Welcome to the next lesson.
Now we were going to be discussing sending proposals as a developer.
If you never ask, the answer is always going to be no.
So once you find jobs that you'd like to apply to, then it's up to you to start sending proposals out
in job applications on a consistent basis.
So even if you don't feel 100% ready or you know, every single thing in the job description, it's
up to you to get started because you have to start somewhere.
And that's the only way you're ever going to learn to grow and to move forward.
Everyone on Upwork, every single top rated freelancer, everyone who's ever created a business had
to start from zero.
So remember that.
Put yourself in those people's shoes and that will help you get started sending out proposals on a consistent
basis.
A job application or a business proposal are different terms that are used to describe all of the files
that you send to a client to apply for the job that they posted online.
It typically will consist of your cover letter, your resume, past work experience, and any other
attachments or questions you have as it relates to the job that the client has listed.
In your development and engineer proposals, you will want to ensure that they each contain the following
sections.
The first is a project overview.
You always want to include an executive summary or an overview of sorts at the beginning of the proposal.
This is helpful because it helps summarise the clients requirements, the services that you are offering
and why you are qualified to handle all of those tasks.
Underline any of the key benefits that the client will receive.
For instance, will this new website, let's say you're working on for them, help the client benefit
from a gap in a prospective niche or position themselves for higher profits?
If so, you want to put that in the overview because that is the benefit the client is going to be getting
and of course the problem that you are going to be solving for them.
Next, you also want to include a project outline.
A project outline clearly should define the client's problem and elaborate in detail how you are going
to solve it.
This is a critical part of your proposal because it shows the client that you understand their major
problems and that they can trust you to get to the root of those.
Some of the best proposals focus on the main problem, referencing it over and over to show why you
as the freelancer are the right fit to help solve that problem.
It's all up to you to outline the project so the client feels a level of trust that you know exactly
what you were doing and you are hitting on all the important parts of the project so you can link the
services that you offer to how they meet the needs of the client, while also maintaining the clarity
in that project outline so they understand all of the requirements and exactly what is going to be needed
to get the job done.
You also want to include the scope of work and be very clear with this.
We went over this a few times now, but it is very important to not only outline the scope of work,
but also outline the deliverables exactly what you are going to be providing the client so they know
what to expect.
And there's no misunderstandings there.
After that, you want to include timeline in phases of the project.
This goes over how long the project is expected to take.
Again, this section needs to be very well defined, including estimated dates and times, and also
breaking down the project the best you can.
This will help create an understanding of where the project is likely going to go in each of the phases.
So keep in mind that the timeline is is tentative.
It's a projection.
It's something that is susceptible to change.
There are going to be hiccups along the way.
So you do want to try to factor those in when you're giving your timeline estimates, but you also want
to just be transparent and discuss all of the timeline in phases with the client before you actually
finalize them.
Once you've noted the client's budget from your job description, your proposal should present the breakdown
of costs in a clear and digestible way to your prospect.
It's often helpful to tie it back to the process that you're going to be going through, especially
if you're charging an hourly rate or a project fee that is based on hours.
This makes it really easy for the client to understand how each of the different payment terms that
you're presenting relates to the work that they are going to be receiving.
After that.
Now that all the information is out there, it's time to include a call to action.
You want to have the client interested in your proposal and then, of course, reach out to you to get
in touch with you on a phone call or a video call so you can go through all of the client's questions,
you can clarify any specific points, and you can basically move the project from a prospective project
to a closed project where you begin to work on it.
You get assign deal and you start to get money in your pocket.
Here's an example of a Web development proposal broken down into each section.
Feel free to pause any time you need to to actually read it in detail.
But for the sake of just presenting this to you, I'm going to run through each section and describe
what it is.
So first is the project overview and this is where you are going to describe exactly what the company
is that you are helping as well as the goals and what they need for the project next is outlining the
project and the solution in more detail.
So this is where you go into what you are going to provide and how that is going to help solve the problem
that the client has.
After that.
That is where you want to break down the scope of work and the timeline.
So this is where you are going to list all of the different deliverables in how long you estimate them
to take.
So in this example, I included all of the different deliverables such as the goal session, discovery,
period, strategy, wire framing, design, development and website launch.
So based on the specific project, you also want to include a general time frame for how long you think
each of these are going to take?
It's also worth noting what is outside of the scope of work in the project.
So for example, submission of website to search engines, search engine optimization or design of other
branded assets such as logos.
You want to also include what is not included in the scope of work to once again be as transparent as
possible and to make sure that you're all on the same page.
Then you can go into the timeline in the different phases like we discussed.
So for this one, phase one would be the strategy and discovery period.
Phase two would be designed in development period, and phase three would be website launch and training
period.
After that, you want to list the compensation?
In this example, I have the goal session broken out into 4 hours for a price of $100 an hour at $400.
Discovery in strategy is at 6 hours wireframe and design is at 20 hours and development and launch is
at 24 hours.
So this is where you're giving the client an estimate of how many hours it's going to take for each
phase of the project, as well as an estimate of the total cost of the project, which I included at
the bottom.
Once again, this is all subject to change.
So you do want to let the client know that and let's say you are on one of these different timelines
and you're in one of these phases and it's taking longer than needed.
Make sure you bring that up to the client so they don't just get a surprise, Bill.
But let's say you're in the discovery and strategy part of the project and you're already at about 5
hours and you know, there's some more stuff that needs to be done.
You can bring that up to the client and just let them know, Hey, it looks like we're going over that
initial estimate.
Do you want to try to expedite the process here or do we want to continue with this discovery and strategy
phase further?
And of course, I will have to charge for that.
So it's all about being as transparent as possible in laying out the project in as much detail so the
client knows that they can trust you and that you have a plan of action.
After that, you can include all of the terms and termination of the project, including copyright,
scope of work, confidentiality disclosures, etc. This is all of the actual legal stuff that you want
to include.
And once again, you can look at other sample contracts based on the type of services that you are providing.
But this is all in the effort to provide as much transparency as possible, as well as outline the terms
of the agreement.
So when you want to get paid, how the project can be terminated if needed, etc., you want to include
all of that to cover yourself.
And lastly, of course, you need to have an agreement section.
This is where you're asking for them to sign the document, to agree to it, or to get in touch with
you so they can ask you any questions and you can clarify further.
Another way you can take your proposals above and beyond is to create a web page for your proposal and
send that to the client.
This will help showcase some of your development and your design skills while also helping you stand
out from the crowd.
Imagine that you are a client and you're looking to hire a freelancer for a development project, and
someone reaches out to you with a web page proposal that they built specifically for that job.
Most likely, it will gain your attention and increase the likelihood that you will consider the proposal
and not just put it in the archive list.
So to do this, all you have to do is just include the link at the top of your cover letter and mention
that you built a custom web page just for this job proposal.
This can be something that can help you stand out from the competition, especially if you're just getting
started out.
You don't have a ton of experience.
You want to take advantage of every differentiator you can so you can stand out from the competition,
hear back from more clients, from the proposals and applications you send out, and of course, land
more projects and make more money.
Also remember that this is a starting point and the whole goal is to get the client on the phone or
preferably a video call, a Zoom meeting, or a Google Hangout.
This way you can go over the details and ensure that your proposal and your estimates and everything
that you influenced are as accurate as possible.
If you get new information, once the client reaches out to you and you have a discussion, let them
know that you are going to adjust your proposal based on what you just got clarified, and you will
send that back over to them for them to review.
I'll see you in the next lesson.