Regarding Wasting Connects

[87d5677d]

Dear Everybody

In this Virtual Platform it has been seen that Clients frequently posting Jobs with 8/10/12/16 Connects. But whenever most of the Freelancers Submit their Proposal, they do Interview very few out of many Freelancers & then suddenly dis-appears from the Platform, without Hiring any Freelancers.

The Freelancers expensive Connects gets wasted in these kind of similar Jobs posted with higher values of Connects.

Has anybody experienced these kind of similar problems of "Wasting Connects"?

Kindly respond.

Regards

[mwiggenhorn]

Upwork decides how many connects a job is worth, not the "client". (which doesn't make this mess any better).

[87d5677d]

Dear Mary

I understand that but Client should value those Connects which he is having with him in Free, if he is quite sure & serious about his Work to be done as a Team with us, the Freelancers.

Thank you for your's responses.

Regards

Romel R

[fd1a3637]

Why should the client value your connects? Why should they even care about you at all unless they hired you?

[87d5677d]

Dear Garrett

This is indeed practical that Clients will value Freelancers if they Hire them & it's True. Hopefully, after Hiring they should also value Freelancers hardwork & knowledge.

So that Freelancers earn their Reputation & Money.

Thank you

 Romel R

[fd1a3637]

That's what I said. You implied clients that don't hire you, or don't view your proposal should care about you and your connects. They don't and they shouldn't have to.

[87d5677d]

Dear Garrett

That is true the above statement was for Before Hiring. I tried After Hiring too.

Thank you

[the-right-writer]

Clients don't care about freelancers. Upwork doesn't care abut freelancers. This is business. Upwork wants and needs money, so you spend connects. Clients don't care what you spend; the client wants the job done.

You are going to be disappointed in the clients. They do not care abut you or anyone, they care about getting work done. They don't value freelancers, or respect them. There are excellent clients, and I have been fortunate, but clients are random people off the Internet. Why would you expect them to care if you are poor or wealthy, how much you spend, how much you need, if you're not well, or busy... or...

The courtesy and trust you speak of will not be returned by clients.

[87d5677d]

Dear Jeanne

This is really the Truth. There are many Fantastic Clients too in Upwork. 

I really enjoyed & liked, working with them.

They have been Gentle & True by Nature.

Thank you

Romel R

[maurizio_pst]

I agree with you. Baasically clients do not spend a cent for posting a job and freelancers spend a lot of money for connects with low probability of being hired due to high competitivity. 

[tlsanders]

That sounds like very poor decision making on the part of the freelancer.

[2ef54d61]

It's a popular notion that Upwork should at least partially refund connects if the client doesn't hire anyone, but Upwork has made it clear they're not interested in doing that, because the more connects we buy, the more money they make. 

[tlsanders]

It's only a popular notion among unsuccessful freelancers who are hoping to be able to send more proposals without spending money. But, everyone with the slightest shred of business sense understands that it would make the platform worse for everyone, including the freelancer who are asking for it. Don't forget that it wouldn't be just you, but millions of freelancers getting a steady stream of free proposals, flooding every job even more dramatically than they are now. So, maybe you get your connects back and can bid on 15 jobs with the same connects, but now it takes you 100 bids to land a job instead of 10.

[danielmfriedman]

I think if people say they are struggling on Upwork but weren't previously, simply saying "it's because you're not successful", and shouting people down for voicing their concerns, is not a very kind way of dealing with this.  I am happy for you that you still find Upwork a viable platform for freelancing. But your comments appear to be those of a bad winner (Upwork is working for you, couldn't you just quietly enjoy your success?)

[tlsanders]

Actually, I don't use Upwork very much anymore. Like any sensible business person, I shifted my focus to more profitable channels as the site deteriorated. 

The point, which you seem to have abandoned entirely in your fervor to criticize me, is that you would be struggling much, much, much more if the flood of connects you are proposing doubled or tripled the number of proposals on every job. 

[the-right-writer]

What the ones wanting free connects do not understand is that it lowers YOUR odds of getting a job, too.

