Autumn’s here, so dust off your autobidders and start making money! In this newsletter, I'll share success stories, insights on follow-ups, and invite you to our event on closing sales effectively.

When I built GigRadar, my goal was to help Upwork agencies like yours generate high-quality leads more efficiently.

A recent case study shows just how well it works.

👀 Spoiler: TL;DR of the case study is below.

Recently, we spoke to Aashish Sachdeva, the head freelancer at the Indian Shopify agency Swift Expand.

In just 30 days, they closed 7 new contracts by using only GigRadar to send proposals.

Yes, it’s a brand-new agency, just 5 months old, without any badges like Expert Vetted. Proof that you can earn with any stats if you put in the work

Want to know more? Read the full case study here and watch our interview on YouTube:

If you're pressed for time, here’s a quick rundown for the busiest ones.

Yes. They landed 7 contracts in 30 days.

This is particularly impressive considering the challenges many Indian agencies face on Upwork.

Unfortunately, Indian freelancers and agencies often have a bad reputation on the platform when it comes to poor communication skills and underperforming client expectations.

But Aashish and his team were able to buck that trend and stand out from the competition.

How did they do it? It comes down to several golden rules:

🧠 Stay Focused

Swift Expand didn’t waste time offering every Shopify service. Instead, they focused only on store migrations, which helped build client trust fast.

🤝 Client-First Proposals

Aashush's team didn’t just talk about their own skills. They made the proposals about solving the client’s problems, showing exactly how they could deliver results.

💎 Know Your Value

They didn’t drop their rates to win clients. Instead, they used case studies and tailored portfolios to prove their value and justify their pricing.

🦾 Automate

With GigRadar, they automated their leadgen (same as you), sending personalized bids quickly, without missing any key leads.

The key, according to Aashish, is striking the right balance between automation and customization. Spend a few days getting your scanners dialed in, and then let GigRadar do the heavy lifting while you focus on closing deals.

🚀 Engage 24/7

Their team was on it around the clock. This led to 63% of leads turning into real conversations, and from there, 20 deals a month. Swift Expand’s results speak for themselves—7 contracts in 30 days.

Swift Expand's success was no accident. They achieved this by honing in on a specific niche, using automation, and always putting the client’s needs first. If you’re still waiting to adopt these strategies, now’s the time.

Another Example

One and a half years ago, another Shopify agency, Grandz, took a similar path.

They earned $26.2k in just one month, closing five contracts.

Two more contracts came from leads they followed up on from March, showing the importance of consistent effort.

Grandz submitted 1527 bids, with 156 replies, giving them a solid 10% conversion rate.

Their approach was all about using GigRadar’s tools effectively—Sardor AI personalization, scanner segmentation, and split testing.

With the right tools (as GigRadar) and hard work, especially in a competitive space like Shopify, you can achieve strong results, just like Swift Expand and Grandz did.

👉 In our previous newsletters, I've posted some Shopify Upwork lead generation stats; check it out as well.

🤹🏻 Handling Your Leads

In my previous newsletters (this) and (this one) I covered tactics for handling communication with your leads on Upwork.

Today, I want to reinforce that with a quick tip:

make sure every conversation in your inbox has a message from you.

Never leave a lead hanging, even the rude ones (don’t break your flow, hehe).

This will help you:

• Ensure no gaps in follow-ups—every inquiry is covered.
• Every time you message them, your conversation moves to the top of their inbox.
• If you follow up in 3 months and they have a job for you, your thoughtful messages will remind them you’re a pro, not just another"hello yes I can" freelancer.

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💔 Jobs Notifications

I want to remind you that Upwork recently killed its RSS feed, which means many advanced search tools relying on RSS are now obsolete.

If you or your friends were using RSS notifications, our new feature might be interesting for you:

GigRadar's Job Notifications bot replaces RSS with real-time job updates, a Lead Scoring System (GigRadar Score), and more for just $49/month. More details.

🌪️ Healthy Upwork Pipeline: WordPress

• Niche: CMS Development (WordPress)
• Upwork Agency: Top Rated Plus
• Lead Generation Budget: $4k 

WordPress is one of the busiest categories on Upwork.

• High client demand
• Easy for agencies to enter the market
• Reliable and fast tech

Today's data comes from an agency with years of WordPress experience, offering everything, including WooCommerce.

Notice the big drop-off after the LRR? That's because reply speed matters. WordPress jobs get hundreds of proposals fast. If you're slow to reply, someone else will close the deal.

Also, please note that we've included deals with budgets over $5k. Together with fixes, there will be more, but let's be honest.

Please note that WP is also a domain where you can put your client on retainer: maintenance offer, so ROI is higher. Yes, it's competitive.

You'll need to spend on connects.

But with strong demand and a good offer, you'll land contracts. Follow up with your leads and talk about the client's pain, not your achievements.

❤️ GigRadar Community Events

HAPPENED: The Art of Closing: From First Contact to Signed Contract

Join us for an exclusive GigRadar Community event that will transform your approach to winning clients and closing deals with Vlad Timinsky, Outbound & ABM Expansion Director at GigRadar.

🛎️ Agenda: 

• The Psychology of Sales: Understand what really drives client decisions.
• Straight Line Method: Learn how top closers maintain control of every interaction.
• Attention-Grabbing Techniques: Keep prospects engaged throughout your pitch.
• Objection Crushing: Turn concerns into reasons to hire you.
• The Perfect Close: Master techniques that feel natural and get results.

Recording will be published in our comunnity's Knowledge Base

📕 Knowledge Base Launch

And now, the moment we've all been waiting for… 🥁 — our Knowledge Base is officially live! This is your all-in-one hub for everything you need as part of our community.

1️⃣ Workshop Recordings: Catch up on all the recordings, notes, and summaries from our previous workshops.

2️⃣ Community Resources: Access articles, podcasts, and other valuable materials shared by our members on Slack.

3️⃣ Essential Links: Quickly find links to GigRadar’s site, help center, and blog.

Everything is now in ONE place! No more searching through the channels—just click the link and start exploring.

🛎️ We’ll be updating the Knowledge Base regularly, so keep an eye out for new content!

Aside from Upwork lead generation insights, being part of the community means staying on top of the latest updates.

You might miss that “important changes” email from Upwork, but another community member won’t—so you’ll always be notified about what’s happening in our industry.

You can always catch up on the latest in our #industry-news channel.