How to write a winning proposal on Fiverr (with a sample)

Buyer requests (recently introduced as “Get Briefs”) are one of the great opportunities to get orders on Fiverr. A seller can send 10 offers daily (in the past). However, it may be hard to hear back from clients. Because a lot of sellers are sending offers. So you have to compete with 20/30 other sellers on average.

Update: “Buyer Requests” feature is no longer available on Fiverr. It has been replaced by “Get Briefs.” That means you can’t browse & find buyer requests that you did in the past. In this new system, Fiverr will send those job posts to matching sellers/freelancers. Getting these matching requests or job posts may be hard for some of you. However, after you receive those briefs/matching requests, you have to write a proposal for the brief. And this process of sending/writing a proposal is ultimately the same.

But if you observe deeply, you will see that it’s not as hard actually seems. Because many sellers have been doing big mistakes while sending offers. And you can take this opportunity to stand out from the crowd.

Another important thing is if you’re a new seller or level 1, it may be hard for you to receive sufficient buyer requests at this stage. So make sure that you applied all the necessary & valid technics to get lots of buyer requests. If you’re not sure, check my other post “Not showing buyer requests on Fiverr.”

Not to mention, as a user on Fiverr I was also on the hiring side, and I hired a lot of other sellers as well.

So I have the opportunity to see the mistakes more closely. In this article, I will discuss the mistakes, and opportunities and help you to write the best proposal on Fiverr. This will be a long guideline but it’s worth reading & understanding.

Also, I will give you a free sample proposal template. So you’ll know what a winning proposal looks like. Without further ado, Let’s get started.

How to write an effective buyer request on Fiverr?

You can download proposal templates and reuse them with little customization. But this is not the permanent solution. Because everyone’s requirement is different. And switching from template to template can be very tough & redundant.

So if you learn the process of writing an effective proposal, this will help you to convert a lot. At least you will hear back from many of the prospects.

In my personal experience, I heard back from 6 out of 10 clients on Fiverr (average). And if you follow this guideline, you can do the same.

But what are the secret sauces for writing proposals, especially on Fiverr?

Identify the VAGUE job posts & do not waste your effort with them

Before writing any proposal, first, you have to identify & sort out the VAGUE job posts. Otherwise, all of your efforts will be valueless. Even if you wrote the best proposal on Fiverr. Because spammers will never hire you.

Fiverr is fitting very hard against spam job posts. But they are not successful enough to prevent those spammers completely.

So, you have to identify those spam buyer requests in the first place. And then put your effort into applying for the right buyer request who is just waiting to hire someone.

From the last quarter of 2022, the “Buyer Requests” are not available as mentioned earlier. However, once you receive a brief, you have to decide whether to write a proposal or decline it. Because you may receive the same type of job posts (briefs) that you have explored in the past.

How to identify vague & spam buyer requests:

Vague buyers will ask you to give something at a lower price than its original price. For an example see the below screenshot:

The first guy is indirectly asking for a premium plugin only for $5 whose original cost is $68. Moreover, he wants you to create the full website along with the plugin.

The second guy is more technical. Initially, he is referring to just installing the plugins & asking for suggestions. But, actually, he wants you to give him three premium plugins for $10.

I can show you a lot more examples, but I hope it’s enough for the sake of an example. So make sure you’re not going to write proposals to those kinds of spam briefs/buyer requests.

On the other hand, spammers post buyer requests for a totally different purpose.

They can post requests for getting website traffics or they want you to visit a link, or read an article.

And even a few other sellers who post buyer requests just for the sake of promoting their gigs, or asking for jobs in their buyer requests. See the below screenshot for an example:

The most common & spam buyer requests are posted by other sellers. Those sellers include their gig URL in the buyer request. Their intention is to get more shares, clicks & views improperly.

To illustrate my point, I attached a screenshot below.

This is the type of buyer request that I see every day or when I log in to Fiverr. So you have to be careful when sorting out the actual buyer requests.

Most importantly, if you see the above screenshot, you will see that lots of sellers already have sent proposals to the spam job posts. That means, most of those sellers sent proposals without understanding them.

So I don’t want you to be a fool like them.

Fair enough. I brought up this point at first because it’s super important to identify the spammers & vague job posters before you pretend to write a proposal.

Start your proposal with the buyer’s name

It’s a psychological fact.

In an overcrowded area if you hear your name, what you will do? I don’t know about you, but I will try to find the person who is calling me. And this is no different on Fiverr.

Many other sellers also apply for the same job and try to achieve clients’ attention.

So, if you start your application with “Hi John” (buyer name), the buyer will not overlook your proposal.

And this also happens to me. Anytime I post a job and I see a proposal that has my name at the top, I really can’t ignore it. At least I read the proposal to see if the person can serve my purpose.

How do you know the buyer’s name:

In most cases, buyers do not mention their names in the job posts.

However, if the buyer has a profile picture then you can easily grab their name (at least their username). Just right-click on the profile picture and then click on “Inspect” (see screenshot below).

This “Inspect” method I did in the Chrome web browser. Other web browsers also follow a similar process.

From the “alt” value you will get the buyer’s username.

Now go to the buyer’s profile by following “https://fiverr.com/buyer_username” and see if they mentioned their name anywhere on their profile. Or look for their past feedback and see if any of their past sellers mentioned their names in the feedback.

