Make Your Own Lane: Live Feedback On Pitching and Quoting For End To End Work

Here is an excerpt from one of my mails to a beginner pitching for end-to-end work for an Australian client

Scope of Work:

Market research

Social Media Strategy

Promotion 

Website design

Website content development

Product Package design

How much to quote:

Hourly to fixed rates?

Find hourly based on current salary:

That is your prevailing market rate based on past experience

To pad, quote three times that rate

Factors to consider if you have to drop that rate

Client background

Your first time in this domain

Possibility of repeat business

Is it a new feather in your cap – adding to your portfolio?

Is it increasing your world dominion – A client from a new geography?

Is it good for your capability case study?

Does this project require your intervention in different functions?

Client in scope:

The client has outsourced quite a few jobs 

Client has received good feedback from freelancers.

There is a potential for big projects with this client.

Time required:

Market research:                                $250 (10 Hours)

Social Media Strategy:                        $250 (5 Hours)

Promotion                                          $250 (Ongoing)

How should you propose if you include a freebie?

 Market research:                                $300 (10 Hours)

Social Media Strategy:                         $300 (5 Hours)

Promotion                                           $300 (Ongoing)

WIX at no cost                                    (4 Critical Pages)

(The amount indicated here is for illustration purpose only)

WIX Advantages:

 Practically site readiness is free for client

Ready WIX design

72 hours delivery

User friendly – Easy maintenance for client

Loads of features

Content readiness based on your research

First time market feedback before final website construction

Reasonable monthly charges instead of hosting charges

Saving the trouble to handle multiple freelancers

Remember, you are not just a resource, you are the coach

Source Freelancers (Extra Mile)

Product package design

Look up for professionals proficient with graphic designing.

Upgrade skills to pitch for end to end projects:

Going forward, objective should be to bid for end-to-end projects, starting from market study to competitive intelligence, marketing strategy and launch, web design and social media campaigns to support specific target market (Startups/ first time entrepreneurs)

Building credibility: 

Based on projects completed, you need to come up with small case studies and include those in website.

The website link will be a sum of all your assignments that will contribute to your branding

LinkedIn profile is a sum of all your roles – present and past that partially brands the firms you are associated with.

You share the website link with your clients if you do not want them to know about your primary occupation.

Write to advocating.outcomes@gmail.com if you have challenges regarding your side hustle, client pitch, justifying quotes and designing your proposal. We have a few quick tips handy that has worked for a few BECKON Learning Community members.

Freelancing Kit: 9 Top Reasons Why Some People Fail To Build Online Income

This is a very different world and a great leveler. Someone with extensive corporate experience and someone who is yet to create an email id - both have equal chances to succeed. A seasoned professional and a fresh graduate can both do well here.

The point is, regardless of your past expertise or credentials, you have to start here from scratch. Your experience can be an advantage or give some competitive edge however the beginning is the same for everyone – a user name, a profile and a portfolio.

Here it is just the quotient between you and the client that matters. It takes time to build that. Here I have listed top nine reasons why many beginners fail to make any online income. 

1.   Not ready skill wise

In the corporate world you probably lead a team of ten people. You have closed the best of deals and you were star performer in sales. That’s history. If you cannot identify at least three skills that you can offer as service in this gig economy, you are not ready for this.

2.   Rates

After you have identified your skills, if your rates are not competitive that will definitely hinder your progress. If you set up an hourly rate based on last salary drawn, it may not attract buyers as your portfolio however attractive is not showing any customer reviews or testimonials to build conviction in buyer’s mind regarding how good you are.

3.   Target Market

If you are great in creating websites or presentations or logo designing or writing business planning there is a ready market out there.

However there are many who have skills like proofreading, typing, data entry, customer service or research – it is critical to understand who and how you can support with your service so that your skill, though average and easily available, is valuable to your target audience.

4.   Pay Check Saturation

There is no need to establish this income. Just when the panic buttons are on (company re-structuring, job at stake, work stress, hyper controlling boss, sales target pressure, financial dissatisfaction) , a few sites are explored and then back to comfort zone. As the income here is not steady, many still remain dependent to their pay checks and jobs, little realizing the potential of the opportunity in hand, if built in a planned way. This shortsightedness has a reasonable impact on their state of inertia. 

5.   Habitual thinking pattern

If you are non-reader (Books or even read online) – getting you to read terms and conditions of different sites, how to guides or do research is a huge challenge. Building that discipline itself is a Herculean task. Based on habitual thinking pattern, the moment there is a concern or crisis, seeking assistance from people is the first thing to do instead of seeking answers by reading online. 

6.   Front ended by others

Some people are very good in what they do. They follow instructions to the T and deliver perfect job each time. The only issue with this lot is they need to be front ended by someone as they are not confident to source their own client. They either dread pitching for fear of rejection or are just doers, and not thinkers. 

7.   No Bids

This can never take off the ground if you do not bid regularly. There is absolutely no point in having the right sell-able skills, a great market out there waiting for you, a well-designed profile and portfolio  - if you are not going make that connect with clients on a regular basis. If you wait for chance, for your profile to pop up in search engines for big orders, that is close to wishful thinking. 

8.   Cut, Copy, Paste Bids

Do not count the bid you do, if they are just cut, copy and paste bids. If you cannot customize your bids according to buyer’s needs, no buyer will be keen to work with you. 

9.   Lack of consistent efforts

These are the ones who are on a roller coaster ride always and with most number of excuses. They bid at a stretch in one week and then disappear for months together. They lack the basic discipline to do things consistently day after day, month after month which is a critical reason to fail in securing any assignment or order.

If you reflect on the efforts you made to create online income and find one of these reasons as the hindering factor, the only course correction would be not to repeat them going forward.