How to Stop Wasting Your Upwork Connects in 2025

Use this system to maximize your ROI and win more projects

If you're spending $10, $30, or even $50 a month on Upwork connects without seeing results, you're not alone. Many freelancers experience this issue: paying to apply and not getting any responses. Wasting connects isn’t just a budgeting issue; it’s a strategy issue.

At Vollna, we analyze over 150,000 proposals and 30,000 invitations every year. Here are our experts' recommendations to ensure every connect counts.

1. Don't Apply Until Your Profile Can Compete

Applying with an unfinished or generic profile is like running ads to a broken website. Clients don’t just look for skills; they want proof. That means:

• A niche-focused profile
• At least 2–3 five-star reviews with comments
• A portfolio that matches the types of jobs you’re targeting

If you’re not getting replies, it’s often not your cover letter; it’s your profile. Review it carefully before sending another proposal.

2. Focus on Jobs Where You're Actually Competitive

Being “qualified” isn’t enough. You need to be the obvious choice for the client. This only happens when your experience, portfolio, and reviews align perfectly with the job post.

Ask yourself:

• Can I show 1–3 relevant portfolio items?
• Do I have testimonials that reflect this kind of project?
• Is this niche oversaturated or still in demand?

3. Get in Early

Timing matters. Clients often review the first 5–10 proposals and ignore the rest. Our data shows that freelancers who apply in the first 15 minutes have three times higher reply rates.

Set alerts. Use job filters. Automate notifications. Vollna users get instant updates so they can act before the competition even sees the job post.

4. Track Your Numbers

You can’t fix what you don’t measure. Every serious freelancer should track:

• View rate (Did the client open your proposal?)
• Reply rate (Did they respond?)
• Hire rate (Did you land the job?)
• Average connects per proposal
• Cost per reply or hire (in dollars)

A healthy ratio is 10:1 or better — that’s one reply for every ten proposals. Vollna tracks these numbers for you automatically, so you know where your bottleneck is.

5. If You're Not Getting Responses, Fix the Funnel

No replies? The problem isn’t Upwork; it’s your system.

• Not getting views? Improve your title and preview text.
• Getting views but no replies? Rework your pitch or template.
• Getting replies but no hires? Improve your sales call, pricing, or communication.

6. Understand the ROI of Connects

Many freelancers get anxious about spending $20-30 a month on connects. But that’s the wrong mindset.

If you’re closing a $400 project for $30 worth of connects, that’s a strong ROI. The key is to stop thinking in “connects” and start thinking in dollars. Each connect is a small investment. When used wisely, it's much cheaper than Facebook ads, LinkedIn outreach, or cold emailing.

7. Don’t Fight Saturation — Pivot or Niche Down

Some niches, like vertical video editing or basic social media management, are fully commoditized. If you’re in one of these, either specialize further (e.g., real estate TikTok ads) or shift to a more profitable skill set.

Final Thoughts

Wasting connects is frustrating, but it’s avoidable. The most successful freelancers treat Upwork like a business:

• They invest in positioning, not just applying
• They optimize every part of the client journey
• They use tools like Vollna to save time, track performance, and stay ahead of the competition

If you want to win more and waste less, don’t guess — get data, act faster, and be strategic.

Ready to stop wasting connects and start landing better jobs?
👉 Try Vollna to improve your Upwork strategy with filters, real-time job alerts, and proposal tracking that works.