[2ef54d61]

Respectfully disagree and don't appreciate you saying only "unsuccessful freelancers" want this. It doesn't open the floodgates for tons of pointless proposals (which is a problem regardless) if it is limited to clients that do not hire anyone. Upwork used to give connects back for interviews (they still do sometimes), and that would have the same effect by your logic. So do you think Upwork is significantly better today than it was a year ago before that change was made?

[tlsanders]

Numerous people have reported here that they are tracking and 50% of more of the jobs they sent proposals on. If you can't see the impact of having 50% of connects spent endlessly recycled, you're making a conscious effort to ignore it.

Giving connects for interviews was, of course, nothing like blindly giving connects back to every freelancer on a job. The connects for interviews system rewards freelancers who a client was interested enough in to interview--not every random freelancer spamming cut-and-paste proposals. They altered the program to apply only in certain cases due to freelancer fraud, so this isn't a great argument for lavishing connects on freelancers. 

[the-right-writer]

If you read the forum, and could see my private message, it is often the unskilled who want free connects. Many come here with no skills, and worse, no interest in learning or doing anything but cheating and scamming, and of course, they believe throwing lots of connects is going to get them the job. They know they will never get a job with skills.

I have no sympathy for the ignorant, uneducated, unskilled that come here and insist Upwork give them jobs. They drag down other freelancers, chase away clients, and ruin the platform, but they spend those connects! Why do I have no sympathy? Because there are many ways to learn, and plenty of people have done it. There are libraries, and the thing in everyone's hand is connected to the 'net. There are numerous ways to learn, and no excuse for not.

People come here and act like employees. If you don't want to be responsible for your business, find an employer.

Yes, unskilled, lazy people who come here and throw connects are running the quality right into the ground, with Upwork's blessings. What ideas do you have to IMPROVE the platform for everyone, not just the ones who substitute connects for skills?

[87d5677d]

Dear Tiffany

The Issue is not about Successful & Un-successful Freelancers. Because everybody, including Us are struggling to have "The Job".

The thing is it Hurts, while buying Expensive Connects, it goes Un-noticed & Un-valued, when we Invest.

Thanks for your's responses.

Regards

Romel R

[2779bde0]

What you haven't talked about in your postings is the quality of the proposals, assuming that they are all the same, and that they all impress clients equally, so there is no need to improve them.

Clients quickly scan the first two sentences of proposals, to get an idea of  what they can expect from the rest. Are only marginally qualified people with their typo-ridden, mega-boosted, very weak proposals, thinking that they are impressing clients because they spent more of their money on connects than anyone else? Uh, no.

What separates the good proposals from the weak ones? Client engagement. What are you going to do for the client that nobody else is doing? Upwork isn't about you, or your need to make money. Really it isn't.

Upwork is making a lot of money on connects from people who think that more connects are always better, and freelancers continue to fuel the fire of the connects machine, though many stand little chance of getting hired.

Business is about turning a profit. All businesses need money to make them work, and that of a freelancer is no different. It costs money to market your business. You wouldn't want lower, or even free connects, because so many people would be bidding on jobs right now, that you would unlikely ever get hired among the hundreds of other proposals that would inundate every job.

If you can't sell clients on why they should hire you in the first two sentences of your proposal in the preview window, why on earth would they want to read any more of it?

[87d5677d]

Dear Martin

I read & understood what you have mentioned. The two sentences of your's Proposal might work for you in your's Domain but, not for every other Freelancers.

It meant "The two sentences of "Proposal are not adaptive & applicable to every Domain & Subject Freelancers are Specialised & Working for".

Sometimes Proposals demand Descriptions.

Thank you

[tlsanders]

Can you elaborate on what field might make it impossible to catch the client's attention in the first two lines and get them interested in reading your proposal?

[the-right-writer]

Romel, You have been given excellent advice you choose to ignore. So, I don't expect you will be complaining because you must have found a better way on your own.

The client only sees those first two lines in ANY proposal from ANY freelancer. It doesn't matter who writes it, what job, or anything else. Then you follow it with a perfect description of what you can do better than anyone else. Of course, you must have those skills.

