Upwork Project Catalog – All you need to know to get more jobs on Upwork

Summary

This video delves into Upwork's new Project Catalog feature, offering freelancers a structured way to showcase their services with clear scopes, timelines, and fixed prices. The host, Laura, explains how to create and optimize projects to upsell and streamline the client hiring process, emphasizing the benefits of outcome-based pricing over hourly rates. She also addresses the challenge of marketplace competition and encourages viewers to focus on value rather than price.

Takeaways

• 😀 Upwork has introduced a new feature called the 'Upwork Project Catalog', allowing freelancers to offer their services in a structured way with clear scopes, timelines, and fixed prices.
• 🔍 The Project Catalog is designed to make it easier for clients to understand what they are purchasing by presenting services as specific projects with defined deliverables.
• 🎨 Freelancers can create up to seven different projects, showcasing their ability to offer varied services within their expertise, such as a graphic designer offering different logo design packages.
• 📝 It is crucial for freelancers to provide clear and detailed descriptions of each project to set accurate client expectations and differentiate between similar offerings.
• 🖼️ Including a high-quality gallery showcasing previous work is essential to give potential clients a visual representation of the freelancer's style and capabilities.
• 📋 Clear client guidelines or requirements should be outlined to streamline the project initiation process and minimize back-and-forth communication.
• 🛒 The Project Catalog operates as a 'storefront' on Upwork, where clients can view and order projects directly, making the hiring process more efficient.
• 🚀 The feature facilitates upsell opportunities by allowing freelancers to offer additional services or options within their projects, increasing potential earnings.
• 🤝 It reduces the need for negotiation on project specifics, making the process smoother for both freelancers and clients, especially beneficial for those new to hiring freelancers.
• 📈 The Project Catalog can help automate lead generation by minimizing the interaction needed with clients, as they can place orders directly after understanding the project details.
• 💰 Working under fixed-price projects allows freelancers to benefit from outcome-based pricing, where the payment is for the deliverable, not the time spent, offering flexibility in how long the work takes to complete.
• 💼 However, freelancers must be prepared for competition in the marketplace, where others may offer similar services at lower prices, emphasizing the importance of differentiating based on value rather than cost.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video?

The main topic of the video is the Upwork Project Catalog, a new feature on Upwork that allows freelancers to offer their services in a structured way with clear scopes, timelines, and prices.

Why is the Upwork Project Catalog feature beneficial for freelancers?

The Upwork Project Catalog is beneficial because it provides a structured way to offer services, making it easier for clients to understand what they are getting, and it can lead to more work with less negotiation and more automation of the lead generation process.

How many different projects can a freelancer create on the Upwork Project Catalog?

A freelancer can create up to seven different projects on the Upwork Project Catalog.

What is the importance of having a clear scope in the project offerings?

A clear scope is important because it sets the client's expectations and ensures they know what to expect from the freelancer, which can lead to more successful project completions and fewer misunderstandings.

Why is creating a gallery for the project important?

Creating a gallery is important because it allows potential clients to see the quality and style of the freelancer's work, which can help them decide whether to hire the freelancer for their project.

What should a freelancer do to differentiate themselves in a competitive marketplace?

A freelancer should focus on providing high-quality work, clear communication of their offerings, and excellent customer service to differentiate themselves from competitors offering similar services at lower prices.

How does the Upwork Project Catalog feature help with lead generation?

The feature helps with lead generation by allowing freelancers to create structured project offerings that clients can easily understand and purchase, reducing the need for extensive back-and-forth communication and negotiation.

What is the potential downside of the Upwork Project Catalog feature?

The potential downside is the competition with other freelancers offering similar services at lower prices, which can be challenging for freelancers to overcome without resorting to price-based competition.

How does the video suggest handling competition on the Upwork Project Catalog?

The video suggests not competing on price alone, but rather focusing on delivering value and differentiating oneself through quality work and excellent service.

What is the role of client guidelines or requirements in the Upwork Project Catalog?

