When you are talking to someone about what you want, what do you want to hear? You most likely want to hear that they know what you’re saying and they know how to get it accomplished. Doesn’t it make you feel better when someone can communicate those things to you?

When you have asked for a very technical process or you think it’s a very technical process, what do you want to hear?

“I no the job you ask and I can do. Luk at my resume. Give me a call.”

Note: Spelling errors were added for effect.

Or:

“I have worked as a business consultant for several companies and I understand that you need an expert in online promotion. There are several techniques I have mastered that will enhance your online promotion efforts. The first thing I would like to do is…”

Exactly! The second project proposal makes me feel like I’m in good hands. But, like I’ve said before that the hardest part of writing a project proposal is changing your mind around. When you wrap your brain around what the client wants and you learn to address those needs, now you are writing an effective proposal.

Acknowledge what you think the goals of the project are. What are the objectives? How does the client want them accomplished? Take a look at the timeframe too and make sure you understand exactly what the client wants as a finished project.

Most freelancers think that writing a project proposal is as simple as saying they can do the job and to get in touch with them. That’s not true at all. In fact, project proposals don’t fly when the writer doesn’t even acknowledge the final product.

For instance, a client who wants an e-book submitted in pdf format is being very specific about the finished product. Pdf is different from word doc and it used to be hard to put documents in pdf format. But, not anymore. Cutepdf.com will let you download software for free that allows you to convert your word documents to pdf format. Problem solved!

But, that’s just the final product. What if the client says that they need 30 pages with a TOC, appendixes and title page not included in the page count? In your project proposal, it’s a good thing to mention that you understand the page count exactly and that the TOC, appendixes and title page are not included.

What else does the project manager want? If the client mentions that they want cover graphics too, do you know anything about that? If you don’t address that you know anything about graphic design and can design a cover, you might as well not even submit the proposal.

It’s not hard to wrap your brain around what the client wants. Simply think about what you would like to hear if you had posted that project. Read it and put yourself in the potential client’s shoes. Once you have managed to see it from their side, you can write the perfect proposal. The only thing left is to make sure that it’s proofread. It doesn’t hurt to get a project proposal proofread if it means more business for you.

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When you walk into a job interview, I certainly hope that you don’t wear jeans with holes in them and your favorite tee shirt. I hope you don’t slouch and talk to the interviewer like you would talk to your friends at a party. If you get my drift, you have to carry yourself into an interview showing respect and that includes what you wear and how you act.

It’s the same game in this online explosion. Just because you might be sitting in your shorts and sandals writing a project proposal doesn’t mean your proposal can be lacking in professionalism. You have to put your best foot forward and there are definite signals that will have your proposal flagged for the can or chosen for further consideration.

Content

The first thing in writing a project proposal is to identify what the client wants. Freelancers make the mistake of thinking that a template project proposal is all they need. I have to admit that it gets tedious writing the same things over and over. But, a good client does not want a template project proposal. They want to see a proposal that identifies their needs.

It’s ok to have a well-written template in place. But, read over the project and identify the specific goals and strategies of the project. If they want a how-to manual on building shelves, it doesn’t do you any good to tell the potential client that you’ve written books about baseball. This by the way is first hand experience.

If you can make writing a book about baseball relevant to the potential client’s needs, then add it in that way. Don’t simply mention the fact. Make it relevant. Let the client know why you are telling them that you wrote a book about baseball. What does it have to do with building shelves? It’s not hard when you think about it. But, it is crucial. Modify your template so that it addresses every single need the client has raised.

Outline

After you have identified all of your client’s needs, follow the outline of your project proposal. There are different project proposal outlines and this isn’t the end all to be all outline for everything. But, it is a good outline to follow for your template and modify per proposal that you write.

First, introduce yourself and make it very clear what project your proposal is addressing. Some clients will have many jobs out at once and it serves you best to indicate which project you want. After you have introduced yourself start listing your experiences as they relate to the client’s needs. Every experience you have ever had will not be appropriate for every proposal you write. So you have to think it through.

List your best experiences that are relevant. Normally, a client will be happy with two or three jobs that you have done showing the experience you need. Don’t simply list them in order. Talk about them a little. Explain the relevance and the technical experience involved. Make the client understand your expertise.

Now, it’s time to tell the client how you will do the job. They like to know that they are in competent hands. They like to feel safe that you know what you are doing and you have a plan for them. Think about them. Quit thinking about yourself. That’s the toughest thing to do.

When you are writing a project proposal, it is all about the client. It has nothing to do with you. There are details that can be discussed later. So, they have no purpose in your proposal. Wrap your brain around your client’s needs and you will most likely write the proposal so that your words reflect that you understand what they want and you know how to give it to them. There is so much more about writing the dynamite project proposal, so I’ll see you next time and we’ll continue.

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If you are competing in the freelance market, you will need to know the basics of a professional project proposal. No matter where you find yourself, you have to carry your business presentation in a very high manner. You cannot afford to drop your professionalism just because everyone else around you is wasting their efforts.

GetAFreelancer.com

For instance, I view GetAFreelancer.com as a site where you get to cut your teeth in the professional freelance market. There aren’t that many “Professional” writers bidding for projects and you get to see how terrible amateurs write their proposals. But, GetAFreelancer.com is where you can learn the building blocks and build your resume.

You’ll see plenty of jobs that require one hundred articles a day that are completely error free and can pass copyscape.com. They pay about a dollar fifty an article and they won’t pay at all if you don’t meet the deadline. But, there are also some pretty decent writing jobs where you can work with great clients and build your resume with legitimate work. Then, you’ll be ready for a step higher.

