Introverted Freelancer Guide To Writing Proposals

HandsOnWP.com @nick_batik@sandi_batik
Introverted Freelancer’s Guide to
Writing a Winning Proposal
Austin WordPress Meetup

…AN ON-GOING
DISCUSSION
starting and
building a
successful
WordPress
freelance
business

YOUR UNIQUE VALUE
PROPOSITION

WHAT IS YOUR PERSONAL
“SUPER POWER”
• The things that come to you
easily
• Your innate skill or passion
• The differentiator that makes a
client want YOU
• The business management name
for “Super Power” is “Value
Proposition”
• It describes your target client, the
problem you solve, and why
you’re uniquely better than other
freelancers.

DEFINE AND UNDERSTAND
YOUR TARGET CLIENT’S
NEEDS
• How well do you know
your target audience
• What are the problems
they need you to solve

INSTALL AN INQUIRY
FORM

THE
DISCOVERY
PROCESS

THE WHY OF DISCOVERY
• Develop a Scope of Work for
a reliable cost and time
estimate for the project.
• Our experience adds value
— Clients don't know what
they don't know
• Identifies inaccurate
assumptions and improves
communication
• Gets the real motivations,
expectations, goals on the
table

THE HOW OF DISCOVERY
BEFORE the meeting do your
homework
• Review Client's Intake
Questionnaire
• Review their current site
• Do a Google look up on both the
client and the market space
• Review their competitors' sites
• Do a Basic Brand Analysis

THE HOW OF DISCOVERY
• Identify the decision makers and confirm they are
attending
• Set the time for the meeting:
• Send a meeting agenda to the participants
• If key personal are not in attendance cancel the
meetingFollow the agenda
• Avoid excessive small talk, start talking about their
business
• Have the meeting notes recorded or bring a scribe
• Ask questions and clarify the answers until every
agrees
• what the site looks like
• the content it should contain
• how the endusers will find and use it.

AS THE DISCOVERY MEETING
MODERATOR, YOUR JOB IS TO ASK
QUESTIONS, LISTEN AND ASK MORE
QUESTIONS• Don't Focus on the
technology the how we do it
is not as important as
listening careful to what the
client is saying
• Talk about the client's goals
and problems get deep
with all the issue the client
needs to solve
• Listen carefully and don't try
to solve their problem on
the spot.

QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT
ASK DURING DISCOVERY
SESSION• Spark creativity and get everyone involved
• Conduct a group brain-dump — Sort answers into 3
columns
1. Needed
2. Nice to have
3. Great idea— but not just now
• Who is the clients target audience?
• Look at site use patterns from both the clients and the
clients target customer
• “As a <role>, I want <goal/desire> so that <benefit>”
• “As a customer representative, I want to search for my
customers by their first and last name to find the customer
faster.”
• What problem do you want to solve?
• What risks is the client afraid of?
• What is worst case scenario?

AT THE END OF A
DISCOVERY SESSION
You should have covered:
• Research
• Goal Planning
• Target Audience
• Users Stories
• Look and feel
• Competitor Analysis
• Content Strategy - Basic
• Content Audit

ASSUMPTIONS THAT CAN
TRIP YOU UP• Client will provide high quality photos and videos in a timely
fashion.
• Client will provide descriptions for products.
• Client will provide feedback on layout designs in a timely
fashion.

WHAT IS THE “PRODUCT”
OF OUR DISCOVERY
SESSION
• Take a day or two to create a Creative
Brief
• This is a visual mind map of all the
project’s goals and a plan for achieving
them
• Include information from the client
questionnaire, initial meetings, Discovery
interviews, team discussions, and site
content strategy sessions
• Describes how users will interact with the
site content
• Analytical data collected
• Create a site map
• Prototyped web design
• Proposed production plan to achieve your
goals

HOW THE CREATIVE
BRIEF GUIDES
YOUR PROPOSAL
AND WORK
THROUGHOUT THE
PROJECT.
The Statement of Work in
the creative brief is the
structure for proposal, a
timeline and pricing

THE JOB OF A PROPOSAL
• Only two reasons a business
invest in a website project
• Solve a problem
• Reach a business
objective
• Propose a Clear and
Obvious Solution to your
client's problem
• A clear and obvious path
forward to help them achieve
their objectives

WHAT SHOULD YOU
INCLUDE YOU IN YOUR
PROPOSAL• Executive Summary of the
Business
(no more than two paragraphs)
• The Business needs
• The Target Audience needs
• Propose your solution
• Project timeline
• Investment
• FAQs
• Next steps

Sandi Batik
WordPress evangelist, consultant, trainer, curricula
developer, author, unapologetic geek, unrepentant
capitalist, lucky enough to do what I love everyday. I’ve
served as Austin WordPress Meetup co-organizer since
2010. With my husband Nick Batik, co-founded Pleiades
Publishing Services in 1992 and Hands-On WordPress
Training in 2010.
Follow me @sandi_batik / @WPATX
Contact me at: handsonwp.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hsandrachevalierbatik
Presenter

Nick Batik
Started in web development in 1994 and have been a
WordPress consultant, and web developer since 2007.
A WordPress evangelist, I’ve served as Austin
WordPress Meetup co-organizer since 2010. With my
partner, co-founded Pleiades Publishing Services in 1992
and Hands-On WordPress Training in 2010.
Follow me @nick_batik / @WPATX
Contact me at: handsonwp.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasbatik
Presenter

Introverted Freelancer Guide To Writing Proposals

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