Unresponsive client. Should I close contract?

[bc1b30bc]

I have an hourly contract ongoing with a client that has become unresponsive. I was given some materials to study to then give a presentation to the team which would then determine if I would get the real job. The time studying the materials is paid time and I have monitored that with the Upwork app, so I know I am going to receive the payment. As agreed, I contacted the client after reviewing the material with a few questions but it has been more than a week and I have not heard back from him. 

What is your suggestion moving forward? I have already e-mailed him twice and, while I love the job he is hiring for (its a niche for which I am one of the few experts around), I am afraid that keeping the contract open could deter additional clients because they think I am too busy. Unfortunately I have had that happening in the past.

How long do you think I should wait to close the contract if I keep not hearing back from the client?

Thank you in advance for any suggestions/comments you might have.

[martina_plaschka]

You only have one job in progress. That will hardly worry people that you are too busy. Clients expect freelancers to have many ongoing jobs at the same time, unless they are wanting to hire somebody full-time, which is rare. 

You can close it or leave it open, it doesn't matter either way. 

[bc1b30bc]

Actually I have 4 open contracts. As I mentioned above, I have had possible clients questioning if I had time for their project. The thing with this contract is that I really like the work and I do not want to lose the possibility of working more hours on this fun project just because I am rushing to close the project.

[data_divas · Accepted solution]

I'd leave it open, I have 8 jobs ongoing right now and it doesn't have any bearing on getting hired.  There's no harm to leaving it open but if you close it and the client has more work then that would cause an issue.

If you've already emailed them twice I would just wait for a response and go on looking for other jobs.

[bc1b30bc]

Thank you, Julie. How long do you usually wait to close a contract? Or do you just leave it opened indefinitely if you no longer communicate with the client?

[martina_plaschka]

I have mostly fixed price contracts, when I get to around 10% open jobs of my total jobs, I start messaging the clients asking them to close them. If I don't hear back for a few weeks, I end them myself one at a time. Ended jobs with feedback always look better than ones without, and if you end them yourself because the client is unresponsive, you will not get feedback. 

[bc1b30bc]

Thanks, that is a very useful tip.