Tip and Different Strategies for Writing Winning Proposals

Eve Well in your case it was probably something like I am Eve and I have written more casino content than any other human on the planet.

When I give this advice it is because most people say things the client already knows:
Hello, my name is Mark F {shown on the profile} and I am a Top Rated freelancer on Upwork {well, duh} and I have been programming computers since Jesus got his wisdom teeth out. I am really interested in your job here because I like money a whole lot.

I suspect your proposals are not YOU-centric, they are why YOU will completely solve the clients problems.

Kelly_E

"Dear David,"
Some client's have told me that they hate this and when giving them reviews not to put the name in there. I only respond with a name on an invite if they gave it to me.

Bots, as far as I know, can't do this
I don't know a lot about AI or bots but I could definitely do this

Then I mention the extras they can't see unless they click. Is this the very best way to do this? I don't know, but I've only got 100 characters, or whatever the official limit is, and I'm trying to get that click.
I love this tactic...Hello Mr. Client I have all the answers you need and all you have to do is keep reading
I do the same thing but also state problems they are going to run into but make sure to take my time getting to it so they have to read through.

Mark Wow—I've never had anyone say they didn't like my having read enough about them to know their name.

I got this tip waaaay back when I was a baby Upworker from the onboarding (remember when UW was serious?)—they said proposals with a name did way better, so find it in reviews and use it.

(Do they do better? I dunno.)

Heck, if they gave enough away in the job listing, I'll even go to their website, do a little more research on what I'll say in the proposal and also find the likely job-poster's name/s, and then write "Dear David, Rick, and team" (the "and team" is in case David and Rick didn't really post, while the names let them know I did my homework).

This is also the advice people always give to regular, résumé-sending job hunters—do your homework and show it by referring to people by name.

...

I love that idea of stating problems they're going to run into! As the old copywriting advice goes, use any hook that works—but use a hook.

The only job of the first sentence is to get 'em to read the second sentence. The only job of the second sentence is to get 'em to read the third...

Mark Now I had to check, and I have written more than 1 million words in 2024. So my best guess would be that I'm up to somewhere between 8 and 10 million words lifetime now.

The main thing I talk about is that I've worked more than 10 years in this industry and that especially my in-house experience as a trainer for new employees is what enables me to explain how casinos operate in a way people understand. And since I mainly write reviews or guides, that comes in handy. Other than that I just tell them to have a look at my Upwork work history or Google me. Not sure if we're allowed to ask clients to Google us, but so far Upwork hasn't told me to not do it.

I've hired a lot of writers for my niche on Upwork, for various different projects I've worked on, so I've read proposals from hundreds of writers. And what 95% of them lack is any real experience and knowledge about the industry. Most just say "I've written hundreds of reviews of online casinos," and that doesn't mean anything to me. Just because you've written about something doesn't mean you know what you're talking about. So my main point in my proposals is that I actually know this stuff, better than most other writers on Upwork, so "me" is the selling point in my proposals.

In my niche, most clients hire new writers all the time, because they're not happy with the ones they've already got. They know the general quality is bad, and that most of tham have no idea what they're writing about. So that's where I stand out, and clients can see that when they look at my profile, since I have a lot of long lasting contracts.

I know this doesn't work for everyone, but I think that if you charge way more than most other freelancers in your niche, you need to expalin why that is. And from that a client will understand why you are the one that's best suited to solve all their problems.

Eve

Not sure if we're allowed to ask clients to Google us, but so far Upwork hasn't told me to not do it.

When relevant, I tell clients (and it's on my profile) about being named a Top Writer on Quora multiple times, and other external recognition, and they could easily check any of that out... so I assume unless you explicitly mention a method of contacting you, it's all just burnishing your reputation, which is allowed.

In my niche, most clients hire new writers all the time, because they're not happy with the ones they've already got.

Mine too. Honestly I avoid job listings that have a whiff of "this was already done and I didn't like it" these days. I find those clients have been SO burned by a bad Upworker, that it's hard to get them back to understanding I'm a long-time professional and expert at what I do. They've decided just to look for a slightly-less-bad-Upworker, and it's too much to get them on the bandwagon.

Of course, 9 times out of 10, the reason they're not happy with work that's been done is because they tried to get something for nothing, which is its own problem... sigh

Kelly_E Personally, when I hire on Upwork, I don't like it when freelancers mention my name. I'm not sure why, but it feels invasive somehow. I don't know them, they don't know me, and it just feels like they've been snooping. I also almost never even open proposals when I see them starting with "dear." Also too personal for me. This might just be a cultural thing though. In my proposals, I just say "Hi" and leave it at that.

