Tips for Writing the Perfect Proposal for Fiverr Buyer Request
Let’s have a look at what you’re doing wrong, the perfect way for buyer proposals and communication skills.
Why Template Proposals are a big fail
Every buyer has a different frame of mind. At first look, one cannot completely understand what type of person is the buyer. With every proposal done using the same template you’re doing two things wrong:
- It sounds spammy to Fiverr.
- You’re not really getting into what the buyer needs.
Remember the first tip: An Effective Buyer Request Proposal is always unique and written by keeping in mind what the buyer needs.
Get into the mind of the buyer. Understand what they need. If your template for Buyer Request proposals contains paragraphs about your previous work with a lot of Flickr Links or you telling your past experiences then your chance of getting hired for the project is only 20%, which I’ll be going into more detail later in this post.
Writing The Proposal
Grab your popcorn now. You’ve to pretty much become a buyer yourself for this. Ask yourself: “If I needed something, who would I hire first and more confidently?”
Well it depends upon what type of buyer you are which includes:
- “I just need the job done man, I don’t care how much cash is spent.”
- “need the job done right now in X dollars. Fixed price.”
- “Met some CHEAP sellers who played me and now I’m angry. I need the job done, completed on time, and only in $5!!!” (Worst position one could be in.)
Or “Hey, I’m just Pewdiepie, playing around to buy weird stuff and get my account banned.” (Just kidding, don’t take this one seriously)
Here are some set of rules if you want some serious buyer activity:
It’s not only about you (Don’t Brag)
I’m a buyer, and I’m here to get MY tasks done here. Do you think I need to know how many buyers you have worked with before? Just tell me if you have experience with something similar to what I need.
In other words, instead of this:
“Hi, I’m a Web Developer who has worked with 287392 organizations since 2005 and many of my clients say that their experience with me has been great. I need to let you know that I have created 50 websites which I am going to enlist here for you to check.” (Just an example.)
You need to be like this:
“Hey, Hope you’re doing good. I checked the details and it looks like I’ve worked on something similar to that on this website xample.com, I can help you in the task you need. Let’s talk about this in more detail.”
This seems more focused and concise.
Your second Tip summarized would be: Tell them what you can do for them, not what you have done for others.
Try to make it friendly
You can be friendly with buyers, but don’t cross the limits. It’s not about “Let’s drink vodka together tonight” though, but get comfortable with them. This helps build trust.
Last year I got the project from a buyer by just saying one sentence:
and worked with him 4 times in the future as well.
This doesn’t mean that you also write the same sentence, try to come up with something friendly which makes the buyer thinks that you’re comfortable to work with. You can try to be funny if it works.
Be Yourself (No fake Portfolio)
As a new seller, you usually don’t have a portfolio. I’ve seen some people showing fake portfolios from anywhere around the web to gain buyers’ trust.
Only show the portfolio if your name is present on the website somewhere. But it’s a better practice to have a portfolio URL in your Gig or show it in your inbox while discussing (only if the buyer asks for it).
Side Note: Try to include a Flickr link in the Gig or profile. Not your own website etc.
Don’t make your proposal scream “I’m hungry for your Money & getting orders!” instead show that you genuinely want to help them. Don’t show a fake portfolio, instead, let them know that you have to knowledge required for the task.
A Sample Buyer Request Proposal:
“Hey! I would like to get this task done for you and I’m available to do it right now for you. I have understood your requirements and have the required knowledge for this.”
Researching the provided details
This is something you should spend around 2-3 minutes on. Usually, buyers don’t provide many details in their requests.
Have a look at this Example buyer request proposal I wrote for a client and worked with them 3 times in the future as well:
You can see that this is how the research thing works: you have to check what the buyer needs, then I explained to them “These are the sliders I’ve worked with” which told them that I know something about what I’m doing.
Moreover, I gained trust by letting them know that I will make it responsive as well… (Again showing that I know more than the other people sending offers who miss out on things like these!)
To do proper and quick research about what buyer is demanding, you can read out what they’re saying and check for necessary details. Just go through them.
Some buyers also add things like “Name your favorite color so I know you read this all” at the end of their request, which is pretty much unprofessional (and funny) but beware of things like these, always read and then write your proposal.
Reading long paragraphs is boring
Some buyers just need something quick to get to know you. Especially on Fiverr, when we ourselves see long buyer requests we chose to not bid on them (I sometimes do this) the same goes with buyers too.
You have to be extremely concise with your proposals, try proofreading the proposal once you’re written it. Remove sentences that you think add no value and have no concern for the buyer’s request.
So another tip to remember: Keep things short.
Sometimes I watch summarized videos of books on YouTube because we sometimes don’t have time to read out the whole book. Or before buying a book you’d like to know what it is like. We can say being to the point does have a lot of value in this world.
I also re-read my blog posts and remove what’s not necessary.
For instance, check out these three buyer request proposals I have done recently:
You can see I don’t make them longer than a specific limit. (Also, the third person in the screenshot has contacted me.)
Tips to Communicate Effectively
This is for “What to do when the buyer contacts you in the inbox?”, so if you don’t want to know, you’re allowed to skip.
Ask for their budget (if they didn’t specify it)
This is a good question to start the conversation up “I can get this done for you, Please let me know your budget.”
Usually clients do have a budget specified in their Buyer Request, don’t think that you cannot add more price than the specified budget. I have sent $50 buyer requests to buyers who have a budget of $5 specified, and got hired.
As long as you are confident that what you’re providing is worth purchasing – you can charge the amount you think your skills deserve.
Show some sample work
You can give them a taste of how you work. Do this by creating a quick sample related to what they need, if possible. If the task is bigger, then show them some old work but do this only if they ask you to.
Show them a demo of what you can do if you don’t have previous work.
Or there’s just a common excuse:
“I’d like to show you but every client has different requirements. I have always worked according to the buyer’s requirements.”
Prove them you know what you’re doing
Do this by using the terms related to your expertise. For example, if you give them suggestions about which plugins would be better for their website (if you’re a WordPress Developer) they’ll trust you more and know that you’re an expert.
After all, you will always hire someone who you think is good at what they do, won’t you?
Negotiation
You can do $5 or $10 less to get the job though if the buyer demands to. But this doesn’t always work like this, if you think the task is something that needs around $50 then take the exact amount and explain to the buyer that it’s not an easy task.
Note that, when you’re a beginner (a New seller) don’t hesitate to even do a $50 job in $5. You need to build up your profile with positive reviews so you have to go hard as much as you can to get it.
Final Words
I do think it’s important to make your English skills sharper if you want to succeed as a Freelancer and that can be done along the way. Now, these are a lot of strategies but let me tell you that the time you should take in doing one proposal should be a minimum of 5 minutes.
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