How to respond to projects. How to get an order for a freelancer: secrets of communicating with a customer. Delayed timing with an imaginary reason

Yes, the tips are simple and obvious, but as a cheat sheet it will do. As a customer - I can say that between SEO forums and freelance sites - I now choose the latter. And you? However, “where to order” and “how to win an order” are completely different directions.

Svetlana:

I have been using freelance sites for a long time to find artists: designers, copywriters, programmers. As a customer, I know very well what a performer must do to win such projects.

For the sake of interest, I even made a separate account to test my ideas - and they work!

So, to win on freelance sites:

Have time to respond quickly.
To do this, you can subscribe to notifications of new projects. In my experience, about 30% of projects are urgent. In addition, the customer may already begin negotiations with someone, and already have time to agree.

Answer personalized.
No need to write single-word typical phrases (I take it, I can handle it, I did it, I write, I am ready to work). Spend 5-15 minutes of your time to make a truly personalized offer. Show this to the customer that you carefully studied the project.

Offer your options.
This is a variation of the previous tip. A potential performer makes an excellent impression and writes, “In paragraph 1.5 of the statement of work, it is better to do something wrong, but like that.”

Indicate the price or price plug.
When 20 applications with a price have been submitted to the project, and 1 application contains “Depends on TK, send TK and I will say the price” - such an application has no chance.

Indicate the average price for such work (or below the average).
High prices can be set only if you have unique competencies (draw cartoons well, know how to make high-quality flash games). In other cases, you will have several dozen competitors.

Do not be afraid to miscalculate the price: you always have time to abandon the project. Moreover, if the price increase can be reasonably and easily explained, then the price can be increased to 100%. In addition, it will be possible to earn on after-sales service (make another design, make a hat, write more texts, modify the module).

Make a portfolio.
The bigger, the better. But if part of the portfolio (for example, the designer) was made long ago, and then your level was not as high as it is now, then it’s better to remove such works. The level of the designer is estimated averaged over his work, and mediocre designs can scare away the customer.

Gather positive feedback about yourself.
As an option, for the first time do at half price, or ask friends to leave. You can also give links to other sites where they respond well to you.

Work wisely with negative reviews.
Not always a negative review is the result of unsatisfactory work of the contractor. There are such customers with whom it is very difficult to achieve a result. But there are methods on how to properly neutralize such a recall. For example, you can answer him like this: “Yes, I agree, there were my mistakes, but now I took them into account, and this will not happen again in the future.” And you must respond to a negative review!

Monitor your nickname (possibly name and surname) in search engines. Many customers look at reviews of performers not only at exchanges.

Place your various contacts on the site.
Mail, ICQ, Skype, phone. You can even make individual ones if you do not want to show your main contacts. Purpose: so that you can accelerate the interaction. Otherwise, while you write in PM, while a person reads and says OK, while you ask for mail, while you send. Sometimes it takes 1-2 days. It’s also good practice to indicate at what time you are available for which contact.

Do not stand out for the worse.
If there is a practice that no advance payment is made for this work, or 50% is paid, then you do not need to demand a 100% advance. If the amount of the project is small, then do not require the execution of the contract and a safe transaction, etc.

Make yourself a small personal website with portfolio, your photo, contacts. The more public the performer, the more trust in him.

And do not forget your old customers.
You can periodically remind them of yourself and find out if there is any work for you. The old truth is that attracting a new customer is several times more expensive than retaining an old one.

Uninteresting for today.

So, you are registered on one of the freelancer exchanges,. An important moment is coming - you are viewing applications from customers and looking for your project.

A small digression. It is important to understand that there are two types of customers. Some people prefer to search for artists themselves, browsing through hundreds of accounts, choosing from a portfolio and reading reviews of others. The second ones are those who leave a request for their project, and then they select an artist from those freelancers who responded to it. Knowing this, you should not wait only for customers of the first type. It makes sense to take the initiative and fight for the receipt of the order.

