Reward your longterm freelancers, Upwork.

[#1]

I am sure this has been asked or recommended before, but with all of the changes being made in Upworks favor recently, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to grandfather in those freelancers who carried over from Elance and Odesk. I am not saying Upwork needs to pay these freelancers a bonus, but more of a prorate, discount or fee reduction as a smooth way to soften the blow with this new connections system, and member cost increase. The reason I am posting this is because I have heard many freelancers are leaving/contemplating leaving Upwork due to these changes. Commitment and long term relationships are what keep most of us afloat, so maybe Upwork should go the extra mile and recognize the long term freelancers in some way to say thank you, therefore keeping as many freelancers as possible.

I am not one of these freelancers who is pondering a time to leave, but I do see the impact the new changes will possibly have if Upwork doesn't make additional changes in these long-term freelancers favor.

[#2]

Freelancers are rewarded for long-term relationships wth clients by receiving a bump in their Job Success Score.

Go here:

Upwork -> Find Work -> My Stats

[#3]

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Preston H wrote:

Freelancers are rewarded for long-term relationships wth clients by receiving a bump in their Job Success Score.

Go here:

Upwork -> Find Work -> My Stats

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Preston,

he is referring to his long relationship with Upwork not his clients.

[#4]

I understand the long-term client percentage score, but my statement is geared more towards the long-term freelancers. That stat % doesn't necessarily come by as a reward, or pro-rate. Upwork is making increased changes that will impact us all, and in the large garnd scheme of it all, Upwork will make more money because of us, the freelancers and clients. My suggestion is merely to counter that increase with a "thank you" to the committed old-school freelancers.

[#5]

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Carl B wrote:
I am sure this has been asked or recommended before, but with all of the changes being made in Upworks favor recently, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to grandfather in those freelancers who carried over from Elance and Odesk. I am not saying Upwork needs to pay these freelancers a bonus, but more of a prorate, discount or fee reduction as a smooth way to soften the blow with this new connections system, and member cost increase. The reason I am posting this is because I have heard many freelancers are leaving/contemplating leaving Upwork due to these changes. Commitment and long term relationships are what keep most of us afloat, so maybe Upwork should go the extra mile and recognize the long term freelancers in some way to say thank you, therefore keeping as many freelancers as possible.

I am not one of these freelancers who is pondering a time to leave, but I do see the impact the new changes will possibly have if Upwork doesn't make additional changes in these long-term freelancers favor.

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You are top-rated so you get your 60 extra connects.

[#6]

You are correct, but my point with this is the timing of it all...this month we see the monthly increase, all of us. Why not counter that, with a positive, to a small percentage of Upworks long-term freelance community.

Receiving extra connects is a plus, yet I earned it over the years. It is appreciated, but does not guarantee additional income. Maybe increase the amount of bid connections to a higher number? That would be sufficient just because of the low 10% return statistic I have kept up with since working on here. For every 10 projects I bid on, I have receive 1-2 responses, and half of the time I get hired. That is using up 20 connections for a possible 1 job. Again, that is the average number I have kept up with.

[#7]

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Carl B wrote:

You are correct, but my point with this is the timing of it all...this month we see the monthly increase, all of us. Why not counter that, with a positive, to a small percentage of Upworks long-term freelance community.

Receiving extra connects is a plus, yet I earned it over the years. It is appreciated, but does not guarantee additional income. Maybe increase the amount of bid connections to a higher number? That would be sufficient just because of the low 10% return statistic I have kept up with since working on here. For every 10 projects I bid on, I have receive 1-2 responses, and half of the time I get hired. That is using up 20 connections for a possible 1 job. Again, that is the average number I have kept up with.

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I think it is like the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. Some only started a few months ago and are top-rated, some have been for years.

[#8]

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Jennifer R wrote:

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I think it is like the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. Some only started a few months ago and are top-rated, some have been for years.

