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Writing a proposal on Upwork is one of the scary things you’ll have to figure out if you want to start freelancing on the platform. Proposals consist of different text responses, files, and quotes, so it’s easy to get overwhelmed by them at first. Proposals and cover letters on Upwork are very different from the ones you’d create off platform, so in this article, I’ll explain how. I’m also going to share some dos and don’ts I’ve learned after earning thousands of dollars on the platform. Let’s get started!
What is a proposal on Upwork?
An Upwork proposal is a short piece of writing you create for potential clients, briefly introducing yourself and explaining how you are the right freelancer for the gig.
Upwork says this about their proposals: “An Upwork proposal gives you the chance to submit a message with your application to convince clients that you’re the perfect fit for the job. This quick and concise introduction—similar to a cover letter or an elevator pitch—explains why the client should hire you. It allows you to spark a client’s interest in your services and mention critical points on how you can solve their problem.”
An Upwork gig is essentially a job posting on the platform. Gigs can vary in duration, difficulty, pay, and more, and they each require a “proposal.” Every proposal will include these essential elements: your bid, how long the project will take, and your cover letter. You can also choose to upload documents, but it’s not required. Clients may include additional questions as well. For example, “What relevant experience do you have?”
Below, I have an example of what the standard proposal looks like. This means it doesn’t have any extra questions from the client. Then, I’ll show you a more complex proposal with several extra questions from the client.
Here’s an example of a very basic proposal:
Here’s an example of a proposal with quite a few additional questions:
Each proposal will look different, and you’ll need to include different things in your responses based on the unique gig description. Keep that in mind as you send proposals for various projects.
What’s a bid on Upwork?
A bid on Upwork is the dollar amount you want in exchange for completing a gig on Upwork. The client may set the proposal to ask for an hourly bid or a project-based bid. Some work, like virtual assistant work, is invoiced based on time to complete the job. Other gigs, like blog writing or copywriting, are often charged on a per-project basis. Make sure you pay attention to what your proposal is asking for.
When it comes to choosing what to quote for your bid, some people recommend bidding slightly under the projected budget. The thought is you’ll make yourself more competitive by submitting a proposal under budget.
In my opinion, the client probably thought a lot about the posting beforehand and pre-determined how much they’ll pay for the project. If bidding $5 under the posted rate makes you more appealing to a client, they’re likely a cheap client, and I wouldn’t recommend working with them anyway. For that reason, I don’t recommend this unless it just absolutely feels like the right thing to do. Every scenario is different, so use your best judgment.
What should I put for the length of the project?
At the time of writing, Upwork allows freelancers to select 4 options when quoting how long the project will take. They are:
- Less than 1 month
- 1 to 3 months
- 3 to 6 months
- More than 6 months
When submitting a proposal on Upwork, you should put whatever length of time you believe it will take to complete the project. When in doubt, overquote so you’ll have some extra time for last-minute changes, personal emergencies, or other events.
As a freelance content writer, I seek out gigs for blog posts. Most clients ask for a 1-week turnaround, so I select the “Less than 1 month” option. If you’re a ghostwriter for 30,000-word novels or a web developer creating a massive website, you might choose one of the longer options.
Should I upload any documents on an Upwork proposal?
The need to upload documents in an Upwork proposal can vary from user to user, client to client, and gig to gig. As a freelancer, pay careful attention to specific requirements or special requests in the gig details. Some clients will specifically ask for documents, like a resume or CV, in which case you have to include that document to be considered for the job. Others might simply ask for work history, and you could choose to either include that in your cover letter or include a resume and focus on other things in your cover letter. The choice is yours as long as they don’t explicitly require specific documents.
Another scenario where you might need to include a document is if the client asks to see samples of your work. I have a portfolio website, and I always add the URL to my site in the cover letter portion of the proposal. If you don’t have a website, then you’ll probably need to include file versions of your portfolio or previous work.
Ultimately, you must decide how to share and portray yourself in a proposal and online. But whatever you do, make sure you give the client what they ask for. That’s the most important thing here.
What is a cover letter on Upwork?
A cover letter on Upwork is the written portion of your proposal that allows you to engage the client and encourage them to work with you. The cove letter is arguably the most important part of your proposal simply because it requires the most time and thought. In it, you should briefly introduce yourself and explain why you’re the best freelancer for the gig, and you only have a few sentences to do so. That’s what makes cover letters feel so overwhelming.
