The Award-Winning Content Team Fueled by Independent Talent

The challenge

The world of work was changing and Upwork’s Content Marketing team wanted to rapidly scale content production to address customer questions, challenges, and opportunities. But with just two people handling nearly every aspect of the editorial process, the team lacked the people, skills, and processes to do so.

The solution

Assemble a flexible workforce of full-time and independent talent for two primary advantages: 1)Fast access to skills; 2)Ability to adapt the workforce’s size and structure to projects and priorities as they evolve. The team turned to Upwork for experienced writers, copyeditors, and more by leveraging the following Upwork solutions:

• Upwork Payroll to work with talent employed by a trusted, third-party employer of record
• Enterprise Suite to convert independent talent to a full-time employee
• Enterprise Compliance services to ensure all talent are classified accurately  

The results

Since implementing these strategic changes in late 2021, the Content Marketing team has delivered phenomenal results. “Having the flexibility to pull in experts in the way we need is the only way that I see our function being able to grow enough to create the impact that we have on the business,” said Robert McCauley, Senior Director of Content Marketing at Upwork. “If we could only access skills by hiring full-time employees, we'd be very limited in what we could accomplish.”

A changing world of work

Robert joined the Content Marketing team at Upwork in early 2021, when the world of work was being torn down and redesigned. At the time, the world had lots of questions about all things remote work. Organizations wondered how it would affect their business and workforce, and workers wondered how it would affect their lives and careers.

As the world’s work marketplace and a remote-first company, Upwork was positioned to serve as a valuable source of guidance.

“We had an opportunity to support the growth of the business as well as our customers by producing content that helped them explore and transition to new ways of working,” said Robert.

“I often describe content as the fuel for the marketing engine,” Robert added. And as he saw it, the marketing engine needed more fuel as remote work took off.

Setting a new foundation

Before the Content Marketing team could scale output, as many bottlenecks as possible had to be removed from the workflow. Two key team members had already spent several months streamlining processes, updating tech stacks, and improving communication and coordination with teams across the marketing function. But their progress could only go so far.

That’s because the pair were handling nearly every aspect of the content lifecycle. They decided what content to produce, kept them on schedule, edited each piece, published them, tracked their performance, and more.

The team couldn’t step on the gas without more help. So they turned to a familiar place—Upwork.

“Upwork offers several big advantages,” Robert said. “First, we can find professionals with virtually any skill set. Second, we can hire people incredibly quickly—literally, within days. And third, we can work with them on either a long-term or project basis, giving us incredible flexibility with our team size and structure.”

Designing for function and flexibility

Today, the Content Marketing team is made up of a small, core team of full-time employees and supported by a team of independent professionals.

“One of the great things about having access to skilled professionals through the Upwork platform is that we can build our team the way we need to and that's really been a secret weapon for us,” said Robert. The specialists he engages include writers, copyeditors, content marketers, coordinators, strategists, web designers, developers, and more.

“One of the great things about having access to skilled professionals through the Upwork platform is that we can build our team the way we need to and that's really been a secret weapon for us.”

“The clients and talent who use our platform span many industries and categories of work, so our content must expertly cover all of those subjects,” Robert said. “I can contract independent talent with the knowledge and experience we need to create content that is valuable and helpful to our audience.”

Pulling in specialists as needed improves both the work quality and the work experience. When independent writer Amy Sept was first engaged by Upwork 12 years ago, “it was so lean that each person had to wear multiple hats. Now that we have a bigger team, we're able to focus on the work we do best and are most interested in.”

Working with talent outside of the traditional full-time arrangement also shortens turnaround times. “We’ve been able to quickly tap talent through the platform for one-off needs—from analysts to designers,” said Jennifer Eng, the team’s Senior Content Marketing Manager.

“What’s great is we can build a talent bench on the platform,” Jennifer explained, “which lets us get projects started sooner. Reaching out to the same folks benefits both the talent and us. Since they’re already familiar with our expectations and processes, they can complete the project efficiently and then move on to their next client.”