Client guidelines or requirements are crucial as they help to clarify what the freelancer needs from the client to deliver the work, reducing the amount of time spent on explanations and facilitating a smoother working process.

What is the outcome-based pricing mentioned in the video?

Outcome-based pricing refers to charging a fixed price for a project regardless of the time it takes to complete it, focusing on the result rather than the hours worked.

Outlines

00:00

🔍 Exploring Upwork's Project Catalog Feature

This paragraph introduces the topic of Upwork's new project catalog feature, which allows freelancers to offer their services in a structured manner with clear scopes, timelines, and fixed prices. It compares Upwork's move to Fiverr's existing model and emphasizes the importance of this feature for success on the platform. The speaker, Laura, invites viewers to subscribe for more career and freelancing tips and asks about their experience with Upwork.

05:03

🛠 Creating and Optimizing Your Upwork Project

The second paragraph delves into the process of creating a project in the Upwork catalog. It advises on clear naming, detailed project descriptions, defining price and scope, and the importance of a high-quality gallery to showcase work. The paragraph also stresses the need for clear client guidelines and requirements to streamline the ordering process. Laura offers to guide viewers through the project creation step by step and discusses the benefits of having a project catalog for lead generation and efficiency.

10:05

🚀 Leveraging the Upwork Project Catalog for Success

The final paragraph discusses the advantages of using the Upwork project catalog, including the ability to upsell and provide additional services beyond the initial offer. It touches on the ease of doing business with clear pricing and timelines, reducing the need for negotiation. The paragraph also highlights the automation of lead generation and the benefits of fixed-price projects, such as not having to justify time spent on tasks. However, it also acknowledges the challenge of competition in the marketplace and invites viewers to discuss strategies for differentiation and finding the right customers.

Keywords

💡Upwork

Upwork is an online platform where freelancers and clients can connect for various types of work. It is central to the video's theme as it discusses a new feature on the platform, the 'Upwork Project Catalog', which allows freelancers to offer their services in a structured way. The script mentions Upwork multiple times, emphasizing its role in facilitating freelance work and the importance of understanding the new feature for success on the platform.

💡Project Catalog

The 'Project Catalog' is a new feature on Upwork that is the main focus of the video. It provides freelancers the opportunity to offer their services with a clear scope, timeline, and price. The script explains how this feature works and its benefits, such as the ability to create structured project offerings that clients can easily understand and purchase.

💡Freelancer

A freelancer is an individual who is self-employed and offers services to clients, often on a project-by-project basis. The video is aimed at freelancers, providing advice on how to use the Upwork Project Catalog to their advantage. The term 'freelancer' is used throughout the script to address the audience and to discuss the benefits of the new feature for this group.

💡Fixed Price

In the context of the video, 'Fixed Price' refers to a project where the freelancer sets a specific price for the work to be done, regardless of the time it takes to complete. The script explains that this allows for an outcome-based pricing model, which can be beneficial for freelancers as it does not tie payment directly to the hours worked.

💡Scope

The term 'scope' in the video refers to the specific activities and deliverables that are included in a project. The script emphasizes the importance of defining a clear scope when creating a project in the Upwork Project Catalog to ensure that clients know exactly what they are getting and what to expect from the freelancer.

💡Upselling

Upselling is a sales technique where a seller encourages a client to purchase a more expensive item or additional services. The video discusses how the Project Catalog can facilitate upselling by allowing freelancers to offer various options within their projects, such as different logo design packages, thus potentially increasing their earnings.

💡Lead Generation

Lead generation is the process of finding and nurturing potential clients for a business. The script mentions that the Project Catalog can help automate lead generation by providing clear client guidelines and requirements, which minimizes the need for extensive interactions with potential clients, allowing freelancers to focus on delivering their work.

💡Client Guidelines

Client guidelines are the instructions or requirements that a freelancer provides to a client to ensure the project runs smoothly. The video script advises freelancers to be very clear in their client guidelines when creating a project in the Upwork Project Catalog, as this can help streamline the project process and reduce the need for back-and-forth communication.

