To get started using the Upwork Business or Enterprise plan, you’ll first want to register by signing up to the company account and creating your login credentials. Remember to check if your organization requires custom steps (ie. training courses, accepting user guidelines, etc) that need to be completed before registering.
Getting started on Upwork Enterprise
1. Sign up
Visit Upwork.com, or
Accept an invitation from your company’s account administrator
2. Post your first project
Post a project, or
schedule a meeting with your Upwork representative for help getting it posted
3. Review proposals
4. Chat with your shortlist of top freelancers
5. Start work
Set milestones, create a contract, and kick off your project. Upwork’s tools make it easy to collaborate, communicate, and pay your freelancer.
Tips for your first freelancer project
Before you can post your first job, an important step is to identify how and where freelancers can help you and your team scale. We’ll help walk you through simple steps to identify those projects and break them down into pieces that freelance talent can help with. After that, posting a job and finding freelancers are the easy parts—and you’ve got the hands-on, personalized support of your company’s Upwork professional to help when you need it.
1. Identify a project that’s a good fit for freelancers
Integrating freelancers into your workflows is all about working smarter. Many companies turn to freelancers to build out new capabilities or scale teams up and down when production demands fluctuate.
Look for a project you’ve been putting off, that you can’t tackle due to a skills gap, or a high-performing workstream you could ramp up to get more results.
Tip: As with anything new, you might want to test and learn with smaller projects first to see what works best, then expand to larger programs once you’re comfortable with the results. Talk to colleagues in your organization who are currently engaging freelancers to get a sense of what projects in your department or team may be a good fit for freelancers.
2. Start with a small project
You don’t have to start with a big, high-stakes project. Many Upwork clients start small or use paid test projects to get a feel for a freelancer or agency to ensure they’re a good fit with minimal risk. This also helps with becoming familiar with how the Upwork platform works.
Here are some examples.
- For a design project… start with a smaller asset to get a freelancer up to speed with your brand and on board with your mission. For example, instead of engaging a new video editor to jump into a high-profile branded ad, start with some paid planning sessions or a short video for social media.
- For a software project… instead of having a remote developer dive into your main code branch to work on core functionality, give them a small component to see how things go, then expand the scope from there.
This is also beneficial for helping you find the freelancers who are a good fit for your organization. Holly Cardew, CEO, and Founder of Pixc and an Upwork client, says her company often starts with small projects to find the perfect freelance talent. “As the contractee, we can hire people and test them out straight away, and you can say ‘If it doesn’t work in two weeks or four weeks, we’re going to review.”
3. Break the project down into 3-4 deliverables
Working with freelancers is a bit different than your traditional work scenario. The easiest way to set a project up for success with a freelancer is to break it into chunks. This keeps the project moving, and builds in natural check-ins with your remote talent. On Upwork, you can establish these project milestones upfront.
For reference, most projects can be broken into 3 to 5 milestones. Watch this short video to learn more.
4. Work up a project brief
It can be helpful to get your thoughts down the first time around with a project brief that explains your goals and deliverables.
5. Search for and invite talent to your project
When you post a project, you’ll have three options for visibility. The first is to publish it to the entire marketplace by posting publicly. This option will reach the greatest number of freelancers and agencies but can result in a large number of proposals which can sometimes be overwhelming. The second option is to post to your Talent Clouds which are pre-vetted pools of freelancers in that specific skill set. If you need a new Talent Cloud created or additional freelancers to choose from, reach out to your Upwork representative. The final option is to post as Invite Only which keeps the job entirely private outside of the talent you choose to invite yourself. Use filters to narrow the field, and when you have a shortlist of proposals, watch this video to help you connect with freelancers.
With this guide in hand, we’re confident you’ll begin to see all types of work around the office that freelance talent can help accomplish. Register and get started today.
Need additional help? Here’s who to contact.
- Program User Success: EPS representative
- Talent Sourcing: Talent Specialist
- Complex Project Management: Upwork Professional
- Technical Setup: Solutions Architect
- Overall Program Management: Account Manager
