Transcripts
1. Trailer: Being able to write
great proposals is absolutely key to your
success on upward, upward proposals were either make or break you
as a freelancer, you have to be focused and care about your
upper proposal. Your proposal is
your elevator pitch, is your cover letter, is your first impression. It is the first thing a
potential client will see. So you've got arousal does okay, I'm John Morris and
as you can see, everyone agrees proposals are the key to success on Upwork. If you can create
quality proposals, your chances of getting
clients and building a successful freelance
business go up dramatically. But having taught
tens of thousands of workers through
my online courses, I know that most make
critical mistakes that cost them jobs and keep
them from having success. And that's why I put
together this class. I've been on Upwork since 2013 back when it was
still called eLance. That's how old I am. And I've been teaching
others how to have success on Upwork since 2016. Since then, I've helped tens of thousands of workers through my online courses and millions
through my YouTube videos. But I know that you
don't really care about me and what I've done. The reason why you should
care about all this though, is that it illustrates my
approach has demonstrated that it can work beyond me
and my limited experience. But instead with thousands
of other up workers as well, people like you. In this class, I'm
going to teach you the most important
best practices you need to pay
attention to when creating your Upwork proposals. So your proposals get
noticed, get read, and then give you a
much better chance of getting hired on Upwork. And I genuinely believe that
if you can master this, you can have success on
Upwork and in freelancing. So if you're ready to finally
make Upwork work for you, let's jump into the class.
2. Do Your Homework: If you want to write a
winning Upwork proposal, the first step is to
do your homework. That means researching
the client, the project you're applying for. Now, why is this important? Well, for starters, it shows
the client that you're not just spamming everyone
with a generic proposal, but that you're
genuinely interested in their project and have taken the time to understand
their needs. Plus it can help you tailor your proposal to their
specific requirements and stand out from the competition who likely won't
be doing the same. So how do you conduct
effective research for your Upwork proposal? Well, here are some tips
to get you started. Number one, simply check
out the client's profile, take a look at their profile
and see if they have any specific requirements
or preferences listed. This can help you to tailor
your proposal accordingly and show them that you've paid
attention to their needs, which will go a long
way towards them trusting you and
wanting to hire you. Next, read the project
description carefully, make sure you fully
understand in detail what the client is looking for and what the project entails. So many freelancers on
Upwork and in general, simply don't do this. And this can help you to write a more targeted proposal that addresses their
specific requirements. Next, look for clues on the client's portfolio or website or whatever
they have available. If they have a portfolio or a website or something
along those lines, take a look at it and get
a sense of their style, their tone, their
preferences, etc. This can help you tailor your proposal to
their specific brand, their specific tone and style, and make a stronger impression and have a better
understanding of what they're actually after if you do get hired
for the project. Next, check out their reviews
and feedback on Upwork. Take a look at the
client reviews and the feedback that
other freelancers have left for them and what they've said about
working with them. Again, this can help give you a sense of their
communication style, their work expectations, and any potential red flags
that you might identify. And ultimately by doing
your research and tailoring your proposal to
the client specific needs, you're going to increase your chances of standing out from the competition and getting
hired for your dream project. Again, all of these things are just little things you can
stack in your favorite. Each one on its own is valuable. But it's when you
stack all of them together that they
are really more powerful and can give
you a big advantage over other up
workers on the site. So make sure you
don't skip this step.
3. Establish Credibility: This might seem
simple and obvious, but I see so many freelancers and up workers not doing this, but one of the most
important things to keep in mind when writing an Upwork proposal is to use a professional tone
and writing style. This not only shows
the client that you're serious about the
project and your work, but also helps you establish credibility and
trust which are so important in the
situations where two people don't know
each other and there's money being exchanged
and so forth. But what does it mean to use a professional tone and style? It doesn't necessarily mean using big words or
formal language, but rather communicating
in a clear, concise, and competent manner. Avoid using slang. Emojis are overly casual
language and instead focus on presenting yourself as a knowledgeable and
reliable professional. So here are some examples
of how to achieve a professional tone and writing style in your Upwork proposals. First off, simply use proper
grammar and punctuation. Spelling mistakes and
typos can undermine your credibility immediately and make you look unprofessional. And those types of
proposals will get thrown out almost instantly. So proofread your proposal
carefully and use tools like Grammarly or
others to catch those errors. Next, address the
client by name. Using the client's
name shows that you've taken the
time to research and understand their
needs and it helps to establish a personal connection. One of the places you can look if you don't find it
immediately right away, is in the reviews for
that particular client. Often the other
freelancers will mention their first name at
the very least and you can use that in your proposal. Next, focus on the
client's needs and goals. So instead of talking only about yourself and your skills, make sure to address the client's specific needs
and goals in your proposal. Show them how you can help
them achieve their objectives. Why you're the best
fit for the job, instead of just
blindly listing off all of your achievements
and accomplishments, that don't really mean
anything to the client unless they're relevant
to their specific needs. So make sure to tie
those things together and focus mostly on
their needs and goals, not necessarily your
skills and experience. Next, keep it concise
and to the point, avoid rambling are
going off topic and focus on presenting the
most important information, the most impactful information in a clear and concise manner. One easy way to do that is to
simply use bullet points or subheadings to break up your text and make
it easier to read. Because again, a lot
of these clients, they're going to have a ton of these proposals to go through. So the easier Yours is to read, the more they can get the
main information because you're using subheadings
or bullets or bolding, you're using text
formatting to help it be easier to consume. The more likely they are to get the important
information and put you into the higher pile. Ultimately by following
these tips and using a professional tone and style
and your Upwork proposals, you'll be well on your
way to impressing clients and winning
more projects. And remember, your proposal is often the first
impression you'll make. So make it count.
