Outside of freelancing platforms, how you send proposals 1
it's all up to you. 2
You can email them, send them a message, tell them over the phone or send them a raven. 3
It's all up to you. 4
You're the boss. 5
Some options are better than the others. 6
If you want to look serious and impress your clients, then sending a proper well-designed proposal document 7
is the right approach. 8
This is what pro freelancers do. To help you seal more deals, I have created a very solid proposal template 9
for you. 10
It's a Figma file, the link you can find in the resources. As you can notice, 11
it's designed in the same theme as the portfolio website. That's going to help you set your personal 12
brand. Make you look more professional, like someone who has thought about the smallest details. You will 13
instantly stand out from the competition. And standing out is what you need 14
if your clients have multiple freelancers to choose from. 15
Let me take you through the content and explain why I put what I put. And what are the things you will 16
need to edit when generating the proposal. The header is pretty straightforward. 17
Edit the logo, put whatever you want in the headline. 18
You can even mentioned their company name, like Google website proposal. 19
It's a nice personalized touch. And your details and the details of your client. Overview is a place where 20
you show your understanding of the project. That you know what you're going to be doing. 21
You tell them your objective and explain what's the final deliverable. 22
I've inserted a little spiel on how their website will be hosted on amazing Webflow servers, making 23
it secure and superfast. 24
This is a good place to pitch a little on how good the final result is going to be. To create an excitement. 25
Not you, don't sell how amazing you are. 26
They want a website, not to go on a date with you. 27
Then we have a price breakdown. 28
This is a flat rate pricing. 29
I've created a template for hourly rate projects too. 30
It has a different price table and some other content is different too. Which I'll explain after this. 31
The price breakdown shows different parts of your job. 32
If you have more items you can just duplicate the rows and add more. Or remove as you wish. 33
I like breaking down design and development in separate items. 34
They are two different phases and with some projects you can even do only one of them. 35
For example, if they already have designs, then you can just do the Webflow development. 36
I've also added some extra things, that are included in the price. It increases the value they're getting 37
out of the price. Like responsive development and training session. 38
That way, the price list looks much more valuable and full of benefits, than just a single value of 39
$2500. 40
It feels like there is a lot more that they are getting. About these particular values. 41
I'm just throwing numbers here, doesn't mean that's what you should charge. 42
You can charge less or way above this value. 43
That all depends at the category of clients you'll work with, as we discussed in the pricing class. 44
I'll just give you one advice on values. 45
Use round values. Don't do 9,99. 46
That's just going to look stupid. 47
Your clients are aware of the fact, that you are the one putting all these prices. That there isn't any complex 48
pricing equation that you are using. So round them up, or you're going to look silly. Underneath 49
the price table, 50
there is a line saying that Webflow hosting isn't included. 51
Transparency is key in such relationships. 52
Don't "forget", in quotes, to mention important things, especially costs. 53
Next, we have a timeline. 54
This is something clients really want to know. 55
So, brake it down as much as you can. 56
Clients are making a big risk with their money and time. 57
They want to be in control of their project. So they want to know exactly how things are going to progress, 58
makes them feel at peace and they will trust you more. 59
These are rough estimates. 60
Projects never go exactly with the predicted timeline. 61
It doesn't just depend on you. How quick clients give you their feedback on each phase, 62
how many iterations you go through and how quick they provide necessary content, is going to significantly 63
impact the project timeline. 64
Often some other tasks will creep up during the project. 65
They might ask you for small things, which will add up in the end. 66
If you are working on an hourly rate, then that's not a problem. 67
But on flat rate projects you'll soon end up losing money, 68
if you don't set the record straight on what's going to happen 69
if there is extra work, which is outside of the main scope. Even if they are just extra meetings that 70
are taking your time. 71
I myself had to learn this the hard way. 72
I had a client who wanted to meet almost every day. 73
I think he was just getting a kick out of talking and brainstorming. 74
But for me, it was just taking too much time and I wasn't being paid for it. 75
If you set an hourly rate for any extra work, then everyone will be clear. 76
The last part is terms. I have listed some important points to have clarity on the way things will work 77
and avoid any future disagreements. 78
These terms are and probably legally binding terms. 79
Their purpose is clarity, so everyone is on the same page. 80
For example, it has a payment structure. When working with strangers outside of the platform, 81
you should take some payment upfront. 25% usually is a good idea. 82
This is my structure, but you can feel free to change it as you wish. 83
And obviously you can change any of these terms, or add your own. 84
The final format can be in PDF, or you can even share a link to the prototype view like I'm showing right 85
now. 86
But I think PDF is a better option. 87
You already know how to export. 88
Just go to the properties panel, export, choose PDF and that's all. 89
I want to give you one rule when it comes to sending proposals outside of platforms. 90
Do not surprise them. 91
So, when you send a proposal and they get the value and that value, 92
if that is maybe too much for them, or it's expensive, it's going to surprise them and shock them a little, 93
in, you know, kind of disappoint them. 94
And because you put it inside the document and you sort of sent it already as something written 95
and something definite. Then they don't have a way to oppose or negotiate. 96
And you, yourself don't have a way to sort of give arguments and benefits of the price and tell them 97
and explain them why is it good for them to, you know, go with you and so on. 98
Right? 99
Neither you have an ability to maybe negotiate and perhaps give them a discount. Because maybe sometimes 100
you have that put inside the price as a buffer. Right? 101
So, you put a little bit as a buffer to make sure that you can negotiate it down if they 102
if they ask you for the discount. Or sometimes you can even bring that price down by maybe removing number 103
of revisions, or doing something a bit less. Or, you know, there is many different ways you kinda can move 104
things around to decrease the price. If they're really can't afford that value that you gave them. 105
So, the right approach is to do the discussion of the price during the meeting, like you don't have to 106
finally agree on it. But what you can do, an important thing is to give some sort of ballpark range. 107
So, they're not surprised when you give them a final value. And what you can do during the meeting is, 108
this is, for example, what I do. 109
I have a meeting like it's a Skype meeting or a face to face meeting. 110
And when we go on the meeting, I ask a lot of questions about the project. 111
And I already have some sort of pre-value in my head, that I'm willing to go with. 112
I sort of have this range, which is like a minimum that I'm willing to work for, and like an ideal price 113
that I want to get out of it. 114
And once I ask the questions I understand, if the website is just like a one or two pages, or if the 115
website is like maybe a big website with, you know, 25 different pages, or a blog or something like that. 116
And I kind of come up with a range, which is maybe something like minimum of, between 4000 to 117
$6000 and then I give them that range. And if they have some sort of objections to it, we'll discuss 118
it. And I'm able to give benefits and tell them, you know, why this is a good option for them, and why it's, 119
the price is actually worth it. 120
And if they don't. 121
And if, for example, sometimes it can be that I give them a value and they were expecting something less 122
than a 1000. 123
Now, I know, that you are just a bad match and, you know, I'm not going to do a website work for 124
a large website less than a thousand. 125
So, I don't have to bother about creating the proposal and sending emails, everything, we instantly understand, 126
we're really in a different game here and we're not a good match. 127
So I, you know, save a lot of time. But if we are still in this right phase, then I can, we can negotiate 128
if we need to. 129
But if the price also sounds nice, then once I'm done with the meeting, then I prepare the 130
proposal and probably I would put something like $5000 for the website and now they're expecting 131
that price and they're not surprised. 132
And we have a deal.