Hi Upwork Family!

demirantay · ‎08-06-2019

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a great day,

I am having a bit of trouble winning proposals and I taught this forum would be the perfect place to ask why? I am trying to do everything right: a nice profile photo, Specific profile with a good description, a couple of live projects in the portfolio section to demonstrate my work, put down my education ... etc.

I write clean and good proposals uniquely written to every job I bid for (I do not use any templates to not make the client feel like he is dealing with a "guy who proposes to every job with that template"). Yet, still no luck.

I know that winning your first job is always the hardest but I have proposed to over 20+ jobs over the course of 15 days (1-2 bids every day). and I do not want my account to get flagged because of the Upwork's new policy towards "proposing too much without winning any jobs"

Here is my profile link: https://www.upwork.com/o/profiles/users/_~01e2b1637b0fb0d2e0/

I would love to get advice from experienced freelancers such as yourselves? You can criticize my profile as hard as you want 🙂

Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this.

-- Demir

greg_frank · ‎08-06-2019

Hi. I think you need to show in your portfolio real projects not templates. Just give them real names of services. For example, like "Eats" for food delivery or "drive" for taxi service. Just names. Also I think it is redudant to start your overview with "hi. My name... I am from..."

demirantay · ‎08-06-2019

I will fix the redundancy right away!

When you mean ` "Eats" for food delivery or "drive" for taxi service` do you mean that I should create a landing page for imaginary services? Because at the moment I do not have any real paid projects to put on my portfolio.

Thanks a lot for your fast reply 🙂

florydev · ‎08-06-2019

One thing that imediately struck me is how wishy-washy this statement is:

I know each project has it’s own development process but I try to follow a common pattern for every project I do.

It should be at the very least:

Each project has it’s own development process but I will follow a common pattern.

Reading your profile it would seem that your target client is someone who has never had software developed before. I think even if that is the case a long explanation of software lifecycle is rather dry piece of fluff for your profile. I would choose to instead suggest there is a process, that you will help them understand it, and bring them along to a successful conclusion.

One thing you could try is to imagine your perfect client with a perfect project was looking at your profile what would you need to do to convince them that you were the right person for the job? What would be their concerns? What would be their hopes?

Because in a very real way if a client is looking at your profile they are hoping you are an answer to their questions.

demirantay · ‎08-06-2019

Hi Mark,

Hmmmm, I think I am getting what you are trying to advise me to do, so instead of just writing plain-old boring 6 paragraphs of a development cycle explanation, I can tell the client that how I love dealing with aesthetics and visual side of the webpage and that's why I love working on the Frontend section. I can link them to my Artwork portfolio and else ... Essentially, you are suggesting that I should sell myself with a more eager tone rather than a boring explanation.

Thank you a lot for taking the time out of your day to look at my post. I will fix the issues you have raised.

florydev · ‎08-06-2019

Demir A wrote:
Hi Mark,

Hmmmm, I think I am getting what you are trying to advise me to do, so instead of just writing plain-old boring 6 paragraphs of a development cycle explanation, I can tell the client that how I love dealing with aesthetics and visual side of the webpage and that's why I love working on the Frontend section. I can link them to my Artwork portfolio and else ... Essentially, you are suggesting that I should sell myself with a more eager tone rather than a boring explanation.

Thank you a lot for taking the time out of your day to look at my post. I will fix the issues you have raised.

And simpler is best. I would assume that the client won't read much beyond the first couple of lines unless they are really interested.

demirantay · ‎08-06-2019

Yes, I feel like that too with 50+ proposals on a single job, it can be tedious. I think I completely understood what you meant by "no-fluff" when I read your profile. I can see the confidence in just 3 short paragraphs. Even if I don't have the repertoire like you to back up my confidence at the moment I hope that I will build it over time with my client work history.

Thank you again! It means a lot for me that you are helping.

florydev · ‎08-06-2019

Demir A wrote:
Yes, I feel like that too with 50+ proposals on a single job, it can be tedious. I think I completely understood what you meant by "no-fluff" when I read your profile. I can see the confidence in just 3 short paragraphs. Even if I don't have the repertoire like you to back up my confidence at the moment I hope that I will build it over time with my client work history.

Thank you again! It means a lot for me that you are helping.

You are welcome.

demirantay · ‎08-06-2019

Hi Mark,

I know that I am taking your time too much but could you please review my portfolio for the last time: https://www.upwork.com/o/profiles/users/_~01e2b1637b0fb0d2e0/

I have made the necessary changes as you said and I will start developing a more professional looking projects on my portfolio. I just wanted to see if my profile description has improved.

Thank you for your patience and help 🙂

-- Demir

martina_plaschka · ‎08-06-2019

Demir A wrote:
I will fix the redundancy right away!

When you mean ` "Eats" for food delivery or "drive" for taxi service` do you mean that I should create a landing page for imaginary services? Because at the moment I do not have any real paid projects to put on my portfolio.

Thanks a lot for your fast reply 🙂

Don't tell clients that you will provide them with documentation of how many hours you worked. That is automatic when you use the time tracker and makes you look as if you are not familiar with upwork procedures.

demirantay · ‎08-06-2019

Oh, I taught it would be nice to give the client a full analysis of how the project is going, not just the amount of hourly charged bill. But you are right I should be doing that with every project anyway without having to announce it on my profile ... It looks unprofessional.

I will remove it right away 🙂 Thank you, ma'am, for pointing that out and fastly replying to my post. Have a wonderful day.