Why I have so many jobs in progress

Summary

In this video, the speaker addresses concerns raised by clients about his availability due to a high number of ongoing jobs listed on his profile. He explains his strategy of keeping contracts open to facilitate client returns and to manage the visibility of reviews, particularly bad ones, on his work history. The speaker shares his experience with job success scores, emphasizing the importance of learning from feedback and not letting a low score deter one from securing future work.

Takeaways

• 🔍 The speaker has been receiving many calls from clients asking about his availability, which prompted him to make a video to address the issue.
• 🗓️ Clients were concerned about the speaker's availability due to seeing 40 jobs listed as in progress on his profile, which might have deterred potential clients from reaching out.
• 📊 The speaker decided to close some old contracts to reduce the number of jobs listed as in progress, as he realized this could be affecting his client acquisition.
• 🔄 He usually keeps contracts open for two reasons: to allow for easy continuation of work with clients and to maintain a high number of jobs in progress for review purposes.
• 🌟 The main reason for keeping jobs open is to push down negative reviews on his profile, as new reviews take precedence and older ones are pushed further back.
• 📉 A single negative review can significantly impact a profile, even if it's for a small amount, because it's the first thing potential clients see.
• 🚀 The speaker's strategy is to keep jobs open to bury any negative reviews further down the list, making them less visible to potential clients.
• 📈 The speaker's job success score has improved significantly, from as low as 70% to 94%, indicating the effectiveness of his approach to managing his profile.
• 💡 He advises not to dwell on negative reviews but to learn from them and focus on improving for future engagements.
• 🛑 The speaker learned from experience to avoid taking on cheap clients, as they tend to be more demanding and entitled, which can lead to negative reviews.
• 🔄 Job success scores update every two weeks, and a sudden change could be due to feedback from jobs closed in the past fortnight.

Q & A

Why did Thomas decide to make a video addressing his clients' concerns?

Thomas decided to make a video because he noticed a pattern of clients asking him about his availability, which led him to realize that his profile might be deterring potential clients due to the high number of jobs listed as in progress.

What was the initial concern of clients when they contacted Thomas?

The initial concern was whether Thomas was truly available for new work, as they saw a high number of jobs listed as in progress on his profile and thought he might be too busy.

How did Thomas respond when clients questioned his availability?

Thomas reassured them that he is available full time and asked if there was a specific reason for their repeated inquiries about his availability.

What action did Thomas take to address the issue of having many jobs listed as in progress?

Thomas reviewed and closed some of the old contracts that were completed but still listed as in progress to make his profile appear less busy.

Why does Thomas typically keep jobs in progress even after they are completed?

He keeps jobs in progress for two main reasons: to allow clients the convenience of adding new work to an existing contract and to potentially push down negative reviews on his profile.

How does Thomas use the 'in progress' status of jobs to manage his online reviews?

By keeping jobs open, Thomas can push negative reviews down his profile's review list, making them less visible to potential clients.

What is the potential downside of having many jobs listed as in progress?

The downside is that potential clients might see the high number of in-progress jobs and assume Thomas is too busy, causing them not to reach out.

What advice does Thomas give regarding handling bad reviews or a low job success score?

Thomas advises not to let a bad review or low job success score get to one's head, to learn from it, and to focus on improving for future work.

How did Thomas improve his job success score?

Thomas improved his job success score by learning from past mistakes, being more selective with clients, and not taking on cheap clients who might be more likely to leave negative reviews.

What is Thomas' strategy for dealing with a bad review that affects his profile?

His strategy is to close a sufficient number of jobs to push the bad review down his profile's review list, making it less visible to potential clients.

How often does the job success score update according to Thomas' experience?

The job success score updates every two weeks, reflecting the feedback from jobs closed in that period.