“What amazes me is everyone we work with has a wider range of skills than we may initially hire them for—and that often comes in handy,” Robert added. “For example, Frisco Chavez is an incredible video producer, director, and strategist. He also founded Black Tie Media, a company that does virtual reality (VR) and drone video shoots. We initially engaged Frisco for high-profile video projects before asking him to join us full time as the Director of Multimedia Enablement. We may not be producing VR experiences yet, but we may in the future, and his broad experience levels up the quality and creativity of projects throughout the business.”

Before working with Upwork, finding independent talent was a challenge

“In my previous roles with other companies, building out my workforce was difficult. I had worked with independent talent before, and one of the challenges I had was finding skilled people,” Robert admitted. “Job boards sent me a lot of unqualified candidates, and staffing agencies were too slow and expensive. Neither option offered the speed or flexibility I needed.

“Most of the time, I ended up tapping the same people in my network. But that limited what I could accomplish. If I didn’t know someone with the skill I needed, the work didn’t get done.

“When I came to Upwork, I realized there is literally a whole world of talent at my fingertips. Suddenly, I had access to virtually any skill, any talent that I needed, and I could work with them the way I needed. Using the Upwork platform opened up huge possibilities and opportunities. That's really powerful because now we can take the program in any direction we want, and my team has all of the resources they need to be successful.”

“Using the Upwork platform opened up huge possibilities and opportunities. That's really powerful because now we can take the program in any direction we want, and my team has all of the resources they need to be successful.”

A hybrid workforce is different, but not difficult

Some worry that leveraging a mix of full-time and independent talent might make collaboration and unity difficult. However, Robert proves those are fears, not facts. Projects flow smoothly among his team even though its talent is spread across locations from New York to California, and from Australia to Spain.

Robert attributes a large part of the team's success to Upwork's culture of treating independent talent as valuable contributors. “One of the things that I love the most is that the relationships that we build through the Upwork platform lead to great personal relationships as well. I am as close to the independent talent on our team as I am to anyone, and it doesn't matter where they're located. These are people that we have deep connections with and people that we absolutely love working with.

“If we could only access skills by hiring full-time employees, we'd be very limited in what we could accomplish.”

“I am sure every content marketing leader says this—but I know it is 100% true for us—we have the best team in the business, hands down. Having the flexibility to pull in experts in the way we need is the only way that I see our function being able to grow enough to create the impact that we have on the business. If we could only access skills by hiring full-time employees, we'd be very limited in what we could accomplish.”

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The future of business can be done through Upwork

Whenever Robert talks to business leaders about how he built a hybrid workforce of employees and independent talent, he always stresses that it's easier than they probably think.

“A lot of people, and I used to be one of them, are unsure about how to work with talent across time zones,” Robert acknowledged. “They worry about things like how to make payments, classification issues, and reliability. But all of those concerns melt away when I use the Upwork platform and our great client support team. I am left with the ability to tap amazing talent quickly and easily. As a leader, as a hiring manager, that's what matters.”

If you’re new to working with independent talent, Robert suggests starting with a smaller project. “What's the thing that you just don't have time to explore, don’t know who to give it to, or don’t know how to get it done? That is the perfect project for Upwork because I guarantee there is someone on the platform who has the time, the skills, the experience, and the know-how to do it.

“Once you get started,” Robert warned, “you’ll get hooked. One project turns into two and two turns into four, and before you know it, you've uncovered this whole world of stuff that you’ve always wanted to get done and that you can finally get done.

“Hiring managers often talk about finding the purple squirrel, that person with a unique combination of skills and experience who’s almost impossible to find,” said Robert. “On Upwork, you can find any squirrel: purple, pink, or polka dotted. Having ready access to so many talented people gives me tremendous confidence in building ambitious strategies and empowering my team to grow their careers, so we can do bigger and cooler stuff together.”

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Upwork engages with freelancers as both independent contractors and through third-party employers of record, depending on the worker's classification and applicable law.