Far from always, the customer is a pro in the field in which he is looking for an artist. It is also necessary to remember and relate to this, as they say, with understanding. Most often, this applies to programming, website development, or their layout, as well as SEO, that is, those areas where a certain knowledge of the topic and education are required.

I, a purely humanitarian person, had a couple of years ago freelancer search experiencewhich will make the site. I knew roughly what should be on each of the pages, and, as I could, described all this, in some places even attached screenshots of the sites I liked. In response, I received dozens of questions about platforms, configuration, and so on. and honestly didn’t know how to answer them. She asked: what would you advise, what they answered me - well, we don’t know what you want ... As a result, I found a freelancer, from my friends, who in response to my description file sent a ready-made technical task, she made it based on mine descriptions! Needless to say, what exactly did she make the site?

It happens that the customer does not disclose at the first communication (or in the application) all information about the project.And not because he is such a bastard. Very often, he, the customer, expects details about the development of his own project from a potential contractor. For example, in the case of ordering a site, I did not write that I would need promotion, I would deal with the site. This was written to me by the freelancer herself, who is also actively engaged in SEO. And the details are not disclosed simply because there is no experience of orders, or too lazy to write everything in detail, but you never know what. So the task of a freelancer who wants to receive an order is to think over what else he can offer as part of this application.

Do not respond to applications in monosyllables: I’m trying to complete it, here’s the portfolio. Remember that in front of you is a customer of the second type who is not looking for an artist himself. This means that he will not climb the portfolio and read everything that is written in your account. Write briefly in the response to the application who you are, what you do and, most importantly, why you need to give this project away. And here you can already refer to the portfolio, having previously indicated that there is experience of successful (I emphasize: successful) work in this topic.

We all faced the typical questions of recruiters. Anna Ivanova, managing consultant at IT & Telecoms practice at the Hays recruiting company, explains why they ask them and what they want to hear in return.

Question 1. Tell us about yourself?

What for?

The interviewer wants to understand what is important to you in life and work.

How to answer?

You can always clarify what exactly interests a recruiter: your biography or professional achievements. Alternatively, follow the chronological order. Briefly tell about yourself, your family, choice of profession, main achievements and how you plan to develop further. It depends on your answer which questions you will be asked next.

What will not add points?

You praise yourself without any facts, fall into lengthy discussions about the meaning of life, and tell in great detail about your childhood and youth.

One candidate at a meeting at our company began the answer to this question with the words: “I am the best IT manager you have ever seen.” Unfortunately, he could not support these words with examples.

Question 2. Why did you choose this university / specialty / profession?

What for?

Few at the age of 16-18 conduct an in-depth analysis of possible training options and career choices. But it is precisely this question that helps the recruiter understand if you are satisfied with your choice.

How to answer?

What will not add points?

You complain that you have been led astray, you prove that you are useless from school and throw the phrase: “If I were hiring employees, I would not pay attention to their education.”

Recently, one of our clients shared that the system administrator at the meeting criticized his parents for a long time because they insisted on his training in Baumanka. He concluded the complaint with the words: “Well, you understand how this happens.” The technical director of this company then repeated to us for a long time that he didn’t understand anything.

Question 3. Who do you see yourself in 5 years?

What for?

It is important for the interviewer to understand what you and the company are on the way in the long run. Even if you mutually understand that you will not work here for five years and an interesting project will be completed earlier.

How to answer?

If it is difficult for you to answer this template question, reformulate: “How would you like your career to develop in the next few years?”, “What professional and / or personal goals do you set for yourself in the coming years?”. Remember that there is no right answer to any question, the recruiter just wants to hear your thoughts.

Give him the opportunity to be sure that you will not run away in six months. You can even admit that in five years you plan to be in the place of your potential leader. A professional manager will be happy to help his employees climb the career ladder and is unlikely to feel competition. And if he plans to work so long without development, maybe you do not need him?

