Proposal stats - I'll show you mine if you show me yours

[6f71b509]

Hi everyone

I'm having a difficult time securing clients.  I'm Top rated, 100% JSS.  I've had a tiny 14 jobs in 12 months.

Here's my stats, 

I'm beginning to think Upwork is not for me.  Only 46/150 proposals were looked at all year.  On average my profile does not even get looked at. 

How are you all surviving on this site? 

Ready to quit, it's so demoralising. 

Thanks for letting me rant 🙂

Shannon

[fe9b8d82]

The most interesting stat in all of these posts is the actual amount of proposals that were viewed by clients in the first place, and how abysmally low it is for everyone, regardless of your field.  

I still believe part of the problem is clients who shotgun a job post here and several other places, freelancers here apply for it, the job is filled elsewhere, and then many of us as freelancers are left feeling like we somehow did something wrong.  Always remember that there's a large amount of clients out there who aren't serious, never were serious, or who hired somewhere else.

[tlsanders]

How are you all surviving on this site? 

I would like to think most people are not "surviving on this site." That's no way to run a business. 

[jaycrutcher]

Definitely not surviving. The boosting "feature" has me waiting for invites while I make money elsewhere because I refuse to blow 20 connects at a time when my stats are telling me that it doesn't even guarantee a view let alone an interview. If a "perfect" looking jobs pops up and it's already boosted to the gills I keep moving.

[25005175]

You act like only the 3 slots at the top of the client's feed have any chance of getting the job. Which is absolutely untrue.

[jaycrutcher]

Nah, I act like I don't want to invest unless I feel it is worth my time.

[deborah-ponzio]

I am not sure that such stats are 100% accurate. Mine say 2 views on 8 proposal in 2022 but I received more responses than that. 

[ottoemilschmid]

Hi Shannon

Have you compared your total earnings/jobs/hours to other Paralegal/HRM/Strategy writing freelancers?  Especially important is also when they joined Upwork.  Freelancers who joined Upwork before you, have already built up a (hopefully good) reputation and from that perspective take work way from you .  You have compiled a very professional profile and anyone looking for someone of your calibre will more than likely knock on your door.  You already have the top rated badge which after 10 months on Upwork is pretty good going.  If you find other freelancers who have made considerably more money than you (also taking into account that you only joined Feb 2022) then perhaps there is an area which you may have missed - however I strongly doubt it.

As other Users said - don't get too hung up about the stats although they do provide useful insight.  Keep your chin up and go for it!

Regards

Otto

[luke715]

Here are my stats.

Honestly, I am starting to look towards others avenues. It seems like you have to put in a ton of effort just to find a job that is rarely worth the amount of time looking for it, time that could be used getting better at your actual skillset. 

In order to send a proper proposal, the cover letter should be custom written, which can take a considerable amount of time espeically if your sending out several proposals per day.

Even if you manage to get a client to respond to your proposal, they still may flake out after a few messeges. If not, then your usually left with having to fight them on price. It's often the case that they don't have enough money to pay you what your looking for. Not to mention all of the people skills you need to work with clients in order to convince them that you know what your doing and that their money is worth it. 

These jobs are also usually temporary, so once your finished with one, you have to find another job and spend more time and money on proposals. If it was for a permanant job, then the effort be worth it, but it seems like these jobs are just as hard to get as a permenant job, and you have to constantly win over other freelancers every time.

[yofazza]

Just saying that your stats is actually pretty good,  you can compare it with other posted stats here.

[9f395534]

This is not encouraging.

[omar_faruq_john]

Your stats are much better than many other freelancers 🙂
Mine is much worst than yours 😞

[df602768]

This is disheartening. 

[25005175]

But are you surprised that this is normal for Web, Mobile, and Software Development?

[luke715]

Well your earnings are 30k+ so you must be doing something right.

Has finding jobs gotten any easier since you started upworks, such as more invites and DM's?

[4c5b9f71]

The truth for me is that I was working off Upworn in the real world. I am switching to it this new year. 

I take advantage of the new networking feature. 

Since this is new for me will let you know how it turns out 

[donnamcfarland]

I don't think this feature is working properly. After reading some other posts, I checked my own stats and it says that out of 14 proposals I had 4 views, 1 interview and 0 jobs, but actually, during that time period I've had 5 interviews, 1 job, and I have no idea how many proposals I've sent out but I'm pretty sure it was a lot more than 14.

[donnamcfarland]

I just figured it out. The stats only count active proposals, so if a proposal has been archived, whether or not it was viewed, led to an interview, or led to a job where you were hired, it is not going to show up in the stats. So basically they are meaningless except to tell you what the stats are of your proposals that are still out there.