This is how Upwork describes a cover letter: “A cover letter is your first—and perhaps only—chance to impress a potential client or employer. Don’t let that intimidate you, though. A cover letter is, in fact, your opportunity to shine. It gives an employer a brief glimpse of the potential success you bring with you. Your experience, your personality, and your enthusiasm all play a part in helping you land the job. Don’t leave them behind when building your cover letter.”
One important thing to know about cover letters on Upwork is that they aren’t like cover letters for a full-time job. Unlike those, Upwork cover letters are short. Their paragraphs are typically 2-3 brief-ish sentences and only include a few paragraphs. You don’t want your client to feel like they’re reading a novel; they should be able to quickly understand why you’re the best person for the gig and want to reach out.
For more context on how exactly you can accomplish that, let’s move on to the do’s and don’ts of this post.
Upwork Proposal Do’s and Don’ts
Writing Upwork proposals can be difficult and scary at first, but just like all writing, they’re a skill. You can and will learn how to write stellar proposals with practice. This next section will look at how you can level up your Upwork proposal and earn clients.
I’ve divided my advice into 2 main categories: Do’s and Don’ts. These are things I see all the time that you either should or should not be doing. Let’s start with things you should do to create a good proposal on Upwork.
Do's
Vet Each client
Whether you’re a writer, web developer, or virtual assistant, your audience should be at the top of your mind. You should do a little research to make sure you understand your target audience (in our case, it’s the client of the gig you’re proposing for).
Once I’ve given the description a thorough read, I understand what the client needs, and I’m confident that I’m a good fit for the job, I look at the client’s history. It might not seem like there’s a lot of information on each client, but you can learn a lot from the available info. Here’s what you can see about a client when you’re looking at a gig:
- You can see they have good reviews. 83 is a decent number of reviews, and they look almost all positive. Still, I’d look through the low-rated reviews to make sure there aren’t any major red flags.
- The second thing I see is they’ve spent $10,000 in the last 7 years. I’ve seen higher spending, and I’ve seen less. This number just means they’re active and invested in what the platform offers, which is access to freelancers like you and me. What I really care more about is their average hourly rate.
- The average hourly rate is a low $8.17. If you’re not U.S. based, that might be incredibly high. But in the states, it’s basically our minimum legal wage so I look for a higher rate. Like I said before, I typically avoid cheap clients at all costs.
- If you scroll down more, you can see recent history. This is one of the first things I look at. Sometimes the gig won’t show a project budget right away, so I recommend looking at what they pay other people in the recent history section.
Here you can see they paid several writers a range of pay for the same project. Remember that the price you see next to “Fixed-price” is the total for the relationship with that freelancer. I have a client that started with one project at $150. At the time, that Fixed-price would have shown up as $150. Now, it will show up as over $1,000.
When looking at the recent history, you really have to take the ratings, names, comments, and rates into account. Then you can use this info to make an educated guess on what your relationship will be like, what you should bid, and more. In this example, we can see that their gig of “Content Writer for Quotes Website” led to payouts ranging from $35 to $130. The fact that there are two $35 gigs here tells me they likely pay $35 per blog post, which, again, is really low. If I were trying to decide whether or not to propose for this gig, this would make me ditch it and find another opportunity.
Personalize Proposals
We just looked at the client’s recent project history. Take a closer look at the reviews. See the review that says, “Grainne?” See the second one? This is a good indicator that you’ll be working with Grainne. If I wrote a proposal for this client, I’d be sure to begin by saying, “Hey Grainne….”
On the flip side, if you see several names in the reviews, there could be multiple people managing the account. In that case, you can choose to take a gamble and use the wrong name or stick with a general opening. If it were me, I’d use a name, even if there’s a chance it’s wrong. Even if I get the name wrong, they likely know who else has access to the account and will still understand I did some digging to get it.
If you can, use a name. This makes the writing much more personable, showing them that you can do research, are invested in the project, and are thorough. Using their name will immediately grab their attention in a good way, and that’s exactly what you want when you’re proposing along with 50 other freelancers.
Get The Client’s Attention
Unless you’ve personally hired on Upwork, you have no idea what your proposal looks like to the client. Spoiler alert, it’s probably not what you were expecting. Here’s what the client sees.
I’ve blocked out personal information for privacy. What’s important about this image is how little of your cover letter the client can see. Take a moment and look over these cover letters. Which ones seem lazy? Do any grab your attention? Why?
