Posts Tagged SAHM

How To Create A Winning Freelance Proposal

November 15, 2012 at 10:55 am · Filed under Virtual Assistant Tips, Work at Home ·Tagged , , , , , ,

Responding to RFP’s or request’s for proposals are a regular part of a Freelancer’s day.  Bidding on new projects quickly and regularly is essential to your success.  In fact, it’s a critical ingredient that will determine your success.

When you work from home and bid on online projects, it is much different than applying to a brick and mortar business.  Applying to a brick and mortar business means that you will likely be competing against fewer than 100 other applicants in your local area and the pay is already pre-determined.

When bidding online you might be competing against hundreds of thousands of other qualified applicants from all over the world and people will be bidding anywhere from $2 per hour to upwards of $75 per hour.  It is imperative that you find strategies to stand out no matter what project you are bidding on.

While the competition may be fierce, it is not impossible.  I have 3 tips to create a winning proposal that I have used over the years and have helped me stand out among the competition.

Tip #1 – Make your first sentence count.

Make sure the very first thing that you say is something that is catchy and automatically grabs the attention of the reader.  The reason you do this is because often times, only the first sentence shows up in your bid.  Unless the reader feels urged to open up the rest of your bid, they will not get to know more about you than the first sentence.

My suggestion is to start off with “10 years experience in Customer Service and Executive Assistance” or “Proven track record of winning web designs” and so on.  This is an attention grabbing statement that will make the reader want to continue reading. They will then open the entire proposal.

Tip #2 – Leave your personal life out of the proposal

I have hired several Virtual Assistants to help me in areas of my business and I cannot tell you the countless number of proposals I get that start off with “Hi, I’m Jane.  I’m a married stay at home mom that has 3 children.  I decided that I wanted to try the work at home thing etc.” or “My names Joe, I’m recently divorced and need some extra money, so I decided to start doing freelance work…”

Proposals that start off like that, I skip every time.  Just because you work from home, does not mean you should not exercise a certain level of professionalism.  While people might think it’s great that your married or divorced that has nothing to do with the business side of things.  Keep it straight, to the point and professional.

Tip #3 – Provide examples

Saying that you can do something and showing it, are two different things.  If the project you are bidding on is for an Excel Spreadsheet, show 3 examples of Excel Spreadsheets that you have completed.

If the project is for web design, provide examples of websites you have previously designed.  There is nothing worse than reading someone ramble on about how they think they would be a good fit for the project because they have 5 years of experience, but they do not have anything to back it up with.

Abiding by these 3 tips will dramatically increase your chances of winning your next project.  Always maintain a professional demeanor.  Your first impression is everything.

Dawn

Business Lifestyle Architect

Subscribe to my FREE newsletter for more great tips

Comments (2)

Working From Home – Do You Make The Cut?

November 8, 2012 at 11:59 am · Filed under Work at Home ·Tagged , , , ,

Many people view working from home as a laid back way to work, being able to meet up with friends for lunch at any time, sitting by the pool with your glass of wine and maybe your phone will ring or you will get an assignment to do something the week and money will just be falling into your bank account.

While that sounds all glitzy and glamorous, the reality is that it takes hard work, several hours a week, patience and a lot of elbow grease to start making significant money in your work from home career.  It is not as easy or simple as it may seem, but it definitely can be truly rewarding, fulfilling and challenging.  I happen to enjoy a good challenge so I get great personal and professional satisfaction from the work I do.

There are some highly necessary characteristics of successful at home workers.  These are necessary because the work does not just come to you, you have to go online and find it.  Responding to proposal after proposal takes time and there will be a lot of times you will not get picked.  Remember, when you are working from home, you are not just going up against 50 other people, you are going up against hundreds of thousands of other people from all over the world.

Learning to write a killer proposal that will get you noticed almost every time takes practice.  I can tell you that I have learned the secret to writing stand out proposals and because of that, I am able to work full time from home with the clients that I want to work for.

The characteristics you will need are:

Determination

Motivation

Multi-tasking

Highly Detail Oriented

Persistent

Organized

 

These are must haves in order to make the cut.  If this sounds like you, then you might want to start looking at your work from home options.  While there are many scams out there, I have found some of the true blue best websites to get started with your home-based career.

My newest class titled “From In Office To Home Office In 1 Year” is a 4 week Virtual Workshop that will give you step by step information on areas like creating a stand out profile, writing a winning proposal, responding to RFP’s, where to look for consistent projects and even more.

This one of a kind class will get you pointed in the right direction and if you are anything like me, you will be working full-time from home in no time.  Join me for life changing workshop where you will finally be able to take control of your life and your destiny.

Leave a Comment