Took me 3 years to realize my proposals were way too long

I used to write these 5 page proposals with bios, case studies, every single step of my process. Thought it made me look professional and thorough. Then a guy in a Facebook group for freelancers told me he skims proposals for 30 seconds tops. That hit me hard. I tested it myself and cut my next proposal down to one page with bullet points and a clear price. That job landed in 2 days. Now I wonder how many gigs I lost because people just didn't read all that fluff. Anyone else ever send out novels and get crickets back?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_laura4d ago

Wait, you were writing 5 page proposals? That's insane.

margaret5514d ago

My old boss at Johnson Controls demanded 5 pagers for every little change. It forced me to learn how to write tight and make every sentence count. I actually got promoted faster because those proposals got read by the VP and he noticed I could explain complex problems simply. I know it sounds crazy but that discipline paid off in the long run for me.

jana5092d ago

Honestly @margaret551, hearing you say the VP actually read those things and it helped you get promoted makes me rethink the whole thing. I used to hate that kind of busywork but if it got you noticed that fast then maybe there's something to it.