Marketplace Updates: Boosted Proposals and Connects

[#1]

Two new Marketplace updates: 

1. Introduced a fourth slot in Boosted Proposals, increasing your chances of being noticed, while continuing to let clients see who is most interested in their job post.
2. Adjusted the range for the cost of Connects per job to better match the demand for jobs in the Marketplace.

Check out the product release for Marketplace Updates: Boosted Proposals and Connects and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

[#2]

😀😀

[#3]

This is very stupid, what you did with connects. I don't understand why you increased the price of submitting proposals by 3-4 times, and now you are also taking away connections for winning interviews. You already take 10% commission from any amount, is that not enough for you? It is not normal.

I think you should give back all connections when a client posts a public job for a certain freelancer with whom he has already agreed, but other freelancers have time to submit proposals. The client hires his freelancer within 10 minutes, but up to 50 freelancers manage to apply and even boost, and they will never get this job. In essence, he was supposed to create a hidden job for invites only and send an invite only to his freelancer, but he does not understand that people spend real money to send him a proposal. Let's calculate, 10 connections = $1.5, 50 proposals of 12 connections = 600 connections = $60, not to mention connections per boost. Do you think this is normal? This is complete bull**bleep**. Some clients create job for only $10 or $20, but in the end you/they collect from freelancers $50-60. As a result, the upwork earns $50-60 dollars from this job, when the only 1 freelancer gets $8-16. It's some kind of casino.
I think such clients should be warned and possibly even banned. And you need to review all possible options to return connections

[#4]

Danill,

Consider only applying for Jobs that meet your approval and the issue is solved. Right?

[#5]

No, not right. And not even close.

[#6]

Why?

[#7]

The problem with what you are saying is that there are clients that post jobs and leave it open without even interviewing anyone. To be fair to everyone, since they increased the connects needed to apply for jobs, there should be a refund policy if a client doesn't hire within a month. Better yet, Upwork should charge clients per job post so they have some skin in the game. It also automatically removes fake job postings. 

[#8]

Jessa,

Upwork charges $4.95 for the post if a freelancer is hired. Frequently clients don't locate a freelancer that meets their needs. ONLY apply for Jobs that you are an EXACT match so you are the Best Match freelancer.

[#9]

The charge is not for POSTing a job—it's for enacting a new contract. You can post all day and night and never be charged a thing, and the scammers do exactly that.

[#10]

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Kelly E wrote:

The charge is not for POSTing a job—it's for enacting a new contract. You can post all day and night and never be charged a thing, and the scammers do exactly that.

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William T C doesn't see the larger issues. He cheerleads for Upwork. 😆

[#11]

Josh,

What would you change on Upwork and why?

[#12]

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William T C wrote:

Josh,

What would you change on Upwork and why?

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Someone shared an idea that if you don't hear anything from a client within a month, connects should be refunded. I agree. I also agree that if the client never returns to the platform after a month, connects should be refunded. Freelancers should be vetted more and have the ability to earn a status where they're put in front of clients more (right now, it's basically a boost - it's based on money, not skills). Lastly, clients shouldn't be able to create postings that lack critical information. 

If these things changed, there would be far fewer complains about fairness.

[#13]

Not sure what's up with this other guy, but if he can't see the issues, then I don't know what to say. Everyone wants a better marketplace and I'm sure everyone wants Upwork to be profitable because it would benefit everyone. With that being said, all stakeholders should be taken into consideration when making drastic decisions such as essentially doubling the price per proposal. Again, if they simply charged for each job posting, it would make them additional revenue. We'd have better quality postings. We'd have more responsive clients. Most importantly, the long problem of fake job postings that have affected user experience, automatically gets solved. 

[#14]

Jessa,

There are 4,000,000 active freelancers and 830,000 active clients on Upwork, therefore the minimum bid will in all probablity, need to go higher because clients are still getting TOO MANY proposals.

[#15]

Where'd you get the stats regarding 800k active clients? How do you define active? If that includes fake clients that post fake  job postings, then that might be true. My point is simple, any increase in the amount paid for proposals should be fair to everyone. Upwork couldn't even regulate fake job postings. The claim that clients leave Upwork because they get spammed with proposals from non-qualified contractors is pure conjecture. For one, clients can make a job posting private and only invite certain individuals. Did it not occur to you that another reason that clients leave is because of a ton of fake job postings being made which makes their job posting go to the bottom of the pile? It always works both ways. Why penalize freelancers solely while fake clients are allowed to make job postings? Why penalize freelancers when clients with a verified payment method are allowed to make a ton of job postings for the same job and leave it open for a very long time with no activity? Clients have to have skin in the game for them to put more effort in revisiting their job posting. 

[#16]

Jessa,

Those numbers come from Upwork's quarterly shareholder meetings.

