Freelancers generally believe all the work related to them actually belongs to them and winning those projects is as easy as a walk in the park. It is a general perception every freelancer has when they see a project placement which falls in the skill-set they are expert in. But unlike direct “AUCTIONS” where the highest bidder is the understood WINNER, the algorithm in freelance marketplaces is different.

The match making of employer’s requirement with freelancer’s bid is actually a complex theory. There are many attributes which decide the winner ranging from the response (PROPOSAL) to the price (BID). The importance of value proposition plays a pivotal role which many freelancers seem to oversight therefore they loose an outright chance of winning the game or even getting closer to the competition.

Alright so let’s see what are those important ingredients of bidding which freelancers overlook and what basic steps one needs to take in order to get into the employer’s MIND EYE.

” Bidding on a project and winning it is no different to selling a comb to the BALD, it demands a reason”.

Hilarious right?. The insurgence of reasons in the response and spot on marketing skills “the magic” play a key role. It is this killer combination that co-relates to the chance of getting a response. Let’s just take this topic a little offline for a practical example.

We have all been to circus in some point of our lives right?. What is so special in the tricks of a joker which mesmerizes the audience?.  Why does the joker attract the most traffic out of many other performers?. The influx of large group of people surrounding the joker clearly suggests the human behavior, we all love magic and magical solutions.

I hate to do this but i am afraid we have got to step out of those childhood reminiscences and get back to this online topic (Did you notice this attention capturing direct response right after you were given a reference of the magic at circus?. Read between the lines. That is the marketing skill I am talking about, a direct approach, the Ariel route freelancers need to take to jump ahead of their competition and get attention from the employers.

The pitch of a response to a project is similar to your body language in a one to one in-person meeting with an employer for a business deal. If you are magical in your approach, you begin on the right foot. The conciseness and coherence play pivotal roles. The reason why you are best suited for a job in a meaningful, pleasant way is similar to the “tricks of a joker” in the circus which attracts the attention of the audience. Bottom line is the “MAGIC” solution you have for the employer.

Think of the magic in a much more open and optimistic way, get out of the shrinking pool of canned responses (which leads to the refusal of freelance jobs). The magic must be knitted well with the reason in your response and all of a sudden you will begin to realize that you are getting attention of an employer.

So now you know your response needs to have a REASON and sauced up by the magic approach. Question is “How do you do that?”

Here are few tested (from TYPE A/B approaches) which has worked well for me over the years.

• Start your response with Greetings in a friendly way. 
• Tell your employer you have read their requirement. 
• Now begin with a reason [why you are a perfect FIT for the job, tell about your past experience but don’t go at length, be concise and coherent].
• Time for some MAGIC here “remember the link of REASON and MAGIC”. Here you can give employer an initiative from your end. There are many ways, one trick is to give a small favor by offering a sample of this job or a mockup (in case of website development, design jobs). It does not necessarily have to be a full attempt, remember its the MAGIC which makes employers START the conversation with you. You are making an attempt to get the ATTENTION.
• Time to close your response, here you need to maintain the impact you have created from the beginning of your response, try telling the client [Let me know if you’d be interested to hear more about what I can do for you], excite the curiosity out of an employer. 
• Close your response with Greetings followed by your contact information.

I hope you have enjoyed my little trick which I have up my sleeves when I bid on a project. If you have any questions feel free to comment here.