4. Focus on the Client: Now let's talk about maybe the most important aspect of writing a winning
Upwork proposal. And that is addressing the
client's needs and goals. After all, the client is
the one who's hiring you. So it's essential to show
them that you understand their needs and can help
them achieve their goals. Now, why is addressing the client's needs
and goals so crucial? Well, for starters, it helps you stand out from
the competition. A lot of freelancers
aren't gonna do this. A lot of freelancers
are going to copy and paste or they're going
to skim job description and they're not really
going to dig into figuring out what the goals and the needs of the client are and then writing a
proposal that addresses those directly and
in an impactful way. So it helps you to stand
out from the competition. Many freelancers make the
mistake of focusing too much on their own
skills and experience. And it's not out of
arrogance or narcissism, It's more just they think that's what the
client wants to hear. And so that's what they
do when in reality it's really not what the
client wants to hear. And so a lot of freelancers make this
mistake without taking the time to understand what the client is
actually looking for. So by addressing their
needs and goals, you're showing them
that you're not just another generic freelancer, but someone who truly
cares about their project. And that phrase right there. Maybe one of the most
important things to keep in mind when you're
dealing with clients is they want someone
who cares as much about their
project as they do. And if you just think
about it and anything in your life that's important to you when you meet someone who cares about it as
much as you do. It's almost like an
immediate kinship and that's really
what thereafter, that's what they want
ultimately from a freelancer. So again, by addressing their needs
and goals specifically, instead of just listing off
your skills and experience, you are showing them that you truly care about their project and can help them achieve
the success that thereafter. So how do you identify and address the client's
needs and goals? Well, it's really
not that difficult. It just takes doing it and it takes a
little bit of effort. So first thing, and we've sort of covered
this a little bit, but it's worth going back over. Read the project
description carefully in detail if they
attach things to it, read through that, if
they point to a website, look at the website and don't
just glance through it. Don't take 2 min
and go through it. Take ten to 15 to 20 to 30 min. If you're bidding on
the right kind of jobs, then it's gonna be worth the
time for you to do that and really try to understand what
the client is looking for, what is it that they're really after the gun and
leave you clues. So try to identify those
things and pull those out of the project
description that is crucial to all of this. Another thing you can do is
you can look for keywords or phrases that give you those
clues about their goals, their pain points,
the things that are key hiring criteria that they're going to really base
their decision off of. You want to look for
those keywords or phrases in the project description
and try to pull them out. And every project is
gonna be different, every client is
gonna be different. So you really have
to look for those. But anything that gives
you a sense of this really matters to the client, tried to pull those out and find those and latch onto those and make sure you cover
those in your proposal. Which of course
is the last step. Use all of this information
that you find in the project description
to show them in your proposal that you can help them achieve those goals
and solve the problems that thereafter and
ultimately help them to deliver on the project
that they're hiring you for. So again, really dig into
that project description, pull out everything you can, and then use that as ammo
in your proposal to make it really resonate with
them and show that you care about their project. So e.g. if the client
is looking for a blog writer and to increase
their website traffic, don't just talk about
your writing skills. Instead, you want
to highlight how your writing can help them
achieve their goal by providing high-quality
SEO optimized content that drives track traffic
and engages their audience. So if their goal is
website traffic, that's what you
need to focus on. Not your writing skills
are not talking about some fiction book that you wrote or whatever
the case may be. You want to talk about
how you can help them get more website traffic. That's what you
need to focus on. And ultimately by addressing
their needs and goals, you're showing them that
you can provide value and help them achieve the
goal that thereafter, but helping them achieve what it is that they
ultimately want. So take the time to understand
their needs and goals, draw that out of the
project description. It's gonna be in there. And then use your proposal to demonstrate how you can
help them get there because that's ultimately what they're after is
they want to achieve their goal and you are a means
to end help them do that. So focusing on that
and your proposal, you're going to have
a lot better chance of getting hired.
