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Upwork Proposals: 8 Rules to Writing a Winning Upwork Cover Letter — Transcript

by Freelance with Erica | Top 1% Upwork Freelancer · 3,409 words · 464 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00Most beginner freelancers waste their
0:02time trying to create the perfect job
0:05proposal or cover letter for Upwork jobs
0:07only for it to never get opened. Today,
0:10I'm going to show you one of my own
0:12winning proposal templates and teach you
0:14the eight secret rules that will help
0:16you stand out so that your job proposals
0:19get seen, opened, messaged, and most
0:22importantly, turn into paying contracts.
0:24I'm Erikica. I'm a top 1% Upwork
0:27freelancer out of more than 18 million
0:30other freelancers. I have personally
0:32sent more than 600 proposals on Upwork
0:34and my students as of today have earned
0:36more than $700,000
0:39on the Upwork platform. So, I'm going to
0:41pull up one of my past winning proposals
0:44and I'm going to walk you through these
0:46eight cover letter rules that most
0:47Upwork beginners don't even know to use.
0:50And by the way, I have this exact
0:52proposal for you down in the description
0:54for free along with a checklist so that
0:57you can follow along while writing your
0:59own. Don't forget to grab that before
1:00you go. All right, so let's hop into the
1:03rules. Rule number one, we are going to
1:06write for scanners and not for readers.
1:09So I want you to take a look at this
1:11proposal that I have up on the screen.
1:13All right, this proposal is written in a
1:15way to be scanned. These have short
1:17choppy sentences. You'll notice that no
1:20single paragraph has more than three or
1:22four sentences at most. I have white
1:24space between each paragraph as well as
1:28you'll notice that there are emojis used
1:30throughout it. We use the emojis not
1:32only to pull the eye in and draw them
1:34down the proposal, but also to help
1:37break it up into short little sentences
1:39rather than giving them a big wall of
1:41text or long paragraphs to read. All
1:44right, rule number two is I want you to
1:46win the opening hook. Here's what I mean
1:49by that. The first two to three
1:51sentences that you have on your proposal
1:53are the most important real estate you
1:56have on that entire cover letter. All
1:58right? On the client's side, when they
2:01are looking through proposals, and often
2:02they have 20, 30, 50, 100 different
2:05proposals to go through, Upwork only
2:07surfaces those first couple of sentences
2:10that they can see as a preview. So, we
2:12have to make sure that we are making
2:14great use out of that real estate as
2:16it's the only thing they see before they
2:18decide if they're going to click through
2:20and read more. And what I see people do
2:22here all the time is completely waste of
2:25space by talking about themselves.
2:27They'll open up with stuff like, "Hi, my
2:29name is Joe." Or, "I was so excited to
2:33see that you posted this job. I have
2:35Xperience in ABC. this job is a great
2:38fit because I've spent the last 20 years
2:41doing XYZ, right? You notice in that
2:45you're talking about yourself. So,
2:47here's a gut check that I want you to do
2:48for yourself. I want you to go pull up
2:50the last few proposals you did and I
2:52want you to count how many times you use
2:54language like I, me, my. That is your
2:57sign that you are wasting this real
2:59estate. Here's what I want you to do
3:01instead. We are going to talk about the
3:04pain that they are experiencing because
3:06they would not be posting this job on
3:07Upwork unless they have a specific pain
3:10that they are trying to solve and they
3:12need to know that you are the person
3:14that can solve it. But they can't know
3:16that unless they know that you
3:18understand what they're experiencing. So
3:20we are going to talk about the exact
3:23pains that led to them looking for
3:26whatever this job is. So let's go to the
3:29example proposal I have. So, in this
3:31example, I'm a sales copywriter. This
3:33was for an email upsell sequence. Okay,
3:36so here is the opening hook. You already
3:38did the hard part. The people on your
3:40list know you, trust you, and they've
3:42paid you once. Right now, most of them
3:44would happily buy the next thing, too,
3:46but no one's asking. So, you're back on
3:49the content treadmill, cranking out
3:50another post, another reel, another
3:52freebie, burning yourself out, hunting
3:55for new buyers instead. All right, so
3:57here's the things that I want you to
3:58notice in this. First, look at how many
4:01you's and yours are in that opening
4:03hook, right? People always respond
4:05better when you talk to them. The other
4:06thing that we're talking about here is
4:08we're dropping into their moment of
4:10pain. Yes, they want an upsell sequence,
4:12but we need to really think about why do
4:14they want that email upsell sequence.