💡Gallery

In the context of the video, a 'gallery' refers to a collection of work samples that a freelancer can include when creating a project in the Upwork Project Catalog. The script stresses the importance of having a high-quality gallery to showcase the freelancer's work and style, helping potential clients to visualize what they are purchasing.

💡Outcome-Based Pricing

Outcome-based pricing is a pricing strategy where the cost of a service is determined by the result or outcome delivered to the client, rather than the time spent on the project. The video explains how fixed-price projects in the Upwork Project Catalog allow for this type of pricing, which can be advantageous for freelancers as it does not penalize them for efficiency.

💡Competition

Competition in this video refers to the presence of other freelancers offering similar services on the Upwork platform, often at lower prices. The script acknowledges that competition is a reality in the marketplace but advises freelancers not to compete solely on price, as it can devalue their work and lead to dissatisfaction.

Highlights

Upwork has introduced a new feature called the Upwork Project Catalog.

The Project Catalog allows freelancers to offer services in a structured way with clear scope, timeline, and price.

Freelancers can create up to seven different projects with specific offerings.

The feature is similar to Fiverr's project offerings, providing a more streamlined service experience.

Creating a project involves naming it indicatively, adding details, and defining the price and scope.

A gallery showcasing the freelancer's work is crucial for potential clients to see what they're getting.

Clear client guidelines or requirements should be provided to streamline the project process.

The Project Catalog automates lead generation by minimizing the need for extensive client interactions.

Fixed-price projects allow freelancers to charge the same amount regardless of the time taken to complete the work.

The feature enables freelancers to upsell by offering different tiers of services.

Freelancers can offer a variety of services beyond their primary skill set, expanding their client base.

The Project Catalog makes it easier for clients who are new to Upwork to understand and hire freelancers.

Freelancers should be prepared to face competition from others offering similar services at lower prices.

Differentiating oneself from competitors based on value rather than price is crucial for success.

The video offers to guide viewers step by step on how to create a project in the Upwork Project Catalog.

The host encourages viewers to subscribe, share the video, and engage in the comments for further discussion.

Transcripts

is upwork looking to completely displace

fiverr

or what's up with their project catalog

feature

well in this video we're going to look

into everything you need to know

about the upwork project catalog whether

that's for you or not

and how to use it for your success on

upwork so if you want to know more

then stick around and keep on watching

[Music]

hey welcome back to superhumans the

place to be if you're looking to create

a fabulous career and master your life

if you're new around here hi my name is

laura very nice to meet you i'm the

founder of superhumans

if you like this type of videos and you

want to hear more tips and tricks about

career success and happiness

then please be sure to subscribe by

hitting the red button down below it's

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and also hit the notification bell so

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and while you're there smash that like

