Re: Upwork Changes are Working

cartrellgeneral · ‎07-19-2019

I can't speak for others' experiences but I have found that the client pool (on my end) has improved greatly. There are some pretty good companies and well-known start-ups contacting me lately. There has also been in an increase in invitations and responses to my proposals. I am turning down invites at this moment. Whatever Upwork is doing, it's working. Has anyone else noticed an increase in the quality of potential clients and responses?

abinadab-agbo · ‎07-19-2019

Tell 'em.

Shout it from the rooftops, to all those screaming at Upwork for revamping things.

tlsanders · ‎07-19-2019

Catherine, you're the first person I've seen say invites had increased. I've seen quite a lot of successful, long-term, high-end freelancer say invitations have basically stopped.

cartrellgeneral · ‎07-19-2019

Hi Tiffany, that might be because we are in different fields. Hopefully, they will increase soon. Some pretty good clients are showing up.

mwiggenhorn · ‎07-19-2019

I share Catherine's experience. I just landed a phenomenal job - at my full rate - that would have been unimaginable a few months ago.

abinadab-agbo · ‎07-19-2019

Mary W wrote:
I share Catherine's experience. I just landed a phenomenal job - at my full rate - that would have been unimaginable a few months ago.

Finally, Mary endorses Upwork's the recent Upwork changes, without saying it!

tlsanders · ‎07-19-2019

Catherine M wrote:
Hi Tiffany, that might be because we are in different fields. Hopefully, they will increase soon. Some pretty good clients are showing up.

I wasn't talking about my experience. I've gotten a couple of good ones in the past week or so, but have nothing to compare it to because I'd had my profile set to unavailable for several months. I just keep seeing people in these forums and other places like the Reddit Upwork sub saying that they're no longer seeing any good postings or getting invitations--I don't know what fields most of those posters work in, so I don't know whether that's a factor or not.

diegomb · ‎07-20-2019

Hello! may I ask what field do you work on?

I am in the design/creative market and it has been a bit bad lately.

rolludesig · ‎07-20-2019

i am from design field and i have to say situation was never so bad which is right now..low bids, cheap projects,unresponsive clients...

its just my old clients which are pulling things here otherwise its is rather getting impossible to get new good paying clients.

mtngigi · ‎07-19-2019

Catherine M wrote:
I can't speak for others' experiences but I have found that the client pool (on my end) has improved greatly. There are some pretty good companies and well-known start-ups contacting me lately. There has also been in an increase in invitations and responses to my proposals. I am turning down invites at this moment. Whatever Upwork is doing, it's working. Has anyone else noticed an increase in the quality of potential clients and responses?

I guess I've been lucky. I've had very few clients I wouldn't want to work with again. As far as invites go ... I was getting nothing for a long time, but lately that has picked up a little. My understanding is that invites may be tied to profile rotations (not sure about that though). Regardless, for me invites have always been feast or famine. Right now it's feast ... well, a small buffet anyway.

cartrellgeneral · ‎07-19-2019

So glad to see others experiencing the same thing. Most of the time there is nothing but complaints on here. So good to see that (contrary to some opinions) there are freelancers getting opportunities. Wishing everyone much success!

wendy_writes · ‎07-19-2019

Invites come in waves because U. changes the rotation of who is in the top X number of pages on the search feature.

Unless buyers are really willing to either do some homework = invite only or

Buyers are highly specific in what they need and U matches that to you = invite ...

you are simply subject to rotation

cartrellgeneral · ‎07-19-2019

Exactly Wendy. Honestly, even in rotation, I don't really get invitations. I usually get my jobs through proposals so I don't particularly care whether or not I am invited to a job. This new trend of back to back invites is a noticeable difference. In all my years being on here, I don't think I have experienced this. I got invites but not on this level.

joansands · ‎07-19-2019

I have gotten some good jobs and have been so busy that I have not spent all my Plus monthly connects. Hope it continues.

mtngigi · ‎07-19-2019

Wendy C wrote:
Invites come in waves because U. changes the rotation of who is in the top X number of pages on the search feature.

Unless buyers are really willing to either do some homework = invite only or
Buyers are highly specific in what they need and U matches that to you = invite ...
you are simply subject to rotation

Good to get confirmation on that ... though one of my candidacies is a fellow Coloradan who prefers to "hire local", so he did a search and found me that way. I like when clients want to keep the money here where we live.

abinadab-agbo · ‎07-19-2019

Anyway, I'd give the credit to Upwork's chief economist, Adam Ozimek.

The recent Upwork changes appeared to coincide with his appointment.

It definitely pays to study econs in Ivy League.

cartrellgeneral · ‎07-19-2019

Seems like they are definitely courting better clients. More than the number of invites, I am pleased with the client selection. Some pretty good ones.

versailles · ‎07-19-2019

-----------
"Where darkness shines like dazzling light" —William Ashbless

abinadab-agbo · ‎07-19-2019

Catherine M wrote:
Seems like they are definitely courting better clients. More than the number of invites, I am pleased with the client selection. Some pretty good ones.

