Here’s why freelancers need to focus on their proposals over their profile

To put things in perspective, as a freelancer, it’s your response to a project placement that wins you the project award and eventually fetches the money — once the work is successfully delivered.

As a freelancer who has been successfully acing at freelance work on different freelance marketplaces, I’ve established one solid reason why some freelancers succeed and others do not.

The numerous hours spent polishing your profile with fancy images, attractive thumbnails, and bragging in the description about how cool a superhuman you are as if you are the next world savior doesn’t help, unfortunately.

The above statement may come as a shock to some but truth be told, the profile is the last thing a client takes a look at when you bid on their project placement.

It is, however, the first thing a client notices when the marketplace promotes you as a rising talent and suggests you be considered for a project but that happens when you have cemented your place as a seasoned freelancer.

This essentially means, you have won a few projects, got a few 5-star feedbacks from different projects and your profile reflects some handsome earnings.

But, for a freelancer to showcase these attributes on their profile requires winning some projects, and guess what? You could only do it by bidding on the projects and following a process.

90% of projects are awarded on a proposal.

As a freelancer who has done over 500 projects in the last 2 decades, I have observed that it’s your proposal that attracts clients. The proposal needs to reflect the solution to a problem highlighted in the placement, the effective way to get the task done along with the timeline of completion, and of course, the price.

What makes a proposal successful?

If it is not your profile, what makes a proposal successful?

I personally believe, a good proposal is a combination of five things.

• How good is your communication skill?
• Are you able to express concisely, what you can do for the project?
• Does the proposal clearly mention the timeframe of completion and the price?
• What value proposition is there for a client? Any good offer, a free sample?
• Why you? What makes you special for a particular project?

I’ve already covered an example of a great proposal in detail and have also written tips for successful freelancing

As an emerging freelancer, I would suggest, working on your communication skills, business development ability, and most importantly ability to convince your client.

Remember, you are not sitting at a coffee table with your client and it takes a lot of effort to get a response from a client who is willing to pay you top dollar and may reside seven oceans across. You only get one chance to make a solid impression and that is your proposal.

As for setting up your profile, it needs to say who you are, your experience, and your skills but remembers, the proposal wins you the project and empowers you on a freelance marketplace.