🐈
» Support » Product Release Notes » Boost Your Proposal to the Top of List
Page options

Boost Your Proposal to the Top of List

kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Update 10/13: Our Boosted Proposals test has ended, for now, so we can study the results and learn. We sincerely appreciate all of the feedback you gave us during this test, and we’re taking time to review our data and plan some improvements with your input in mind. 

We will share more information about our plans for a re-launch of Boosted Proposals. So stay tuned!

 

Open auctions will run their course; however, no new boosts will be available.

Our goal remains to support the best outcomes for Talent and Clients and help you win more. We’re working to make this feature even better as part of that effort!

 



We are testing a new way to help you
make your proposals stand out to clients. We’re dropping the required price of proposals to 1 Connect and allowing talent to bid for a chance to boost their proposal to appear in one of three promoted slots at the top of the client’s proposal manager. With boosting, you can promote yourself to clients by signalling that you are highly interested in their job. You can use your Connects to boost your proposal and increase the chances of being among the first that’s noticed. When clients see “Highly Interested” next to a blue lightning bolt, they’ll know these proposals are from talent who paid to express their interest by investing extra Connects into their proposal.

 

 

How it works 

When you submit a proposal, you can choose to boost it by spending additional Connects — whatever amount you think it’s worth. If you bid high enough relative to the other bidders, we’ll boost your proposal to the top of the stack, so it’s one of the first proposals the client sees.

 

  • Decide. If you really value a job, choose to bid to be eligible to boost your proposal above others. 
  • Bid. Set the number of Connects you’re willing to use to outbid other freelancers. We encourage you to bid the amount you truly think the job is worth.
  • Submit. Your proposal will be boosted to the client if your bid is high enough. If another freelancer bids more than you and your proposal is not boosted, we will refund some of your Connects (if boosting did not result in an engagement with a client). You’ll be notified either way and your proposal will still show up for the client, even if you’re outbid. 
  • The auction will last up to 7 days. It starts when the job is posted, and it is cleared after 7 days, or sooner if the job is closed or a hire has been made. 
  • Using Connects. The value of a job is always up to you, and you never have to worry about wasting Connects if you over or underbid. 

 

  • For example, if a job post allows for 3 boosted proposals, the top 3 bids will win those slots, and the final cost will be set by the lowest of those 3 bids. 

  • So if you spent 7 Connects to boost a proposal, and the lowest of the top 3 bidders spent just 5 — you’re in! Plus, you’ll receive a refund of 2 Connects to match the cost of the lowest qualifying bid.

  • What if you had bid just 3 Connects instead of 5? No worries! Your proposal won’t be boosted, but it will still show up for the client just like a regular proposal, and you’ll be refunded all the additional Connects you spent to boost your proposal.



We know you put a lot of effort into developing quality proposals, especially for projects you’re excited about. That’s one of the reasons we created the option to bid to boost your proposal, so you have an even better chance of being seen by clients for projects you’re really passionate about. We see this as a way to express your level of interest while increasing the odds of being noticed. So, in cases where boosting your proposal results in an engagement with a client, you will be charged - even if you are outbid, since this exposure can often lead to future interactions. An engagement means one or more of the following was done by the client (in other words, the client engaged a freelancer in at least one of these ways): viewed your proposal, messaged you, shortlisted you, sent an offer, and/or archived or declined your proposal. It’s another way to make your Connects work for you!

 

Screenshot from September 8, 2021 9_20 AM.png

 

For more information about boosting your proposals so you’re more likely to land the work you really want, check out our help article.

 

Excited to try this out? We are eager to gather feedback while we’re testing this feature. Let us know your thoughts so we can continue to make the work marketplace even better for you.

629 Comments
bundie702
Community Member

Ridiculous idea. Maybe instead of trying to come up with ways to separate freelancers from their connects, you should get someone to monitor the jobs that are being posted. In the last two days I've flagged the same scam job that keeps getting re-posted four times.

roberty1y
Community Member

Renata S wrote:

Amanda L wrote:

I have two questions:

 

1. How does this impact how invited proposals are shown to clients? Do I have to now boost my proposal that was invited and not supposed to cost me any connects?

 

2. Companies with federal contracts post jobs on Upwork. How will this impact what is supposed to be a fair and transparent RFP process? Are you aware that you may be driving clients off the site because of these practices that do not meet the procurement requirements of the OMB? 


@Amanda
Wow. Just wow. Yet another amazing reason why this initiative should have been canned before it was ever released (and they can't say we didn't tell them). 

I'm going to repeat something I said on the earier thread:

What we need from Upwork is a platform that facilitates our interactions with clients, not a system that gets in the way of those interactions or contributes extra stress to them. 

This initiative is not simply an annoyance. It means your clients will not be able to use the platform because they can't meet fairness and transparency requirements. 


Perhaps Upwork should have placed a job posting for a lawyer before launching this.

bundie702
Community Member

So what's the point of a Top Rated badge if that doesn't put you at the top of the applicant pile?

a_lipsey
Community Member

Renata S wrote:

Amanda L wrote:

I have two questions:

 

1. How does this impact how invited proposals are shown to clients? Do I have to now boost my proposal that was invited and not supposed to cost me any connects?