5. Showcase Relevant Skills: Now that you've caught the
client's attention and shown them that you're genuinely
interested in their project. Now it's time to showcase your skills and
relevant experience. This is where you
get to shine and show the client what you
can bring to the table. When clients are browsing
proposals on Upwork, They want to see that you have
the skills and experience necessary to complete their
projects successfully. If you can't demonstrate that, you can't demonstrate that you have the relevant experience. They're likely to move
on to the next proposal. So that's why it's essential
to showcase your skills and relevant experience
upfront and your proposal. Doing so helps the
client quickly understand why you're
the right person for the job and gives
them confidence in your ability to deliver
high-quality work. So how do you showcase
your skills and experience effectively
in your Upwork proposal? Well, here's a few
tips to help you out. Number one, again, you
can use bullet points to highlight key skills
and experience. This makes it easy
for the client to scan and understand what
you bring to the table. Always remember the
position they're in. They might have 20 or 30 or
more different proposals that they have to wade through. So the easier you can
make it for them to read, the more likely they
are to consume it. And you want to put
the most important information right in their face. So it's easy to find and
your relevant skills and experience tailored to their
goals and their needs, is that kind of information. Next, provide examples of past work that is
relevant to the project. This is maybe one of the most important things
that you can do. If you can show a client that you've done the exact
thing that they're after. You've done it multiple times
and you've done it well, you have a
high-quality portfolio to show them that has
this kind of work. That's the easiest way to get hired because it helps the
client to see that you have without a shadow of a doubt because they can see it right
there in your portfolio. The necessary experience
and skills to complete their
project successfully. Now one caveat here, or one note here is that don't assume that they're going to look through
your portfolio, point them to your
portfolio in your proposal, and point them to
specific items. Tell them, Look at this item, look at that item, et cetera, so that they know exactly
where to go and you're leading them down the
path you want them to go. Don't make any assumptions about what they're
going to look at. If there's something
specific you want them to look at that you think is
tied to their project. Make sure and mentioned
that explicitly in your proposal to give you the best chance that they'll
actually look at it. Next, you want to highlight any relevant certifications or training that you've completed. Anything that's relevant
to their project. Again, this just demonstrates that you're a master
of your craft. You're committed to your
craft or someone who's looking to operate at
the highest level. That's why you have
these certifications or these trainings
that you've taken. So it demonstrates that to
your client and that you are an expert in the field because they want to hire
someone who is an expert, someone who knows what their
project is about inside and out and can handle all of
the things that may come up. So anything that you can
point out that is relevant, again, relevant,
relevant, relevant, relevant to their
needs and their goals. That's why those previous best practices are so important. But if it's relevant to
their needs and goals, definitely point it out. Then ultimately customize
your proposal to showcase your skills and
experience that are most relevant to
the client's needs. This again, shows the
client that you've taken the time to
read through and understand their needs and then figure out if you are a
fit for their project. And if you are now
you're submitting the proposal as
opposed to you're just a freelancer who wants to make a bunch
of money and you're submitting proposals to any
and every project out there, That's what they're
trying to avoid. They don't want a freelancer who's just in it for the money. They want someone
who actually has taken the time to look
at their project, cares about their project, has assessed it and
feels like there really are a good fit. That's what they want
to feel on their sites. So the more you can demonstrate
that in your proposal, the more likely you
are to get hired. And again, by
following these tips, you're gonna be able to showcase your skills and your experience effectively and set yourself
apart from the competition. Most freelancers,
most up workers, simply aren't going to
go this deep with it. Many will just blindly submit proposals to blanket
proposals to a bunch of jobs. Some will take a
little bit of time. Most are not going
to take a ton of time to really
invest and look at individual projects and
break them down and write a proposal that
is highly relevant. Most aren't going to do that. So it's an easy
way for you to set yourself apart
just by putting in a little bit extra time and effort has nothing to
do with your skill set. And it has nothing to
do with anything else, has to do with time and effort. And ultimately remember, with all of this,
confidence is key. So don't be afraid to show the
client what you're made of and let your expertise shine
through in your proposal. That's what they're looking at. As long as it's relevant, That's the key to
this whole thing. Could you do that research? You pull out those
items, and now, now you can tie your
skills and experience to their needs and their
goals and what they're after. And it makes sense. It's not you just
bragging about yourself or just listing a bunch
of qualifications. You actually
addressing what they wrote in their job description. That's the key to all of this. So again, do that and
you're gonna have a much better chance of your proposal is
getting accepted.