Guru.com

Guru.com is a site where you have to know what you are doing. You won’t get awarded a project unless you really impress the potential client and that means several things. You have to write your proposal error free. You have to be very expressive and explosive with your words. Plus, you have to price yourself exactly right. A potential client doesn’t mind paying a higher price if you are worth it. But if you are a great writer and you underbid others, then you will be getting most jobs.

You’ll find screenplay and novel projects. Sometimes, you’ll be required to travel and all expenses will be paid if you negotiate properly. I’ve been on trips to San Francisco, California USA and I’ve written books for therapeutic clinics in New Jersey USA. At this time, I have a proposal submitted for a book deal that would take me to Beijing, China. Now, that’s worth putting my best foot forward to get.

The Mark of Excellence

Once you’ve built your resume rather impressively and made a few key contacts, then you’re stepping into another level entirely. The kind of ghostwriting experiences where you get calls from the representatives of presidents, CEOs and retired athletes. They don’t have time to write their own books and don’t really care to engage themselves into that kind of activity, but they want a book with their name on it and you were the one they chose. I’m still working on getting there.

If you think about it, you’ve just been given several good examples why your proposals should always be professional. First of all, even when you are submitting a project proposal to a potential client who simply wants a brochure, you have no idea where that relationship can lead. If you do a great job, you might get ongoing work. You might also get referrals from that one client. Of course, one day you might get a call from the right-hand man of a business mogul based out of Tokyo who heard of you.

So, let’s cover what it takes to put a professional project proposal together! We’ll see you next post.

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I once sat in agony as I read through a pile of project proposals. I was looking for my competition because I wanted the project that bad. I was willing to look for the one or two people I was going to have to beat to get it. When I found them, I was going to write my proposal so that it out-shined the others in all ways.

The humor of it all is that those proposals I was reading through didn’t reflect on me at all. They reflected on the other people who were trying to get my project. I should have been grateful that they were awful. But, I was still in agony because of what I was reading.

These are no lie, no punches pulled examples of the proposals I fished through:

“lets talk in detail.company profile attached.”

No, I’m not kidding. This proposal took all of five seconds to write…errors included. The first letter isn’t capitalized. A space doesn’t exist between the first and second sentence. And that just gets me started.

This project was for a bid of about two thousand to three thousand dollars for a month worth of work. If it were a five dollar job, I could understand. But even then, if you want the job put your back into it.

Doing a project proposal is about providing a potential client with enough information to make a decision about you. If I can’t get more than two sentences out of you in your proposal and then they have errors in them on top of it all, you’ve made your statement loud and clear. I don’t want you to do my work.

Another example:

“i can do it plz check ur pmb You can expect professional work from me”

One of my other blog posts actually addresses the issue found here. In addition to the issues raised in the previous example, this proposal confuses formal from informal online dialog. A chat room or a friendly instant message can have “i,” “plz,” and “ur” in it. That’s not a problem because your audience expects you to get with the program, use slang and save yourself time.

But, a potential client doesn’t want to see that you get confused between informal and formal communication. Using informal expressions in your project proposal makes the statement that such errors will also be found in the document they want you to write.

So, how do you put together a professional proposal? Well, let’s go ahead and take a look at that in my next post. We’ll start by showing you why it’s important to write professional proposals.

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See how I did that? Drew you right into my conversation didn’t I? That’s one way you begin a conversation with your intended audience.

No, I’m not giving away confidential secrets of the government. I’m not about ready to divulge the ancient secrets of a sacred society that lives among us as quiet and beneficial members. I don’t want to let you know the meaning of life just yet. It is merely a suggestion for the way you communicate a message to your intended audience. But nonetheless, I drew you into my conversation when I wrapped up Part I of Beginning a Conversation with Your Intended Audience published December 5, 2007.

When you read that blog entry published earlier, you instantly thought, “Shucks, I have to wait to get the beat.” You may not have said it quite that way, but I’m paraphrasing your thoughts for you. Yes, you resumed with the rest of your day. You haven’t been sitting still waiting patiently for Part II. It didn’t ruin your day or anything like that at all. But, it did make you curious.

You returned today to get the secret. And even though I told you that I have no secret to tell you, it still subconsciously nagged at you because it aroused your curiosity. If there’s no secret, then you want to know what is it that you haven’t learned yet or may have forgotten a long time ago. And if you haven’t been paying attention, you missed it once again.

When you stir up someone’s curiosity, you draw them into your conversation. You know something your readers don’t. Even if they do know what you are about to tell them, you know the answer to the question and the answer is nagging at them. That implies that you raised a question.

Raising a question is definitely a great way to begin a conversation. But, and this brings you back to a very important point I made in Part I, you have to know your intended audience. You have to be able to strike a chord with them. You have to raise a concern that would get them interested in what you have to say.

If your intended audience is an artist, then raise a question that would really get the attention of artists. But, keep it real! An artist will not join the conversation if you raise a question about something base and unchallenging. Some questions just don’t stir enough interest. But if you can tap into the heartbeat of the artist community, you can turn a question into a group activity.

In order to really raise a good question, stir up some controversy. The artistic world is full of controversy, so that’s a bit easy. But if you want to communicate a message in a rather non-controversial field, you have to create the controversy for yourself. So, are you making things up for yourself? Not really.

What you are doing is looking at the issues, finding an angle and giving your readers something to really chew on so that they get your message entirely. In fact, this is so easy that I don’t think there is a field in which someone wants to write that they can’t find some controversial topic.

Let’s give this theory a try! Let me give you some examples to start. In the field of carpentry, is there a best hammer? Could that issue raise some controversy? In the field of bubble gum, is there any that won’t rot your teeth? Could that issue raise some controversy?

Task: Find the most boring or non-controversial topic and explore any angle that can raise controversy. In other words, you are trying to find a field that has no controversy whatsoever. I’m sure someone if not I will come up with a controversial topic in any field.

Method: Blog comments.

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