MegAre you ready to see the product announcements we have in store? See what’s new with Twine and what updates our platform has rolled out over the last six months!✨
Better showcase freelancer talent
New user cards
This re-usable component was built to give a snapshot of a freelancer’s top roles, skills, and portfolio. Non-creative freelancers have an exert from their bio, audio professionals have their tracks listed out, and visual examples are showcased in a handy carousel.
Improved how clients browse freelancers
Clients use filters to find and invite freelancers they would like to engage with their projects.
We are now prioritizing freelancers with more complete portfolios and testimonials; newly showcased with an individual card.
Clients can also now save freelancers to a shortlist with the ♥ icon.
Minimum day rate of £50 / $50
By setting a minimum day rate we encourage the Twine community to set more accurate rates and give clients a better idea of what should be expected when making a hire.
Improve job quality
Updated questions and brief templates for clients posting projects
By asking more relevant (and role-specific) questions we are improving job quality on the platform. Clients often lack the expertise in the area they are hiring – by asking the right questions, we can better guide them to giving a fuller picture of what’s needed.
Prompt links to reference materials
We’ve added a field for links. Seems simple enough but the change has seen a big increase in the number of mood boards and reference materials being shared for the benefit of freelancers!
Added a Review step
Clients now have an opportunity to review, edit and add further detail to projects before sharing them publicly
Increase client engagement
We’ve doubled client engagement since the start of this year by making a fundamental change to how clients interact with new pitches:
- New pitches at displayed within the new user card format along with the key freelancer information such as roles, top skills, and portfolio examples.
- New pitches are displayed one at a time; only after selecting Like 👍, Dislike 👎 or Shortlist ♥ can clients see the next pitch.
- Initial project quotations remain hidden until the pitch has been Liked or added to Shortlist.
Promote longer-term projects
We’ve changed from a fixed to variable commission structure for clients
To maintain and develop the Twine platform (and pay staff salaries!) we charge a service charge. This is listed alongside each freelancer quotation shared with a client in a similar way to how you might see Airbnb or Deliveroo break down charges on bookings or orders.
Until now, the Twine fee paid on each project has always been fixed at 20%.
It’s now broken down into the following tiers:
- 20% for the first $/£1,000 paid
- 10% for the next $/£9,000 (until $/£10,000)
- 5% for everything above $/£10,000
Clients are now encouraged to get a better deal by hiring for larger/long-term freelance projects and can continue to transact safely via Twine. We are proud of this product announcement and hope you are too.
Clients are now prompted for billing details
Once a client has posted a project to the platform, they are now prompted to supply billing details.
The Twine team is now easily able to verify the legitimacy of jobs, and hired freelancers can more easily send an invoice.
Make pitching easier
Increased the pitch limit from 15 to 50
The pitch limit for Twine projects, across all roles, has been increased. Up to 50 freelancers can now pitch on each Twine project.
The change to how clients interact with new pitches (see: the increased client engagement section above) means receiving high volumes of pitches is no longer the underwhelming experience it once was. Now more pitches = more choice.
Clients get more great pitches and freelancers are no longer working on the same crazy time constraint. As product announcements go, this one’s pretty much a win-win!
User card preview when pitching
We know it’s tricky to get an outside perspective and understand how you come across to a client when sending through a pitch.
By giving you a preview of the individual user card that will accompany your pitch, you can immediately know that your best work is prioritized in your portfolio and your roles and skills are up to date.
Make Twine more useful day-to-day
More than doubled the number of projects
By putting an internal focus on search engine optimization, we’ve climbed the rankings across a number of search terms relating to specific freelance roles. This is one of our most successful product announcements.
We are now on the first page of Google for some Animation and Illustration terms, and we’ve since seen a real growth in projects posted on the platform!
Last month we more than doubled the number of projects posted since January 2021.
Small changes to the interface
For a platform used on a regular basis, small changes to the interface can make a big difference.
By updating the links in the header freelancers can more easily access their own portfolios, and clients are prompted to browse freelancers to hire.
Notifications are now easier to interact with, sign up/sign in with Google is now fully functional, and we’ve fixed the contrast issue on portfolio cover images.
Hosting external jobs
For most freelancers, success is about having enough work. By giving greater visibility to available jobs, we hope to support our community better on the day-to-day.
While we’re still growing, we aspire to bridge that gap by curating projects listed outside of Twine.
Insight into our future plans
Notifications
Make notifications dynamic, relevant, and easy to use. We can then reduce the number of emails we send and you’ll have a cleaner inbox!
Tool integration
We are excited to soon be integrating partner tools for issuing invoices, easy meeting scheduling, and file exchange. Watch this space!
Inclusion
You will soon have the functionality to add your pronouns. These will be listed alongside your display name in your portfolio and within shared messages with clients.
Accessibility
Continue to improve the overall user experience for both freelancers and clients, and put accessibility front of mind. Colour contrast of components and adapting the platform to better accommodate users with screen readers will also help us be more inclusive.
Contact clients without writing a pitch
Sending out multiple personalized pitches can be pretty time-consuming. Allowing freelancers to first register their interest in a project, then write a message once the client has chosen to engage could make the process a whole lot easier. This one isn’t for definite, but we can certainly see some merits.
2021 has been an exciting time for Twine. The face of our team has changed a lot and we’re eager to further define ourselves as a community to empower freelancers to live their passion. These product announcements are a stepping stone to where we want to be.
From everyone here on the Twine team; thank you for fantastic engagement, insightful feedback, and patience as we change and grow!
Meg Product Manager @ Twine
Twine AI
Amaze