6. Prove It: Following on from best
practice number four, then you want to showcase
your skills and experience. But you don't want to come
across as arrogant or pushy. What's the secret sauce
to balancing that? Well, it's providing
specific examples and results that are relevant again to the client's
needs and goals. And just think about it. Clients want to know what
you could do for them. They want to see
tangible evidence of your expertise and
how you've helped other clients in the past by providing specific examples
and results in your proposal, you're showing
them exactly that. So e.g. instead of saying, I'm a great writer,
you could say, I helped the client increase
their website traffic 50% through
high-quality blog posts and social media content. Can you see the difference
between those two things? Not only are you highlighting
your skills as a writer, but you're also
showing the client the impact that your work
can have on their business. So how can you incorporate specific examples on results
into your Upwork proposal? Well, here are some tips. First off, personalize
your examples. Don't use the same examples
for every proposal. Instead, take the time to
choose examples that are directly relevant to the client's needs
and project goals. This will show the client that you've done your
research and are truly invested in their project. Next, use metrics
whenever possible. Numbers and metrics are
a great way to quantify your achievements and
make your examples more tangible. So e.g. instead of saying, I helped a client increase
their website traffic, you could say I helped decline, increase their website
traffic by 50%. As I mentioned earlier, this not only shows the
impact of your work, but also gives the
client a clear idea of what they can expect
if they hire you, just make sure that
those numbers are real. Don't make them up or
don't exaggerate them. If anything, downplay them a
little bit because a lot of freelancers aren't
going to be providing those specific numbers anyway. So you're going to stand
out just for doing that. Next, highlight
challenges and solutions. Clients want to
know that you can handle challenges
and solve problems. So in your examples, be sure to describe
any challenges you faced and how
you overcame them. This will demonstrate to
the client that you have problem-solving
skills and give them confidence in your ability
to handle their project. This is a really
big one that gets overlooked a lot because
a lot of freelancers want to put on a glossy show and they don't
want to talk about anything that might have
went wrong or that was hard with a project
that is a mistake. Clients know that there
can be challenges, there can be issues
that you run into and they want to
know that you have the ability to overcome them. So be sure to highlight
those things. Next. Be specific and concrete. So again, avoid vague or generic statements
in your examples. Instead, use concrete
language and specific details to make your
examples more compelling. So e.g. instead of saying I
wrote some great blog posts, you could say I
wrote a series of blog posts that generated over 1,000 shares and 50
black back links to the client's website. There's only shows
your writing skills, obviously otherwise you wouldn't
have got those metrics, but also demonstrates the impact of your work and
allows the client to start envisioning what they could get by
working with you. That's the mindset
you want them in. Next, use visual aids. So if appropriate, consider
including visual aids like charts or graphs to illustrate your
examples and results. This can make your proposal
more engaging your portfolio, more engaging and help the client better understand
the impact of your work. Just be sure to keep
a professional and relevant to the project. Next, highlight the value
that you can bring. Specific examples and
results are great, but don't forget to
tie them back to the client's needs and
the project goals. Explain how your skills
and experience can bring value to their project and help them achieve their objectives. Always keep it focused
on the client. Next, keep it concise. While it's important to
provide specific examples, be careful not to make
your proposal too long or detailed because again, clients receive a lot of proposals and they might
not have the time, or frankly, the patients Read
through a lengthy proposal. So make sure that your
examples are relevant. They're impactful, but
they're also concise. Finally, don't
over-promise, while it's important to showcase your
skills and your experience, be careful not to over promise or guarantee
results that you can't deliver that's ultimately going to backfire you and
it's a bad move long term for you on Upwork or just
as a freelancer in general. So be honest about your
abilities and only provide examples that accurately
reflect your capabilities. And ultimately, by
following these tips, you'll be able to provide
specific examples and specific results that help
you stand out from the crowd. That's ultimately
what we're after. Get you noticed. Convince clients that you're the right person for the job. It's that tangible evidence
that they need that they're probably not going to get from
a lot of other proposals. So don't be shy and
make sure that you show them what you've got and follow these tips and you'll
be in good shape.
7. Demonstrate Your Professionalism: Let's face it, no
one likes to read a long convoluted
Upwork proposal that lacks structure
and clarity. That's why it's important to use a clear and structured format
that makes it easy for the client to understand
your proposal and see the value you
bring to their project. Why is this so important
for Upwork proposals? Well, for one, it
shows that you're a professional who
takes the time to present your ideas in a
logical and easy to fall away. It also makes it easier for the client to skim
through your proposal and quickly get a sense
of what you're offering. Especially important
when they have so many proposals
that they have to go through long
convoluted proposals that are just a wall of text, almost immediately
get thrown out. So this is incredibly important for you getting past
that first filter. So how do you format your
Upwork proposal effectively? Well, here are some tips. First off, keep your
sentences and paragraphs. Short, long, dense
paragraphs and run-on sentences can be overwhelming
and difficult to follow. So keep things concise
and use short, simple sentences and language to make your proposal easier
for the client to read. Consider using headings
and subheadings where appropriate to break up your
proposal into sections. This not only makes
it easier to read, but also allows the client
to quickly navigate to the sections that are
most relevant to them. Next, start with a clear and
compelling introduction that hooks the client and makes
them want to read more. This is absolutely critical
that you start off with something compelling
that catches their intention. You need to give them reasons to want to read your proposal. And so that introduction, that hook is critical
to doing that. So don't be afraid
to use a bit of humor or personality to
grab their attention. And clients don't want
to work with robots, they want to work with humans. And so don't be afraid
to show some personality or use a little bit
of humor again, just keep it professional
and use your best judgment. Don't make inappropriate
jokes or anything like that. But again, don't
be afraid to show some personality in order
to get their attention. Use bullet points where possible to highlight key
information and make it stand out so relevant skills and experience, maybe examples. Anything you think is critical for the client to see
in your proposal, consider using bullet points to highlight that information. And again, this is
particularly effective for lists of skills, experience, or
deliverables, and so on. Next, consider using
bold or italicize texts where possible to emphasize
important points. But again, use them sparingly so they don't use their impact. The more you can
make your proposal skimmable by the
client the better. Finally, end with a
strong call to action that encourages the client
to take the next step. Whether it's
scheduling your call, hiring you right away, messaging you, and so forth. And never forget that
strong call to action. And it's essentially you
asking for the sale, which is so important
when it comes to sales and marketing. Again, by using a clear
and structured format in Europe or proposal, only make it easier for
the client to understand your proposal and actually
read what you're saying. But it also shows them that
you're a professional, that you take time, that
you're detail-oriented. So it's not just what you
say with your proposal, it's what you're demonstrating
in your proposal. Both of those things
are at work here. And by doing this
using a clear format, you're going to show both. So go ahead and give it a try. Let's see how it
can help you win more projects on Upwork.
