Beginner's Guide

Setup Your First Filter
In 5 Minutes

From zero to automated lead generation. Follow this guide to stop searching manually and start letting the jobs come to you.

1. Create & Name

Click 'New Filter' and give it a descriptive name like 'High-Ticket Copywriting'.

2. Define Criteria

Enter keywords to include/exclude. Set strict budget minimums.

3. AI Power-Up

Enable 'Persona Matching' to have AI read the job description for you.

4. Launch

Choose where you want alerts (Email/Discord) and hit Start.

1

Initial Configuration

Once logged in, click the big + New Filter button.

The most important part is the Keyword Logic.

  • Include: "React", "Next.js" (Matches EITHER)
  • Must Include: "SaaS" (Matches ONLY if this is present)
  • Exclude: "Student", "Low Budget", "wordpress" (Filters these OUT)
💡 Pro Tip: Be aggressive with negative keywords. Excluding "entry level" often removes 50% of the spam.
2

Quality Control Gates

This is where FreelanceFilter shines over Upwork's native search.

  • Client Spend: Set to > $1,000 to ensure they have paid freelancers before.
  • Payment Verified: Always check this.
  • Hourly Rate: Set your floor (e.g., $40/hr).
3

AI Persona Matching

Toggle the AI Analysis switch.

Select the "Expert Strategy" persona. This tells our AI to read the full job description and assess if the client is looking for a partner or a grunt.

Learn more about how this works in our AI vs. Keywords guide.

4

Delivery & Notifications

Where do you want the leads?

  • Email: Good for daily summaries.
  • Discord / Slack: Best for real-time speed.

For real-time alerts, we highly recommend setting up a webhook. Read our Discord Setup Guide for a 2-minute tutorial.

Related Articles

Notification Setup

Detailed guide on connecting specific notification channels.

Examples for Developers

Copy-paste filter templates specifically for software engineers.

Common Questions

Ready to Start?

It takes less than 5 minutes to set up a system that will save you hundreds of hours per year.