Thursday Tip Triad #5: Forming Proposals When Bidding

When it comes to finding legitimate work from home jobs, freelancing really seems to be a great option.  Unfortunately, it can take a while to get a grasp on what to do and what not to do.  Once you've signed up for a site (whether it's Elance, Guru, oDesk or something else) you have to start creating proposals and bidding, but that process can be intimidating.

Several people have asked me for tips on how to write a good proposal, so here are a few tips!

1.  Provide a brief introduction.  Use the prospective client's name (or user name if their name is unknown) and comment on the fact that you would like to be considered for (insert project name).

"Hello JohnnyRox451,
I'm incredibly interested in your Content writing about Valentine's Day project and would love to work with you...."

2.  Keep it short and sweet.  These people are going through what may end up being dozens of proposals and they don't want to read a novel.  Freelance sites cap the length of bids for a reason.  Use bullet lists as opposed to paragraphs of text.  Only include information that is applicable to the project.

Bad Example - Bidding on Valentines job mentioned above
I have been freelancing for 17 years and have done a variety of written work as well as web design, sales, marketing and even phone based projects.  I also have experience as a virtual assistant.  I can type 60 words per minute, can do 10 key by touch, have used the internet for over 10 years and am very tech savvy.

Good Example - Bidding on Valentines job mentioned above

I have:
-17 years of freelance experience including writing
-60+ WPM typing speed
-Proficient internet research skills
-Excellent knowledge of top notch SEO writing strategies

The first example is harder to get the gist of, includes unnecessary info, is hard to read and is almost twice as long as the second example (317 characters v 172).

3.  Tell them your plan.  Anyone can say "Hey there, I'm awesome hire me because I rock!"  What a lot of people forget to do is explain is how they plan to rock this particular project in general.  For this particular hypothetical project you may want to consider something like:

What I will do:
-Provide well researched articles
-Provide perfect grammar and spelling
-Use your keywords X number of times total in (place 1), (place 2), (place 3) etc (You do not have to tell them everywhere you will use it, obviously.)
-Provide a quick turnaround for your project without compromising quality
-Make myself available for emergency contact

Again that's under 300 characters, so you have plenty of room for other information and your pricing as well.  More on the pricing portion of your bid next week.