You have 2 lines to get your client’s attention and get them to open your entire proposal and keep reading. That’s why using their name is so important. It takes only two words (Hi Andrew!) to surprise, interest, and engage someone. When you’re working with such limited real estate, those two words bring a lot of value.
After your greeting, use the rest of your cover letter to relate to them. Indicate that you’ve read their project and are interested in them/their project. Here’s an example from one of my actual proposals:
“Hi [Name]! I’ve read your project details, listened to sections of the attached mp3, and checked out your website, and I think this is an exciting project!” This tells the client I can follow instructions, I’ve read their whole listing, I’m invested in their project, and I am actually interested in what I’ll be writing about. If you were in their shoes, would you be curious to see what else I put in that proposal? They were. Because I got the gig, and they’re one of my most consistent and highest-paying clients to date (7 months later).
In the image, you can see how much each freelancer has earned on the platform. Even though one of the freelancers had 2k in earnings, they assumed I wouldn’t even be interested in a cover letter. That struck me as lazy. I ended up choosing the first proposal you see, even though they had no experience on the platform. Good news for them, we still work together months later and I pay $20/hour.
Build Credibility
The next thing you should do when creating a proposal on Upwork is consider credibility. The beauty of what you’ve read so far is that you’ve already started doing that! Using their name and greeting with an introduction that demonstrates interest already shows them that you’re capable of a lot.
The next thing you should do to build credibility with your potential client is to share samples of your work. But before I talk about that more, I have a disclaimer. Your writing is also a major portion of establishing credibility. (Especially if you’re applying for writing gigs.) Clients want to see that you can communicate effectively and use standard English grammar (American or British). Make sure you spell things correctly and use standard grammar in your Upwork cover letter. Not doing so could quickly cost you the job.
That’s not to say non-Native speakers and non-U.S.-based freelancers can’t succeed; you can! But, many clients will make assumptions about the quality of your work based on how you communicate. I would be wrong not to bring it to your attention. Tools like Grammarly and even spellcheck in Google Docs can be a great help.
Now, samples. Some clients ask for samples. Some don’t. Regardless, I ALWAYS include samples of my work. There’s a lot to say about samples but what you need to know is this:
- If you have samples that are relevant to the gig, include them. For example, if the gig is for blog posts in the pet niche, include pet-related articles you’ve authored.
- Don’t include more than 2 or 3 samples. The client doesn’t have the time to read thousands of words for each proposal they receive. If they get this far into your proposal, they’re just making sure you can accomplish what they want from a freelancer.
- You can upload samples in a variety of ways. I have samples posted on my freelance website. If you don’t have a website, then I recommend uploading PDF versions of your work. This could look like a simple text-only document of a blog post. Or, it can be as fancy as a fully published blog post with images and all (you can get that by downloading it directly from your browser).
If you don’t have samples, create some. One of my very first sample articles was a post on Medium (How To Create A Blog Post That Generates Leads). My goal was to show that I know how to create a good blog post and I understand content marketing. Spoiler alert, it helped me get some of my first high-paying clients.
Too many people get caught up in creating an exceptionally perfect sample. Your samples don’t have to be anything extraordinary and brilliant. They just have to exist.
Include a Call to Action (Ask a Question)
Last on the list of things you should do to create a proposal that gets you hired is, include a call to action (CTA). The end of your proposal should always ask the reader to do something.
I’m not a natural salesperson, and I wasn’t a marketer before, so I struggled to ask a stranger to do something for me. I promise this is not as pushy as it sounds, and it will get easier with practice.
Here’s an example of a weak CTA: “I look forward to hearing more about this project to see if we’d be a great fit working together!”
For many people, this is a great way to end a proposal. Some of you might even already do something like this. I consider it a weak CTA because it actually isn’t even a CTA. Did the writer ask the client to do something? No.
The writer did, however, assume the reader would do something. They assumed the client would respond. Saying things like, “Thanks in advance, and ‘I look forward to hearing from you” can actually come across as rude. When you’re emailing someone, it’s best practice to avoid these phrases because what the reader does probably isn’t up to me. So I avoid these phrases in my proposals too.
Here’s an example of a CTA I frequently use: “Would you be willing to send a link to the website these blog posts will be posted on? I’d love to learn more about your target audience, style, and tone.”
Did I ask them to do something? Yes. Did I assume they would do something? No. My CTA explicitly asks them to send me something. But it even goes one step further and demonstrates that I’m already ready to work on delivering high-quality content catered to their target audience and brand. Not only have I compelled them to act, but I’ve also built my credibility with them even more!
