How to write a professional proposal that Upwork clients love

Writing a professional Upwork proposal is the most challenging thing most freelancers working on Upwork battle with every day.

And the back-down is this is, proposal writing contributes over 50% probability that a client will employ you as a freelancer on Upwork. Other factors include your job success score, a good profile description, sample attachment, client favoritism, gender, or nationality.

Still, all these can easily be overlooked when a client sees a freelancer that understands his need and communicates the solution that he wants.

What made up a professional proposal on Upwork

One vital point many Upwork freelancers often get wrong is they think submitting a proposal for an Upwork job post is a declaration of interest in the client’s work. Meanwhile, that is not the case. The essence of writing a proposal on Upwork is to tell the client how you can help me solve his problem along with proven citations on works you’ve done before.

The moment freelancers learn to get this right, they are already on the part to write that perfect proposal that Upwork clients love.

 What makes up a professional proposal for Upwork clients?

1. Solution

This is one of the first factors you should note when writing an Upwork proposal. Ask yourself, “What are the solutions I’m offering the client in this proposal?” If the client decides not to hire me, is there a particle problem I bring his attention to?

2. Suggestion

Everyone appreciates words of suggestion on how to run their business to be more successful. Even though it is another problem we table before you, we will still be happy to hear some insights on other things you think will work best for our brand

3. Professional

Professionalism plays a vital role in everything you do, including sending an Upwork proposal. You do not need to call yourself a professional before upwork clients know if you are one or not. You should exhibit your professionalism by analyzing your client’s problem. That is what professionals do— they walk the talk.

4. Clarity

Creating a not-clear proposal for your clients is as useful as you didn’t write it at all. You need to know how to express yourself in the best language your client understands. Except your client is hiring you for a Cambridge exam, please save him all your large vocabulary and use a conventional writing tone.

5. Engaging

Upwork clients love engaging proposals. Your Upwork proposal should engage your client and his problem. Write as if you are seeing your client face-to-face, and you want to communicate directly with him. 

6. Uniqueness

Ensure your Upwork proposal stands out among other freelancers bidding for the job. You guys are typically competing with each other, and you have beat them. The best way to achieve this is to be unique. Don’t use stale and boring lines like “I happened to see your job post.” It will chase the client away.

Professional Upwork Proposal Sample

For better understanding, let’s do a quiet analysis of an Upwork proposal sample I wrote.

Hi Steve,

Just a quick question, do you need the product description for SEO or just to catch up with your prospects?

Product descriptions do not exactly work for SEO as they are often short, with fewer chances of conversion. Plus, Google doesn’t guarantee anyone their first page. Lol.

I would suggest we focus on creativity and engagement. That would help us interact with your customers and generate more sales. And we can also use Facebook ads to complement it.

I am a professional creative content creator with years of experience in both SEO product description writing and witty product description writing.

I have a broad knowledge of both SEO writing and creative writing. I can create standard and professional user-centric product description that captures your audience’s mind.

Please send me a direct message to discuss your project at length.

Regards,

Taiwo Sotikare

Analyzing the Upwork Proposal Sample

Before you read further, can you take a minute to analyze this Upwork proposal sample using the six features I listed up there?

Cool! Now let’s read further.

1. It is friendly and conversational.

The intro, the humor, the understanding, everything. Imagine a freelancer asking an Upwork client, “a fast question. He makes him feel at home. While others are saying, “I understan…, ” he is curious to get what the client wants exactly and offer an honest opinion as a pro without fear of not getting the job.

2. Speak the client’s language

Perhaps the client is frustrated with SEO before; he brings him down. Calm down, bro, Google didn’t promise anyone their first page. Though, you might be getting it wrong; it’s not entirely your fault. Even professionals are frustrated with SEO palaver.

3. Uniqueness

It’s unique and specially tailored for the job you are applying for. You can’t use this type of Upwork proposal for article writing, essay writing, web content, etc. Your Upwork client knows you are passionate about his work, and you are already communicating about the project with him.

4. Professionalism

You don’t need anyone to tell you he is a professional. It’s written all over his Upwork proposal. He understands his work and knows the ‘nook and cranny of the niche. He doesn’t have to address himself as a professional before you know, “this one knows his onions.”

5. Suggestion

Do you know what it means to give someone a good suggestion? Do you know how you esteem your friends, colleagues, and elder brothers who offer nothing but good advice that helps your life? Exactly! You are in an esteemed position here, and that’s exactly the best thing in this upwork proposal sample. Giving your client advice that will help his business? Brothers, and sisters, you are undermining the power of this value.

6. Call to action

The call to action is crystal clear that the client will not, by any means, want to miss it. Asin, hey fella, come let’s discuss how I can make your business a success.

7. Authority

Authority is the ability to tell people what is right and what is wrong. As an authority in product description writing, you are expected to know more than your client, and your client will definitely appreciate you for it.

Even if you couldn’t get the job, which I’m sure you will. The client will still respect you for saying.

10 ways to present yourself as a professional and writer of powerful Upwork proposals

The idea of communicating with your client like a pro sounds strange to many people. Hence, I will analyze 10 ways you make your client see you as an authority at what you do. Let’s go

1. Use technical terms Clients can relate with

Using technical terms in your Upwork proposal that clients and prospects can easily relate is a proven way to let your Upwork clients know you are an authority in that field. For example, you can use a Latin word when bidding for a legal translation project. It brings some familiarity.