8. Make a Great First Impression: Obviously nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes,
especially when it comes to spelling and grammar. But if you're serious about
getting hired on Upwork, paying attention to these
details is crucial, as I previously said, it's not just about what
you say in your proposal, it's what you demonstrate. And if you have a proposal
that's riddled with errors, it demonstrates to the
client that you don't pay attention to detail
and they're going to immediately throw
out your proposal. So we all know first
impressions matter and nothing screams
unprofessional louder, then a proposal riddled
with errors and typos. And if you think
about it, if a client receives two proposals
that are equally impressive in terms
of their skills and experience and portfolio and
everything else is equal. But one is full
of mistakes while the other is flawlessly written. Which one do you
think that they're going to choose? Exactly? They're going to choose the one without all the
mistakes because it demonstrates that that person that freelancer pays
attention to detail. So what can you do? Some simple things
that you can do? Avoid these mistakes to make sure your proposal
is error free. Here's a few tips. First off, just simply
use a spell checker. Now that might sound obvious, but using a spell checker
can help you catch those simple mistakes that
you might miss on your own. And most word
processing software and browsers have built-in
spell checkers. So it's something really simple, really easy that you can do. And just make sure you run your proposal through one
before submitting it. It can take a matter of
seconds for you to do. Or you can use a tool like Grammarly, which is what I use. I have the browser extension installed and so
everything that I write, it's looking at and it's letting me know if
I'm making mistakes. That's another simple thing that you can do to catch
all of those and make sure your proposal
isn't littered with these common obvious spelling
and grammar mistakes. Next, read it out loud. Now, this might feel silly
at first when you do it, but reading your
proposal out loud, it can help you to
catch errors and typos that you might not get when you're reading
it silently in your head. And probably more importantly, it can help you to spot
awkward phrasing or unclear sentences or ideas
that aren't communicated. Clearly, those we come more obvious when you
read it out loud. So just take a second
before you submit your proposal and actually read it out loud, not
just in your head, but out loud and see if there's anything that you
can fix or you can make a little more clear and so forth that can make
a huge difference toward making the
ideas that you're communicating in your proposal
in any of your writing. A lot more clear. You can also have
someone else read it. Sometimes a fresh pair
of eyes is what you need to catch those mistakes that you might have overlooked. So you can ask a
friend, a colleague, or a family member,
whoever it is, just have them
read your proposal and provide any feedback, identify anything that
doesn't make any sense or spot any typos and so forth. Sometimes just that
one extra pair of eyes can help you to
catch those things. Again, if you're bidding
on the right kinds of projects than these
steps will be worth it. That can take maybe 30 s to have a spouse or
a family member, a child, a friend, whoever, look through it and read through it
and spot anything, and then submit the proposal. And so that can help you
to catch any of that stuff and make sure it doesn't
actually get to the client. Next, you can take a break
and simply come back to it. So when you're working on
something for a long time, it can be easy to overlook mistakes because you're
so familiar with it, you're so familiar
with the text. So taking breaking, coming back later with fresh
eyes can help you to catch any mistakes that
you might have missed. So those are a few tips to
help you pay attention to the grammar and
really just add them to your checklist of
things to go through, your mental checklist of
things to grow through before you hit the Submit
button on your proposal. And remember, your proposal
is your chance to make a great first impression
and convince the client. Demonstrate to the client that you're the right
person for the job. And it's not just what you say, it's what you're showing is
what you're demonstrating. And so knocking this out, making sure you don't have
any of this is going to help you get through
all of the filters. So you're down to that last
one or two or three profiles and proposals that
they're actually going to take a long look at. So again, by paying
attention to spelling and grammar and making sure
your proposals error-free, you'll increase your
chances of getting hired and building a successful
freelancing career on Upwork.