button right now because it helps me a

lot with the youtube algorithm on this

channel we talk

loads about freelancing and working from

home and how to make money online

so if that's something that you would

like to learn more about you are

more than welcome to join our community

my question for you today is

how long have you been on upwork how

long ago did you start or are you just

starting out

let me know in the comments down below

and let's get chatting with that out of

the way

let's get straight into the video and

let's talk about the new feature that

upwork is offering which is called the

upwork project

catalog if you haven't logged into your

upwork profile in a little while then

maybe you haven't noticed

they've released this new feature that

is called the upwork project catalog

and essentially what that is is an

opportunity for you

to offer your services in a structured

way

it gives you an opportunity to take the

services and activities that you have

been offering on upwork until now

and put them in little boxes basically

so you can offer

something very specific in scope so

clear scope

in terms of the activities that you're

offering clear timeline

so you can say it'll take me 24 hours or

five days or 30 days and then a clear

price so this is working under a fixed

price so you will say

i will charge you for this 20 or 50

or a thousand dollars okay let's take an

example let's say

you are a graphic designer and you've

been doing all sorts of designs until

now and your

current upwork profile just says graphic

designer i will design this and this and

this and this for you

well if i am a customer i will

probably not know exactly what to expect

unless

i'm not new to upwork and i know how to

look for the work you've done and look

into your portfolio and all of that

but if i'm also new to upwork i will

probably not know that

so i will go on and just buy a given

project so you as a graphic designer can

have

a project that says i will design your

logo and it'll take me two days and i'll

charge you

fifty dollars so then if i want to hire

you for that i'll just go and buy that

set

project now you as a freelancer get an

opportunity to create

up to seven different projects which is

amazing

and i'll explain in just a minute how to

leverage that

to your benefit and to be able to drive

more work through upwork i hope now you

understand

what this is and honestly if you haven't

watched my video where i was debating

between fiverr and upwork then please

make sure that you go ahead and

watch that one as soon as this one's

over i'm gonna link it up here

there i was talking about fiverr having

this opportunity before

and i was wondering why upwork doesn't

and i'm so so glad to see that

upwork is now launching a similar

feature because i think it is

amazing for many reasons and i'm gonna

go into

explaining exactly why in just a moment

let's take a look at how this works okay

because first of all you need to create

your project and in order to do that

you're gonna have to head over to your

dashboard

and literally start a new project and by

the way i'm looking over here at my

screen because i want to make sure that

i don't miss any of the elements that

are important for you to know exactly

what you need to do okay so

you go on to your catalog dashboard and

you start a new project

the suggestion that i have for you is

that you make sure that you name it

in a way that is as indicative as

possible of the type of work that you

will be doing okay

then you need to add the details about

the project about this

product that you're offering and by the

way i'm calling it

product it doesn't mean that you're

selling a physical product

but when you have a defined set of

activities

it qualifies as a product okay it's not

a service that

anybody can tweak it's a product because

you are giving a

set clear list of activities and a set

price in a set

timeline you see so you go ahead and add

the details to explain what you're doing

and not only that but you need to define

the price and the scope and my advice

here is that

you are as clear as possible on the

scope

and the reason why i'm saying this is

because

through that description people will

know what to expect from you

and if you're not clear on what exactly

you're offering

people will not hire you because they

won't know what to expect and a lot of

people are looking for certainty

they don't want to have surprises when

they hire you

so do your best and explain as best as

you possibly can

what exactly you're going to be doing

for them and how much you're going to

charge

now the next step that you need to take

is to create a gallery

and this is so so important because

everybody wants to know what they're

getting

they want to see the kind of style you

have and they want to see the kind of

work that you've done before

so do your best to pick the right

elements that you want to put in your

gallery

to showcase your work take the best

quality

work you have and include it in your

gallery so people know exactly what to

buy

i mean think about this if you were on

amazon looking to

purchase something you would be looking

through the product gallery as well you

want to see the product in action

right so your customer will be doing the

same thing

so that's why having the really good

quality

gallery is super important now

the next step is for you to describe the

work that you

will be doing and this is key also

given the fact that you have an

opportunity to create up to seven

different products or projects and

the importance of this description is so

crucial because

when you have similar projects that

you're offering people will look to see

what's the difference between

project a and project b and the only way

they can do that is through the

description so you need to be very very

clear

what they're getting if they're buying

this versus that

okay now the

next step that you need to take is to

provide

very clear client guidelines or

requirements

and you will be doing yourself a favor

if you take the time

and be very very clear here because then

whenever people who want to buy from you

you won't need to spend the time

explaining to them

what you need from them they will

already be able to read that in the

requirements

and already send that to you upon

placing the order

last but not least you submit and you're

ready to go

so this is how you create the project

and

i'm more than happy to take you step by

step if that's something of interest to

you we can do that together

just let me know in the comments down

below and i can walk you through it step

by

step now once you have the project

created the way it works

is that you basically now have your own

store on upwork

well done and anybody who wants to buy

from you

will see the projects you're offering

will place an

order you get the order and

ideally you already get the requirements

that you have

asked from them if you don't get them

maybe you didn't do a good enough job in

explaining them think about that

so that means that you will need to go

back to the person that's placed

the order and explain what you need from

them in order to be able to deliver

the work that they've contracted you to

do once you get all the requirements

then the time

starts ticking and you need to deliver

your projects

project within the amount of time that

you have committed to do it

then once you deliver the work they will

take a look and review

what you've provided and validate it

once that happens

then you get paid and that's pretty much

how it works

that was quite a long rant but i hope it

made sense and i hope it was clear for

you

uh all the exact steps that you need to

take

now let's pause here and look into

why this is so amazing for you and

how to take advantage of this

opportunity

[Music]