Don'ts
Copy and Paste Cover Letters
Two things fall under this major mistake: copying and pasting & templates. Here’s why I try to avoid both.
Copy and pasting are entirely impersonal. It goes against everything I said under “personalize your proposals.” Every gig you read will have a unique client with unique business goals and project requirements, and they (likely) need a specific person for the job. Copying and pasting your cover letter prevents you from highlighting how you’re the best-suited candidate for that particular gig.
To better understand why generic cover letters typically suck, let’s look at some I received on a gig I was hiring for. For context, I needed help with research for a project. They needed to find 5 scholarships that met specific criteria.
Nothing in this cover letter directly refers to any skills I need for my gig. Of course, paying attention is excellent, but most clients will assume you’ll pay attention. This claim didn’t add any value to the cover letter. It also looks like they meant to say, try my very best. Instead, they put, “try my level best.” Not a good great start for someone promising to deliver extraordinary results.
Let’s compare it to a stronger cover letter.
Can you see how the second cover letter is more specific? They said, “I see you have a deadline for this.” (I mentioned a tight turnaround in the gig details.) This tells me they read the posting and are aware of my concerns. They even went so far as to quote me how long it’d take them to complete the project! This freelancer put themselves in the client’s shoes and appealed to the client’s needs. They understood I was under a tight deadline and appealed to the urgency of the situation.
A generic cover letter doesn’t do that because a generic cover letter is written for 100 people. You can’t fit 100 different client concerns into one cover letter.
To help with customization in templates, some people turn to templates. (It’s me, hi.) I used templates for a while, and they are better than entirely copying and pasting…but they’re still not great.
A template can allow you to change some aspects of your cover letter while keeping others the same. But templates can make it easy to fall into the copy-and-paste trap. It becomes easy to forget to switch out the last paragraph or change the intro because you already feel you’re customizing the cover letter by altering select words or phrases.
So instead of using an official template, I just keep the main elements in my head. I know I need to:
- Grab their attention
- Appeal to their gig
- Demonstrate I’m the best candidate
- Call to action
I’m much more likely to customize an intro or highlight different skills if I’m writing the whole thing from scratch, even though I know what the main components will be.
Don’t Say Your Name
This is a brief point, but don’t say your name! Unlike face-to-face interactions, the client can see your name when you propose on Upwork. I know it might seem like a friendly thing to do, but it’s a quick way to demonstrate that you lack audience awareness, and it might even indicate you struggle to understand how your content exists online.
Focus on You
Finally, for the last tip, don’t center yourself in the proposal. Your client really cares about one thing. Can you do a great job? That’s it.
An easy way to make sure you’re focusing on them instead of yourself is to use the Command+F function (or Control+F on PC) and search for two specific words. Type in ‘I.” Then type in “you.” How many times does each pop up? If your screen is littered with “I,” then you need to refocus the cover letter and write in more “you.”
Using one of the weaker cover letters from my screenshots earlier, I’ll show you what I mean. Here’s that sample with the “I”s already bolded.
“Hi, I am detailed oriented and hard working professional, I always pay attention to work details and try my best to delivery extraordinary results beyond expectations, I always stay in touch with clients to communicate/sharing latest…”
Here’s how it could be written to say something similar with more focus on the client:
“Hi, I see you have a pressing need for research this week. As a detail-oriented freelancer, my goal is to help you quickly find the resources you need.
Would you be willing to share more information on what resources you’d like me to research? That would help me better estimate how long it will take to gather your resources.”
I used “you” in the new cover letter 6 times. I only used “I” once. I also managed to place a CTA, emphasized the urgency of the situation twice, and demonstrated that I was ready to start work immediately. By putting centering the client in your proposal, you help keep their attention longer, showcase great writing skills, and will likely earn more gigs on the platform.
How to Write a Proposal on Upwork - Final Thoughts
There you have it! In this post, we’ve covered basic definitions and taken an in-depth look at how to write a proposal on Upwork. To recap, here are the do’s and don’ts we’ve just discussed:
Do
- Vet Each Client
- Personalize Proposals
- Get the Client’s Attention
- Build Credibility
- Call Them To Act
Don’t
- Copy and Past
- Restate Your Name
- Focus on You
Interested in learning more about how to write Upwork proposals that win clients? Check out this post on common phrases to avoid in your cover letter.
And finally, what are some things you do that didn’t make it in the article? Leave them in the comments below, I’d love to hear them.