9. Set Yourself Apart: Maybe the simplest
secret to winning upward proposals personalize your proposal
for each client. Now, I know, I know it can be tempting to use a
standard template in blasto to every job posting that looks remotely interesting. But let me tell
you, a clients can smell a generic proposal from a mile away and they're not likely to give
it a second glance. It's one of the first filters
that they're going to use to get rid of
certain proposals. So why is this so
important to clients? Well, for starters, it
shows them that you've taken the time to read and
understand their job posting. Again, they want someone
who really cares about their project and is
invested in their project, not just someone who's
in it for the money. So this shows them
that you're genuinely interested in helping
them achieve their goals. It also allows you to
showcase your skills and experience in a way
that's relevant to this specific project
and client making it easier for them to
imagine working with you. So how do you personalize
your proposal? Well, here's a few
tips. First off, addressed the client by name. Now this may seem obvious, but you'd be surprised
how many proposals start with a generic
Dear Sir, or Madam? Do some research and find out the client's name and
use it in your greeting. You can often find it in the reviews of other
freelancers have left for that particular
client if it's not immediately obvious what it is. So that's one place
you can look. Next, use their language. This is a subtle one,
but an important one. Pay attention to the clients
tone and language in their job posting against the
best practice number one, for reading their job
posting in detail, but pay attention to
the language they use and try to mirror
it in your proposal. They use the casual tone. Feel free to be a bit more
informal in your writing. They use technical jargon, use it to as long as you
actually understand it, but don't be afraid to
mirror their language. It's a subtle thing that they won't necessarily
immediately notice, but it will make
your proposal just seem more relevant
and there'll be able to relate to it and
resonate with them a lot better than if you just use your own
tone and so forth. So pay attention to
the language they use and don't be afraid to
merit and your proposal. Show them you've
done your homework. So reference specific aspects of the client's project or
their business or whatever their website in your
proposal and demonstrate that you've researched their
industry and their competitors. This is one of the things
that I harp on and a lot of my other courses and books is you want to be
explicit about letting the client know that you've
read their job description. You don't want it
to be subtle here. You don't need
necessarily need to say, Hey, I read your
job description. But you really want to overtly demonstrate that you've
read it and point out certain things so
that they know and you communicate
clearly that you've read the whole thing
and understand it that alone will go a long
way towards a client really assessing your proposal and giving you a hard
look for hiring. So again, show them that
you've done your homework, reference specific aspects of their project and your proposal. And that's going to
help button as well. Of course, offer
relevant examples. We've mentioned
this a few times, but it's worth repeating. If you have previous
work experience that's relevant to
the client's project, mention it and provide examples. Point to specific items in
your portfolio, et cetera. This shows them that you're not just a generic freelancer, that you're someone
who has the skills and expertise to help them
succeed with their project. And them seeing that
you've already done something very similar or
exactly what they want, immediately eliminates all of the worry and doubt and can they do it and
this, and that. It immediately lets
them know that you can complete this project
because you've done it before. If you have anything like that, be sure to point to it included whatever you need to do in order to get it in front of them. Next up is maybe a simple
and counter-intuitive one. But that is to show enthusiasm. Let the client knows
that you're excited about the project and why. Look for things that
interests you in the project, tried to find them. If you can't, maybe consider not bidding on that
project because you want to have enthusiasm
and excitement for their project and
then share why you're passionate about their
industry or what you find interesting about
the project and what motivates you to
do your best work. Again, they want someone who really cares
about their projects. So show that to them, show them that
enthusiasm and look for those things so that when
you do it, it's authentic. You are genuinely excited and interested in their project. Next, ask thoughtful questions. So you want to demonstrate
your interests in the project by asking thoughtful questions
about the client's goals, their expectations,
their vision, et cetera. This shows that you're not just interested in getting the job, but in creating a successful
outcome for the client. Now, of course, only do this if it's appropriate and legitimate. So don't make up questions that you're not genuinely interested in the answer to because that's going to come across
as fake and inauthentic. And clients can smell that
fake interests a mile away. They've probably heard it a
lot with the hair project. Depending on what it is. They probably had
a lot of naysayers and doubters in their life. And so they're really sensitive
to that kind of thing. So again, make sure
they're genuine questions, but if you have them, don't be afraid to ask them. Sometimes just asking a question and you're getting
them to respond to, you can get the conversation going and lead to
you getting hired. Next, offer a unique approach. So if you have a specific
idea or approach that you think would
be a great fit for the client's project if you already have a
vision in your mind of how the project might go or how you might complete their project. Don't be afraid to
share that with them. Again, this can set you apart from other freelancers who are just kind of blindly
putting in their skills, experience, and talking about
themselves and so forth. This can separate you from those freelancers and
demonstrate your creativity, your problem-solving skills, your initiative and so forth. Again, not just what you
say in the proposal, but also what you demonstrate. And this helps to demonstrate
a lot of good quality. So if you have
something like that, if you have a fish and don't be afraid to share that with
them in the proposal. Next and other subtle one, but you can highlight
your shared values. So if the client's
business or project aligns with your personal values
or interests in some way. Don't be afraid to mention that. So maybe it's a
religious project and that's something that's
really important to you. Or maybe it's sports or
whatever the case may be. If there's some sort
of shared values there don't be afraid to
mention those in this can help you to connect
with the client on a deeper, more personal level. And that's something that
can instantly set you apart from other freelancers
have actually had a lot of clients hire
me because of that, because we had some
sort of shared value. So it's a very powerful thing. It seems subtle, but it's a powerful thing
that you can do. And again, it just
shows them you're not, you're not in it
just for the money, but you actually
genuinely care about them and their success. The more you can show that
and everything you do, the better off you're gonna be. So those are a few tips for
personalizing your proposal. Remember, personalize
your proposal doesn't have to be a long time
consuming process. It's a few small tweaks here and there and what
you're saying and what you're doing that can make a
big difference and catching the client's attention
and ultimately winning their trust
and winning the job. So really take the time to
tailor your proposals to each client and watch your
success on Upwork, grow.
