When it comes to the application process, I have found that if I am not in before the Upwork screen shows 5 to 10 applicants, then I am wasting my time. The issue becomes one of standing out from the crowd. In my case, I stand out because I charge $200+ an hour – not good. I must stand out for a very different reason (which is a whole other subject).
Timing becomes critical in the Upwork application process, so be sure to take a moment or two and review my YouTube video on this matter as it becomes available. We must act quickly when the following issues present themselves as being important considerations:
- The engagement represents a field for which there would be a seemingly endless number of competitors expected to respond; and/or
- You would have every expectation that competing on price would result in many freelancers under bidding you by a substantial margin on an hourly basis (meaning you do not want to be the chump working for peanuts when you might be able to get top dollar for your services); and/or
- You realize the posted rate is just a placeholder that would be expected to generate significant price discounting activity as a result.
Timing Plays Out on Multiple Levels at Multiple Points in the Process
The timing issue is now in play in a number of ways…
- First, if we are not paying close attention to the Most Recent board, we could easily be in the position of being far too late to the party. The expected result is a job we could have applied for but can no longer do so because there are too many applications already filed.
- Second, if we take too long in creating our application letter, then there is the potential for the same result as the first instance (above).
- Finally, if we are in “on the ground floor” there is the chance that our “special offer” may nag at the prospective client while the prospective client is awaiting other applications and continue to do so to the point where the client would feel obligated to reach out to us and demand an explanation of what the “special offer” actually entails. Remember, fear and greed are two sides of the same coin, and this issue is an Upwork Key Practice Rule, so we need to take full advantage of it.
Being Ready to Pounce is Critical
The Golden Rule is, get the deal off the street. We can only do that if we can get the prospective client to interview us. The client will only interview us if the client believes they are going to achieve their goals relative to the following:•
- The outcome will meet the client’s time imperative of getting the engagement completed sooner than expected, thus making the client look good (vanity); and/or
- The outcome provides a value proposition the client does not believe can be otherwise achieved by another freelancer or source, thus appealing to their greed/fear reflex.
Process is Efficient & Far-Reaching in Impact Potential
To achieve these outcome “channels” (being either way, they select us!), we need to be ready to go with our systemic approach to managing the process. Our process is (as always):
- We are checking the Most Recent board no later than every 25 minutes, so we have a good chance of being in before there are more than five responses; and
- We have a form letter that only requires our customization touches be added before we submit it (for speed of answering); and
- We have form answers ready for the obvious questions; and
- We have our handouts on the related services that include links to our catalogue and samples; and
- We have the form letter selected that has the special offer language.
All of these moves cut down on response time. If we had to put all of these things together from scratch, it would eat up way too much time and defeat the purpose of getting the deal off the street.
In Closing
We need to remind ourselves every day and on every potential engagement, that:
- We must be efficient.
- We must be in with our application on the ground floor.
- We must be ready to pounce on the job when it is posted with our special offer ready to go.
- We must have all handouts and materials premade and formatted for transmission in accordance with the Upwork TOU that generally conform with the type of engagement being posted.
By doing these basic exercises and tasks, we set the stage to be selected for that all-important interview, so we have the opportunity we are looking for – the chance to get the deal off the street.
Be sure to get yours, my friends and see my YouTube video that ties into this blog post once it is available.