Often, I’ll see a freelance writing job posted, know that I would be great at it, and wish I could just write “Hey, check me out, I can do this. Let’s get started!” Unfortunately, unless you have a Senate seat to give away, the business of getting business has never worked that way for anybody, especially not for the self-employed writer.

I got into freelance writing because I love the “writing” part of my job title, but any freelance writer who has been in the business longer than it takes to type up an invoice knows that a successful freelancer spends almost as much time researching and landing jobs as she does writing.

To be honest, if I took the time to calculate it (which I likely won’t, because I am, of course, a writer and not a numbers person), I would find that a disappointingly high proportion of my proposals go unanswered. Yet, though that percentage would probably make the business manager in me pack up the laptop and go home, I do well when it comes to getting work and staying busy.  The same is true for most freelancers I know, and that fact is a testament to just how many great freelance writers there are out there, and how hard they are hustling to get those jobs.  

So, you have your shiny and diverse portfolio prepared, you’ve found an ad for a perfect gig, and you are, of course, an expert writer. How do beat out 500 other expert freelance writers who also have a spectacular portfolio and are at this moment furiously typing up proposal letters for the exact same ad you are salivating over?

Stand Out From the Crowd – Read the advertisement. Think you are perfect for the job? Opening your email? Typing? Stop right there! Now read the ad again. Slowly.  Jot down some notes on just why you should be the person to write marketing collateral for an international ice cream manufacturer. And don’t be afraid to dig deep. Have you written similar copy for other ice cream manufacturers? Did you work in an ice cream shop in high school? Do you just love ice cream?  Though experience and a portfolio similar to what the client is looking for will always be a major deciding factor, anything you can bring up that sets you apart from  those other 500 writers has already made you stand out from the crowd.

The Devil is in the Details – We’ve all written it. Maybe we were in a hurry, or we did not know much about the job. Perhaps the job is with a stuffy finance company and we wanted to sound like we would toe the line like good little vendors.

Dear Sir or Madam,

Blah blah, blah…. I think my five years of experience writing web copy would make me perfect for the position you posted on Craig’s List…. Blah blah blah.

We’re professional writers! There is no excuse for such a vague and forgettable sentence, not to mention a whole letter stuffed with bland platitudes like this. You’ve already read the ad thoroughly; now include the details that would make you perfect for the job. You don’t just have five years writing web copy, you have five years writing web copy for a Fortune 50 company. Then, unless they did not ask for it, include a link or sample of what you wrote.  Take the ice cream marketing job above. Maybe everybody wrote in and proclaimed their favorite flavor. But only you have written copy in the food industry before.  That detail could mean the difference between starting a job next week and consoling yourself with a pint of Cherry Garcia.

Follow Directions – If the ad asks for samples pasted directly into the body of the email, that means you.  If they ask for samples of sales letters you have written, don’t send technical writing and hope for the best. If they only want submissions via snail mail, invest in a book of stamps.  You are trying to woo the job poster here. Not following her directions is the equivalent of bringing a date a bouquet of flowers to which he or she is deathly allergic. In both cases, you’ll probably never hear from them again.

Include a Link to Your Website or Blog – Though this is technically another way to stand out from the crowd, it warrants its own mention simply because of the number of times I’ve received compliments from clients on my site. Adding a link to a site or blog personalizes you. No longer are you the ad respondent who wrote some intriguing words about all her years writing about ice cream, now you are the ad respondent with the experience and the fancy website.

Don’t Overshare –You might want the job so much that you advertise yourself as the veritable Wal-Mart of freelance writers – you can get it done tomorrow and for half as cheap as all your competitors. There are very few cases in which you should give explicit details about deadlines and, to a lesser extent, pricing. The proposal is an introduction. Just like you wouldn’t meet someone and immediately invite yourself over to their house for tapas, neither should you jump the gun on negotiations. There will be time once you are in the door to negotiate a deadline and final payment terms. Also, most clients do not post all the details of the job on the ad, making it impossible to determine pricing and deadlines without further conversation.

Now there is a caveat on this one: if the client asks for pricing and a deadline, by all means, give it to them.  But keep in mind that serious clients want the right writer, not the cheapest writer, so expressing your qualifications and standing out will always be more important than undercutting the competitors.

Wrap it Up – Just because those other 500 writers couldn’t possibly be as awesome as you are doesn’t mean that the client is not going to consider their applications, too. Respect their time and refrain from writing a 1,000 word treatise on why that time you dressed up as an ice cream cone for Halloween makes you the ice cream marketing collateral master.  Keep it short, sweet, and to the point. …Kind of like an ice cream cone.

By no means is this meant to be a comprehensive overview of how to write a great proposal letter, but I do hope it helps those up and coming freelance writers out there stand out from the crowd.  Remember, being in business for yourself is not as easy as having a 9 to 5 job, but it can also be infinitely more rewarding. You are doing this because you are a good writer and you have something to offer. Now go out there and win some gigs! 

Want more where this came from? Check out my Freelance Writer’s Guide to Writing Proposal Letters: Audience Edition!