Anyway, I don't think anything dramatically changed in the way Upwork courts clients and in the kinds of clients they court.

What changed is, when those clients come on here, they won't be greeted with excess supply of freelance labour any longer.

lysis10 · ‎07-19-2019

I sure hope so. The new 2020 Vette just released and mama needs a brand new toy. Gimme money Upwork. I need this. Without it, I'm exploited and yer girl can't live like the poors.

cartrellgeneral · ‎07-19-2019

Jennifer, have you decided on a color?

wendy_writes · ‎07-19-2019

Just not red, Jenn. Cops love red + sports car. Equals mega speeding tickets.

I'm currently on the wrong side of the envite roster (like Rene) but the ones I'm getting - thanks to client specifitivity - are solid and have no problem with my rate.

dzadza · ‎07-19-2019

I can't say I'm not getting invites... if you look at the number - I'm getting them. It's just that nothing happens with those jobs - they just stay there unawarded for months . Oh, and there were 3 invites from "specialists" that were not really for me. And two clients that wanted me to work at 1/6 of my usual rate.
So - meh.

sergio-soria · ‎07-19-2019

Mmm... I am not getting invites, though a couple of weeks ago I got 3 or 4 in a row, then everything went quiet again. The invites I receive most of the time don't match with me, sometimes I wonder if the "specialists" really read the profiles.

I did have a couple of responses to proposals I wrote, and I saw those responses came from job posts that received less proposals than before. But it could just be that I found some people who were nice enough to reply, that's it.

So I couldn't say if the changes are working or not. I didn't experiment anything particularly unusual.

researchediting · ‎07-20-2019

Sergio S wrote:
Mmm... I am not getting invites, though a couple of weeks ago I got 3 or 4 in a row, then everything went quiet again. The invites I receive most of the time don't match with me, sometimes I wonder if the "specialists" really read the profiles.

I always assume when people say "invites," they mean directly from clients. Of course, we could say your question applies to at least some of them.

lysis10 · ‎07-20-2019

Catherine M wrote:
Jennifer, have you decided on a color?

Dis will be mine. Gonna pick up so many chicks in this. Send me some invites Upwork.

dzadza · ‎07-20-2019

I'll take this one - and that's my color of choice

...problem is - I need to win the lottery for it, lol - upwork earnings won't be enough to buy one tire...;-)

sergio-soria · ‎07-20-2019

Douglas Michael M wrote:
I always assume when people say "invites," they mean directly from clients. Of course, we could say your question applies to at least some of them.

Oh! When they say "invites" I assume those "Invitation to interview" that are sent through e-mail as well, with the text "Congrats! You have been invited to submit a proposal!" sent by "Upwork Talent Specialists." I mean those specialists apparently don't actually read profiles. I don't think I ever received an invitation directly from a prospective client. Oh yes, I did receive a couple when I was a newbie here, but they were sent by scammers. Nowadays I do receive offers directly from recurring clients but I don't call that "invites.".

cartrellgeneral · ‎07-20-2019

Hi Sergio, I unsubscribed from getting anything from talent specialists ages ago. In my case, they were useless. The invitations I receive come straight from clients.

lysis10 · ‎07-20-2019

I hope Upwork reads this thread. Replace "pizza" with money and this is me when I log into Upwork. About the same level of maturity too.

richard_wein · ‎07-21-2019

Jennifer M wrote:
Catherine M wrote:
Jennifer, have you decided on a color?
Dis will be mine. Gonna pick up so many chicks in this. Send me some invites Upwork.

Doesn't it come in pink?

sergio-soria · ‎07-21-2019

Catherine M wrote:
Hi Sergio, I unsubscribed from getting anything from talent specialists ages ago. In my case, they were useless. The invitations I receive come straight from clients.

How do you unsubscribe? Because I never subscribed to talent specialists invitations, those are the ones I receive and most of the time are useless.

By the way, how do you receive invitations directly from clients having a "profile not public"? Or did you mean clients who worked previosly with you?

kbadeau · ‎07-21-2019

I'm a graphic designer and in the "feast" phase. I do think I'm showing up on top for July for book design, plus I recently passed 500 hours on Upwork which I think opened up some new possibilities for me. (Such a weird algorithm, though, since so many of our jobs are fixed rate).

All in all I'm happy so far but may change my mind if August rolls around and it becomes famine again.

lysis10 · ‎07-21-2019

Richard W wrote:
Jennifer M wrote:
Catherine M wrote:
Jennifer, have you decided on a color?
Dis will be mine. Gonna pick up so many chicks in this. Send me some invites Upwork.

Doesn't it come in pink?

I might draw the line with a pink car. I live in suburbia as it is and these housewife hoes might poop their pants if I lived next to them in a pink Vette.