Eve You have a great story to tell, most people do not, and even if they did, wouldn't know how to tell it.

Eve Long ago on the forum I said it was creepy and somebody went off on me for that. But I do think it is creepy.

But Kelly is right a lot of people suggest it and I imagine it does work for some.

I don't even say Hi which, I think I mentioned this here before but certainly other place, someone said is psychotic.

One tactic I have used is I just write it almost like I am having a conversation with someone so the first sentence is just me responding to whatever they said like it we were in a room talking.

I can't really say though that my tactics are winners because I do not win a ton of jobs, it's just not really how my thing goes. The majority of the clients that I "interview" with I turn down.

Kelly_E A client that has had bad experiences with other freelancers before is basically my target client. They're the ones that will appreciate the work I do, and also understand why I charge more. Those and brand new Upwork clients. The worst ones for me are those that have been around for a couple of months or a year, and are still looking for a dirt cheap freelancer that can do excellent work.

Mark Yeah, I agree. A lot of freelancers do it, so I assume it does work. But it's just not for me.

I think one useful thing to know is that when a client opens a proposal, the answers to their questions are shown on top, so that's the real introduction. The cover letter seems more like a continuation.

My first sentence is usually something like
"Hi, thanks for reviewing my proposal. I have 10+ years experience working in the iGaming industry, both in-house and as a freelancer."
Maybe that comes across as psychotic, but I don't really care.

Looking at my stats, 2/3 of my proposals are viewed, and I'm not sure, but I think as an average for Upworkers that's not too bad.

And yes, I also turn down a lot of jobs. Two only this last week. I'm not interested in working with clients on boring projects or with clients that seem nightmareish. Steady long-term work with clients that treat me as freelancers should be treated are the only ones I'm interested in.

Kelly_E I think it completely depends who your clients are. Most of my clients, and frankly most people in my industry, are in their 30s. And they're usually quite laid back and, maybe most importantly, European. We're not very formal. Even when I worked in-house, we never started emails and such with formal greetings and all of that. Usually, it was just "Hi Kelly," "Hello" or when extra lazy, just a smiley face. Haha!

So the important thing is probably that you communicate in a way that resonates with your clients. For me, that means being informal.

Kelly_E

"Dear David,"

I used to do that until I started hiring for a client and proposals sent to me started with "Dear David" which I found mildly irritating.

I also (funnily enough the same week) got told by a client that she thought that it's creepy and she actually asked Upwork to remove her name from reviews.

Ever since then I just start with "Hi".

Kelly_E

Wow—I've never had anyone say they didn't like my having read enough about them to know their name.

Would they tell you though? I've had a client tell me, talking about other freelancers. She said she felt it was creepy, and having been called by the previous person's name when I took over handling a client's freelancers wasn't great either.

Petra I used to do that until I started hiring for a client and proposals sent to me started with "Dear David" which I found mildly irritating.

Same. I've hired from the same account as several other people, and it's annoying to be greeted by another persons name. Almost feels like I have to start the conversation explaining who I am or apoligizing for not being that person.

Petra Well, as I said (someplace above), people might not tell me something negative or I might simply miss out on some very fine folks who didn't reach out at all—but all the things that have been mentioned about my proposals have been high praise... in fact, kinda higher praise than I expect, but I have been making proposals to clients for a very long time so maybe I really do write "the best" proposals that (some) people have seen (in my field) on UW?? I can't really fact-check that, haha...

But yeah, as also mentioned someplace above, it's advice written into Upwork's own onboarding & FAQs (unless they've updated it)—so between UW's recommending it and it seeming in my mind (and from occasional direct feedback) to be a good way to do things, I've just continued on with it.

It appears, from this very interesting discussion, that it's time to see what happens to my stats if I do the pre-click intro differently.

When I started out and realised (because I hired on UW) that the first line counts, my stubbornness got the better of me and I decided to start my cover letters with a "thank you for..." Because I was genuinely grateful, but also because I want clients to CLICK ON THE **** THING if they want to find out more. Probably not best practice, though.

For those who do consider it worth their time to read my cover letter in full, I sometimes add my time zone and business hours, especially when the client mentions response times and availability as a criterion.

Alexandra

Clients see the first two lines.... And empty lines and spaces are truncated. So "thank you for.." would just look super weird 🤣

Petra Oh, I see—I thought she meant there was something after the "Thank you for."

(For instance I tested "Thank you for clicking through to my proposal and extra goodies" for a while, before launching into the usual... I think it was worded a bit more smoothly than that, but it's been a while because it didn't give me any bump.)

Kelly_E

it didn't give me any bump

I'm not really so surprised lol. At the time the client saw that, they had not actually clicked on anything 🤣