On freelancing platforms, where clients and freelancers gather to do business together, good communication is essential for creating good professional relationships between them. Clients usually publish a job description that becomes visible to the freelancers in their profile feed, according to their industry. Then freelancers can send the client a written proposal or offer that illustrates their skills and talents in relation to the job that needs to be done.
When the client examines the candidates for a position, they usually make a pre-selection based on the profile picture and the bid range. Employers usually hire people that look trustworthy and that have a bid range within their budget!
After this initial sifting, they read carefully your offer. It has been established that writing a good offer is crucial in retaining the attention of your potential clients and getting hired eventually.
So, as this skill is so important in your freelancing career, let’s see together how you can master the skill of writing good job proposals.
It is not all about you!
Many freelancers make the mistake that all they need to do is to highlight their talents, skills, qualifications and personality. This is a huge mistake and often turns clients off because they are not looking for somebody who knows how to brag about how great they are, but someone who can show them in practical ways how to accomplish the goal of their project.
So put the focus on the client and on his project and needs. It is not all about you, it is all about your client and the solution that you can provide. If you keep this single thing in mind, you already have the right mindset of writing a great proposal.
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When a client wants to hire a freelancer, he is not interested in his many qualifications and degrees, but he is looking for proofs that he can do a good job!
Read carefully the freelance job description and grab the relevant details
Make sure you carefully read the description of the job you apply for. This will give you an insight into the needs of the client and whether you are fit for the position.
It is very annoying to the client to read proposals that feel like standardized templates and that do not mention anything that is stated in the job post.
This does not mean you should not use templates, on the contrary. You can experiment with templates that are proven to work well on the freelance market but make sure you adapt them every single time to the job and to your skills.
So, send a proposal that is relevant to the job description by stating in your own words the needs, goals, and ideas expressed by the client. If something is not clear in the description, ask questions, this will show the client that you really care! Making sure you understand the job to be done is the first and very important step in establishing you as a competent and reliable candidate.
Position yourself as a freelancing expert
1. Show how you can fulfil the project goal
When you start your proposal, highlight first your client’s need and what you picked up from the job description, and then explain clearly and concisely how you can fulfil this need in the best way possible. Avoid the temptation to start bragging about your talents and skills if they are not relevant to the job.
2. Teach your client something valuable
Instead of enumerating your university degrees and qualifications, teach the client something valuable that is inherent to his needs and project. This might be a sentence or just a small detail. You can draw it from your experience or from the good research you make. It will not cost you a big effort, but it will make a big difference because you start giving something to the client, even before you get the job. This will show him your deep interest in the project, increase the rapport between you and the client, and increase your probability of getting hired.
3. Show your plan
The client will hire you if you are qualified in doing what is the job’s goal, and the best way to show this is by outlining a clear and specific plan. How do you aim to fulfil the project? Include the steps needed to accomplish the goal and your vision on each step. This will show the client that you have a strategy and experience with similar projects.
Also, describe the expected outcome, but be careful not to exaggerate or create unreasonable expectations. You will have to prove your words afterward!
Show that you are fit for the freelance project!
The best way to grab the attention of your potential clients is by sending a relevant sample of a job that is similar to what they require. This way you do not only tell them you are good at doing something. You show them!
This method has proven to work wonders for professionals that are new on a freelancing platform and want to build their reputation there. Maybe your profile does not have a rich working history or many reviews. When you send your client a sample of a successfully completed project of yours, this will guarantee that you can do this and set a basis for what they can expect from you.
What if you are a complete beginner in freelancing?
What if you are completely new to freelancing and you do not have samples? If you do not have a portfolio – you can choose to create a portfolio item similar, but not identical to the job requirements. This will help you gain some experience and confidence. If the client hires you after viewing the sample you created, you can be sure he likes your style of working. You can replicate what you did for the creation of the portfolio item following the job requirements, and you can be sure it will work well!
When you are sending your sample make sure you single out how it illustrates your skills that are relevant to the position you apply for.
State your bid clearly
If the job offer does not include a per-hour or fixed-price budget, make sure you state clearly how much will the pricing of the project be. This will bring clarity to the working relationship and avoid bad surprises for you or your client.
Select a reasonable timeframe
Assess your availability and make sure to put a time frame within which the project is going to be completed. If the job offer includes an indication of the time-frame requirements acknowledge that you have read it and that you have the intention of keeping it.
Attention to your spelling and tone!
Be careful you do a good job in your proposal in terms of spelling and grammar. Use a tone that is neither too formal nor too casual. Stay away from underrating other candidates or making funny observations. This will not bring value to your client and to his project. On the contrary, it could turn them off from collaborating with you! Not everybody has the same sense of humour, so keep a polite and professional tone of writing, getting straight to the point and being as concise as possible. While you steer clear from bad language and grammar, you can experiment with phrases and words that have proven to work for other freelancers, and adapt them for your proposal and situation.
Now that you have all these valuable tips on writing a great proposal, set a goal to yourself – how many proposals do you want to write per day? Some freelancers that are at the beginning of their career have seen that writing 5 proposals per day and keeping track of the response rate makes them gain experience at the acquisition of new clients and help them become well-established on the freelancing platform very quickly.
Useful tips
Tips for making a great proposal:
- Focus on the client and his needs
- Read carefully the job description
- Re-state his biggest needs in your own words
- Ask questions
- Describe your skills in fulfilling the project
- Teach the client something small but valuable
- Outline your strategy
- Attach a relevant sample
- State your bid clearly
- State a reasonable time-frame
- Use good grammar and spelling
- Keep your tone polite and professional
- Set a clear goal on how many proposals per day to write so that you can have a consistent workload.
What to avoid in writing a proposal
- Focus too much on yourself or on irrelevant details
- Apply to a job without carefully examining the job description
- Sending template, standard replies that do not mention details relevant to the job
- Setting unreasonable expectations you cannot fulfil
- Setting an unreasonable timeframe or price
- Using inappropriate jokes or comments
- Spelling or grammar mistakes