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Oooh, responding to questions with biblical references! I like it! 🙂

I think that rewarding long-term freelancers - while it would be a nice gesture - would probably be more hassle than it's worth. How many years would it take to qualify? Wherever you decide the cut-off point is, the people who narrowly miss the mark are going to be very unhappy. And what about freelancers who have been here a long time, but aren't very successful? I doubt that Upwork wants to reward them (they want to get rid of them, like Petra says). So that's why the "reward" of 60 bonus connects is just being offered to Top-Rated freelancers; it makes sense to me.

[#9]

Long-term freelancers meaning only the ones from oDesk and Elance, who are currently still actively working on Upwork. 2015 before Upwork was revealed is the cut off. Who said Upwork had to announce anything to anyone other than that small percentage of freelancers. It can be exclusive. This is more of a PR move on Upworks behalf, but to its loyal and committed freelancers.

[#10]

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Carl B wrote:

Long-term freelancers meaning only the ones from oDesk and Elance, who are currently still actively working on Upwork. 2015 before Upwork was revealed is the cut off. Who said Upwork had to announce anything to anyone other than that small percentage of freelancers. It can be exclusive. This is more of a PR move on Upworks behalf, but to its loyal and committed freelancers.

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If it's everyone from Elance and oDesk, then that's a LOT of people. The new policy isn't going to have much of an impact if it only affects newer freelancers. In any case, anyone who's still active on the platform after all this time isn't doing it out of loyalty, they're doing it because they're making money. Success is its own reward.

[#11]

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Carl B wrote:

Who said Upwork had to announce anything to anyone other than that small percentage of freelancers. It can be exclusive. This is more of a PR move on Upworks behalf, but to its loyal and committed freelancers.

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LOL, PR moves can not be secret. That is mutually exclusive.

You're second one this week who wants Upwork to invent some fancy extra which just happens to fit their own profile....

[#12]

Upwork invented a new fancy "let's raise the monthly membership fees to our freelancers and clients", so Upwork can invent something to those of us who have adapted with all of the changes over the years that have been in Upworks better interest. Of course I am one of the old school freelancers.

A mere suggestion that is in favor of the freelancer during this big change has received nothing but alternate suggestions from Upwork gurus that are in Upworks' favor.

[#13]

Freelancers and their handouts. I mean really people. What kind of handout is this one looking for now? I don't care about the stupid connect charges. It's insignificant compared to what i can make here, so what exactly are you looking for OP?

I make good money. Upwork continually throws opportunities my way. What on earth more would you want? They leave me alone. I make money and live a really nice life and have the lifestyle I always wanted. I hope that never changes. But i don't pretend it's anything more than they make money off of me so that's why they throw me work and leave me alone. There is so much opportunity here and you people can only cry about your handouts and the measely $5/month you'll have to dish out to make thousands in return.

[#14]

Maybe I should've been an engineer.

[#15]

No crying here. $5 for me is nothing, but on a mass total level, that is a large increase.

[#16]

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Carl B wrote:

A mere suggestion that is in favor of the freelancer during this big change has received nothing but alternate suggestions from Upwork gurus that are in Upworks' favor.

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Well, unfortunately that's the risk you run by posting something in a public forum - people aren't necessarily going to agree with you, and they're entitled to their own opinions. You're the second person in recent days who has posted something like, "I think Upwork should do this or that, doesn't everyone agree with me?" and then get annoyed when nobody does.

[#17]

I'm not annoyed from the outcome of the thread. I know better. I am more smirking at the overall bashing of the idea as if I were ready to leave Upwork and demanded money to keep working on here. The 5 or 6 of you combined turned this suggestion into a "another freelancer looking for a free handout". which is not at all what I was stating should happen.

All good though. I will continue to work on Upwork as long as it is productive and profitable. I will take the free extra connections, escrow protection, top-rated program and hourly gurantee and be happy.

[#18]

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Carl B wrote:

For every 10 projects I bid on, I have receive 1-2 responses, and half of the time I get hired. That is using up 20 connections for a possible 1 job. Again, that is the average number I have kept up with.

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The connects will cost 15 cents each. If you spend 20 connects on average to land a job, this is an investment of $3 per job. If you earn on average $4 for any job that you land, Upwork doesn't cost you anything.

