When you're not working through a review-based platform, sure, take on the work. But on a review-based platform, $100 or $1000 now from the wrong client can easily mean $0 for a long time later.
Build your online reputation not only here but on multiple other platforms. I'm exploring several other sites to join. Each platform promises to be the only place we ever need to get work, but relying on a single platform is just as insecure as relying on a full-time job.

boshoffirene · ‎03-21-2018

Meh...don't worry so much. Freelancing works in cycles. Feast and famine are a FACT...one day everyone wants to hire you, the next day you feel as if you have fallen off the planet. You will soon be swamped with work...mark my words. 😉

These days, I take the 'down' times as a time to get in some R&R...or get things done around the house...because as sure as the grass is green....I am gonna get hit with something that gives me sleepless nights!

That's just the way this business is.

charles_kozierok · ‎03-21-2018

"(He's new to Upwork, and I've found out since that he has left bad feedback for everyone he's hired on here.)"

This is actually one of the few things that can get Upwork to crack down on a client.

Maybe one of the mods here can follow up with you.

"On Upwork, don't take on a client you're not sure about just to be busy."

I agree that you should never take on any client with red flags, regardless of the project or how busy you are. Otherwise it can be important to take on lesser projects to fill available time.

"Build your online reputation not only here but on multiple other platforms."

I wish I could find others that were worth the bother. Every other one I've looked at has some combination of low job volume, lowballing clients, lowballing freelancers, silly "contests" or other gimmicks.

Back in the day, the best competition was always been oDesk and Elance, but the corporate guys took care of that...

firescue17 · ‎03-21-2018

@Melanie H wrote:
TLDR: My JSS went UP ...

I wouldn't worry about this too much. Rest assured, if you continue to submit accurate bids, communicate effectively, and complete outstanding work ...

Your JSS will go back down.

That's a joke ☺

Sometimes freelancing sucks. Just like a brick and mortar job. Hang in there. Inevitably, it will turn around. And then turn around again.