The Perfect Proposal

I didn't always work on six-figure jobs. In fact, I used to work on UpWork (oDesk in my day) and eLancer. I would do work for pennies on the dollar. I'm not lying: I used to do $50 logos, $300 websites... and I thought I was making good money!

I remember the one job that literally changed everything. It was an entrepreneur in the automotive industry (making car mats or something like that) who needed a logo. The budget he listed on the job was $60.

I submitted my application for—you guessed it—$60.

A few days later, I heard back from the entrepreneur with a counteroffer...of $40. He was literally haggling over what was equal to...a lunch. A measly twenty dollars.

At that moment I knew I had to get off of oDesk. I knew I had to find a better way to find more work. But there was just one problem...

I had no idea how to do it.

Working my way into what we call client-direct work (meaning there's no middleman: Bye, Felicia oDesk) was a whole new world. Finding leads and opportunities was challenging... but when I actually found one that looked promising? That was terrifying.

Even when we agreed on a budget range on the phone, and I felt great about the phone call, I still had so many unanswered questions about putting a proposal together... things like:

• What kind of proposals do bigger studios put together?
• Is this proposal too long? Is it too short?
• Should the client sign the proposal?
• How do I structure my price so that the client doesn't negotiate?
• What does the client actually want to see?

I say this a lot: I learn by getting punched in the face. It's the truth. And to be honest, I didn't find the answers to those questions right away. In fact, it took me a long time, and a lot of lost revenue to figure things out.

I honestly had no idea how much timing had to do with getting proposals won. I didn't know that asking for a proposal is an easy way for a client to say no. Not to mention putting proposals together that didn't work!

I get it. I really do. And I've learned these lessons the hard way. And that's precisely why I've created The Perfect Proposal. I packed over a decade of experience into over 200 pages worth of content for one reason: so you don't have to make the same mistakes that I did.