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kathy-shattler
Community Member

Bids

What are tactics others have used for placing successful bids besides adding video content?
ACCEPTED SOLUTION
xpleromax
Community Member

17 REPLIES 17
petra_r
Community Member


Kathy S wrote:
What are tactics others have used for placing successful bids besides adding video content?

You're a writer, editor and proofreader. How would adding video content help you win bids?

 

I think the most important part of any proposal are the first 2 lines, which is all the client sees when looking at the list. Do not waste them, they must contain your unique selling point and how hiring you will benefit the client. They also have to have a hook, to make the client want to read more.

 

It's pretty obvious that the majority of proposals are never opened or read, so if you can't make the client read your proposal, it doesn't matter how good the rest of your proposal is.

One of the suggestions to increase the acceptance of your bid is to include a client-targeted video presentation with your cover letter. The other use of a video is in your portfolio. I got this suggestion through an Upwork training webinar. 


Kathy S wrote:

One of the suggestions to increase the acceptance of your bid is to include a client-targeted video presentation with your cover letter. The other use of a video is in your portfolio. I got this suggestion through an Upwork training webinar. 


I really wouldn't bother with that. Too much time and effort. Clients who want to hire a writer will be at best bewildered to get a video... By all means do a profile video, but creating a video presentation for every proposal is overkill. 

 

Maybe for a HUUUGE contract and when there is enough meaningful info in the job post to create a meaningful video presentattion, but on balance I still wouldn't.

Awesome answer!



You're a writer, editor and proofreader. How would adding video content help you win bids?


One image (maybe video) tells more than 100 words.


Mariusz O wrote:


You're a writer, editor and proofreader. How would adding video content help you win bids?


One image (maybe video) tells more than 100 words.


Not in the word biz. At best: decoration. At worst: distraction/annoyance.

I am happy to say I agree with you. The idea of a video was presented in an upwork webinar on increasing successful bids. I was reluctant to take that approach.

I agree.
tlbp
Community Member

IMO, what sells writers is their portfolio. My proposals are very brief and point the prospect to my prior work. In your situation, I would raise my rates and emphasize my subject matter expertise. 

Thanks! That was helpful. Are you talking about your Upwork portfolio?

No, the bids you place when vetting individual clients for work. 

xpleromax
Community Member

That was interesting. The post contained things I had not thought of.


Kathy S wrote:
That was interesting. The post contained things I had not thought of.

Well, it looks like the OP in said thread has not pulled a new job in almost a year so you might want to factor that into your considerations.

 

The thing I had the hardest time with at first is I bid on a lot.  There was free connects given to you ever month at that time but it wasn't just that it was very hard to narrow down what was a good project for me. Over two years later it is completely different.  I look through my job feed and mostly I go "blah, blah, blah" and I find very few jobs that fit ME.  But without knowing what that is, you need to probably be less discerning and find projects that seem like a good fit and blast out the connects like they don't matter.

 

As has already been stated the first two lines of your profile and your proposals are critical because that is all the client sees.  I really think a good rule of thumb on a project is if you can't think of an interesting hook for the project then you should probably just pass.  I really like the idea of spending those two lines telling the client something they don't know that you know that can help them.

 

Do you give away the store?  No.   You allude to how you will solve their problems.

 

If you stick with this long enough you will find that the competition you fear is really not much competition at all and it does not take a lot to be better than the crowd. I can tell you that if you ever post a job that 90%+ of the responses will likely be something like.

 

Hello, I would like to submit myself for the job, my name is blah blah and I have 15 years doing blah blah at blah blah and went to the university of...

 

If you see row after row of that anything different is worth checking out.

---EDIT

I just realized it is probably also the case that I haven't pulled a new job in over a year either.

tlbp
Community Member


Mark F wrote:
...

---EDIT

I just realized it is probably also the case that I haven't pulled a new job in over a year either.


😂

It's good to be self-aware. 😉


Samuel O wrote:

I found this thread helpful, maybe you will too. 

 

https://community.upwork.com/t5/Freelancers/Sending-Bids-Wisely-on-Upwork/m-p/758582


I would concur with all except for #3 and #6. Defintely DO NOT follow #6 if you have a strong preference one way or the other. I could go on an on all day long explaining why, but it comes down to following your gut, sticking with it and you will find a level of success that you are happy with. 

 

I would replace #3 and #6 with: 

 

- Know who your target client is and target them. It's marketing 101, and it isn't as easy as it may seem. As a graphic designer, I always believed I could do anything for any client, so I applied to everything. But, after a while I found I had more success by identififying the clients I worked with the most, and developing a profile for that client, then when I bid I can speak their language and identify my experience working with the same type of client as them. For example my ideal clients are marketing managers in small-to-medium sized tech, finance, healthcare or science companies with logo, digital ads, brochure, presentations or packaging work. If I do take a chance on a client in a different (but closely related) space, or a different type of project, I simply expand my client profile. If you aren't able to discern if the client meets your profile because the job description is too short or too vague, try looking at their past jobs to discern this...if they are all vague too...move on. If they don't take the time to put together a meaningful job description, it means to me they either have poor communication skills, or aren't invested enough in finding the right person for their project. In either scenario, move on. 

 

- Do not bid on projects posted by clients who have several jobs or more on Upwork AND have a 30% or less hire rate. This is an indicator that the client is not very serious about hiring anyone, and therefore will likley not hire you. So, don't waste your time.

 

And for goodness sake, please don't send a video with your proposal. I hire writers on Upwork all the time as a client (for other off-platform clients that I found on my own accord). If a copywriter sent me a video, I'd probably consider it a bit off-putting.

Thanks for the reply and the insight!
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