 

2. Companies with federal contracts post jobs on Upwork. How will this impact what is supposed to be a fair and transparent RFP process? Are you aware that you may be driving clients off the site because of these practices that do not meet the procurement requirements of the OMB? 


@Amanda
Wow. Just wow. Yet another amazing reason why this initiative should have been canned before it was ever released (and they can't say we didn't tell them). 

I'm going to repeat something I said on the earier thread:

What we need from Upwork is a platform that facilitates our interactions with clients, not a system that gets in the way of those interactions or contributes extra stress to them. 

This initiative is not simply an annoyance. It means your clients will not be able to use the platform because they can't meet fairness and transparency requirements. 


I wish they would stop playing at sneaky ways to charge more for connects and just charge more for connects. All these fancy promotions/programs are just really ways to make more money on connects, so why not just simplify it and just charge more? 

 

It's really infuriating to have people who clearly don't have the first clue about independent contracting as an industry making up these kinds of promotions and clearly not seeking any input from professionals, and I don't mean us - I mean accountants familiar with rules, lawyers familiar with rules, procurement specialists, etc., who could actually tell them where there is risk and liability. Upwork seriously thinks it can write its own rules and ignore this or that law. Not only that, Upwork seems to embrace its ignorance in the worst way - not the acknowledgement of ignorance and seeking to learn enough before making a choice - but moving ahead acknowledging that it doesn't know laws or rules or anything and expecting to fix it in the aftermath. That is the worst kind of startup mentality. Not only does it cause businesses to go under, it promotes unethical behavior and it damages client trust and faith in independent contractors. 

 

This is or was a good platform. Stop sending it down the drain with these poorly thought out ideas. 

gilbert-phyllis
Community Member

Valeria K wrote:

Amanda, Robert and Phyllis,

 

The test continues and has not been paused. Since we're testing this option on select jobs, you won't see it on every job though.

The test doesn't affect invites or sort proposals options available to clients. Proposals that haven't been boosted will appear below boosted ones in the same order they would before. In the event of a tie bid, the earlier time stamp prevails for boosted proposals. Check out my reply here as well for more information.


Thanks, Valeria. I misunderstood something Vlad said earlier, to mean time stamps are not relevant.

 

So, if I understand correctly, the top 3 boosted proposals stay pinned to the top of the list whether the client wants them or not. If the client archives one or more of those to make them go away, do the other boosted proposals then move up to take their places? And they stay pinned to the top unless they're archived?

 

kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Hi Christine,

 


Christine A wrote:

Questions for Upwork - If a freelancer is considered a "best match" for a particular job, and then they also pay to boost their bid, do they get a lightening bolt AND a "best match" next to their names? Or will it just be one or the other?


Clients may see a “Best Match” badge next to a boosted proposal as well as a non-boosted proposal. Whether a freelancer’s proposal for a particular job has the “Best Match” badge is unrelated to their proposal being boosted or not.

 


Christine A wrote:

And when you say that unsuccessful bid boosters will get "some" of their connects back, how exactly does that work? 

 


When the auction ends (after 7 days or after the first hire), we will issue refunds for all of the additional Connects freelancers bid if they didn’t end up in one of the top, boosted slots or the client didn’t interact with their proposal. This help article has more information about eligible interactions and examples of how refunds are processed. 



kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Christine, Maria, Petra and others,

 

A lot of you have shared concerns about jobs receiving too many proposals. This is something we will definitely keep an eye on.


As to how proposals that aren’t boosted will be ranked below the boosted ones, it will work as it does today. The default order is by relevancy, which is based on the information available to us. And, as always, clients can sort proposals based on time submitted, freelancer total earnings, hourly rate, etc., but successfully boosted proposals will always stay pinned at the top.

We are watching carefully to see how this impacts job proposals and freelancer success, as well as how it affects client projects. We will know more as testing continues and I’ve already shared your feedback with our team. Thanks!

kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Amanda,

 


Amanda L wrote:
So invites show up below boosted proposals? And there's no way to boost the invite so we could be in the top 3? How is that even okay? If I'm invited, I want a fair shot that the client sees the proposal I send as a response. 

Responding to an invite doesn't require Connects and there isn't an option to boost an invite. When a proposal is submitted in response to an invite, it has an "Invited" badge and it appears under a separate “Messaged” tab. Also, a Message room is created for the client and the freelancer to continue discussing the project.

 


Amanda L wrote:

You still have not answered my questions about federal RFPs and transparency. This would not be allowed by anyone hiring that has a federal contract as it violates OMB rules about procurement. 


I've shared your question and concern with the team and will provide an update if we have more information to share.

moonraker
Community Member

Amanda L wrote:


I wish they would stop playing at sneaky ways to charge more for connects and just charge more for connects.


Yup.

I'd have no problem if they just said "we need more money so we're charging more for connects"

But not this. 

kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Phyllis G wrote:

 If the client archives one or more of those to make them go away, do the other boosted proposals then move up to take their places? 


Not quite, if I understand your question correctly, Phyllis. If the client archives one of the three boosted proposals, there will be two boosted proposals showing at the top of that list with all the non-boosted proposals right below. The archived proposal, will be under the separate "Archived" tab.