New Feature on Loom: Freelancer Proposals
At Loom, our goal is to create a platform that makes it easy to connect top-tier freelancers and entrepreneurs with mutual interest in bringing great ideas to life. Since launch, we’ve learned a lot from you about what’s important when looking for freelance work, or looking for freelancers to build a project.
We heard a lot of feedback from both freelancers and entrepreneurs on how to improve the bidding process. So we worked hard to make it easier for freelancers to submit more thorough information in their project bids, and for entrepreneurs to effectively receive that information.
Considering that, we’re very excited to announce a big update to the Loom platform — freelancer proposals.
Proposals on Loom are designed to improve the introduction experience between a freelancer interested in a project and the entrepreneur looking to connect with quality freelancers. Below we’ve outlined what has changed, what you can expect and how proposals will improve the Loom experience for both entrepreneurs and freelancers.
How are proposals different from bidding?
Instead of sending only a bid, freelancers interested in a project will now submit a proposal which consists of a compensation estimate, cover letter and answers to up to 3 custom questions from the project owner.
Entrepreneurs can include up to 3 custom questions they would like a freelancer to answer as part of their proposal. After reviewing a proposal, an entrepreneur will have the option to either send a message to the freelancer or decline the proposal, creating a feedback loop for the freelancer so they always know where they stand on the prospective project.
How do proposals affect the way entrepreneurs connect with freelancers?
For the most part, it doesn’t. There is no change to the Loom connection system. When you’re ready to connect with a freelancer, you will go through the same request and payment process. This proposal system simply improves the quality of an initial outreach from any freelancer interested in your project.
Why did we make this update?
Since launch, our goal has been to efficiently enable connections between passionate entrepreneurs and quality freelancers.
We talked with a large group of Loom freelancers and entrepreneurs about what’s working well and what’s not ideal in the current Loom experience. One of the things we learned is that the experience of bidding on a project needed improvement.
For freelancers, a bidding system often means a race to the lowest bid, wherein it’s difficult or impossible to win a project due to bid undercutting. Proposals provide a lightweight way for freelancers to deliver a more meaningful first impression to hiring entrepreneurs.
We also learned that entrepreneurs felt the current bidding system didn’t provide them enough quality information about the freelancer upfront, which made the decision to connect with a freelancer very difficult after limited messages.
Our goal with this update is to remedy those challenges faced by both passionate freelancers and eager entrepreneurs, while streamlining Loom’s quality-focused bidding process.
If I already have a project on Loom, how does this affect me?
If you already have a project live on Loom and want to add questions for freelancers to answer when submitting a proposal, you can follow these 3 steps:
1. Go into the project tab of your dashboard, select the project you want to update, select “edit project” in your project detail view.
2. Select step 4 “proposal questions” on your project edit page.
3. Add up to 3 questions and publish your project.
If you already have a project live on Loom and do not want to add questions, that’s okay — you don’t have to do anything. Freelancers are required to include a compensation estimate and cover letter in their proposal, so you will still receive more quality information in a proposal than you did with our previous bidding system.
What happened to the bids sent and received before today?
For entrepreneurs, each bid you received before today will remain present in the message thread between you and the freelancer that submitted the bid.
For freelancers, we have replaced the “bids” tab with a “proposals” tab in your dashboard. You will no longer be able to see previously submitted bids in the bids tab, but each bid you’ve submitted will remain present in the message thread between you and the entrepreneur that owns the project.
We want to hear from you.
Your feedback is very important to us, and we look forward to both hearing it and acting upon it. Please don’t hesitate to provide your thoughts after exploring these updates on Loom. And, of course, stay tuned for more updates in the near future as we continue to evolve and better serve our community.
