Upwork
Context:
While not a new concept, the "side-hustle" as a secondary source of income had begun to evolve as "the hustle" for those who wanted the independent freedom to structure the way they worked and earned as they saw fit. Freelancing as a career choice grew, and Upwork wanted to attract in-demand top talent, no matter the scope, positioning them as the #1 platform of choice for freelancers to earn from and businesses to discover the skilled talent they needed.
Contribution:
First, full-time ACD hired to grow the company's in-house creative department and Copy practice, managing a team of 4. Introduced new workflows and processes while contributing to the planning, budgeting, and development of all internal and external materials. Led the positioning and voice and tone development as the company re-branded itself under the growing demand for vetted, professional talent to deliver quality work that met the needs of the increasingly significant client and project expectations.
Impact:
New platform talent increased by 25%
New business accounts for single-source talent resourcing for niche skillsets doubled
Market awareness contributed to a successful IPO, debuting >50% higher than Wall Street expectations
No budget? No problem.
Enter Upwork plus. We wanted to communicate the benefits of hiring freelance talent to companies with ambitious business goals requiring a larger pool of qualified resources with specific skillsets.
We produced our introductory B2B online spot for this audience in-house with a budget just slightly above $0. It was proof of concept for the executive team, and it performed successfully.
Soon after, production budgets opened up for creative work, and Upwork's future OLV projects increased in quality and credibility – just like the talent the platform was attracting.
The business one-sheeter.
The Sales team requested additional prints assets for their leave-behind materials. They wanted a single-sided ‘Upwork 101’, also to be featured digitally on the site. I could have gone bullet points but decided to go long instead.
There’s a lot to say when you want to convince the long-standing mindset of freelance workers being “the help” for lower-level work into the mentality of freelancers being the not-so-secret weapons who contribute to making good work great.