What will not add points?

You admit that after 5 years you see yourself as a freelancer in Bali, a Forbes list millionaire, dream of focusing on motherhood and do not plan to return to work. And you are not joking.

From the latest examples: a Java developer who at the beginning of the conversation shared what he is looking for “a long-term project and an employer who will not go broke after 5 years” (he had such experience), and at the end let slip that he already bought from him in November tickets to Indonesia, from where he begins his journey around the world. Obviously, an employer who is really not going to go broke and launches a project for a period of at least two years is not interested in such a candidate.

Question 4. Why is our company?

What for?

The recruiter looks at what you know about the company, what is important for you when choosing a potential employer, what advantages you see for yourself in the opportunity to join the team, what will motivate you and what will not.

How to answer?

Read about the company, projects, team in advance. Look for employee reviews. Look at the pages on social networks: the organization itself, and those people with whom the interview is scheduled. Maybe this is how you find out that this is a cool training program or the most ambitious projects that you have ever heard of are planned.

If among your professional or personal acquaintances there are those who know the company from the inside, talk to them. This will help you answer the sacramental question “Why?” and evaluate how this work and team suit you. And yes, “Your work will be a challenge for me” is not the answer! Better disclose which one and why.

What will not add points?

You say that the company is not important to you, money is more important. Anyway, it was not you who chose it, but you were invited.

It is especially sad when, at a meeting with a recruiter, the candidate finds sound reasons for interest in the company, and at a meeting with the hiring manager, he complains about the persistent recruiter who “forced” him to come to the second meeting.

Question 5. Why should we take you?

What for?

The recruiter is trying to understand what benefits the organization can bring. You are not compared with other candidates, it is in your value as a professional.

How to answer?

This question is unlikely to be the very first. When asked, you will already have enough information to assess what your strengths and weaknesses are. It is best to answer the question according to the “sandwich” principle: strong - weak - strong. So it will not seem that you are praising yourself. Specifically, tell us about the results you can achieve, sign contracts or take on projects. Name the areas in which you would like to pull yourself up, and complete the answer with examples of achievements from your current work.

What will not add points?

You are trying to find out who else is going through the competition, and compare yourself with other candidates. You react sharply and take offense: “Yes, I don’t care, you can’t take it!” It happens! Make a big emphasis on your soft skills in the answer - “I am purposeful, responsible, quickly learn.”

Once we received feedback from the candidate that he was completely disappointed with this issue, since his potential employer decided at the interview stage to shift all responsibility to him. I won’t surprise anyone if I say that the company returned to the candidate with a refusal.

The work of a copywriter consists not only of writing texts. It is also negotiating with customers. And the most crucial moment in the negotiations is the first letter.

Imagine a simple situation. You saw an interesting project or an attractive vacancy, and you want to answer, try your hand and offer services, but something does not give you. You are afraid, you do not know what to write, you are not sure that you can do it.

There is a desire, but there is no self-confidence, and you do not write. Or you still write, but something goes wrong and for some reason they don’t even answer you.

A similar situation may be when the client found you on your own - according to your data or someone recommended you, and you also need to answer.

Let's figure out how to write the first letter to a potential client so that it is not excruciatingly painful. What to write so that the first communication turns into an order.

The main thing to understand is that the first communication lays the foundation

Do not formally approach the first letter as an unsubscribe; do not think that it does not matter that you can write something about yourself and that’s enough.

Why is it important? Because this is the first impression, it is a trial ball, especially when we talk about the work of a copywriter. The first letter of a copywriter is always evaluated critically, because the way you write indirectly shows how you will work on the text. Customers think so, and it will be impossible for them to explain that the text you write to order will be much better and completely different than your first letter written somehow.

In order not to be “somehow”, start with these 5 steps.

Step 1. Literacy

When you write your first letter, everything is important. You will be evaluated literally for each point, for each comma. Therefore, the first thing you should remember is your letter must be literate.

