The number of clients that turn to bid sites to find freelance writers is huge — and it continues to grow. Freelance writers have to know how to handle bid sites, even if they don’t depend such websites for the majority of their work. The sites aren’t difficult to understand. You just put in a bid on those projects that interest you. However, putting in a bid and winning a project can be two very different situations. That’s what lead Juliet du Preez to write The Winning Proposal. This ebook offers a guided tour to creating a winning bid.

Juliet explores each aspect of submitting a bid or proposal through the various job sites. From the details of setting up a professional profile that conveys your abilities to actually writing a proposal to building a solid reputation, Juliet goes through everything you’ll need to know. Particularly valuable, in my opinion, are the many examples she provides. In addition to full templates that you can model your bids on, the ebook has examples for practically every section. I’m one of those writers who simply telling how to do something isn’t enough, so actually being able to see these suggestions in action is incredibly helpful. There are even some examples of what not to do, making it easier to avoid problems in the long run.

Overall, this ebook is a good resource. With information on every aspect of the proposal process, down to determining whether you actually want to win a particular job, it’s a solid starting point for anyone interested in finding work through bidding sites but not entirely sure how to actually win projects.

The Winning Proposal is available for purchase through Juliet’s site, FreelanceWise. It’s priced at $12.

Personally, I have to say that I’m not a big fan of bid sites. I try to focus my work on finding clients that want to work with one freelancer for the long term, while most bid sites seem to focus on short-term projects. However, I know plenty of writers who earn good income primarily through work they’ve found through such sites. Bid sites do make finding work significantly easier: rather than having to search out job listings on a variety of sites or pitch potential clients, you can look through a list of new opportunities every day. Newer freelancers can also often build up clips through bid sites faster than they might otherwise. If you’re not sure what you think you bid sites, go ahead and try them out. There’s no requirement that you keep using bid sites if you decide you aren’t comfortable.

Note: Juliet du Preez provided me with a review copy of her ebook. Thanks, Juliet!

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 15th, 2009 at 11:16 am and is filed under Increasing Income. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.