What makes a good project proposal

The proper project proposal

I'm going to start out this part by repeating the essential statistics that have an effect on most members of this web site:

Over 95% of members of this web site have incomplete, inaccurate or flawed profiles.

Over 95% of members of this web site write insufficient, inaccurate or flawed project proposals.

Over 95% of members will virtually actually by no means get work right here of worth.

I stated within the earlier article, on profiles, that your intention must be to develop into one of many 5% who does get it proper.  That doesn't imply you'll win each project on which you write a proposal, but it surely does imply that you'll considerably improve your possibilities of doing so.

I additionally talked about that I've been a member of this web site, each as freelancer and employer, for nearly twenty years and once I submit tasks right here I sometimes get about forty to sixty bids per project.  95% of these bids are garbage, (however you knew that anyway from what I stated earlier).  Only one in twenty is value .  So if I get sixty bids, most likely solely three are literally value my time learning intimately.

If you happen to get your bid proposal proper, you aren't combating to win that project towards fifty-nine different bidders.  There are, the truth is, solely two different bids value my consideration.  And in case you are one in all solely three viable bidders your possibilities of profitable that project are abruptly very good certainly.

I've not solely labored by this web site, however have additionally labored for a raft of good firms in gross sales and advertising.  A one in 5 pitch-to-sale success charge is normally seen as acceptable, one in 4 is considered good, and one in three places you on the high of your market.  And that is on patrons new to {the marketplace}, successfully cold-calling.  Working by this web site is not any completely different to cold-calling.  The customer, on the level he posts a project, doesn't know you, nor any of the opposite bidders.  So should you can write a proposal that basically stands out, then not solely will you be in that small group of three contenders, additionally, you will be a robust contender to win that project.

But most proposals I see make basic errors.  That is about avoiding these errors.

Bear in mind, that your real, potential shoppers are right here to spend their cash and do enterprise.  Sure there are those that are usually not real, there are these whose budgets are unrealistically low and there are those who break the foundations, so let's take care of them first.

Deal with patrons professionally.  By no means name a purchaser “bro”.  (That is ghetto slang and unacceptable to a potential enterprise consumer.)  By no means begin a proposal “Dear” by itself, as a result of it is someplace between insincere and really impolite in western civilisation; “Dear Sir” or “Dear Madame” and even “Dear Employer” maybe.  “Dear” by itself is a time period of tackle you need to solely use to shut household.

Coping with unworthy, inappropriate or faux patrons, or those that merely present insufficient data.  There are two methods to identify them:

Firstly your principal job on this web site is to earn money, so should you bid on tasks with ridiculously low budgets you might be by no means going to make a revenue.  Even should you get your proposal proper, if the cash the consumer is paying will not pay the payments then you might be losing your time.

Individuals's monetary wants differ from nation to nation the world over.  A good earnings in south Asia will typically be seen as comparatively poor in Europe, America, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and fairly a lot of different international locations on the planet.  You should calculate what it's important to earn in a single working day the place you reside to make a job worthwhile. 

If the earnings a consumer provides in a project are inadequate to present you that earnings, my first piece of recommendation is that this: 

1. Don't bid on any project the place the earnings provided are inadequate

to pay your payments and offer you some spending cash.

OR

2. Pitch a legitimate bid proposal on the proper funds and clarify to the client the costings of your proposal.

And even when a consumer says a project will result in additional work, by no means ever imagine that that would be the case.  There may be a well-known saying within the direct gross sales trade:

 “Buyers are liars”

That's maybe a little merciless.  What it means is that the majority patrons won't essentially deceive you, however they might effectively both disguise the reality from you and even not remember themselves of what the funds, or their precise wants, actually must be.  At all times assume that that's the case till you discover out in any other case, as a result of, whenever you first learn a project description, you have got completely no manner of being sure that patrons are real.

     1. Patrons with ridiculously low budgets
So let's assume you continue to select to pitch a proposal to the consumer, however you already know his funds is ridiculously low. 

And a very good instance of that is a project I received, as freelancer right here, a few years in the past from an Australian purchaser:

He needed pictures taken of 1 white Caucasian baby, aged 5 – 8 years of age, utilizing academic exercise toys in a house setting.  There have been sixteen completely different toys and the consumer needed about 5 to 6 completed fully-edited pictures of every toy getting used.