10. Call to Action: All right, We've made it to
best practice, number nine, and this one's a big one, including a clear call to
action in your Upwork proposal. Now why is this so important? Well, it's a well-known fact in the sales and
marketing realm. If you don't ask for the
sale 80 to 90% of the time, the client or the customer is ultimately not going to buy. So simply, by asking
for the sale, you dramatically
increase your chance of getting someone to
buy or in this case, of an Upwork proposal, getting them to hire you. So including a clear call to action is very important
in your proposal. So you don't leave the
client unsure of what to do or not sure how to move
forward and so forth. So you wanna make sure and
include that call to action. So how do you do that?
Well, here's some tips on how to write a good
call to action. First and foremost, be specific. Instead of a generic contact
me if you're interested. Statement tried to be
more specific about what you want the client
to do next Exactly. E.g. I love to schedule a call to discuss
your project further. Or if you're ready
to move forward, Let's set up a
milestone payment and get started something very specific and tell them exactly
what you want them to do. Next, use action-oriented
language. Your call to action should
be active, not passive. So use strong verbs
like schedule, book higher, or start to encourage the client
to take action. You always want to
be in that action oriented mindset and
that way of speaking, so it moves them into taking
action on your proposal. Next, highlight the benefits. So instead of focusing solely on what you
want the client to do, try to frame your call
to action in terms of the benefits though received
by working with you. So e.g. you could say something like
let's schedule a call to see how my experience and
x can help you achieve why. Or another example,
by hiring me, you'll get a dedicated
professional freelancer who will deliver high-quality
work on time. So you're attaching the
benefits to the action, reminding them of why
they should hire you, why they should
take action. Now. Next, keep it short and sweet. So your call to action should be concise and to the point, you want to avoid
rambling or adding unnecessary information
that could distract from the main message
you want to ask for the sale competently and
clearly and concisely, and that's gonna give you the
best chance of them saying yes and ultimately
hiring you next, make it easy to follow. So provide clear instructions on how the client can
take the next step, whether it's scheduling and
call something a message, setting up a milestone
payment, payment, etc. Now on Upwork, this is
pretty straightforward. They can either message you, they can hire you, et cetera. But you want to again
tell them exactly what to do because you never
know the client might be brand new to Upwork, not sure exactly how things are supposed to
go next and so forth. So just tell them
exactly what you want. Next. Use urgency. So if it's appropriate
and it makes sense in the situation at a sense of urgency to your
call to action. So e.g. you could say, I'm available to start working on your project immediately, or my schedule is
filling up fast, so let's schedule call
today to secure your spot. You can mention
how your calendar is filling up or you
have a number of other job invites that you're
writing proposals for. Whatever makes sense. Again, just make
sure it's authentic. Don't make up urgency, don't make up things
that aren't real because ultimately clients are going to find that kind of thing out. That's not only
immoral, but it's impractical and will
eventually get you caught. So use urgency if
it's appropriate, if it makes sense,
if it's legitimate. And that can really help to take your proposal over the top. So there you have it. That's best practice. Number nine, including
a clear call to action, add this to your proposal
writing on Upwork and your shore to see the results
that you're getting, grow.
11. Follow Up: Congrats, You've just
submitted your Upwork proposal and now you're eagerly waiting
for the client to respond. But what do you do if you
don't hear back from them? Do you just give up and move
on to the next project? Absolutely not. Following up after submitting
your proposal can be a powerful way to remind the
client of your interests, showcase your
professionalism, and stand out from
other freelancers. The importance of following
up after submitting an Upwork proposal
cannot be overstated. Clients often receive dozens, if not more proposals
for a single project. So it's not uncommon for them to miss her overlook some of them. By following up, you're
not only increasing the chances of your
proposal being seen, but you're also demonstrating your commitment and
interest in the project, which goes along
way with clients. Of course, following
up effectively is key. So here's some tips to
help you do it right? First off, before you
follow up, wait a few days, void following up immediately after submitting your proposal because that can come across
as pushy or desperate. Instead, wait a few days
and give the client time to review all of the
different proposals and then get back to you. So wait a few days. If you haven't heard back
then you can follow up. Next. Keep it short and sweet. Your follow-up message should
be brief and to the point, remind the client
of your interests and your availability. Ask them if they have
any questions or they need need any further
information from you. But don't go on and
on and on and on. Keep it short, keep it sweet so that it actually gets read and can have the
impact that you're after in following up. Third, be polite
and professional. That may seem obvious, but
you want to remember to keep that polite
and professional tone and your follow-up message, even if you're feeling
frustrated or anxious because of the moment that you're not
polite or professional, that's when the
client is going to immediately throw your proposal
into the not hire pile. So the second you do that, you're essentially
giving up on the job. So be polite, be professional, but also be assertive and follow up properly
with the client. Of course, don't
be too aggressive. Again, while it's
important to follow up, It's also important to not
be too aggressive or pushy, so you don't want to
bombard the client with multiple followup messages every day or every half-day
or whatever the case may be. And ultimately, if
they do decide to hire someone else,
