I’m sure a lot of Upwork freelancers wonder whether or not they should be bidding connects on Upwork to try and get noticed and eventually hired for a posted engagement on Upwork. In this blog post I’m going to give you some hard facts and general rules to follow that I have found to be successful in my freelancing journey on Upwork.
The Background on Upwork Connects Bidding…
Upwork introduced the idea of making freelancers bid against each other and pay for the privilege back in 2022. The idea is supposedly simple: bid for the Top 3 spots by entering the number of connects you are willing to pay to get on the list. Somehow this list will be presented to the client and you will get noticed and hired more often.
Before you push the button for your first bidding war using connects on Upwork, you should ask yourself who really benefits in this game. Only one person gets hired but the top three bidders have to pay and that means two people are paying more to get nothing of value. What about everyone else?
Now that’s an interesting question…
Bidding Connects for Work on Upwork is a Losing Game
Generally speaking, I found that bidding connects to get hired was a losing game. I found that when I was in at the beginning of the posting period (i.e., before there were more than 5 bidders), my proposals were being read at the same rate as they were before the connects bidding came along – whether I was bidding connects or not! Bottom line: I never bid connects to try and get an engagement posted on Upwork. It almost never adds value in my experience. Maybe your experience would be different but the reality is this: the proposals are sent to the client as they are received so if you are in on the ground floor you have a better than 1 in 5 chance of having your proposal read whether you bid extra connects to get noticed for the job or not. That makes the bidding process a loser for me as a freelancer.
That’s not to say there are not times when bidding connects may work for YOU (not me – but you).
5 Common Sense Business Rules for Bidding Connects
First, is the job a perfect match for what you do? If not, the answer is do not bid connects.
Second, can the job be converted into a flat fee job that boosts your average hourly pay rate above your posted rate on Upwork? If not, pass on bidding connects.
Third, has a price war already erupted in terms of quoted fees or hourly rates? If a serious price war has already developed, then why pay more to get less? Pass.
Fourth, check the profile of the client. If they are a problem child, low pay client, or offshore somewhere, then the answer has to be not to bid connects (and maybe not apply at all).
Finally, if there are more than 20 applications already filed the odds of you getting the deal are going to be slim, so don’t bother bidding to get noticed when there is already a bin full of applications for the client to choose from, right?
Remember, you have to use the key practice rules as a guide to maximize your income opportunity on Upwork, so chasing ghosts with connect bids may not be the way to go. If you do decide to bid connects for jobs, track your costs and outcomes. Got a question? Email me and I will get back to you with an answer as soon as I can.