No matter how much they say that the copywriter is not the one who writes correctly, but the one who knows how to work with meanings and marketing information (and this is true), you will not have a second chance to prove that these are random errors and that “In fact, my corrector always reads my custom texts.” And if representatives of other Internet specialties (designers, programmers) are still forgiven for errors in the first letter, then the copywriter's letter with an almost 100% guarantee will be sent to the basket.

Step 2. Design and structure

When I talk and write about any texts, I always emphasize: you can write something cool, but if there is no structure, if it is a brick or a sheet, your text will not be read. Even when we write a small message in response to the project - this is also important. Your potential client will evaluate how you work with the structure and presentation logic.

If you divide the text into paragraphs, use subheadings and lists in texts for the client, show that you can do this in the first letter.

Even if it is a small text, even if it is 5 sentences, divide them into two paragraphs, separate these paragraphs with an empty line and your text will immediately become more readable and immediately it will show that you respect the reader. Do not write huge letters when this is the first stage of negotiations - no one is ready to read a long text about you to get a first impression. It can be 2-3 paragraphs of 3-4 sentences, no more.

Step 3. The right attitude

The following is rather self-motivation. Before writing an answer, you need to sit down, inhale, exhale and say to yourself: “This person is looking for a copywriter, he NEEDS a copywriter. He already wrote a vacancy announcement. And I'm the same copywriter that is perfect. Yes, I know that I can handle this. Yes, these are my favorite topics. Yes, I have already written about this repeatedly, I already had such articles or selling texts. ” You sat down and gave yourself the installation that you can handle it. Need to take and answer.

And one more secret that you can try. I call him "find yourself a PR man." I have this husband. It can be a friend, colleague, a person with whom you communicate, who knows what you are doing, what you are developing in. A PR man is needed when such a project appears, where it seems to you that you are a bit underreporting. You read, everything is tempting and interesting, but the thought arises: “No, I won’t write, I probably won’t pull it, it’s probably a little more than my level.” And you are already on the verge of closing the project and no longer returning to it. In such a situation, contact a PR manager for help.

How am i doing this? I show the vacancy to “my PR man” and say: “Listen, I feel like it, but it seems to me that I won’t pull, I don’t know any of the above, I haven’t tried it yet, I haven’t worked with it yet.” And I hear in reply: “What are you, yes you are the best, how can you not pull? Remember, you had such a project? You did it there and did it? What you do not know? So we will find instructions, you will learn, and you will succeed. ” This is the moment when for the start you need someone to push us a little in the back.

Step 4. We are not writing yet ... Attention - traps

And now, remembering that you need the right structure and logic, that you are ideally suited for this vacancy, and therefore with a pure heart you can offer yourself, re-read the vacancy.

Here again - inhale, exhale - we need carefully re-read the vacancy. Why? Because one of the qualities expected of a copywriter is attentiveness. And very often, I even know that sometimes on purpose, vacancies are made up so as to check this moment of attentiveness at the entrance.

For example, when vacancies describe the requirements and offer a response to the vacancy, write to the post office. There is no option “write me in a personal message”, there are no communication options to choose from, but only one mailbox and a specific subject of the letter, for example, “feedback on a vacancy”. This is a test of attentiveness. After all, if you see the project on social networks, your first desire is to respond to the messenger.

And when you did all this work, tuned in, found all the traps, only now you can start writing.

Step 5. What to write

I think the answer to a project or a vacancy is a mini-selling text, which means that all blocks of conviction are important to us.

What should be in your letter:

  • The correct subject of the letter is the one requested by the author of the project, or simply the name of the vacancy and your last name.
  • Do not forget to say hello and do it in the style of business communication. I believe that writing in a letter “good day” is illiterate. Write: “Good afternoon” - this is suitable for any time of the day. Write: “Greetings”, “Hello” - these are neutral messages. Contact by name. This is not a formality, it is not superfluous, it must be done without fail.
  • Write the reason you are writing this letter. When we respond to the project, I want to go straight to the quarry - immediately write about myself. But write at least one introductory sentence: "In the group ... I saw that you were looking for a copywriter, and so I decided to write to you." It will be easier for you to start the letter in such a way, and besides, it is an adjustment to the reader, and in this case you do not even need to think what to write there, everything is written in the project.

