Repetitive work makes gathering data time-consuming and ineffective.

Turf seed manager Bruce Jump saw just how challenging analyzing scientific papers to gather data and build databases could be, especially when the sources of the data numbered in the tens of thousands.

Bruce’s job was to extract data from text and PDF files of scientific, peer-reviewed, and replicated published papers into Excel files. He then wrote algorithms to analyze and arrange the data on a visual dashboard his team could use to see performance results on seeds, chemicals, fungicides, and herbicides.

“I started off doing this myself the first year, just kind of learning and getting the whole concept down,” Bruce says. But as his system developed and his skills increased, so did the demand for data.

‍

Creating systems and locating talented professionals.

The turning point came when an acquaintance told Bruce, “There’s this platform called Upwork with people who do this, and they’re really good at it.” And so he turned to Upwork to find the right person to help with his projects. Since that first experience using talent on Upwork, Bruce has built a bench of 30+ professionals he can pull from when he needs their expertise. He relies on the skill of two or three of these professionals every week. “I’ve got people [on Upwork] I’ve been working with for years—one, I think, for about eight years now, and another one for two or three years.”

With their coding abilities, these experts built systems to help speed up the data collection and analysis process from what once took weeks to minutes and seconds.

‍

Solving needs in a fraction of the time.

Word spread about the quick results Bruce and his team could produce. A colleague from another department approached Bruce for help: He needed access to data on nearly 1,000 products but was having difficulty with the interface and the lengthy process.

Using his team of specialists, Bruce was able to quickly download all 1,000 products and write algorithms for them, at very little cost. What would have taken six or seven people a week to do the traditional way was accomplished in one night thanks to the team of Upwork professionals Bruce had in place.

‍

Identifying talented copywriter that understands our niche market to deliver quality copy for our social, email, and website materials.

“We found Upwork very advantageous for a few reasons. We found a contractor who:

• understands the Foodservice landscape,
• was able to quickly get up to speed on our brand tone,
• is able to turn around work in a very timely manner,
• and is far more cost effective than using a traditional agency.”

Time to Complete: “Our contractor is able to turn around 6-8 social posts, 2-3 articles, and 3-4 emails in 2 weeks. This traditionally would take at least a month with other agency partners and likely would require numerous people to complete.”

‍Cost Savings: “We are saving 50-60% of cost that a traditional agency would charge based on the requested deliverables.”

‍