7 Do’s & Don’ts of Writing an Upwork Proposal
Waiting for the client, you pitched on Upwork to respond is pretty similar to waiting for that out-of-your-league-crush to respond to your DM!
The similarity?
Neither of them gets back to you.
Well, the thing is, writing a successful pitch is also very similar to sliding into a pretty girl’s dm.
So, if you’re a writer unsuccessfully trying to land a job (or a stalker on FB/IG),
let me give you some advice that gets you responses from clients (or that-out-of-your-league-crush who doesn’t know about your existence)
- Firstly, can we please somehow delete the word “Dear.” It’s neither professional nor friendly. It’s simply… Weird.
And no Sir/Madam. You ain’t applying to Sarkari Naukri here. Just start with “Hey/Hi there.” Keep it casual. ‘Dear’ might be what we were taught in our 6th-grade application patterns. But guys, this is not how the international market works.
Please find out the name of the client through their previous job posts and use that name.
Oh, and did I mention that is using either of “deer/dear” will reduce the chances of your crush’s reply to a -100%? Yeap. Don’t.
2. How a client posts a job says a lot about them. You want to stick to the same vibes/tone of the job post.
Keep the tone and length of the proposal the same as the job post.
If you read different job posts on Upwork, you’ll see that some people have an amiable vibe from the job post. They might have used an emoji or have asked questions about yourself. Try to adopt the same tone.
You may also add an emoji (Don’t overdo this, please), share your personal experience relevant to the job, and connect to the client as much a possible by showing concern. If the post is short and brisk, you might
want to imitate the same tone and same length. If the post is detailed, you should try to give more details about your work too.
3. Have you ever heard of the term “play hard to get?”
Your client can sense desperation out of your job post. Don’t give out those “ plz hire me I’ll do anything you want” vibes. After writing out your proposal, give out a CTA. You might say:
“To see if we’re compatible, let’s hop on a Zoom call..” But don’t sound desperate. Nobody likes a despo.
4. Show them what value you can provide
If a client has linked out his website or attached a document along, read it and reference it in the proposal. Come across as someone who
actually cares about the work, and you’re not after their money.
Remember: The amount you earn depends upon the value you provide to the client.
5. No Experience? Sell your skills!
Rather than saying, “ I have 10 years of experience..” (which we both know… you don’t), tell them about how you do the work. Like you keep the lines short. Concise. Proofread twice etc.
6. Share your portfolio. Always.
Sharing your previous work will build trust and establish you as an authority. Try to link at least two samples of relevant work in your cover letter.
Oh, try to give links rather than attaching wor documents, so the client doesn't curse you after deleting the trash from his device.
DISCLAIMER: This post is intended for fun purposes only. I’m nowhere encouraging people to message girls or anything. Let me know if you found this post helpful, and I might share my sample proposals (or a tried and tested DM, maybe?) JK.