And you probably earn more per job 😀

If this new connect pricing system gets rid of the lowballers, which is what Upwork hopes to achieve, this may mean more business for you.

[#19]

Yes, Upwork doesn't necessarily make any money on the connection costs, which is not my focus with this. Premium Membership costs are going up $5 per freelancer, and I can assume client costs are going up too. Along with that increase, Upwork makes 13.6% off of my projects over $500 and under $10K, which is almost all of them. That is a lot of money from just me.

Maybe reward long-term freelancers, still in good standings with Upwork, by only taking a flat 10% fee up to $10K total earnings? Don't take that gargantuan 20% chunk in the beginning as a way to pat us on the head and say thank you for your commitment over the years. That could also increase the volume of work the freelancers will take on, therefore possibly increasing even more revenue for Upwork.

[#20]

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Carl B wrote:

Yes, Upwork doesn't necessarily make any money on the connection costs, which is not my focus with this.

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Along with that increase, Upwork makes 13.6% off of my projects over $500 and under $10K, which is almost all of them. That is a lot of money from just me.

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If Upwork is charging everyone for connects now, you can bet that they'll be making more money from them. That - plus their alleged motive of wanting to cut down on the number of spam bids - is the whole reason for the change. 

And how do you figure that Upwork takes a 13.6% service charge from you? It's a 10% rate between $500-1,000. Any extra that you're being charged is probably due to local tax laws - Upwork doesn't get to keep this money.

[#21]

I definitely get the motives behind the changes coming up. It makes sense. I'm not contesting those changes. I can adapt and won't be going anywhere.

The 13.6% figure is based on the majority of my projects that surpass $500.01. If I have a project that is $1400 total, like most freelancers on here, I require a deposit, which usually surpasses the $500 figure, so that gets a 20% notch, and then the final payment gets another 10% notch when we are done. I know this is my way so I have to deal with it, but it's almost unavoidable, not unless I don't charge a deposit, which is not an option.

[#22]

Based on the total amount of each project will determine Upworks cut in the end. The higher the costs, the bigger the fee amount is.

[#23]

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Carl B wrote:

Yes, Upwork doesn't necessarily make any money on the connection costs, which is not my focus with this. Premium Membership costs are going up $5 per freelancer, and I can assume client costs are going up too. Along with that increase, Upwork makes 13.6% off of my projects over $500 and under $10K, which is almost all of them. That is a lot of money from just me.

Maybe reward long-term freelancers, still in good standings with Upwork, by only taking a flat 10% fee up to $10K total earnings? Don't take that gargantuan 20% chunk in the beginning as a way to pat us on the head and say thank you for your commitment over the years. That could also increase the volume of work the freelancers will take on, therefore possibly increasing even more revenue for Upwork.

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Are you saying that you or other FLs turn down work that they would accept if the fee was lower? I'm not buying that.

[#24]

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Carl B wrote:
I am not saying Upwork needs to pay these freelancers a bonus, but more of a prorate, discount or fee reduction as a smooth way to soften the blow with this new connections system, and member cost increase.

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Top rated freelancers get some extra connects I think.

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Carl B wrote:
I have heard many freelancers are leaving/contemplating leaving Upwork due to these changes. Commitment and long term relationships are what keep most of us afloat, so maybe Upwork should go the extra mile and recognize the long term freelancers in some way to say thank you, therefore keeping as many freelancers as possible.

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Considering that Upwork has **WAY** too many freelancers, losing freelancers is not a problem.

Keeping as many freelancers as possible would not be a wise aim. The freelancers Upwork would want to keep most are probably the ones that aren't, on average, significantly affected by this change.

[#25]

I can see from that perspective too, yet I do not agree with that approach as it still side steps from my main comment about long-term freelancers, who are here, and still here because they can adapt. You are right. Weeding out the ones that cannot conform to the change may be best, but is it? why not still do something extra for that small chunk during the big changes happening. Not asking for money/discounts here, extra connections would be golden.