i think you know by now that i think

this is a great opportunity okay but

let me explain why first of all it's

because it allows you

to upsell so when you are

offering let's say logo design you can

offer

one logo option and two logos and three

logos so

somebody might want to have an

opportunity to

see various options and they will go for

the two logos instead of one

and you've already up sold them also

there is an opportunity

to upsell with other types of services

let's say that you are a copywriter

you can offer copywriting but then you

can also

offer social media management and you

can also offer something on top of that

and the moment that you can do that

through this type of approach through

the project catalog

then you will be able to get more work

through up work

because customers will know exactly

how to work with you and what exactly

you can do for

for them and sometimes maybe they

haven't even thought about

some of those services they came with

one thing in mind

and then they land on your page and they

see that they can get more from you

so they will opt for something more

that's one of the reasons the other one

is that it allows

things to work a lot smoother because

you don't have to go back and forth and

negotiate

the different type of price and

project for every single customer

if they want to buy from you they'll buy

from you and they'll know exactly how

long it takes and they'll know exactly

how much they will get charged you don't

have to explain why you're charging

fifty dollars

instead of forty dollars and so forth so

it makes it a lot easier especially with

people who

haven't worked with freelancers before

the other

super important reason is that in line

with this

you pretty much get to automate the

lead generation because when you do a

good job

in defining the customer requirements

through the product description

then you pretty much minimize the amount

of interactions you need to have with

your customers

it'll just happen they will come

and order from you and give you all the

details you need

and then you will just work on

delivering so

it minimizes the amount of time that you

need to spend selling and it maximizes

the amount of time that you get to

dedicate to actually working not only

that

but there is another really really

important

reason when you work under fixed

project or fixed price projects

then you don't have to explain the

amount of time it takes you

and with time you will see that when you

start maybe something takes you five

hours and you commit

to deliver it within five hours or you

commit to doing it

in one day but it doesn't matter if it

takes you one hour or it takes you

10 hours because you still get to charge

the same amount

of dollars the same price for the

project that you're delivering so it's

more of an

outcome based pricing rather than a time

for money

kind of pricing which in the long run

you will see

as a huge benefit now the downside of

having something like this

is that in a marketplace there's room

for everyone

and there will be people who will be

offering very similar type of

services that you will be offering at a

much

lower price and you need to be prepared

for that because it will happen

it happens everywhere in any marketplace

virtual digital or physical

everywhere but it doesn't mean that you

are competing for the same customer

there's a customer for everybody and i'm

happy to talk more about this and

explain to you

how to differentiate and how to figure

out who's your right cus

who's the right customer for you because

you don't need to compete based on price

that is the worst

way that you could be competing because

you will be selling your time for

nothing

and you'll get frustrated and you will

not enjoy what you're doing and you'll

feel like you're not getting paid

for the value you're delivering and you

will give up and

you certainly don't want to get there so

let me know in the comments below i am

more more than happy to talk about this

because it's

a topic that is very close to my heart

and i am um

extremely excited to go into more

details if it's of interest to you so

as i said let me know in the comments

down below all right you guys that was

it for today thank you so much for

watching i hope you enjoyed today's

video

like it if you did be sure to subscribe

if you haven't done so and also share

with a friend who might also be

interested in working on upwork

and who should definitely know about

this new feature which is called

the upwork project catalog with that

being said

i hope you create everyday magic i hope

you have a lovely day and a lovely week

and i'll see you next time

bye