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Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Landing the Job Every Time - Some Freelance Tips For an Excellent Proposal

Freelancers everywhere know that getting a proposal noticed is a pain. This is especially true of freelance writers, designers, programmers and others using various bid for hire sites like eLance, Guru or oDesk. Your application will go into a pile with hundreds of other freelancers, many of whom charge much lower rates. It is hard to compete with low priced workers and actually make a living on these sites.
What Can A Freelancer Do to Stand Out?
Many freelancers incorrectly assume that the only way to make a living is to work for next to nothing. This is not true. Sure, you can pay the bills by constantly working on hundreds of low paying jobs and barely scrape by. Or, you can determine what you are actually worth and learn to sell yourself to potential clients. Many clients would rather pay a little more for a quality product. If you learn to sell yourself you won't have to work all hours of the night trying to pay rent. After all, didn't you become a freelancer for some freedom?
Creating an Irresistible Proposal
An important part of being a freelancer is learning which jobs to apply for. After all, there are thousands of jobs out there and one freelancer can't apply for them all. Learn to narrow the field and choose jobs in your pay scale and skill level. Once these few jobs have been selected really work on crafting a proposal. Many freelancers think that more proposals will lead to more work. Successful freelancers have learned that a well written proposal is better than ten quickly written ones. Great proposals lead to great jobs.
Key Items to Include
Whatever type of freelancer you are, learn to reach out to prospective clients. Show them you understand their needs by customizing your proposal. Talk about how you can help them specifically. If you have specialized knowledge or skill, point it out. Tell them the expected turn around time and quality standards. Clients don't care about you; they want to know what you can do for them. Be sure to explicitly explain this. Let them know how you will go about completing the job.
Grammar, Spelling and Perfection
Finally, make sure your proposal shows your commitment to detail. It doesn't matter if your proposal is for writing, programming, data entry or design, it needs to look great. Spell check your work, read it over for grammar and make sure everything makes sense. Nothing screams trouble to clients than a poorly crafted proposal.
If you are tired of working long hours to just scrape by as a freelancer, its time to readjust the way you find work. Focus on a few great proposals and land higher paying jobs more often.
See Our Top Recommended Places For Freelance Work Online.
http://www.FreelanceSchool.com is a great place for freelancers to find resources that will help them make more money and manage their freelance career.

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