No hires after second job

[ivanawho]

Hey guys,

I'm fairly new to Upwork. I've sent proposals out in the last month and have had 4 responses and 2 hires. The first week was buzzing. I was hired twice after just 4 days of sending out maybe 3 proposals a day. Since then dead silence.

A few things to note:
1. My proposals are individually tailored.
2. I provide relevant portfolio samples either in the cover letter or I send a link.
3. I talk about how the client will benefit from my services.

To me, I'm doing everything right but I'm just not getting any nibbles so I don't know what to improve on.

Can anyone help me out? How do I get out of this rut? Has anyone else had issues with this?

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Ivana,

Please expand your profile overview and clearly describe your skills and experience. Make sure your overview, title, name, certifications, employment and education history sections do not have spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors, and the words are capitalized where appropriate.
Please read the Getting Started as a Freelancer section of the Help Center and complete your profile.

[ivanawho]

Thank you! I'll check for any errors and expand where necessary.

[allenwatson23 · Accepted solution]

Hey Ivana!

It sounds like you are going a good job with the proposals. Don't worry too much about not getting too many jobs. We all hit dry spells. Since you are new, it is a bit harder because you don't have a great deal of feedback for clients to look at, but keep trying. 

Your profile looks pretty good, but I would hide the visibility on the test you just passed. Unless I pass something in the top 10 or 30 percent, I don't have it visible.

Do your best with proposals and make sure your work is exemplary when you get it. Before you know it, you'll have more jobs!

[chadworth]

Hi Ivana,

Everyone has issues with this in the beginning.  The more great feedback you get from clients, the more the work snowballs.

You are making one "rookie" mistake though. I put that in quotes because a lot of veterans still make that same mistake.

You're attempting to educate your potential clients with your profile.  Your clients don't want an education.  That is not to say they don't NEED an education.  But they don't want one.  What they want is a story about why they should hire you, why you're the one with the magic wand who'll make all their problems either flutter away, or transmogrify into harmless, fluffy bunnies--bunnies who also make and serve pancakes.

In your profile you're not telling me how YOU would solve my problems.  You're telling me that my problems have solutions.  I'm not going to hire you to tell me that.  I already know that (or I think I do) that's why I'm looking for someone to solve my problems. 

Two things I would do if I were you as well:

1.  Put up portfolio pieces.

2.  Decide if hiding your income is worth it in the beginning stages of your UpWork profile. Especially for people new to the platform, clients tend to feel more comfortable when they know other people have paid you $400 for the same thing you're telling them you'll charge them $450 to do. 

Human nature.  As a copywriter I'm sure you're well aware of our foibles.  Do for yourself, the same thing you do for your clients.  Package yourself well, sell yourself, and overcome the potential client objections, before they even make them.

Good luck.

[ivanawho]

This is great! Excellent point about clients wanting to know how I'm going to solve their problems.  Thank you. I'll tweak my profile.