4:16They want to not have to continue to
4:17sell. They want things that are
4:19automated in the background that sell
4:20automatically for them, right? They have
4:23people that are buying, but they want
4:25them to buy higher price products,
4:27right? So, we have to think about what
4:30led them to post this job in the first
4:32place. Once we know that, then we can
4:34write about the pain points that they're
4:35probably experiencing that are going to
4:38be relieved by providing them this
4:41service that they're asking for. So,
4:44we're saying you've already got people.
4:45They've already paid you once, but
4:46they're not paying you again. Painpoint.
4:48agitating a bit about the fact that
4:50they're having to constantly be going
4:52and getting new customers and reselling
4:54them, being on the content treadmill,
4:56another post, another reel, right? So,
4:58we're we're bringing up that pain for
5:00them. There's a couple other strategic
5:02things I'm doing in here. These are
5:03little bonuses for you. So, I want you
5:04to notice that I also have a colorful
5:06emoji within the first sentence. Okay?
5:09This can come at the beginning, the end,
5:11in between, but use at least one
5:13colorful emoji because again, this is
5:15the tiny little window that shows for
5:17the client. And something as small as
5:19just a little pop of color can draw the
5:21eye. So, you'll also notice that I took
5:23a word like happily and I put it in all
5:25caps. Upwork doesn't allow you to bold
5:27it atalicize. So, instead, look for
5:29words that you want to bold and put them
5:31in all caps. It's just one more easy way
5:33to draw the eye. By the way, if you want
5:36my full Upwork system where I teach you
5:38how to go from I have no idea what I'm
5:40doing all the way to earning your first
5:4210,000 plus on the Upwork platform,
5:45there is a link down in the description
5:46where you can grab a 7-day free trial to
5:49my school community, Freelance with
5:51Erica. All right, now we're going to
5:53move on to rule number three. This is
5:55where I want you to become the solution
5:58and paint the dream. Here's what I mean
6:00by that. So, we're going to look at this
6:01next section. Now, what we want to do is
6:03we want to position you to be the
6:05obvious solution who can help fix this
6:07pain that they're experiencing. You're
6:09going to use one tiny segue sentence.
6:12So, this is going to be something along
6:14the lines of I've mastered and then
6:17insert whatever the skill is that
6:18they're looking for. So, I've mastered
6:20upsell email sequences so well that. And
6:23so, we want to position you as the
6:25expert, as the person that's mastered
6:26it. And then what we're going to do is
6:28we're going to transition into a
6:29three-point list. This three-point list
6:31is what I call painting the dream. So,
6:34we're going to talk about what you're
6:35capable of doing, but we're going to
6:37describe it in the outcomes that they're
6:39going to get. So, I'm not going to read
6:41all three of these, but I'm going to
6:42read the first one, and we'll go through
6:43that one together. You're going to get a
6:44ready to send sequence that walks your
6:46past customers from their first purchase
6:48to the upgrade with subject lines built
6:51to get opened and copy built to get
6:53clicked. So, we're painting this dream
6:55of it's going to be ready to go. It's
6:56going to send a sequence. It's going to
6:58get people to upgrade with subject lines
7:01that are built to get open. Another
7:03tangible outcome that they want, right?
7:05And copy that's built to get clicked. I
7:08have four different outcomes just in
7:10that one first bullet point. So, the
7:12more you can pack in, the better. And we
7:14want them to get excited about what we
7:17can deliver for them. Rule number four,
7:19we're going to lead with proof. So, we
7:21don't just want to promise them this
7:23outcome. We want to prove it to them.
7:25Okay? Okay. And so we a testimonial or a
7:27result that we've gotten and we tie this
7:30directly to the outcomes that we just
7:31promised them. It doesn't have to be a
7:33testimonial on Upwork. If you have
7:35testimonials somewhere else, you can use
7:37those and pull them in. If you don't
7:39have a testimonial, that's okay.
7:41Instead, think about a positive past
7:43result that you've gotten for somebody.
7:45And you can say something like, "In my
7:47last campaign, I got a 40% open rate on
7:50an upsell sequence uh as well as um a
7:5412% conversion rate on the sales page."
7:57Right? And so you need to pull in
7:59specific numbers with specific results.
8:01But if you have a testimonial, even
8:03better. So we're going to feature a
8:05testimonial. That's my preferred way.