And one more reason - a person can look for several specialists for different vacancies, several copywriters for different projects. It is important to make clear which project you are responding to and where you received this information.

  • And after that, offer a solution - your services. Write how you can help, what you specialize in. If the project specified requirements for a copywriter 1,2,3,4,5, be sure to indicate in the response that you correspond to them.
  • Moving on to the benefits. Even if it seems banal to you, but still write that you are doing the work on time. This is important because it is a common objection that freelancers break deadlines. Write that you process large amounts of information. Think about what other benefits you have, what other benefits you can show in this short letter. The benefits should fit in another 1-2 sentences.
  • Further, you can tell a little more about yourself in order to build trust. The easiest way is to talk about the experience. For example, "I’ve been writing texts for so many years, I worked with this topic, here is my portfolio and give a link." Talk about recent training. Literally 1-2 sentences. Capacitively, briefly, without unnecessary words.
  • To write or not how much are your services? If the project initially indicates how much you are willing to pay the copywriter, with your letter you simply agree to these conditions. If you see the phrase "indicate your rates" - do not forget to write how you evaluate your work.
  • Now in the selling text we need a call to action. In a letter, this may be an open question about the project. But your question should not be banal, it should not show that you have inattentively read the vacancy, it should be in essence and show interest in the project.

Your task is to enable you to continue the dialogue with you. Even if everything is clear and understandable in the vacancy, still leave a call to action, write this sentence: “If you have questions, write” so that it is clear that you are ready for a dialogue.

And so that this text does not seem boring and mentoring to you, I will show you a few examples. One is a simulated answer to a vacancy, the second is a real example from the group of a copywriting course, after which we got a collaboration.

This is a simulated version.

Remember: competition continues. The answer to the project is the first step by which the customer makes the first choice and screening. And if he already has questions at this level, he will simply move on to other candidates.

As you can see, "there is no secret here." Try it and it will work out.

P.S. This article is written on the basis of live broadcast on the official page "Copywriter Lab" on Facebook. If you like video format more,

People want work ... No, people want a well-paid job. Everyone wants!

Except for a bunch of gouging that they don’t want anything ... except for money and their ass on the couch.

And it is right! Decent work with good pay is interesting, attractive and positively responds to the budget.

As soon as my blog is focused on writers, let’s take a look at the writers behind the scenes at one of the freelancers ’exchanges, with vibrant activity and recent turmoil of changes - freelance.ru.

Not all offers are naturally attractive. Some are generally tin. But they are, and everyone can find it to their liking. From a beginner taking the first steps to a pro who has already worked with large firms. Everyone chooses their price category of projects and "spins" in their porridge.

Now we will not go into details of pricing policies, dumping and strict rejection of low prices. I’ll just add - if there weren’t any performers willing to work for that kind of money, then there wouldn’t be any offers. Here, I think you will agree.

We are more interested in the competitive component of the process - "publication of the project -\u003e selection of the contractor".

On a standing order, people are falling like ... I don’t even know what to compare with ... Ah! Like penguins during migration. Everyone rumbles in his own way, but everyone tries to grab a good place. And the most correct mumbler finds a parking lot that meets his requirements, but with warm conditions. And what does he do for this?

Everyone has different strategies. Getting to know them is a problem. Most of them act wisely and put a tick in the right checkbox, hiding their messages from the eyes of others. But from the answers that are available in the public domain, conclusions can already be drawn.

Ma-a-scarlet retreat: I always told everyone that you need to learn from what is available to you. Do not stupidly copy, but look closely and think how to apply the situation to your advantage. And this time I will not change my rules. Watch and learn, but do not wait until the good uncle tells you how to do it.

