How To Offer Instant Consultations On Upwork

Upwork has over 800,000 clients who are eager for advice from experienced professionals—and instant consultations are a way to monetize your time online by letting clients you’re available to meet now.

What are instant consultations?

While you can still schedule consultations with clients in advance like usual, we’ve expanded the feature. Simply connect your calendar, set up your consultation, and follow the steps below to turn on and off your “meet now” availability.

When you indicate that you’re available for a consultation, clients will be able to find, book, and meet with you in seconds.

Who can offer instant consultations?

If you've achieved a Top Rated or Top Rated Plus talent badge and have previous experience selling a consultation on Upwork, you're eligible to consult with clients on demand. You can find your talent badge on your Upwork profile.

All talent on Upwork who hold a verified badge—including talent badges, Upwork skill certifications, and Credly certifications—can continue to offer consultations that are booked in advance.

What kinds of clients can book consultations right away?

Talent Marketplace™ clients are eligible to meet with you right away whenever you have this feature turned on. And if you both enjoy the consultation, there’s always the option to continue working together on a contract.

What to do if you're not eligible

If you've achieved Top Rated or Top Rated Plus status, but have never sold a consultation on Upwork, you'll need to start there.

You can set up consultations by clicking on “Find Work” in the Upwork menu and selecting “My Project Dashboard.” Once you've conducted at least one regular consultation that is booked in advance, you'll be eligible to indicate when you’re available to meet instantly.

If you haven't achieved Top Rated status yet, keep working toward your next talent badge! You'll need to work toward a Rising Talent badge and build up your Job Success Score to get started.

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How to turn on your consultation availability

First, make sure that you have an active consultation available to clients on your Upwork profile. Next, toggle on the "online for a consultation now" option along the side panel of your Find Work homepage.

Doing so will display a badge that reads “Next consultation time: Now” next to your profile in Talent Marketplace. This lets clients know that you’re online for a consultation now.

Make sure you turn on email notifications as well as notifications for your mobile and desktop Upwork apps. We’ll send you an email, Upwork message, and app notification each time a client requests an instant consultation with you.

The message will contain instructions on how to start your consultation session. Missing the message means missing out on an opportunity to meet with a new client!

You’ll need to respond to the notification or message the client within one minute. Once you respond, you’ll be directed to a screen that lets you prepare for and launch the consultation session.

If you forgot to turn off your availability, and you aren’t available to meet now, we’ll turn this setting off for you. Don’t worry—you’ll be able to turn it on again the next time you’re back online and ready to consult with clients.

Protect your work-life balance as a consultant

Upwork is a vibrant platform of active clients that are ready and eager to meet with you—but you always maintain full control over when you’re online for a consultation. You can turn this feature on and off based on your schedule to indicate when you’re available to give clients advice.

Turning off the ability to meet now doesn't deactivate your entire consultation offering. Clients will still be able to book sessions in advance as long as you keep a consultation available on your Upwork profile.

It's just one more way that Upwork can help you do more work on your own terms—log into your Upwork account to set up instant consultations now.