However his funds was set at between AUD 30 and AUD 250, and there have been bidders already who had bid underneath AUD 150.  Nonetheless, most of them have been both not photographers in any respect, or have been primarily based in international locations the place the predominant inhabitants was not white Caucasian, so I instantly knew that these folks weren't contenders.

For a jiffy I sat down and costed the job out and that is what I got here up with:

• Sixteen toys, fifteen minutes every = 4 hours;

• Due to the age of the kid that meant two classes of two hours every;

• One skilled baby mannequin – GBP 30 per hour, complete GBP 120;

• As a result of modelling is a talent and utilizing simply anybody will not be a good concept;

• Chaperone for every mannequin – on this case the mom of the kid, so no cost on this case, however normally it should double the mannequin value;

• Additionally it is a authorized requirement to have a chaperone because the baby is underneath 18;

•  My shoot time – 4 hours – GBP 280;

•  My post-production time, 80 to 100 absolutely edited pictures – 4 hours – GBP 100.

  Whole – GBP 500, though on high of that if I needed to journey any distance there is likely to be journey prices so as to add.  Because it occurs, on this event, that was not the case.  I then added 10% to cowl this web site's charges.  Grand complete GBP 550.

I then transformed that to Australian {dollars}, his most popular foreign money.

My proposal was manner over his funds, greater than thrice his declared most, so I needed to value the job out very rigorously in my proposal and I defined it clearly in his foreign money.

He agreed and awarded me the job.  The mannequin I selected was an skilled baby actress who has, since then, labored on the manufacturing of a video for the United Nations and might be one essentially the most succesful fashions with whom I've ever had the pleasure to work.  She is the one mannequin with whom I've ever labored the place, should you requested her to maneuver one millimeter, then that's precisely how far she would transfer.  She has since undertaken six different jobs for me.  The primary time she labored for me she was six years outdated.

The consumer received what he requested for, however at my value.

     2. Shoppers who say – “full details in chat” – or who present insufficient data

These are shoppers who give away little or no data, if any in any respect, within the project description, and admittedly I'd all the time be cautious of them.  Sure, a few of them are real, however they're inviting you to bid for one thing the place you have got completely no concept of the job particulars.

Real patrons won't be involved by the price you plan, however these which can be scammers will have a tendency solely to contact bidders on the minimal price vary, so do not simply bid on the minimal as you'll entice scammers in conditions like this.

Real patrons will focus on the project on this web site's chat facility, however scammers will ask you to speak exterior this web site's messaging system.  Do not do it!  By no means, ever agree to speak aside from on this web site's messaging service.  If the client asks you to take action, report the message thread, the project and the project proprietor / purchaser utilizing the hyperlinks offered, and stop all communications with that particular person.

Each of the above are warning indicators.  And do keep in mind this.  The second you agree to speak exterior this web site's messaging system two issues occur:

• You breach this web site's phrases and situations by speaking off-site and lose each scrap of assist;

• This web site's assist companies can not enable you to if issues go incorrect.

So all you are able to do is inform patrons in your proposal what you'll cost for a set variety of hours, however state that your proposed price is topic to modification after you have full particulars.  Invite them to have a look at your profile … you keep in mind, the profile you have got now accomplished … in full.

Once more real patrons would possibly nonetheless contact you, and in the event that they deal with you appropriately, and hold communications on web site, then you aren't solely protected to proceed however you need to be capable to negotiate the right price after you have full particulars.

So let's assume the project description the client provides is cheap, and the price is life like.

The following factor to keep away from is what's often known as the “race to the bottom”.

Many new freelancers assume they need to bid low to get work.  The issue with that's that should you bid an insufficient price (a) you will not make sufficient cash to make the job viable, and (b) you will get a status for being low-cost.  Patrons, even real ones, are usually not silly.  If they'll get what they want at a cheaper price then many will go for that.