As I wrote in a recent post, little has changed since I started writing. What answers were written in the projects, such are still being written. What keeps such people afloat? Who knows, but somehow floundering.

And I was like that. Except: "Ready to cooperate." I didn’t write anything. In those days, it was still surprising to me - for 1000 characters, PAUL DOLLAR is paid! Therefore, I worked for a penny, full of happiness and joy for myself. After some time, I ate this good and wanted something more. And he decided to spend money on his education. More precisely - a webinar on increasing income. It was there that I learned the terrible truth - I'm a burdock! It is necessary to act differently.

Rule number 1. Customers are people, ordinary people. They have their own fears, they have their own problems. And they came to solve them on the stock exchange. They are afraid for the result, they are afraid for their money and in general ...

Customers have heard that the performers are terrible lazy people who do not want to work without an advance payment, having received which they are immediately washed off in hibernation. Performers have heard that customers are terrible mean-spirits and scammers who do not want to pay correctly, on time or even pay.

Hmmm ... but there is no smoke without fire. Think where this crap came from?

So, forget the scam, forget the scammers and mean-spirits. Let's talk about a normal customer and a normal contractor. If anyone desires about scammers, then you are in the wrong place. You have to think: Why do you come across such people? This is a serious and deep climb already ...

An ordinary person having a problem (lack of texts on the resource) turns to the stock exchange to strangers to solve the urgent. What's in his head - see above. He is afraid (do not confuse with panic fear, I think the meaning should be clear), but there is nothing to do, and he publishes the project. Let it be at average rates. (In order not to create an unhealthy excitement).

And what does he get in return? Note that from those people whom he didn’t even hear about, he didn’t even suspect that there was a certain Vasya Pupkin who answered: “Ready to work, send the task!”

Rule number 2. The customer wants specifics.

We’ll cut it on our nose - send short answers away, to the same place where long poems (I don’t remember something like that, mostly short pearls).

The customer may have many directions, but at the moment he is interested in solving a specific problem. This must also be borne in mind.

We write only specific offers and information about ourselves. If we do not break through now, then we are very likely to be taken note.

Rule number 3. The customer wants guarantees.

He is not a fool to give his money left and right. He wants to have a more or less guaranteed fulfillment of his tasks.

What can serve as your guarantee:

  • Personal certificate in the payment system
  • Full portfolio in the account on the exchange
  • Long term on the stock exchange
  • Your personal resource (blog, site)
  • Reviews from other employers.

Almost complete list. Now we will not apply it to all price categories. Now he has a different task. How many items from this list can be attributed to your person?

Or maybe three?

Or zero?

Yes, I partially agree that at the moment the "risk-free transaction" somehow smooths out the situation with a guarantee. But for some customers, loss of time is a much larger loss than 1000 rubles for texts. Customers are simple people - like a cock pecked at point 5, and stretched. Therefore, work is needed more "yesterday." :) But this is a separate conversation.

Well then ... It's time to put everything together:

  1. Customers people
  2. The customer wants specifics
  3. Customer wants guarantees

Does the phrase “Ready to work, send texts” meet these criteria?

I don’t think .... And you?

In order not to be unfounded, I will give an example of the text that I sent to the customer immediately after the webinar on increasing income. This allowed me to "recapture" the cost of a webinar in one day and get a good employer for many years. In this case, I won the fight with another writer, and he requested 20% less than me. Draw conclusions. :)

Hello. Please consider my candidacy as a contractor. Engaged in deep rewriting and copyright. Recent works have been related to tourism (SEO), mobile phones (description) and a description of auto parts for Hyundai. Technical education. I have basic knowledge of related specialties and construction. I have knowledge of computers and WEB .. I have a personal certificate in the WebMoney system. I hope for mutually beneficial cooperation. Sincerely, Pavel Shut.

 

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