Making Bids at Freelance Sites
By Barry Walls • Jun 25th, 2009 • Category: RecentMany times, as a buyer, I laughed…out loud mind you… at the types of bids I received at freelance sites. This post aims to show a few basic rules about bidding properly in a way which gets noticed.
Many novice providers on freelance sites make fast, but impersonal bids in a desperate attempt to fill their pipelines with work fast. Many of these bids aren’t personalised any more than with a single line of text and a cut and paste of the services of the provider. Experienced buyers will see this type of cookie cutter approach a mile away and they will think one thing…”If they cant be bothered to personalise the bid…what else can’t they be bothered to do? How little will they value MY project.”
Is this to say that cut and paste bids are wrong? Absolutely not! Im a big fan of them, or anything that helps me to go faster. Its the TYPE of bid that gets the goat of experienced buyers.
“Hi…I like you project. It is intersting becuase of X, Y, Z. Closely followed by…
10 cut and paste lines about how great my company is”
I DON’T CARE!
You don’t tell me how great your company is…I TELL YOU….after you prove it.
And so far buddy…your cut and paste routine about your company ain’t cutting it.
So…how do you overcome this obvious quandry if you need work?
You put yourself in the shoes of the buyers…and then give them what they want.
1. Expertise on the project
2. Professionalism in a bid
3. Ability to enhance the project with other ideas and suggestions
4. Easy communication options
5. Confidence, experience and feedback.
If ALL those are in place, then the next factor becomes much less important with many buyers….
Price.
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The cookie cutter bids or “templates” as I look at them are great for a starting point.
The provider has to have the basic’s ready to go, and can then customize the format to meet the buyers needs. Nobody wants to see the same “Hi my name is, I can do this, this and this for you….etc. But with some practice, a basic format can be generated and be the starting point for any of your bids no matter what the desired job. [Bidding Guidance]
Buyers want to see your personality when they read the bid.
Bid on projects that interest you the provider. Being able to share your interest’s also make it easier to show knowledge of the project concept. When you can show you will treat the job as if it were your own personal project, your percentages of winning bids will start to increase. This is not a guarantee, but human nature kicks in and people want to connect. So build your templates and try out different formulas, soon you will have a note book full of bidding guidelines to drop in and start getting the work you desire
Excellent point Bradley…and well made. Over time, everything builds and it only ever builds in one direction, but on multiple fronts.