Are you a freelancer without projects to work on? Have you been submitting proposals all over without getting a single win? There may be some very simple mistakes you are making in the bidding process. Read on to know more about mistakes that you must avoid when bidding on a project.

1) Bidding on projects you don’t have any expertise in:

Are you bidding on projects for which you don’t have the correct set of skills? If yes, then you should change your approach immediately. Yes, you may want to be a copywriter, but if you aren’t one yet there is no point claiming to be one. This is true especially if you don’t have the required samples to support your claim. Clients get bombarded with proposals and go through an elimination process to shortlist who they want to interview. If you don’t have any samples to justify your claimed expertise, they will drop you like a hot brick. You’ll just end up wasting their time and yours as well.

2) Submitting a generic proposal:

Try to personalize each and every proposal you submit. Remember that the majority of freelancers submit generic proposals which don’t add any value. Tailor your proposal for each project you bid for. Mention any related projects you did which make you the perfect fit. Be sure to ask questions about the project. You don’t want to bore your prospective employer now, do you? Remember, you are competing with other freelancers who have bid for this project. If you can stand out by personalizing your proposal, you will be one step ahead of them.

3) Not proofreading your proposal:

A lot of freelancers are in a hurry to be among the first few who submit a bid. As a result, their proposals are full of spelling or grammatical mistakes. Don’t be such a freelancer as this will ensure that you spend more time submitting proposals than working on projects. Take the time to go through each line you have written at least once or preferably twice. A lot of occasions, this step can help you remove inadvertent errors and submit a crisper proposal. Spending a couple of minutes to proofread your proposal is a must. This may be the difference between winning a project and not winning it.

4) Stressing on yourself rather than on what you can do for the client

The majority of freelance proposals seem to be an advertisement for the freelancer. Cut down on the “I” and stress on the “You.” Yes, you may be a rock star freelancer having loads of qualifications and experience. But a sure fire way of boring a potential client is focusing on yourself rather than what you can do for him. You may have 10+ years of experience in programming, and that’s good to highlight. But also stress on how you can use these many years of experience in solving the client’s problem.

5) Have a professional profile picture:

Don’t be one of those freelancers who uses a decades old photograph as a profile picture. The client should know what you look like right now and not what you looked like in high school! Consider getting a professional photographer to take a current photograph in natural light. Smile warmly as that helps you look friendly and makes you seem more approachable. Clients would always prefer to work with a freelancer they can get along with.

It’s too easy to give up if you don’t get freelance projects despite bidding on loads. Take a step back and assess whether you are going about it the right way. Follow our tips above to get better results when bidding on projects.