Sudden Halt In Work/Proposal Replies

[maisyb]

Hi all! 

I am fairly new - I joined back in 2020 - and am still trying to get a foothold here. Last year I was applying regularly and getting a pretty great response rate. I was very content - and happily surprised! - by the amount of jobs I got right away. They were all completed successfully and my clients left positive feedback. 

I took a break to start and new 9-5 job but have recently come back to the platform. I expected to somewhat pickup where I left off but that has not been the case. I have been applying at about the same rate and have received zero replies. 

My profile is at 100%, I have positive reviews and standard rates. I am at a loss for what I could do differently. Or what changed from when I was on before.

If anyone has had a similar experience lately or could shed some light on what I could try, that would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

[gilbert-phyllis]

I've been freelancing for decades and have learned the only constant is that things change (on the UW platform and everywhere else). Opportunities ebb and flow and the competitive landscape is constantly shifting. Long-term success as a freelancer requires staying on the balls of your feet and being prepared to weather dry spells (while you try and figure a way past them).

[maisyb]

Thank you for your reply! 

I completely agree with you and appreciate your experienced input! My day job is a digital marketer/brand manager so I am always looking for potential shifts in algorithem or online trends that could impact work. Or, in this case, a technical issue with my profile. 

But it doesn't appear to be that at all! I just need to keep working away on here, and like you said, ride out the dry spell!

[arifagra]

I am also having same issue. I am very new to the platform and surprisingly when i had nothing to show on my profile, I was able to get responses for the proposals. But now, when I have one job completed with a review and one ongoing job, I have stopped receiving responses all of a sudden. There is absolutely no response whatsoever and now I am thinking what I was doing different when I was completely new here.
I choose my jobs carefully and apply only to those which I find best matching to my profile.
Sometimes I feel like my proposals are going to someplace which is completely out of the sight of the client.
I am also thinking what to do? I was also wondering if it is because of basic membership and upgrading to a plus membership will change the situation and will start giving me more responses? Please, if someone can help on this.
Regards

[martina_plaschka]

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Arif Q wrote:
I am also having same issue. I am very new to the platform and surprisingly when i had nothing to show on my profile, I was able to get responses for the proposals. But now, when I have one job completed with a review and one ongoing job, I have stopped receiving responses all of a sudden. There is absolutely no response whatsoever and now I am thinking what I was doing different when I was completely new here.
I choose my jobs carefully and apply only to those which I find best matching to my profile.
Sometimes I feel like my proposals are going to someplace which is completely out of the sight of the client.
I am also thinking what to do? I was also wondering if it is because of basic membership and upgrading to a plus membership will change the situation and will start giving me more responses? Please, if someone can help on this.
Regards

---

No, upgrading your membership does not improve your chances of getting more responses. The client neither knows what membership you have, nor do they care. 

[a_lipsey]

Your profile only has one review. In the future ask the client to close the contract so they are forced to leave feedback instead of closing it yourself. Whoever closes the contract is forced to leave feedback, but the other party doesn't have to. 

While no feedback isn't exactly bad, good feedback helps you stand out. 

[maisyb]

Thank you for your reply! 

Being new, I didn't realize that the closer is forced to leave feedback - good to know! I will reach back out to those clients. I'm sure they would be happy to leave feedback!

[martina_plaschka]

---

Maisy K wrote:

Hi all! 

I am fairly new - I joined back in 2020 - and am still trying to get a foothold here. Last year I was applying regularly and getting a pretty great response rate. I was very content - and happily surprised! - by the amount of jobs I got right away. They were all completed successfully and my clients left positive feedback. 

I took a break to start and new 9-5 job but have recently come back to the platform. I expected to somewhat pickup where I left off but that has not been the case. I have been applying at about the same rate and have received zero replies. 

My profile is at 100%, I have positive reviews and standard rates. I am at a loss for what I could do differently. Or what changed from when I was on before.