8:07Again, we're going to use emojis. I like
8:09to use five yellow stars. It's a really
8:11easy way for people to quickly know that
8:14that is a quote and a testimonial that
8:15you are featuring. Always use quote
8:17marks around your testimonials. And I
8:20want you to be really choosy in choosing
8:23the best lines and the best testimonials
8:26of the ones that you have that best fit
8:28this job that you're applying for. And
8:29you're going to feature that right after
8:32you walk them through. Here's your pain.
8:34Here's the outcomes I'm going to get
8:35you. And now here's the proof of why you
8:38can believe that that is something that
8:39I can do for you. Okay. So, you can see
8:42the example here that I used in this
8:44proposal. So, need proof. Here's what a
8:46recent client said. Erica wrote a seven
8:49email upsell sequence for our high
8:50ticket course. It paid for itself in 72
8:53hours. It added 31% to our revenue to
8:57the same list we already had and people
8:59replied to thank us for the emails.
9:01Unbelievable, right? So, you're just
9:03going to grab the best testimonial that
9:05you have. You're going to feature it
9:06there. Rule number five. I want you to
9:09show the meals and not the groceries.
9:12Here's what I mean by that. So, this is
9:14where we finally get to talk about you.
9:16So, you've been waiting this whole time,
9:17right, to be able to talk about
9:18yourself. This is where you get to tell
9:20them about those credentials or
9:22certifications you have, those years of
9:24experiences you have, different software
9:26that you work with. But what I see a lot
9:28of people do is they stop there. They
9:30list the groceries. So they will just
9:32list off their experiences and
9:34certifications and they don't actually
9:36tie it to why should this client care
9:39about that. What we need to do is not
9:41only list the things and our
9:43capabilities, but we need to tie it to a
9:45reason for why does it matter to the
9:47client. All right. So here's an example.
9:49Again, I'm not going to read every
9:50single one of these, but I'll read the
9:52first one. So, what I bring to the
9:54table, top rated plus and expert vetted,
9:57top 1% out of more than 18 million
10:00freelancers with a 100% job success
10:02score. When I name a deadline, you can
10:05plan your week around it. So, I'm
10:06listing the groceries at first, right?
10:08Top rated plus, expert vetted, top 1%,
10:11100% job success score. But then you can
10:13see I tie it to an outcome. So, when I
10:15name a deadline, you can plan your week
10:17around it, right? So, I'm showing them I
10:19am an expert. I'm a professional at what
10:21I do. and you can trust me with your
10:24work and with your project. A quick
10:25reminder here, you don't have to
10:27memorize all of these rules, right? I
10:29have them all in that checklist that's
10:31down below in the description that you
10:32can grab. All right, so let's move on to
10:35rule number six. We want to make this an
10:38easy yes for the client. What I want you
10:41to do here is we are going to make an
10:43offer to the client, but the offer is
10:45not to go straight to just let's start
10:49this contract right now. Instead, what
10:50we want to do is we want to reduce the
10:52friction as much as possible. And we
10:55want to think about what is the smallest
10:57next step that I could ask them to do
10:59that would be a really easy yes for
11:01them. There's all sorts of different
11:02ways that you could do this. Um, but a
11:05few examples could be something like it
11:07could be hopping on a quick 15-minute
11:09call with you. My case, I'm going to
11:11show you an example of doing a small
11:13scope trial. You want to do something
11:15that is small scale, low stakes for them
11:18that makes it an easy yes. Because
11:20chances are if we're just saying,
11:22"Message me so we can talk about this
11:23big contract." You're just one of 30,
11:2650, 100 different proposals. And if it's
11:28a bigger job, they're going to take
11:29their time. They're going to want to
11:30talk to multiple freelancers before they
11:32make a long-term commitment. So, what we
11:34want to do is try and cut the line by
11:37giving them a much smaller, easy yes
11:39that moves them to action now rather
11:42than waiting for more proposals to come
11:44in, rather than waiting to talk to a
11:46bunch of different people. So, here's
11:47how I do this in my proposal.
11:49Copywriting is subjective. What's
11:51hemingway to one person is kept in
11:53underpants to the next. So, before any
11:55big commitment, let's do a 2-hour trial.