Please use two Skills in the Title, use four compelling paragraphs for the Summary, use all 15 Skills, add your Portfolio, and add a Project Catalog. Consider reducing the $20 per hour rate; it's too high in relationship to your competition on Upwork.

Upskill to in-demand Skills to be considered for more Jobs.

[#17]

Seriously, I wasn't asking for any unsolicited advice from you. I'm an agency owner with over 500k hours, so I have my own methods. 800k active clients is something I highly doubt. Again, we don't know how 'active' was defined.

Based on how you've across here, is it safe to say you don't think freelancers getting a refund in part or in full for proposals to clients that are non-active should be refunded? Correct? You are not looking for any added value for an increase in the price of sending proposals, correct? 

[#18]

Jessa,

Freelancers should only apply for Jobs that are an EXACT match for their Profile so they can become an Best Match on the client side. Apply for Jobs where the clients has a high hire ratio.

For a variety of reasons, about 50% of the Jobs are filled.

There are too many freelancers in relationship to clients on this site, therefore if anything, the price of connects needs to continue to move higher so clients are not overwhelmed with proposals.

[#19]

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William T C wrote:

There are too many freelancers in relationship to clients on this site, therefore if anything, the price of connects needs to continue to move higher so clients are not overwhelmed with proposals.

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It brings me joy that a majority of the community completely disagrees with you. What brings me more joy is that they bring sound wisdom and reasoning for why what Upwork has done isn't ok and doesn't work. The fact of the matter is, the last thing Upwork needs to do is raise the number of proposal connects. Full stop. You should be joyful that Upwork doesn't have a downvote option. I imagine that wouldn't look great for you. 😆

[#20]

Freelancers definitely need to pay more attention to the Invites they get, Jessa. Over the years, I have received invitations from many fabulous clients. Fortunately, many of them have turned out to be long-term business relationships. 

[#21]

Josh,

It is not necessary to Boost a Job Post - REPEAT it is not necessary to Boost a Job Post. Use the mimumum.

Only apply for Jobs that your Upwork Profile matches the Job request to have a higher chance of being a Best Match which stands out to the Client.

Your Upwork Profile isn't setup properly, therefore you are going to get less interactions.

[#22]

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William T C wrote:

Josh,

It is not necessary to Boost a Job Post - REPEAT it is not necessary to Boost a Job Post. Use the mimumum.

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You asked what I would change and I gave you my take.

I do use the minimum. I would never boost.

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William T C wrote:

Only apply for Jobs that your Upwork Profile matches the Job request to have a higher chance of being a Best Match which stands out to the Client.

---

Please review my Upwork profile again because I only specialize in SEO and I only apply for SEO-focused jobs. Even within the SEO specialization, I only focus on on-page SEO, technical SEO, and other SEO projects that touch on content. 

It's challenging to find jobs even worth applying to, and I'm someone who has several saved searches with fine-tuned criteria. Thankfully my main income isn't derived from Upwork or I'd be broke, truly. 

My profile isn't set up (yes, it's set up, not "setup") correctly? Wait, let me guess: You could set up my profile for $2k? Does it come with your grammar too? 😆 😆

[#23]

Josh,

Obviously you are new to the Community. I have helped several thousand freelancers in these posts with their Profiles.

Please use two Skills in the Title and four compelling paragraphs for the Summary with keen attention to the first sentence since it appears in the Client search.

In addition, click the Academy link on the top of this page for success TIPS.

[#24]

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William T C wrote:

Josh,

Obviously you are new to the Community. I have helped several thousand freelancers in these posts with their Profiles.

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Be that as it may, I can detect nonsense with the best of them. 

Let me guess, you charged $2k to help others with their profiles, correct?

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William T C wrote:

Please use two Skills in the Title and four compelling paragraphs for the Summary with keen attention to the first sentence since it appears in the Client search.

In addition, click the Academy link on the top of this page for success TIPS.

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I'd rather my clients not have to wear boots when walking through my profile. I get straight to the point. Truthfully, most of my business comes outside of Upwork. My Google Business Profile is pretty stellar and I've built a solid SEO career. My pitch is pretty awesome too. 

[#25]

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William T C wrote:

Please use two Skills in the Title and four compelling paragraphs for the Summary with keen attention to the first sentence since it appears in the Client search.

In addition, click the Academy link on the top of this page for success TIPS.

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I've reported several of your portfolio items. I earnestly hope they're removed as they aren't part of a portfolio in the slightest.

I also screenshotted this for you:

A portfolio isn't a place where you try to pitch people for services. There's a whole section for projects. A portfolio is where you show off work you've completed.

Maybe you should visit the academy for TIPS? 🤔

[#26]

Upwork charges $4.95 per job posting? That can't be correct. Otherwise, there wouldn't be any fake job postings nor would we see clients that have posted 700+ jobs while only having a total spend of $10K.