The problem for freelancers

[greenhaus_quinn]

The following is a blog post by Seth Godin:

The problem for freelancers.

Getting found.

No clients, no work.

And the clients have a problem as well: Figuring out who the truly good freelancers are.

A marketplace like Upwork is supposed to solve a classic two-sided problem like this one. But the problem is so difficult that marketplaces often make it worse (and charge too much as well).

They make it worse by pushing people to be bottom-fishing cheap commodity providers. If someone searches for ‘logo designer’, there is a huge amount of pressure to be the freelancer who checks all the boxes, has decent reviews and is also the cheapest.

The problem with that race to the bottom is that you might win. Compliance and commodity pricing can’t possibly work well for an independent freelancer, because there’s always someone cheaper than you.

And clients? Well, every once in a while a good client encounters a freelancer who is worth sticking with. The marketplaces, though, want to be sure to get paid for every hour worked, not simply surface the good ones. Upwork is trying to slip through a change in their terms of service (effective in four weeks) that will subject any client who hires a freelancer they found on their site to a fine of up to $50,000–per freelancer. That’s not good for either the freelancer or the client.

The gig economy is based on the magic of finding the right person for the right job. It falls apart when it becomes a commodity marketplace in which each freelancer struggles to be valued for the magic their able to create.

For most freelancers, the hard part isn’t doing the work–it’s being tricked into believing that they have to be the lowest bidder to succeed

[yitwail]

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Quinn G wrote:
The following is a blog post by Seth Godin:

[lines snipped]

Upwork is trying to slip through a change in their terms of service (effective in four weeks) that will subject any client who hires a freelancer they found on their site to a fine of up to $50,000–per freelancer. That’s not good for either the freelancer or the client.

[paragraph snipped]

For most freelancers, the hard part isn’t doing the work–it’s being tricked into believing that they have to be the lowest bidder to succeed

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When they send everyone a notification about this by email, I would't call that "trying to slip through a change in their terms of service". 

Also, is he saying it's hard to be "tricked into believing that they have to be the lowest bidder to succeed"? If so, then there shouldn't be many low bidding freelancers.

[tlsanders]

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John K wrote:

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When they send everyone a notification about this by email, I would't call that "trying to slip through a change in their terms of service". 

Did they? I didn't get one.

[yitwail]

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Tiffany S wrote:

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John K wrote:

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When they send everyone a notification about this by email, I would't call that "trying to slip through a change in their terms of service". 

Did they? I didn't get one.

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I got mine a lot later than many other freelancers. So perhaps it's still bouncing around or wasn't delivered to you for some reason, but I doubt it was intentional, unless they don't value you as a member, because it starts with the salutation, "Dear Valued Upwork Member"

[petra_r]

Someone else trying to sell snake oil....

Typical tactic: Twist things around, tell a sensational half-truth, create fear, promise solution, sell a workshop.

Yawn.

[yitwail]

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Petra R wrote:

Someone else trying to sell snake oil....

Typical tactic: Twist things around, tell a sensational half-truth, create fear, promise solution, sell a workshop.

Yawn.

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Not everyone is diligent enough to google the original article, which has one less grammatical error than the version OP posted, by the way, so thank you for your due diligence.

[a_lipsey]

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Petra R wrote:

Someone else trying to sell snake oil....

Typical tactic: Twist things around, tell a sensational half-truth, create fear, promise solution, sell a workshop.

Yawn.

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We got trouble. Right here in River City. 

[tlbp]

Seth only writes long posts when he is pitching something. He's written several good books in the past but now the blog is more of a direct marketing space.

[wlyonsatl]

Upwork must think it's losing a lot of money from freelancers on Upwork being hired away by clients without the clients compensating Upwork as provided for under the current terms of services.

[yitwail]

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Will L wrote:

Upwork must think it's losing a lot of money from freelancers on Upwork being hired away by clients without the clients compensating Upwork as provided for under the current terms of services.

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That may well be the case, but I doubt that changing the opt-out fee calculation would affect that significantly, unless paying the opt-out fee is common enough so that a net increase in the fee would increase revenue from that source. If anything, you'd think a fee increase would reduce compliance with the opt-out fee.