Before we go into how to write a winning proposal, I want to share a freelance site where you can bid for virtual assistant jobs. Upwork (www.upwork.com), it is an online platform that connects business owners with freelance professionals. Business owners and freelancers are required to create accounts to benefit from the service. As a new virtual assistant, this is a great place to find your first clients.
Upwork offers a paid freelancer membership option for $15/month or an agency membership for $20/month. The agency option is best suited for a team-based virtual assistant business. IT includes features that enable you to assign tasks and manage your team members within the platform.
So once you create your account with Upwork, your next task will be getting clients. Hopefully, this post will point you in the right direction.
First, you will need to identify job posts in Upwork that you are interested in and match your skillset. Then you will need to write a proposal that grabs your client’s attention so that they can invite you to an interview where you can wow them with your skills, experience, and personality!
Here are my 7 tips on how to write a proposal that stands out in Upwork, or anywhere else that you are bidding for virtual assistant opportunities 
- Aim at your proposal being amongst the first 5-10 that are received by your potential client. Most potential clients will receive hundreds of bid/proposals, and they don’t have the time to read all the ones they receive. As much as possible, try to get yours to be amongst the first ones they receive to give it the best chance of being read.
- Keep your proposal brief and concise. Rather than writing a long one, write a short but powerful one. Most clients don’t have the time to read every bid/proposal that they receive. They skim through them. So make your proposal brief, precise, and to the point.
- Proofread your proposal for typos and grammar errors before you submit it. As a VA, you will communicate in writing frequently. Therefore, your potential client will pay attention to your writing skills as she reads your proposal.
- Research your potential client’s business. Do your due diligence. Learn as much as you can about your potential client before you bid. They may have created a detailed profile within the freelance platform where you found the job posting. Visit their profile page to learn more about them and what they do. Please read the feedback they got from other service providers who worked for them. You can also use Google to find their website to learn more about their business and visit their social media pages to know more about them and their business.
All the information that you gather from your research will help you craft and customize your proposal and will also come in handy during an interview—going this extra mile will impress your client. It shows that you are serious about the job and are interested in understanding more about their business and the services or products that they sell.
- Use your “connect(s)” strategically. Connects are tokens that you use to submit proposals. Each job post is assigned a specific number of “connects.” The assigned “connects” are the minimum number required to submit a proposal.The number of “connects” you use to submit your proposal determines the placement of your bid/proposal on your potential client’s account. It’s like buying prime advertising space. The more “connects” you use, the higher your bid/proposal is placed, and hence the more visible it will be.
- Price your services rightUpwork gives you the option to bid per project or hour. It is usually challenging for both the VA and the client to accurately estimate how long it will take to complete a project or a variety of tasks. Therefore, it is best to bid using an hourly rate in the freelance platforms.
- Be honest
Do not exaggerate your experience or expertise when bidding. Do not say that you are available from eight a.m. to five p.m. when, in reality, you are available from nine a.m. to three p.m. It will only be a matter of time before these lies catch up with you. You and the client may end up very frustrated if you’re not able to live up to your promises. The client will be dissatisfied with your services and may give you negative feedback.Your business reputation matters. It is better, to be honest about what you can and cannot do than to destroy your credibility by underperforming or under-delivering.In my experience, the best source of new business has been referrals from happy clients. Make every effort to ensure that your clients are satisfied. In my opinion, honesty is the best policy 🙂