TIL that sending a voice note with your proposal on Upwork actually doubled my reply rate

I'd been stuck in that loop of writing custom cover letters that got ignored for months. On a whim last Tuesday, I recorded a 45-second voice note explaining the exact fix for their broken checkout button and attached it to my proposal. Got 3 replies out of 5 pitches, which is insane for me. Has anyone else tried adding a quick audio clip to their gigs or proposals, and did it help or hurt you?

3 comments

3 Comments

mason_murray82d ago

attaching it to my proposal" - man I tried this once and my voice cracked so bad on the third take I just sent it anyway. sounded like a 14 year old asking for a date. somehow I still got the gig. customer said my voice made me sound "genuinely desperate" which I guess is a vibe? but yeah I think people just like knowing there's a real human on the other end of that laptop, even if that human sounds like they're being held at gunpoint.

emma_jones2d ago

Does @mason_murray8 keep a tally of how many times his voice cracked on proposals? I did the voice note thing last week for a logo redesign pitch. Got the gig, but the client later told me the audio file had my cat meowing in the background for the whole 30 seconds. They thought it added "character." Now I just let the cat sit in on all my recordings.

milesbarnes2d ago

Geniunely desperate" is such a good way to put it... I think that's exactly what clients pick up on. They want to know there's a real person behind the screen, not some robot that talks perfect. And honestly, I've sent in proposals where my voice cracked and I could hear my own breathing super loud, but I just went with it. Your cat thing is gold though, I bet that actually made your client smile. Sometimes the imperfect parts are what make the whole thing feel human and honest.