Or perhaps you are in the writing niche, and you see a job post by a digital Marketing agency requesting a writer for their website content.

Instead of saying, “I have worked for several digital marketing firms.” You can say, “I have worked for several online marketing agencies.” The difference between the two is “online marketing” and “digital marketing”.

The point is everyone knows the term “digital marketing,” while many are yet to be familiar with the term “online marketing”. Just that one term already proves you are knowledgeable in the niche.

2. Ask questions

Naturally, people often feel their words are not clear as much as they want to pass it. This is why your friends, colleagues, superiors, and parents always ask you if their message is clear. Upwork clients also feel the same when posting job posts. And they expect you to ask a fundamental question about their job posts.

For example, if a client post a request for someone to translate a document from English to French. You can ask a question in your Upwork proposal if he wants Parisian French or Canadian French. (please don’t ask if the client is from any of these two countries).

The truth is that if you are reading this article and you are not into translation, you will be surprised that the two countries’ French are different. But anyone into translation must have picked this already. This is one of the things that distinguish you as a professional. 

I am sure you are planning to ask this question when the client brings the job. But don’t you think it will make more sense if you ask in the proposal now?…. It helps the client to understand you are ready to take his job right away.

Even if the client does not want to employ you, he will be tempted to message you to ask which of the two are you into. And you know what happens afterward? You got the job already.

3. Quote an authority in the niche

Quoting authority in a niche is another way to stand out as a pro among other freelancers on Upwork. For example, is there anyone in SEO that wouldn’t know Neil Patel? Imagine quoting his words in your upwork proposal for an SEO job.

Trust me, what you are doing is, you are riding on the person’s authority while you win the job. You can also quote a bible verse when applying for a Christian book editing project.

Take a look at the Upwork proposal sample below:

4. Create a joke around it

Jokes are naturally fun and easy to relate with if you say it properly. We all love funny statements and actions. Imagine applying for a job post that requires you to have some legal background.

How will it sound if you open or close your Upwork proposal with “sue the bastard”?

Yeah, virtually everyone knows this saying. But only a few people will have the confidence to use it when writing their Upwork proposals. And the truth is, you already made your client’s day even before getting the job.

So, do you mind telling me why he would’ t give you the job? There are always popular jokes that only people in a particular niche can relate to. Use them!

5. Share a funny mistake/ experience:

Many people understand sharing their experiences with their clients helps them win the client’s trust and respect. But very few people actually know they can also share their funny mistakes and experiences.

They forget that clients are humans too, and it is natural for you to have made some funny mistakes. Just use style to reference and make him or her understand how you can make use of the discoveries you made in the mistake to make client’s project grand

Note:  Please don’t reference a ghastly mistake. You can scare the client off.

6. Send Portfolio links, not pdf

I always advise those in the writing niche to create a portfolio website where they can publish and display their writing skills.

Better still, write some three to four guest articles on some authority websites like Hubspot, Neil Patel, or even DigitalPud. Send your article links to your client as a portfolio instead of sending a Word document and PDF.

Based on my observation, Clients hardly read more than a paragraph or two of your work samples. They only want to check if you have done a similar project.

7. Review his previous project

I cannot overemphasize the importance of reviewing your clients’ previous projects—especially those who add their site URL in their job posts.

For example, a client who wants you to update his blog articles will most likely give you the link to his website. You can do a brief background check and refer to existing content on his website.

You can use this to raise your question, as stated in point number 2. Or just tell him something you think he should correct while bringing his attention to his current request.

8. Make Professional Suggestion

No one loves suggestions as much as a businessman who is confused about his business’s current state. Often, before Upwork clients post a job request, they have been confused about the best way to do it.

At times, they are not convinced by their action. They just have to get something done. You can ride on this and make a helpful suggestion when writing your Upwork project. 

9. Make a Summer of the job post

Wait, let me ask you this last question,

“Have you ever seen job posts with about 400 words on Upwork”? What do you think the client wants?

To ensure the freelancer understands the job correctly. There is no better way to suit such a client’s soul other than by giving him a breakdown of what he wants.

With that, he has no choice but to hire you because you have already proven you understand his job and you can do it perfectly. And even if you don’t get the job, he will forever have you in mind or even regret not hiring you if the freelancer he later chose didn’t do as expected.

10. Declare the job time-frame

Either too early or a little bit late, Upwork clients are concerned about when you can get their work done. By default, Upwork give every freelancer a minimum of one month for any project they are bidding for.

This is quite a lot, and it is typical for your prospect to raise eyebrows on when exactly he can get his work. Even if he doesn’t need it shortly, he is concerned about when you can make it through.

Telling your client how soon he can get his job when submitting your Upwork proposal can put you on a higher plate than others.

Conclusion

Knowing is never enough unless you take action. Therefore, do not hesitate to implement the techniques listed in this article and start writing powerful and professional Upwork proposals that Upwork clients love.

About Author

Taiwo Sotikare

Taiwo Sotikare is passionate about helping small businesses grow through the power of effective content marketing. Via SEO, Taiwo helps small businesses generate more monthly income. He creates content that hit Google front page, where thousands of targeted customers can access your business swiftly.

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