11:58This will give us a chance to assess
11:59mutual fit. You'll get to see firsthand
12:02the quality and how much I can get done
12:04and we can decide how to continue from
12:06there. Do you see how immediately we're
12:08taking it from a bigger job, a bigger
12:10commitment down to a very low risk, much
12:13easier yes? Right? Saying yes to that is
12:16really not making the commitment to the
12:18long-term contract. So then they're not
12:20going to worry as much about needing to
12:22wait for more proposals to come in or
12:23who they need to talk to because in
12:25their brain they're thinking, you know
12:26what, I could just do this two-hour
12:27trial while I continue to wait for
12:29proposals to come in, while I talk to
12:31these people. And so then that gives you
12:33[clears throat] your chance to show what
12:34you can do and then earn that contract
12:37before they ever have to talk to any
12:39other freelancer. So we want to make an
12:41offer and make it an easy yes. That's
12:44rule number six. Rule number seven, we
12:46are always going to name our next step.
12:49So, in the closing, I always want you,
12:51they call this a call to action or a
12:53CTA. If the client is not the one
12:55leading you to the next step, you are
12:57always going to be leading them to the
12:59next step. We don't want this to turn
13:01into something that trails off at the
13:02end, like I hope to hear from you. I'm
13:04really excited about this job. I hope we
13:07talk soon. That is a very soft sort of
13:09close. We want to make a very specific
13:12ask of them. So, when you get to the
13:14end, this is where you're going to ask
13:15them to either send me a couple times
13:17that work for you next week and let's
13:19schedule a call or tomorrow and let's
13:20schedule a call. Send me a message,
13:22reply that you're in, right? And we'll
13:24get started. It could also double as
13:27part of your offer. But even on your
13:28offer, it could be something like send
13:30me over an example of this and I will
13:33get back with you with my like top three
13:35recommendations of what we should do.
13:36Right? So, we we always want to give
13:39them an action that we're asking them to
13:41take. In my example that I give you, it
13:44says, "If you're ready to get started
13:45this week, just send me a message and
13:47say you're in. I can begin as early as
13:49tomorrow." All right? And so, we're
13:51always going to name the next action.
13:53And then that teases into our next rule,
13:56which is that we always want to be
13:57creating a bit of gentle urgency. Okay?
14:01And so, when I say urgency, I don't want
14:04you to get super salesy. I don't want
14:05you to sound like an infomercial, but
14:07there are ways that we can create some
14:10urgency that gives this person a reason
14:12to take action now versus waiting a
14:15week, two weeks, a month before they
14:16decide to go through their proposals and
14:18respond to people. So, a few of the
14:20different ways you can create urgency in
14:22your proposals is you can use timebased
14:26urgency. So, you can see I can start as
14:28early as tomorrow, right? So for someone
14:30who maybe is really excited to get their
14:32project done, they want someone with
14:34easy fast availability. If that's true
14:36for you, you can leverage language like
14:38that where you use time. You also can
14:41create urgency through availability. So
14:43like I said, I can start as early as
14:45tomorrow. But it also could be, I have
14:47some hours still open this week if you
14:49would like to grab them before they fill
14:51up. Right? So again, be truthful in the
14:54things that you're saying, but you can
14:55create urgency through availability. And
14:58then you also can create urgency through
15:00some sort of incentive. So the incentive
15:02could be something like you're going to
15:04give them a limited time discount on
15:06your rate if they start within a certain
15:08time frame. It could be that you're
15:10going to give them some sort of bonus or
15:13extra if they get started within a
15:15certain amount of time. All right. So
15:16here in my example is how that looks. So
15:19PS, I think this could be a great fit.
15:21So, if you'd like to get started this
15:23week, I'll take $10 off my hourly rate
15:26because I'd love to be the one that
15:27helps you with this, right? And the more
15:29things you can combine, the better. So,
15:31you can see I'm using a bit of time
15:32urgency, right? With an incentive. I'll
15:35take $10 off my rate. So, those are the
15:39eight rules that will help your
15:41proposals go from being completely
15:42ignored to getting opened and responded
15:45to. And I promise you, if you follow
15:46these rules, you're going to have better
15:48proposals than 99% of the other
15:50beginners on Upwork. And clients are
15:53going to finally start opening,
15:54responding, and turning into contracts.
15:57If you'd like my help and helping you
15:59break through and start to finally earn
16:01money on Upwork, I have the exact
16:04prompts and the trainings that will help
16:05you create proposals just like this one
16:07inside of my school community. Again,
16:10there's a link down below in the
16:11description that will give you a free
16:137-day trial. If you found this helpful,
16:16please hit the subscribe button as I
16:18have many more of these trainings coming
16:19up ahead. And tell me in the comments of
16:22these eight rules, how many of them were
16:24you already using and which one
16:26surprised you the most? All right, I'll
16:29see you guys in the next video.

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