[87d5677d]

Dear Jeanne

Those Clients who are in the same Domain or, Field with Freelancers sometimes demands explanations to be more specific, in Proposals.

To Attract & then

Have them.

Thank you

[fd1a3637]

She didn't say that your proposals should be only 2 lines. She said that the first 2 lines should grab the client's interest so that they want to open and read the rest of your proposal. Nothing about your niche is special in this regard.

[2779bde0]

Hi Romel,

Let's take a step back for a moment. Because there are so many people bidding on jobs, the clients need some way to quickly decide which proposals are worth their time to read further. There isn't enough time to read all of them.

What you are missing is the point that all these freelancers with no chance of getting hired are standing in line to have their proposals read, taking up the limited amount of time that clients are willing to sit in front of the computer and sift through proposals, compromising the chances of truly qualified individuals being heard.

Everyone has their own agenda, and this is all well and good. Freelancers want jobs. Clients want their work done, and the third corner of this triangle is Upwork itself. They want to make money. Their businees model says that connects are a good way to do this.

How do they get more revenue from connects? They let anyone with a pulse, regardless of their skill level, bid on jobs, as long as they can pay. They don't care whether you get hired, as long as they get their connect money. This is good for them, but, see above, they are driving away clients, and talented freelancers, who are fighting over the scraps of what is left after clients have left the platform.

This model is unsustainable in the long term for the qualified people here, so go ahead and keep believing that the first two sentences don't matter to the people who are still left standing. You'll be waititng a long time, and spending a lot of money on connects.

[87d5677d]

Dear Martin

I read the message. In this virtual platform Freelancers works in several Domains.

Sometimes two sentences are not sufficient to convince Clients with their respective Domains.

Sometimes you need to expalain equations, which takes several sentences, in summarized ways.

Hope you agree,

Thanks

[elisa_b]

Nobody said you have to write only two sentences, but that the first two lines should be accurately written instead.

[2779bde0]

You are overcomplicating the process. Nobody said you need to, or even want to write the entire proposal in the first two sentences. All you need to do is to create enough interest on the part of the client to want to read more. That's it.

Then, only after you have their attention, do you go into details like equations and other industry specific information. 

You aren't trying to get them to hire you in those first two sentences. You are enticing them to want to read more.

Start with an overview of why you are qualified, and how you can help them. Your help is the only reason they are there. Make sense? Your ability to help them is why you are here. It isn't about you. Telling them how you can help them is all they care about.

[87d5677d]

Dear Martin

The Art of creating interest has to be utilised for, having them. That's True.

That's the theme.

Thanks

[elisa_b]

Romel, the lack of work (and your "wasting connects") is due to a combination of factors.

For some of them, there is nothing you can do (high competition, bot and AI-generated proposals scaring clients away, less and less genuine clients remaining on the platform).

Therefore you should concentrate on what YOU can do, i.e. profile and proposals. You need to make an excellent impression in the first two lines of your proposal, but in all honesty I find your writing style quite cumbersome and not easy to read.

You randomly capitalise words here and there with no apparent logic, and while this may be your style of writing, personally as I client I would prefer to read other candidates' proposals that are more fluent and easy on the eyes. You can also use a free tool such as Grammarly.

[87d5677d]

Dear Elisa

I do agree to whatever you have mentioned. I also understood some of my flaws while typing my proposals, like randomly capitalising words.

Indeed Grammarly is fantastic & is needed.

I would surely work on the flaws as mentioned by you.

Thank you so much for pointing those out, which was really the necessity & has to be worked on.

