The method still works.
I have always focused on bidding on the jobs by clients that had the potential of becoming long-term clients because I didn’t want to be a part of the rate race. I haven’t looked at the Upwork jobs page since 2015. The last time I bid on and won a project was in 2017, and that was also the project by invitation. Most of my clients have been working with me since 2013.
Last week, I came across a job that looked similar to my first job on Upwork. Just for fun and out of curiosity, I applied to the job to check whether the method I used to nail every single job still worked. Below is the job description and the proposal I sent.
Job Description
Hello. My website is using wordpress, and I’ve been having issues with Error 404. It works only with plain permalinks, but I need it to work with permalinks using postname so I can better setup my SEO.
I need someone who is proficient with wordpress and who had this issue before and resolved it successfully. As mentioned above, the website is currently working using plain permalinks, and I need help with making it work with postname.
Thank you for replying to my job request.
My Proposal
<Client Name>, Most likely the issue is with the mod_rewrite apache module. I will be happy to fix it for you. Shouldn’t take more than an hour to resolve it.
The Result
I was awarded the job after 24 hours and fixed the issue in 30 minutes. The client said that he would keep the job open and may send more work in the future, so it could possibly become another long-term client for me.
Things to Notice
Did you notice what I did in my short proposal? I simply told him a possible cause of the issue to give him the impression that I was a skillful and experienced developer. I also told him the time it would take for me to solve the issue, so he knew the cost of the solution upfront, helping him make a quick decision.
You would have also noticed that I didn’t mention anything about myself. No experience, no qualifications, not even my name.
If you have heard of the Pareto Principle / 80-20 rule, it says to identify inputs that are potentially the most productive and make them the priority, and that’s what I did in my proposal above. In other words: Always focus on the project and not on yourself in your proposals. Clients really don’t care about your experience or portfolio. They are only interested in what you can do for them.
