Outperforming Bigger Rivals: Demco’s Edge With Upwork Business Plus

When Brent Schuck stepped in as Demco Products’ director of marketing, he set out to modernize the company’s marketing outreach. Demco builds large agricultural and towing equipment, and for four generations has followed the classic manufacturer’s playbook: make great products, sell them to wholesale dealers, and let the dealers do the talking to end users.

“The dealers were our mouthpiece to the marketplace. But since the early 2000s, the digital age has required manufacturers to get closer to their end customers,” Brent explains.

And yet, as recently as 2019, Demco’s marketing department was two graphic designers taking orders from sales. “We didn’t have a strategy or a funnel,” Brent recalls. “We were like short-order cooks. Sales would say, ‘I need a flyer’ or ‘I need a brochure,’ and we’d crank it out.”

Instead of continuing to take one-off requests, Brent took a systematic approach to build brand awareness and market share.

The challenge: Engaging more customers without overextending the team

The first step to modernizing was building out the team’s technology ecosystem, but they soon hit skill gaps. “We needed specialists to set up and configure a new tech stack including Hubspot, AWS, and SharePoint,” says Brent. “Hiring employees wasn’t the answer. We weren’t going to find someone who could wear 10 hats for 10 hours a week at first, and then maybe only 10 hours a month later. And if we added a full-time employee, we’d have to figure out how to keep them busy for 40 hours a week after the projects were done.”

Brent needed a way to build internal muscle, close skill gaps fast, and keep the focus on outcomes, not headcount.

The solution: Using Business Plus to bring in the right skill with less lift

The team needed a fast and flexible way to bring in the right skills at the right time. So Brent put a straightforward system in place: "We do an internal gap analysis, define the most valuable priority, and do as much of the work ourselves as we can. When we become the bottleneck, we go to Upwork.”

Brent had worked with Upwork before, but now his needs were more specialized and timelines tighter. So he signed up for Business Plus, which he calls a “game changer.”

What stood out with Business Plus:

• Monthly invoicing simplifies accounting. "With the consolidated billing, we get a clean invoice once a month which simplifies accounting. And Upwork handles some tax forms, so we're not managing things like 1099s or figuring out the right form to file when hiring freelancers overseas," Brent notes.
• ‍Curated shortlists reduce hiring friction. Instead of sifting through hundreds of profiles, Brent’s team receives three to five strong candidates. "That saves brainpower. We can hop on a quick call, check for culture fit, and have someone getting the job done in a matter of days.”
• ‍Trust and safety features boost confidence. "If you send a wire payment and the contractor doesn’t deliver, that money’s gone. Hiring through the platform removes a lot of that risk, so we can focus on the work," Brent says.
• ‍Pay-as-you-need model keeps budgets in check. “Business Plus hits the sweet spot. We’re not locked into a monthly fee — we pay for it only when we use it,” Brent explains.

The results: Small team, big market presence

Since Brent came on board, Demco’s marketing team has grown into a true growth engine powered by digital tools, strategic hires, and freelance specialists.

Under his leadership, the small team is gaining share of voice and, at times, outpacing much larger competitors. “We take on the 800-pound gorillas that are many times bigger than us in revenue. People ask how we punch above our weight. The answer is by connecting authentically with our market, and we couldn’t do that without help from freelancers.”

“We take on the 800-pound gorillas that are many times bigger than us in revenue. People ask how we punch above our weight. The answer is by connecting authentically with our market, and we couldn’t do that without help from freelancers.”

The team also raised the talent bar. Most freelancers are hired in the $40–$60/hour range, a deliberate shift from the entry-level workers they used to hire. “Upwork Talent Specialists helped us see that if we pay a little more, we get professionals who bring strategy, not just execution. They don’t need handholding. They help us think through implementation and suggest best practices that level up the result.” The shortlists are so on point that the team hires from them about 80% of the time.

Looking ahead, Brent sees Business Plus as essential to the company’s growth. “It’s amazing. A couple of clicks, a couple of video calls, and someone’s on your team within days. That kind of agility lets us compete like we’re a much larger company.”