Best of Luck

With Regards

Romel R

[cobweb_]

We should not divide into a more successful and a less successful freelancers 

It seems that it is going down with the new connects  system. In projects has only  fewer freelancers to post offers  in the projects   which gives the client little choice and he refuses.No need to be limited choise of freelancers client have in the past . Many clients try with small projects before risking larger ones, I have many cases in my practice where a project for $50-$100 can be returned by the client with a project many times more valuable.I do statistics every day for the last 3 years for the categories I work in and I see a 20-25% drop in projects from the last months and down, if we take out the fake projects there are no more than 50% left

One good solution would be if the client does not get in touch with the freelancer within a week, that the connectors or at least half of them be returned to him. The logic is that if the client has come into contact from there, it is the freelancer's skill to convince him that he can realize the project.Also Upwork  do not allow a customer without an payment verifyed  method to  published jobs  , that will save a lot connects because most of these projects are fake. 

At the moment we mainly pay for fake projects. And this is clearly visible through the "Viewed by client" column.  
Now Upwork  is a place where a new freelancer cannot start in any way without spending hundreds of dollars and of that is called "investment"

[the-right-writer]

How can anyone that looks at stats possibly conclude that more free connects floating around will give any freelancer a better chance of being hired? I'm no stats expert, but I can handle this math. Your odds go down, significantly. The more people applying, with more connects to boost like mad, means the client sees more proposals, more garbage proposals, and your amazing proposal is buried at number 89. Boosting is not the answer either, unless you know you will be one of the top two applicants. Otherwise, it's just giving Upwork money.

And why are you pushing the client to hire in a week? Maybe they can't find the right freelancer. Maybe every proposal was garbage. Maybe the project was delayed. I have been hired weeks after a job was posted because even with hundreds and hundreds of proposals, clients can't find a decent freelancer.

This non-stop complaining or requesting or demanding connects be returned needs to stop. There are serious issues that need to be dealt with, and people are whining about the tiniest part of their self-employment budget. This should not even be a topic. If you want to freelance, then freelance, which means you pay for everything and there are no guarantees.

If you aren't getting a good return, you have to examine your business. I have found very few legitimate jobs and my work is outside Upwork mostly, because I am not applying for dirt cheap jobs, will not become a farmer, and not going to waste money on jobs that are not legitimate. I've got so many connects, it's sad.

You are incorrect about verified payment. It means nothing, and is no guarantee of payment.  The only thing that matters is the job is funded and the hourly contract or fixed price is set up correctly and funded. Nothing about verified or unverified has anything to do with legitimacy. You have to learn about vetting the client and the job. You have to assume every client and every freelancer is a scammer until proven otherwise.

[tlsanders]

I think there are many reasons to look at that distinction. For one, unsuccessful freelancers aren't making any money for Upwork. Their only contribution to balance out the resources they consume here is paying for connects. 

And, of course, Upwork has more of a vested interest in making things work well for freelancers who are paying them thousands or tens of thousands of dollars than those who are only spending $10-20/month on connects. 

But my point was that freelancer Upwork is working well for are not running around begging to get connects back, because if Upwork works for you, connects are a minor cost of doing business.

[48f850a0]

I would like to chip in something here.

The key to a successful freelance business is being able to make more than you spend!

That said, it surprises me that people still boost their proposals on Upwork. 

Number one, YOU DON'T GET HIRED BY MERIT ON UPWORK! IT'S ALL DUE TO CLIENT PREFERENCE.

Number two: YOU BOOSTING YOUR PROPOSAL MAKES YOU THE BIGGEST LOSER IF SKIPPED OR CLIENT DOESN'T HIRE ANYONE.

Any wise freelancer on Upwork right now would really be trying to spend less, but it amazes me this is not the case.

Simple strategy is try to send less proposals to jobs you have better chance, not many proposals, so that if you do win them, you make more than it costs to get them. Thanks

[87d5677d]

Dear Emmanuel

Sending less proposals & try winning them is a good Choice. But, Clients are Un-predictable.

They might make you wait longer losing your's patience & hence make you Submittig frequent Proposals 

"For Hope".

Thank you

[the-right-writer]

In freelancing, you submit a proposal and never look back.

Then, you find another job, and put in a proposal, and don't look back. Repeat until you have a job.

[crart]

If you're losing patience working towards the right project and waiting for honest, serious client while going through many fakes and straight frauds that are present not only on Upwork, then freelancing is not for you. Just saying. You gotta predict, think and estimate, calculate with cold blood.