The Upwork Insider - Issue 3

Inside scoop

🧭We’re filling the platform with even more awesome clients

There’s a shift happening behind the scenes at Upwork: more of the clients you want to work with are showing up. Clients who hire fast, spend more, and return with more work. The kind of clients who can bring stability to your freelance business.

This didn’t happen by chance. We designed it that way.

When we researched the market, one group stood out: small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). These clients are growing and scaling fast. And they’re looking for skilled freelancers like you to help them do it.

We asked SMBs what was holding them back from hiring more freelancers. They told us they needed:

• Faster access to proven professionals
• A simpler way to hire across multiple roles
• Tools to collaborate as a team when making hiring decisions
• Flexible payment options as they grow

Business Plus is bringing in better clients

So we created Business Plus to solve those exact problems, and it’s working. These clients:

• Spend 2.5x more
• Hire 15% faster
• Hire for more roles and more complex projects
• Stick around longer, which leads to more repeat work for you

We launched a marketing campaign to bring in more Business Plus clients. They’re joining the platform and bringing higher-value opportunities with them.

What this means for your freelance business

This shift is about creating more and better jobs for you. So that you’ll start seeing:

• More reliable income
• Longer-term client relationships
• Bigger, higher-value projects
• More repeat work from clients who come back

How to attract these clients

• Say yes to instant interviews. More clients are using Uma to find their ideal match fast. Bonus: You don’t have to write a cover letter.
• Keep your profile fresh. Help clients and Uma find you easily. Add the right keywords, consider a short intro video, and browse top profiles in your category for ideas. Get tips here.
• Use Freelancer Plus to stay ahead. Get personalized alerts when new jobs post, see competitor bids, score 100 Connects per month, and more.
• Make your proposals feel human. Clients can spot generic AI-generated proposals and are quick to toss them. Use Uma to start your draft, then make it personal. Highlight similar projects and share real results to show you’re the right fit.
• Highlight your soft skills. Being great at what you do is table stakes. Show clients how you communicate, juggle moving parts, and solve problems. That’s the stuff that sets you apart.

Exclusive opps

📢 Did you quit the 9-to-5 to go freelance? We’d love to hear your story and maybe feature it on our social channels (5M+ audience!). Drop me a quick note at jainashah@upwork.com.

📽️ Do you work with AI-focused companies or projects? We’d love to hear about it and possibly include you in future opportunities. Drop us a quick note at jainashah@upwork.com with:

1. A brief summary of what you do
2. A link to your Upwork profile

Stuff to know

💡Why telling clients about your AI use can help you win more work

AI isn’t a novelty anymore. In fact, most clients assume you’re using AI, even for non-tech related projects. But they don’t want AI to do all of the work.

According to The Upwork Research Institute:

• Just 26% of clients trust AI-generated work alone
• But 66% say they trust freelancers who use AI tools
  

That’s where you can stand out.

Show how you use AI to their advantage

When you explain how AI helps you move faster, spot insights, or explore creative directions — and pair it with your skills — clients see the value.

Marketing automation specialist Marcus Grimm jumped on the opportunity early. He uses AI to research new clients, draft outlines, and analyze trends. Since adding AI to his toolkit, Marcus has nearly doubled his number of clients without working more hours. Once he started talking about it, demand for his services grew and so did his rates.

How to talk about AI (without overselling it)

Clients don’t want to hear that AI did the work. They want to know how it helped you do better work for them.

Instead of saying:

“I use AI to save time.”

Try saying:

• “AI helps me outline faster, so I can focus on writing a polished final piece.”
• “I use AI to analyze data quickly, so I can create a more focused strategy.”
• “AI speeds up my debugging, which keeps projects on schedule.”

Where to mention it

• Profile summary. Add a line about how AI improves your speed, insights, or creative range
• Proposals. If a client values innovation or tight timelines, explain how AI supports that
• Profile skills section. Include tools you actually use (ChatGPT, Notion AI, Descript, etc.)
• Interviews. Share examples of how AI has helped you deliver results for your clients

Add value clients didn’t know to ask for

Sometimes the best work you do is the thing the client didn’t even think to ask for.

AI and ML specialist Guy Pistone shared how his team built an app for a recruiter that aggregated data across job review sites. But through deeper conversations, they realized the client needed more. The client needed a way to tell when workers might be ready to leave a company. So Guy’s team used AI to build a sentiment score that gave the recruiter a true competitive edge.

Ashliana Spence, a marketer, did something similar. After wowing her client by delivering five blog posts in one week, she told them she was testing ways to do it in half the time using AI. It wasn’t a sales pitch; it was a simple update that showed she was always thinking about how to improve. The client extended her contract.

When you share how you’re improving the client’s process, they remember you. You don’t need to overexplain. Just be clear that AI helps you deliver better work and that your value goes far beyond the tools you use.

Good vibes

This is the part where we celebrate your wins. Where we’re excited to say, “Hey, we know them!” 🎉🙌💚

🤝 These four advocates sat down with Upwork CEO Hayden Brown to talk about AI. They had an honest conversation about what it means to freelance in an AI-powered world, and how Upwork could evolve to support it:

• Rachel Draelos, PhD + health AI consultant
• Guy Pistone, Valere Labs
• Alex Tuck, Tuck Consulting Group
• Cat Yung, Supercat Technologies

🎥 These freelancer advocates were recently featured on Upwork’s social channels, sharing their stories and inspiring others along the way. Want to share your story with our 5M+ audience? Contact: jainashah@upwork.com.

Meet Favour Amadi — she swapped her 9–5 for flexibility, freedom, and financial independence on Upwork. 👀

Meet Alice Gregory, an award-winning marketer who freelances full-time.

Meet Oliver Johns, who's made over half a million dollars freelancing on Upwork!