Tracy B wrote:
As an image editor I find it bull dust that I do all the photoshop work requested by a potential client as they would like to see my work before employing and I've been sent an image by them to work on which I do and send back only to know never hear from them again because guess what they've just received the work for free. Also why if I can't even get one potential client to even acknowledge my proposal should I buy connects as you call them because as far as I can tell I'll be spending money left right and center applying for jobs that may not even exist and this job website is pocketing my money. So until I by some miracle actually do get work from this website you won't get a dime out of me. Upwork should prove themselves and all potential employers before demanding or rather expecting payment in order to make use of their services. If all these jobs were readily available why can't they go onto one of the free to use websites that are available all over the internet, what the hell makes Upwork so unique and enticing? It's not like we get support from them as an employee or any benefits or guaranteed work! If I got some kind of support like ensuring payment and jobs and things a normal business offers or something similar yes then you'd get my hard earned money but until such time that I actually get work or even acknowledged for my proposal you won't get a dime from me and I shall continue to be wary of buying any connects in order to apply for a position that may or may not exist. Do clients looking for staff have to pay a fee to advertise? Probably not is my guess!
Showing a client your skills is why you have a portfolio. Every guide and freelancer around will tell you to not do any work on the client's project unless and until you have a contract. It's also against the TOS for them to request that you do the work before deciding to hire you. If you're not simply ignoring or reporting those clients and moving on, then that's on you.
Also, connects are a thing because otherwise there would be an avalanche of "please sir I would like job from you" proposals for every job posted, and clients would have to sift through all of that garbage to find a few freelancers who actually talk about how they'll solve that client's specific need. I find it far less stressful to simply think of connects as postage stamps. You have to have a certain amount of postage to send anything through the mail, and you factor that into your cost of doing business. Connects and proposals are essentially the same thing.
As to demanding some kind of guarantee of work, you clearly don't know what this platform is all about. Upwork is a marketplace. Nothing more, nothing less. They're here to facilitate interactions between clients and freelancers, but it's up to you to market yourself in a way that gets results. Nobody is going to guarantee you a job or force a client to respond to your proposal. That would be akin to walking into a store, and that store demanding that you buy something, even if you don't find what you were looking for. If you find yourself sending off a bunch of proposals and getting nothing, then maybe it's time to reassess both your proposal style and your portfolio. You're in a highly saturated field, and there will always be someone who will claim to do it cheaper. So you need to convince a client that it's worth paying you to do it right vs someone who will just do it cheap.
On that topic, I would definitely work on your profile. Starting off on an adversarial note is not going to win people over. So make your profile attractive and inviting, and do the same with your proposals.
And finally, the best piece of advice I've seen on here is that once you submit a proposal, forget about it entirely unless the client contacts you. Between that and thinking of connects as postage, you'll save yourself a ton of stress.
