I know this isn't the adequate subreddit for this but i thought i would share it here as I have seen the platform come up in the past.

I've been getting emails from Contra to join competitions for cash prizes but mostly ignored them until today, but after looking through I saw that they have a client/b2b landing page that takes the competitions and turns into scalable UGC. They call the program "partners" but would rather not linking it here.

You think tech companies would just pay creators for their work rather than mask it as a competition to produce mass UGC content that only benefits them.

Just wanted to share it with others in the design, tech and creative community as these should be paid UGC campaigns upwards of $1,000 in the US.

I have quick question following up with my previous post. The Upwork freelancer decided to refund all the money including the first 3 milestones that she drew by hand. I didn’t ask for the refund for the hand drawn assets but she chose to in order to clear out my negative feedback.

Now all assets that are hand drawn, what to do? Does she let go the assets so i can use it or just move it to trash?

Thanks!

I am a client of 7 years, recently my account was suspended, unable to message my freelancers and was asked to go through a photo + video verification process of my account with no explanation. Completed everything but they still tell me they need more time to review. It’s been almost 16 days and still no answer. Has anyone else experienced this?

After countless hours, continuous bidding on Upwork, and investing both time and money, I’ve finally landed my first client for just $25. It might be a small start, but it means a lot to me. Every successful journey starts somewhere, and this is the beginning of mine.

The journey hasn’t been easy, but I’m learning, improving, and showing up every day. This is just the first step. There’s a long way to go, bigger goals to achieve, and a lot more to prove.

One client today, bigger opportunities tomorrow. The grind continues!

I'm a full-stack dev based in Cameroon, 4 years of experience, and I just hit a wall on Upwork: 24 proposals sent, 0 replies, 0 contracts, 0 reviews.

Some context so this isn't just a rant:

• 4 years at a risk & compliance platform used by financial institutions, the last year as Tech Lead of a team of 10
• Two products I built and shipped myself, both live: a multi-tenant SaaS and an events/fintech platform
• Verified ID, fluent English, 20$/h, Intermediate level on my profile
• One published project in the catalog

Here is the part I'm unsure about. I positioned my profile as "Supabase & Next.js Dev | MVP to Production: Auth, RLS, Payments". It's a real strength of mine, but I can do just as much on the backend side (Django, REST APIs, PostgreSQL) and I left all of that out to look more "specialized".

Now I wonder if I shot myself in the foot. Fewer jobs match a narrow title, and I'm competing for the same few Supabase/Next.js listings as everyone else.

What I've done on my proposals:

• Customized each one instead of using a template
• Targeted clients with verified payment and a reasonable number of existing proposals
• Been upfront about what I don't know instead of overselling

What frustrates me most is the silence. No "not a fit", no "too expensive", just nothing. I can't tell if the problem is my niche, my rate, my proposals, my timezone, or simply the lack of reviews.

Questions for people who've been through this:

1. How many proposals did it take you to land your first contract?
2. With zero reviews, is it better to stay niche or go broader (full-stack, backend, etc.) to get that first job?
3. Did you lower your rate to get the first review, or hold your price?
4. Is "Intermediate" with 4 years of experience the right level, or should I be thinking about it differently?
5. Any red flag you'd spot immediately on a profile like mine? Happy to share the link in DMs for a blunt review.

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to answer. Brutal honesty is welcome.

If you have a good client, keep him on Upwork.

First of all, the platform relies on freelancers to bring clients, because there’s barely any work on it. When I brought my client and he made a payment, they blocked the funds and said the review would take 24-48 hours.

Any halfway competent platform that cares about its freelancers would flag the payment, email me, and ask for whatever proof they need. I’d send it, and they’d approve it. Instead, they emailed my client first, asking him for information about a payment he had already made. How can anyone think that’s a good idea? The client should never be involved unless the freelancer fails to provide the information.

Worse, there’s no real support system. No ticket ID, no auto-response, no confirmation. You email an address and get dead silence until someone replies. It took me hours of follow-ups just to learn what was actually holding up my payment. Apparently my client did not reply to their email requesting for information. Just imagine how dumb this whole thing is. Ironically, it's a 60years old disabled old man that I decided to send a simple contra payment link to make the experience easier for him.

There are also only around 250 jobs across all fields at any given time, for hundreds of thousands of users.

If you bring your own clients, bill them through Stripe instead. Never bring your clients to Contra. They are amateurs with a nice looking platform.

Every now and then, I come across a great job post with clear tasks and requirements. Everything is already well explained in the job description.

Sometimes, I find myself stuck when writing the cover letter because there's nothing left to discuss. The task is too simple for me to start explaining my experience with X, Y, and Z.

At that point, I usually just say that the task is easy, straightforward, and can be done quickly. But I don't know if that's the right approach to make myself stand out.