So now we come to the appropriate technique to pitch a bid.  Let's begin with the largest errors new freelancers make, and a few of these you should have already seen within the earlier a part of this tutorial:

Here is seven issues you need to by no means do or say in a bid proposal, (and why you need to by no means say them):

• By no means begin a proposal by copy-pasting the project description into your proposal.  Why?  The customer already is aware of this data.  He doesn't want it repeated, and by the point he is learn by it he is misplaced curiosity in you.  Consequence – wasted bid;

• By no means say you'll provide limitless revisions.  That claims you'll by no means ever truly get it proper.  Consequence – at worst you will be taken for a trip, or, in case you are fortunate, a wasted bid;

• By no means provide free samples.  Why?  Dangerous patrons will take the free samples however not make use of you.  Consequence – wasted bid;

• By no means say you might be “the best”, “the fastest”, or “the cheapest”.  Why?  As a result of another person will all the time be higher, quicker or cheaper.  Consequence – wasted bid;

• By no means declare to have the ability to translate any language pair.  Why?  As a result of should you can not translate from private data, you might be merely doing what the client may do himself, and good patrons know that and can regard your bid with contempt.  Consequence – wasted bid;

• By no means provide a purchaser their a refund if they don't seem to be happy.  The actual fact is that good patrons need somebody who can do the job effectively, and never admit the danger of failure earlier than you begin.  Consequence – wasted bid;

• By no means beg for work or state that you're new to freelancing.  Good patrons need skilled freelancers.   Consequence – wasted bid.

By no means, ever, put any of the above “claims” or “pleas” into your bid proposals.  Dangerous employers will benefit from you and good employers will ignore you.

So what makes a good bid?
I've stated a number of occasions that solely about 5% of freelancers truly learn to write a good bid proposal, and as I defined earlier, once I submit tasks I get, on common, sixty bidders of whom simply three submit a good bid value studying.

• Your profile is about you, your expertise, your expertise and the way you gained it;

• Your bid proposal is concerning the consumer, his wants and the way you'll resolve his issues.

And the second level there may be the largest single mistake freelancers make when in search of work.  You thought getting your profile incorrect or leaving it incomplete was unhealthy.  Nicely that fades into insignificance whenever you get your bid proposal incorrect.

There are two different essential issues to recollect.

Two forms of jobs on which you need to NOT bid:

•      Many patrons miss the localized marker on their tasks although it's wanted.  Learn the project description by rigorously and verify whether it is apparent that the job can solely be executed at a particular location.  If it says, “I need a videographer in London” and you might be primarily based in New Delhi, DON'T BID, even when there isn't any “local” marker.  It is a wasted bid.

•       Many patrons embody expertise which they put in as “additional secondary skills”.  If the job requires somebody to take pictures AND edit them, and also you solely do modifying, however not pictures, DON'T BID.  Photographers do their very own modifying, or have folks they already make use of repeatedly to do modifying.  It is a wasted bid.

Providing to do a job for which you might be within the incorrect place, or solely partially certified is a waste of time.  Do not do it!  You might be losing a bid.  You might be losing your cash.

So, what do you have to put in a good proposal?

• The primary ten phrases you write ought to determine the consumer's main particular enterprise want.  Basically, what does he REALLY want;

• The following ten phrases ought to summarize how your expertise, typically known as your “unique selling points” will resolve his issues.  Successfully, what makes you particular or what are you able to do this no one else can;

• Within the subsequent paragraph you need to outline every component of the job the client wants you to do, and the way you'll tackle these wants.  Observe the phrase “needs”.  It's his drawback you might be fixing.  Do not discuss your profile content material;

• Within the subsequent paragraph you present a life like breakdown of the price, simply as I did with my Australian consumer and his academic exercise toys;

• Within the subsequent paragraph remind the consumer of the particular expertise you have got that can resolve his issues.  If he requested for search engine optimization, then discuss search engine optimization.  If he did not ask for Google AdWords, do not point out Google AdWords.  If somebody talked about one thing for which the client had not requested then the client would most likely ignore the proposal;

• Subsequent, invite the client to verify your profile.  Sure you possibly can put a hyperlink to your profile in at this level, however NOT an off-site hyperlink, as meaning you'll be breaching this web site's phrases and situations.

• Subsequent, ask the client a related query.  For instance, if he hasn't requested for the job to be executed in a particular time frame, ask him if he does have a most popular completion date;

• And eventually, with regard to your bid proposal, learn it by, verify it for errors.  Undergo each line, each phrase.  Verify the spelling.  Verify the capital letters, verify the punctuation.  There must be, for instance, a house after each full cease and each comma.

And eventually keep in mind: by no means, ever use an auto-bid bot.  It is a wasted bid.

If you happen to've received that lot proper … and I do imply every part … you at the moment are one of many 5%.

GOOD LUCK!