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chrisprince
Community Member

Request for open, constructive discussion on improving profile effectiveness

There is a lot of talk of late regarding bugs or broken features that may be contributing to a sharp fall-off in the conversion rate of proposals to jobs awarded. 

 

There is a conversation to be had there but instead I'd like to focus on things we can do as freelancers to improve our own effectiveness.  Best practice, do-s and don't-s, that sort of thing.

 

I'd like to open the conversation by asking anyone who has a free moment to take a look at my profile and offer some impressions or advice:

 

https://www.upwork.com/o/profiles/users/_~01b8bcdf89cccfaccc/

 

Please try to be constructive, if not kind, and if your comment can by summarized by "life's hard, get a helmet" then we really don't need your input.

5 REPLIES 5
petra_r
Community Member


Chris P wrote:

 

https://www.upwork.com/o/profiles/users/_~01b8bcdf89cccfaccc/

 

Please try to be constructive, if not kind, and if your comment can by summarized by "life's hard, get a helmet" then we really don't need your input.


I think your rate is way, WAY too low. There are some gems in your portfolio, and some that don't do you any favours (the home office one looks like I did it in my interior design app on my iPad 😉 )

Ideally you want the best of each category on the first page so a client can see the best of what you do - like one architectural one, one product ... whatever. I think in your category your portfolio is the most important part of your profile. When I look at creative people, I almost ignore the overview and go straight to the portfolio.

If what I see on the first set of thumbnails impresses me, I look at more. If not, I don't look further and I don't read the overview.

 

Thanks Petra. Excellent notes!

 

lol.  that home office was some very early work that, now that you mention it, looks horiffic and I've clearly held on to for purely sentimental reasons.

 

I strongly suspect that you're not the only one who places more emphasis on portfolio than on bio for visual projects.  

 

Having a fewer images to represent each catagory is a great suggestion too.  

chasb
Community Member

From one Chris P to another (we're not related btw) I'm not sure the issue you witness is technical at all, nor perhaps related to your profile.

 

What I'm seeing is clients from this platform cross-posting their jobs on other platforms also. This was always quite common among low-budget clients.

 

Those that I'm seeing now, however, have already hired here to the tune of $10K and more.

 

In other words, quality clients are reacting to the idea of paying the new $50/month fee with their feet. The full extent we don't know just yet and likely never will be informed anyway.

chrisprince
Community Member

Hello All.  I hope you're well.

 

So, I've personally noticed a significant dropoff in the conversion rate of proposals to jobs awarded.

 

In trying to resolve this I've seen that a good number of other freelancers (both new blood and old hands) who seem to be experiencing the same frustrations.

 

I'll be the first to admit that there are many factors that may be affecting this issue. 

 

A freelancer's first step should be to consider what they could do themselves to make their own services more appealing. 

 

There are many people in this community who generously contribute experienced advice.  I've opened a separate thread to discuss how freelancers can share advice to improve effectiveness.

 

It must also be considered that the systems and features put in place by UpWork are not infallable and may in fact be inadvertently making it harder for some freelancers to find work.

 

A common counter to this argument comes from freelancers who are doing quite well.  Many of these people suggest that the system is fine and those freelancers who have issues with it are not good enough or can't cope with competition.

 

Aside from being a bit dismissive, this view fails to acommodate for the idea that the system has room for improvement. 

 

If you're doing well, good for you.  Sharing your positive experiences might help to improve the platform.  Telling someone that they're not cut out for this platform is unhelpful, unkind and potentially inaccurate.

 

I do not subscribe to the idea that UpWork is simply out to make a buck at our expense. 

 

Yes, UpWork is a business.  That business is predicated on leveraging the efforts of freelancers.  If the model is making it harder for freelancers to create value for clients then the model is flawed and it's our part to provide UW with the feedback they need to properly identify and resolve problems.  

 

Too many freelancers who have previously enjoyed stable conversion of proposals to jobs now report difficulties to dismiss the idea that something's amiss.

 

sigh.  [facepalm].  this was intended for a totally different thread.  this is bound to confuse things horribly.  

 

I was trying to approach the problems from two angles in two separate threads.

 

  • try to figure out what I can do to improve my own profile 

and 

 

  • try to identify holes in the system affecting proposals vs. jobs awarded

Apologies.  If anyone knows how I can remove one of my own comments, I'd love to know

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