Stronger Tools For More Visibility: Upwork Product Updates, Q1 2022

No doubt you have big plans for your freelance business over the coming year. We’re eager to help by making it even easier for you to showcase your skills and establish lasting connections with clients.

In the first quarter of 2022, we took a fresh look at the tools that can help you thrive on Upwork. This includes new features to enhance your profile, new ways to build and expand your network, and an improved search experience to help make your business more visible to clients. Take a look at some of the things we’ve launched over the past few months―we’re excited to share them with you!

Support for Ukraine

It’s been heartbreaking to watch the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces. I’ve been incredibly proud to see how our teams have come together to support Ukraine and people in the region, including independent professionals, clients, and our own team members.

Among other things, we quickly introduced a way for members of the Upwork community to send donations to freelancers based in Ukraine through Project Catalog™. You can help by logging in to your client account (or setting one up), then finding a Ukraine-based freelancer to support. Funds will be sent directly to the person you choose with no freelancer fees and no work required. 

We also moved to help alleviate stress by making the following platform updates for impacted talent:

• Waiving any potential negative impact on Job Success Scores for Ukraine-based professionals so they can preserve the businesses they’ve worked so hard to create
• Expediting payments to Ukraine-based freelancers to enable quicker access to funds on Upwork
• Enabling professionals to easily check in with clients about their safety and work status

We will continue to identify ways to help those affected as the situation in Ukraine develops.

Build stronger connections within the Upwork Community

Whether to share tips, offer advice, or partner up on bigger projects, having a network of professionals you can turn to for support and collaboration is essential. We also host events and webinars to help you learn from the experts, like this deep dive into proposals and insights from a $1.5M freelancer on how to attract top clients.

After fine-tuning some of Upwork’s community-building tools last year, we’re adding new ways for you to establish and maintain your network. 

Community Groups give you lots to talk about

Community Groups are online hubs to spark conversations that create meaningful connections among talent and clients. Jump into threads about growing your business, discuss your best productivity tips, or share updates about the things that excite you. 

Some of our most popular groups include:

• An Engineering group with a particular focus on product development experts
• Upwork Families, a group for parents and caregivers to share tips, experiences, and ideas
• A group for those who are New to Upwork to help members be successful on our platform

We’re creating new groups all the time. Browse our existing groups to find the one that’s right for you. 

Build powerful relationships with Your Network

The features in Your Network make it easier than ever to build a network of peers to swap referrals and find experts to collaborate with on bigger projects. 

Here’s how you can use it:

1. Keep track of Upwork members you’ve connected with by adding them directly from their profile.
2. Get recommendations of professionals to connect with based on skills, job category, and work history.

‍Put your business in front of more potential clients

We’re exploring different ways to help you get noticed by clients who are most likely to be a great match for your skills. 

Use consultations to establish your expertise

Currently in beta and set to fully launch on April 7, our new consultations feature lets clients reach out to you directly for paid advice about a project or business challenge. With a meeting scheduler built right in, this feature streamlines the booking process: Once you set your availability and rate, clients can reserve time with you right through your profile.

Sharing your knowledge and insights can help you monetize your knowledge and generate new business leads by positioning you as an expert and trusted partner when the client is ready to move forward. 

This feature will be available to Top Rated talent in specific skill categories on launch, but we’ll be expanding access in the coming months.

Add your most popular services to Project Catalog

Last year, we launched Project Catalog, a way for you to offer your most in-demand services as predefined projects that clients can easily browse and buy. 

And we continue to expand with new categories, so you can create projects for emerging skills. Check out the NFT Services page we launched to showcase projects in this new and popular category.

We’re making it as simple as possible for clients to find the right project for them so they’re more likely to make a purchase and come back again. 

To streamline their search for assistance, each category page has been redesigned so the most popular types of projects are highlighted front and center. We’re also improving the search algorithm so clients see the most relevant services first.

Improvements to help you promote your services

Your profile is the hub for your business on Upwork. We’ve added new features to help make it―and your proposals―more robust and compelling.

Add audio files to your profile

Your Upwork portfolio is about to get much more flexible. You can now add audio files (e.g., MP3 and .wav) to your portfolio to better showcase the breadth of your skills and what you can do for your clients.

Get guidance when writing your cover letter

Need help writing an attention-grabbing cover letter? We’ve added prompts and an example to the Cover Letter part of the proposal process—a bit of inspiration to help you describe the quality of your work and the expertise you can offer, but everything you say remains up to you.

Put your proposal at the top of the list with boosted proposals

When you use Connects to boost a proposal, your pitch will be one of the first a client sees. This can help you stand out from the competition and shows a potential client just how interested you are in working with them. 

Use the “Available Now” badge to stand out to potential clients

The availability badge makes it easy for clients to see in real-time who’s able to get their projects going quickly—perfect when they’re facing a time crunch and you have room in your schedule. You can use Connects to turn on the “Available Now” badge when you’re open to new projects, then turn it off once your project pipeline is full.

My Stats update gives you more information about client engagement

By having new engagement metrics available in My Stats, you get a behind-the-scenes look at how clients respond to your profile. You can track profile views, invites received, proposals sent over time, and compare whether boosting your proposals or turning on the availability badge has an impact on your results.

There’s more to come

This year is shaping up to be as unpredictable and disruptive as the last two have been. Don’t worry, we’re here to help guide you through whatever lies ahead. Career and work innovation is happening all around us and we want to offer the best support for your freelance business. 

One of our top priorities is to get your feedback on how we can make the products and features you rely on work more effectively. You’ll soon begin to see new opportunities to tell us how we’re doing and what we can do to help your business thrive.

Until then, share your thoughts about our newest product releases in the Upwork Community and keep an eye out for future updates. We’ve got a lot more in store for you this year!