If anyone has had a similar experience lately or could shed some light on what I could try, that would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

---

All those no-feedback jobs. Either you are overeager to end a contract yourself, and your clients didn't care to leave feedback, or you ended them in hope of not getting (bad) feedback. While the occasional no-feedback job does not hurt you, this just doesn't look pretty on your profile. Maybe you can still rustle up those clients and get them to leave feedback, I think you have to go into the job and enable that if 14 days have passed. 

[maisyb]

Thank you for the reply! 

So that was a mistake on my part. Let me explain in more depth: I had contracts open with two clients. One, went wonderfully and we thoroughly enjoyed working together. At the end of the one project, there was potential for more down the road. But a year passed and she just didn't have new projects quite yet. I was afraid that open, lingering, contracts looked bad, so I politely messaged her, informed her I would close it and happily open a new contract once the time came! I didn't realize that action would leave a bad mark on my profile! I can easily reach out to her and ask for feedback, that's not an issue. 

The other contract, the client became unresponsive after stating they were happy with my work and I had completed the milestone. So, I was forced to close it due to his disappearance after payment. 

I'm still learning so this is good to keep in mind going forward! I know feedback is obviously extremely important, and will work to get more!

[martina_plaschka]

---

Maisy K wrote:

Thank you for the reply! 

So that was a mistake on my part. Let me explain in more depth: I had contracts open with two clients. One, went wonderfully and we thoroughly enjoyed working together. At the end of the one project, there was potential for more down the road. But a year passed and she just didn't have new projects quite yet. I was afraid that open, lingering, contracts looked bad, so I politely messaged her, informed her I would close it and happily open a new contract once the time came! I didn't realize that action would leave a bad mark on my profile! I can easily reach out to her and ask for feedback, that's not an issue. 

The other contract, the client became unresponsive after stating they were happy with my work and I had completed the milestone. So, I was forced to close it due to his disappearance after payment. 

I'm still learning so this is good to keep in mind going forward! I know feedback is obviously extremely important, and will work to get more!

---

I don't think work in progress is a big deal, and sometimes clients disappear. If that happens, end the contract strategically at a time when a client has just ended a contract, or shortly before that, so they blend in more. 

[a_lipsey]

---

Maisy K wrote:

Thank you for the reply! 

So that was a mistake on my part. Let me explain in more depth: I had contracts open with two clients. One, went wonderfully and we thoroughly enjoyed working together. At the end of the one project, there was potential for more down the road. But a year passed and she just didn't have new projects quite yet. I was afraid that open, lingering, contracts looked bad, so I politely messaged her, informed her I would close it and happily open a new contract once the time came! I didn't realize that action would leave a bad mark on my profile! I can easily reach out to her and ask for feedback, that's not an issue. 

The other contract, the client became unresponsive after stating they were happy with my work and I had completed the milestone. So, I was forced to close it due to his disappearance after payment. 

I'm still learning so this is good to keep in mind going forward! I know feedback is obviously extremely important, and will work to get more!

---

I think a lot of people newer to the platform also do this. And I even I have done this: leave the contract open for future stuff. The problem is, you risk never getting feedback. My philosophy now is "the client can always easily find me and start a new contract. It takes just a couple of clicks." As a client myself, I just did it with a colleague I hire from time to time to help with a certain aspect of my work (statistical analysis). As a client, it's no big deal to close it when we finish a project and start a new one later. 

My impression is that if they don't have new work for you right then, then ask them to close it, because it doesn't seem to manifest unless they already know exactly the next project and send it to you. 

I'd say especially when you are newer and need feedback for a JSS, it's better to close and get feedback. You can be a little more lax with it when your profile is full of wonderful feedback. 

Hopefully that one client will leave feedback for you to help build out your profile. I do think it's kind of what is holding you back. Like I said, it's not necessarily bad, but it does look sort of questionable. 

ETA: You can also use the Testimonials feature to get verified testimonials from clients/employers/coworkers. The person has to have a LinkedIn profile, but I think they do add some credibility to the profile, especially if you don't have much public feedback right now. 

[creativefrelance]

Am having the same issue , please anyone that declines a job should refer me please