When you’re able to be first in line for jobs you’re excited about, you’re more likely to land the work you want. With Boosted Proposals, you can bid additional Connects on your proposal, entering it into an auction for a boosted slot at the top of the client’s list.
With this feature, an auction is used to determine which proposals are boosted.
- Freelancers who bid the highest number of Connects will have their proposal appear in the top four slots, marked “Boosted,” with a blue lightning bolt.
- You can bid to boost your proposal until the auction closes, which happens seven days after the job is posted or when the client hires, whichever comes first.
- Find. You see a job post that is a great match for your skills and experience.
- Decide. If you really value the job, you can bid to boost your proposal. It’s always optional and clients will still receive your proposal if you don’t boost it. The bid table shows what other freelancers are bidding to help you decide.
- Bid. Set the maximum number of Connects you’re willing to spend to win one of the top spots as a Boosted Proposal. This bid cost will be in addition to the regular requirement of Connects to submit a proposal.
- See auction results. If you’re one of the highest bidders, we’ll highlight your proposal to the client by putting it in the top four slots and adding a “Boosted” icon with a blue lightning bolt. If you are outbid, the label and blue lightning bolt will be removed from your proposal and your proposal will be moved down the list and no longer be in one of the top four slots.
The auction is closed after seven days or upon first hire, whichever comes first, and you can’t boost a proposal on the same job post after that.
When you boost a proposal, you are immediately charged the Connects needed to submit the proposal. You’ll be charged the Connects you used to boost your proposal at the end of the auction. The cost for the proposal and the cost to boost will show up as two separate charges in your Connects History
If either of the below happens, you’ll pay what you bid:
- You are among the top four bidders at the end of the auction
- The client interacts with your proposal while it is boosted. We consider eligible interactions as: the client opens your proposal, shortlists your proposal, messages you, archives your proposal, declines your proposal, or sends you an offer.
You will not be charged if you are knocked out of the top four slots by other bidders before receiving an eligible interaction.
1. You bid 35 Connects to boost your proposal and are the top bidder when the auction ends. The other winning bidders bid 30 Connects, 25 Connects, and 20 Connects. You will pay the exact amount of your bid of 35 Connects, the second slot winner will pay 30 Connects, the third slot winner will pay 25 Connects, and the fourth slot winner will pay 20 Connects. You’ll be charged at the end of the auction.
2. You bid 20 Connects to boost a proposal. You are in one of the top promoted slots and the client clicks on your proposal, but during the course of the auction, you get knocked out of the four promoted slots before the auction ends. You’ll pay your 20 Connect bid since the client interacted with your proposal while it was promoted.
3. You bid 10 Connects to boost a proposal. You’re boosted, but unfortunately you’re knocked out of the promoted spots before the auction ends and the client did not interact with your Boosted Proposal. You are not charged the 10 Connects that you bid to boost your proposal; you’re only charged the Connects needed to submit a proposal.
- Find the Boost your proposal (optional) at the bottom of your proposal. Note: You will not see this option on jobs whose auctions have already closed.
- Add the number of Connects you’d like to bid and select Boost
- Choose Send for (your total bid) Connects
To see if your proposal is still boosted:
- Go to Find Work and select Proposals
- View your submitted proposals
PRO TIP:
Make sure you’re confident about what you bid. If you withdraw your proposal after you bid with a boost, you can’t submit it again (with or without boosting). It’s also important to know that when you withdraw a proposal that you’ve boosted, we’ll remove your proposal from the client’s list, but auction charges will still be applied as if you had not withdrawn.
Note:
To help measure if the Boosted Proposals feature is helpful to users, a small number of job posts will be randomly selected as “Boosted Proposal placebo jobs.” This means that when freelancers boost their proposal, the client won’t receive any boosts on this job post and the freelancer’s Connects are not taken. Learn more about Boosted Proposal placebo auctions.
Frequently Asked Questions
All Boosted Proposal auctions run for up to seven days or until the client makes their first hire. If the auction is closed but the job is still open, then the boost option will not be available. You can still submit a proposal regularly.
Yes, the client will still receive your proposal. It just will appear in the list of proposals below the top four promoted slots for Boosted Proposals.
This is the total number of proposals that can be boosted for the job post. There are four slots available, meaning the top four bidders at any time will appear at the top of the client’s proposal list.
If during the auction you are outbid, your proposal will no longer be shown as boosted (it will still be visible, just lower on the list). Also, if you are outbid and your Boosted Proposal didn’t lead to an eligible interaction, we’ll only charge you the standard number of Connects required to submit a proposal. If it led to an eligible interaction with the client while you were boosted, you will be charged the exact number of Connects you bid when the eligible interaction happens.
Eligible interactions include:
- The client opens your proposal
- The client sends an offer to you
- The client shortlists your proposal
- The client messages you
- The client archives your proposal
- The client declines your proposal
You are charged what you bid if your Boosted Proposal receives an eligible interaction or your proposal is boosted at the end of the auction. Your Connects balance will be charged when you receive an eligible interaction or when the auction ends, whichever comes first. If you boost your proposal, don’t receive an eligible interaction, and are knocked out of the auction before it closes, you will not be charged the Connects you used to boost.
No Connects refunds will be issued for Boosted Proposals that receive an eligible interaction or are successfully boosted at the end of the auction.
If you boost, but are knocked out of the auction before receiving an eligible interaction, you will not be charged.
Refunds are only issued if you bid for a job that we end up removing due to a Terms of Service violation. You’ll be refunded both the boosted Connects and the cost of submitting the proposal.
Like with any auction, a high bid increases your chances to win. But it’s good to consider the value of the job to you, and carefully review the post to make sure you are a great match. Only bid as many Connects as you are comfortable spending.
Yes. We’ve included a note that is visible to clients so they know freelancers use additional Connects to have their proposal in a top spot with the “Boosted” icon.
If your bid is high enough and your proposal is boosted to a top spot, the client will see a blue lightning bolt icon with “Boosted” adjacent to your name. Your proposal will be in the top four proposals shown to the client.
Boosted Proposals will be pinned to the top of the client’s Proposal Manager, meaning they see the Boosted Proposals first. All other proposals will be located below.
Boosted and unboosted proposals that are withdrawn are removed from the client’s list so they can no longer see them. If you withdraw a Boosted Proposal, you can’t submit it again (with or without boosting) and you will still be charged as if you had not withdrawn.
No, you’ll only be able to boost your proposal once for any particular job, even if you’re outbid. If you submit your proposal without boosting it, you won’t be able to boost it later.
You can see what others are currently bidding in real-time with the bid table. The refresh button will refresh the table and let you see if any new bids have been successfully placed.
When two bids come in at the same amount, the bid that came in first wins the higher spot.
We simplified the process to boost your proposal. Now, you’re charged what you bid if you get an eligible interaction or win a promoted spot at the end of the auction. You aren’t charged at all for your boost if you are knocked out of the auction before it ends and before you get an eligible interaction from the client.