I recently had my world rocked when it comes to the way I write proposals. So, I propose to you an addendum to my earlier “The Freelance Writer’s Guide to Writing Proposal Letters.”

The world rocking commenced as I read the Introduction to Writing Winning Business Proposals: Your Guide to Landing the Client, Making the Sale, & Persuading the Boss by Richard C. Freed, Shervin Freed, & Joe Romano. First, let me preface this by saying that I have an unnatural aversion to any book that sounds too much like a magic bullet. I think it’s the strong connotations with the whole Self-Help, Men are from Mars genre. In fact, I only picked this one up because it was a requirement in a Grant Writing course I am taking. But now, after seeing great success with the methods outlined in the book, I’m rethinking my whole world view. Give me How to Win Friends and Influence People.  Bring it.

Though this book has helped me immensely in my business, it’s also rather dry. So, instead of making you slog through the whole thing (though, I do recommend it), I’m going to summarize their main theme it in one magical sentence.

Put yourself in your client’s shoes.

Yes, that was it. That was the wondrous advice. Of course, they also help do that. Here are some things to think about when you’re clopping around in those pointy-toed Manolos or leaving Big Foot-sized tracks in those size 14 penny loafers:

· The work you are doing for your client is just one small aspect of their big picture. So spell out immediately why you would be the best person to get the job done right the first time and save them time, money and headache.

· Your client may not know exactly what she wants. It’s your job to ask good questions and draw it out of her. When they she says she wants web copy, she likely don’t want it just for the sheer joy of looking at fancy words on a pretty background. She wants user friendliness. She wants traffic. She wants conversions.

· Your client may be embarrassed that she has to hire you. Bringing a freelancer sometimes means that nobody in house has the skill set to complete the job. Though we all know that contracting a specialist is the smart thing to do, for some companies using outside expertise is an admission of failure. Be sensitive if you pick up on that vibe. (This was also the only thing in the book that I probably never would have come up with on my own after long, long experience.)

· Your client likely has a boss. She is accountable to someone else. They may even have to show your proposal letter to someone else before making a hiring decision. Which bring me to:

· Your proposal may be judged by multiple audiences. The more information you can get on the company and those potential audiences, the better. Know that you would be working directly under the marketing manager (a creative type, shares a love of Paste magazine with you) but the department head (all business, bottom-line oriented, ready for retirement) will make the final decision? You’d better figure out how to please them both. 

Unfortunately, if you are answering blind Craigslist ads, you may not have access to a lot of the information Freed, Freed and Romano suggests you consider, but as your business grows, especially if you are marketing locally where you’ll have a chance to meet your clients, this advice is invaluable. The book even provides worksheets to help you sort all your information. While at first I found the idea of filling out a worksheet a little grammar school, I once again had to concede that the process actually worked.

Now for the applied lesson:

I answered a blind Craiglist ad for a local dentist*. The ad said simply that she wanted me to write daily blog posts for her.  But after a telephone conversation, I was able to read between the lines and tailor my proposal more toward what she really wanted – to drive more clients to her practice. So instead of just getting a blogging gig where I write a few blog posts per week, I now have a blogging and marketing gig. It pays more money, it gives me more experience, and the dentist gets what she wanted but didn’t know how to ask.

(*I don’t blog about my specific clients, so this is basically like a version of my client in Witness Protection.)

The final word here is to never let a proposal letter leave your sight without considering your audience. But remember, we’re freelancers, popular consensus holds that we work in our PJ’s, so try not to break your neck in her spiked heels.