respect their decision, thank them for their time
because you never know you might see them again
on another project. And you don't want them to immediately dismiss
you because you were too aggressive or too pushy with them on a previous proposal. Next, offer additional value. So in your follow-up message
considering offering additional value or insight
related to the project. This might be the
thing that can push you over the edge and
get them to hire you. Maybe they're looking at
your proposal at that moment and deciding between it and
maybe one or two others. And you offer that
additional value, that sort of pushes them over the edge so
it can demonstrate your expertise and may make the client more likely to
choose you for the job. So don't be afraid to do that in your follow-up if
that makes sense. Next, provide a deadline. Now this isn't for the
faint of heart and this obviously isn't
gonna be every case. But if you're following
up to ask about the status of your proposal, consider providing a deadline or time-frame for when
you need a response. This works well. If you're if you've mentioned that you had in your
proposals that you have other job invites
that you're bidding on or other jobs that you're
bidding on and you're going, your availability is going
to be filling up fast. If that's legitimate,
if that's real for you, then just let the
client know that, hey, my availability is gonna
be filling up fast. So if this is something you
would like for me to work on, I'm going to need
to know by XYZ. Date can also demonstrate to the client that
you're organized, that you take
deadlines seriously. So when you are working
on their project, you're going to take their
deadlines seriously as well. So again, not for every case, not for the faint of heart. Some people may even
say don't do that, but if the client is
not going to hire you, you'd rather find that out sooner than later
so that you can move on to other projects
and other proposals. And ultimately by
following these tips, you can increase the chances
of getting a response from the client and ultimately
getting hired for the project. So don't be afraid
to follow up after submitting your Upwork proposal. It just might be the
extra push that you need to land your next gig. Now what I wanna do is I want to talk about the class project. So I've made the class
project pretty simple. In the projects and resources
section of the course, you will find two PDFs. One is a proposal worksheet, and so go ahead and download that proposal worksheet
inside you're going to see a series of practice
job descriptions for you to write proposals to. So this will give you some
practice writing proposals. Then on the next page
of each of those, I've provided the answers. Maybe a way that I might
write the proposal. Some of the key hiring
criteria that we're looking for in the job
description and so forth. So it just gives you some practice looking for
these things and pulling them out of a job
description and then putting them into your proposal. So go ahead and download
that worksheet, complete the practice proposals, and then upload it as a project. So other students and I can
provide you with feedback on the example proposals
that you've written also in that projects
and resources section, as I mentioned, there's
another PDF and it is a checklist of
everything that we've covered in this course that you can print off or just have
available on your computer. And every time you
write a proposal, you can just literally go right down the checklist
and it has everything that we've covered and make sure anything that's relevant, obviously not
everything is going to be relevant on every proposal, but any of the items that we've covered that irrelevant
to that proposal, you can make sure
that you're covering all of your basis and just use that checklist over and over and over again whenever
you're writing proposals. And that will
essentially allow you to take everything
you've learned in this class and actually apply it when you're writing
your proposal. So download both,
both those PDFs and you'll be all set for
writing your Upwork proposals. And the way that we've
outlined inside the course.
12. Better Than Best Practices: Individual best practices for writing your Upwork
proposals can certainly help you improve
your chances of getting hired. Having a well-thought-out
strategy can take your success to
an even higher level. Strategy is
essentially a plan or roadmap for achieving
a specific goal. And in the case of Upwork, it means having a clear plan for how you will
position yourself and market your services and stand out from
the competition. Strategy involves looking
at the big picture of your Upwork profile and
proposal writing process, and creating a cohesive plan that ties everything together. Involve setting specific goals, identifying your
unique selling points, targeting the right clients, tailoring your proposals to their specific needs
and preferences. By following a strategy. You're not just applying individual best
practices randomly, but rather using them in a deliberate and
targeted way that is aligned with your
overall objectives. Ultimately, having a strategy can help you stand out
from the competition, build a strong
reputation on Upwork and attract the clients and
projects that you truly want. So if you're serious about
succeeding on Upwork, it's essential to develop
a strategy that works for you and your unique
skills and goals. And that's what I teach you in my book, Upwork essentials. Upwork essentials is a
comprehensive guide that covers everything
you need to know to build a winning
Upwork profile and write proposals that
get noticed by clients. Even if you have no job history, no reviews, no job
success score, or any other credentials with
step-by-step instructions, practical tips and
real-life examples. Upwork essentials will teach you how to optimize your profile, showcase your skills and
experience and craft proposals oriented around a
proven strategy for new and or
struggling up workers. So whether you're
just starting out on Upwork or you're looking to
take your freelance career to the next level
up work essentials is the ultimate resource for mastering the
platform and getting hired for the
projects you deserve. Right now you can
get over $50 in bonuses when you buy
the book on Amazon. All the details on how
to get your bonuses or John Morris online.com
slash essentials.
John Morris, I help freelancers get clients.
