Is there much more demand than usual?

[13b0bd5e]

Hi Community, 

Are you guys observing an uptick in client demand?

I'm a client, and I'm finding an usually low response rate from freelancers that I have invited to a project (compared to other similar projects, where I've invited similar freelancers). 

Fwiw, my stats are 4.99 rating, and spending over $20k on Upwork. 

Thanks!  

[gilbert-phyllis]

I think there are likely as many answers to this question as there are categories on the platform. Personally, I was dead in the water for nearly two months before things picked up. I now have as much work as I can handle for the next few weeks and most of it has come via invitations. Both quantity and quality of invitations have increased substantially for me, starting about a month ago. I know several other long-time FLs in various fields who are staying pretty busy at the moment. 

[13b0bd5e]

Thanks a lot for the reply Phyllis!

Especially once you've indicated that several other of your colleagues are having a similar experience, I'd say that's a resounding 'Yes!'.    

[feed_my_eyes]

I can only speak for myself, but I always respond to client invitations if the budget is right and it's a good fit for my skills, no matter how busy I am (if the project sounds really great, I'll find the time for it). 

If freelancers really are too busy to take on work, the usual practice is to set ourselves to "unavailable" so that we won't even show up in the search results. Therefore, it's odd that you'd be turned down because people are too busy. You must have received "decline" reasons when you sent out your invitations? I would recommend reading those for more insight. It could be that you're inadvertently not putting enough detail in your project description, or your budget is unrealistic, or you're selecting freelancers who don't possess the skills that you require; making adjustments to this should yield you a better response rate.

[wlyonsatl]

Michael,

My experience over the past few weeks is fewer new projects posted that meet my criteria for type of work and even fewer that meet my financial mimimum.

Anecdotally, today I came across a project that offered a $5 fixed price. The poster might have intended it to be an hourly project; their average payscale on past projects is $3.13 an hour.

And I did get an invitation to tell a potential client "which stock has better forecasting potential to buy during the pandemic" for a fixed price of $55.

Which might have paid better than the invitation to be the Personal Accountant on an hourly basis for a client who has hired 2 freelancers on Upwork and paid them a total of $16.