Hi all — I’m considering selling my art and had a question for other artists. I’ve been painting on wood boards and canvases from Michaels, like Artist’s Loft products. If I start creating pieces to sell, are basic canvases from Michaels generally considered good enough quality, or should I invest in higher-end materials?
I’m honestly considering leaving Upwork. I got lucky and landed a client in my first month, but since then, nothing.
I started digging into job posts and noticed a ton of them had 0 proposal opens. That means freelancers are spending connects and time on jobs where the client never even looks at submissions. It feels like a broken system.
Upwork doesn’t really incentivize clients to hire through the platform. If I were them, I’d refund connects on jobs where proposals were never opened. They should also charge clients more upfront to post a job, then refund that fee once they successfully hire through Upwork.
That would cut down on half-assed job posts and clients ghosting everyone after wasting freelancers’ time and money.
I landed my first client in my first month on Upwork and even got a few callbacks. But now that I’m in month two, my proposals aren’t getting any views at all.
Before I keep spending more on connects than I’m earning back, I’d love to hear some real numbers from others. Beyond the connects included in your monthly plan, how much are you spending on extras?
Also, what’s your typical proposal-to-response rate?