But if you do not find their actual name, just start your application with the buyer’s username (Hi Username_Here).

On the other hand, if you do not find the buyer’s name, just go for “Hi There.”

But make sure you do not call them ‘Sir, Hiring Manager’ or something along those lines. Don’t underestimate your dignity. They are not your superior, nor you’re an employee. You are an independent freelancer.

Write about how you can help in the FIRST paragraph

A loyal buyer is curious enough to award the job to a seller. They will indeed hire someone and even if they find someone in the first place.

The buyer is just waiting to see the desired words in your proposal. If they find it, you’re in! And even they are happy to increase their budget to hire the right candidate.

So, it’s very important to mention how you can help them in the first paragraph. But if you write the main topic at the end of your proposal or somewhere in between other paragraphs, then your prospect may ignore the main topic.

Because clients do not read each & every proposal thoroughly. But if you write the main topic in the first paragraph, the client will read your whole proposal if it’s worth reading.

Many sellers do a common mistake. They write about themselves and about their experience in the first paragraph. It doesn’t matter to them if you have 10 years of experience or six months. All they want is to get their job done.

But clients are not interested to learn about you in the first place. And they want to see how you can help them.

So, if you want to get your client’s attention, tell them directly about how you can help them at the front lines. And you can write about yourself (in short) after you completed the main things.

Not to mention, sometimes buyers ask you to start your application with certain words so they can realize that you read their whole job post. In this case, mention the specific word at the top and then move forward.

Show them instead of just telling them

Every buyer loves to see if you solved similar issues in the past (like theirs). Also, it brings credibility & helps your buyer to trust you. So, share specific information related to your past work in the proposal.

Everyone has to start from a certain point, and all freelancers may not have any past experience.

Likewise, if you do not have portfolio items to showcase your expertise, then put your highest effort into describing the way how you can help them.

But I highly suggest you create your own portfolio. No matter what your area of expertise is, you definitely need a portfolio. To help you one step further, I created a one-page portfolio template (static website) that you can use for free. To see the live demo of the portfolio & to download the template, see “Portfolio website design with HTML & CSS.”

Anyways, be honest with your proposal. Do not overpromise. otherwise, you may end up with an order cancellation. Also, do not send offers by copy-pasting from any sample or template.

Never include your gig link in your proposal. Also, your client may be disappointed by doing so. Because Fiverr already mentioned the associated gig with your proposal. So it does not worth putting the same link twice & reinventing the wheel.

Put a logical “Total Offer Amount” without being biased by the client’s budget

Working for peanuts is pretty much worthless. Fiverr gives you the freedom to make offers with your desired & logical amount. Buyers have the option to put their budget along with their job posts.

But it doesn’t mean that you have to work within the client’s budget. Moreover, all the clients do not write their actual budget accurately, and sometimes it’s a placeholder budget.

So, calculate the price wisely and send offers accordingly. Never underestimate your worth.

Ask questions if you need clarification

It’s very obvious to ask questions to your clients, and they really love it.

It also indicates that you do have sufficient knowledge to complete the task, and understood the project requirements.

So, ask them questions if anything is not clear, or if you need additional info.

In some cases, a few clients may ask you a counter-question, e.g: why you offered them a price while you are not sure about the whole requirement.

So, it’s better if you become proactive and tell them in your proposal- your offer amount is a placeholder for now and you will send them a final price along with a ‘Custom Offer.’

Also, make sure that you do not ask unnecessary or irrelevant questions.

End your proposal with at least one related question

Your last question may force the buyer to write back. And yes, it’s a psychological fact that forces your buyer to quickly answer the question. It may lead your buyer to get back to you. Conversion really starts from here.

This last question is different than project-specific questions. The answer to the last question should be very easy and it will indicate that the client’s priority matters to you. Some of the examples are as follows:

• When it’s easier for you to start a quick discussion?
• How many days you will allow for the project?

Don’t forget to mention your real nickname and give them a formal thanks

No buyers like robotic proposals.

Since you already completed writing on the project-related topic, and now it’s time to give them a formal thanks & mention your name. So they can get a personal touch and get a chance to call you by your name.

It’s important because clients also want to call you by your name. It has a personal touch and your name inspires the buyer to write back. Because your name indicates that you’re a real person and not an anonymous.

Freelancing websites are competitive and Fiverr is no different. There are lots of opportunities around you. You just don’t know how to utilize them. A single scope may change your freelance career. So why not try to utilize them properly?

Proposal template for Fiverr buyer requests

Once you download the proposal template, you’ll get a PDF file. Do not send offers from the sample template by copy-pasting.

You can think of this template as my 5 years of calculation & experiment.

Back in 2017, I wrote approx 30 templates myself and tested them both on Fiverr & Upwork. I have been keeping track of every incoming buyer that has come from proposals/applications (except for invitations).

And this template (that you have downloaded) has a 40%+ conversation rate. If you can use it wisely, I hope you will get responses properly.

Frequently asked questions about the Fiverr proposal

Conclusion

I tried to keep this post as short as possible. At the same time, I also tried to include all the necessary information along with the Fiverr proposal sample. So you get the most out of this guideline.

If you made it thus far, I congratulate you. Because you have just finished a complete walkthrough to write a winning proposal on Fiverr.

Last but not least, there are some other alternatives to Fiverr you should also check at the same time.

If you read this guideline carefully & understood the subject matter, I am pretty much sure you can write perfect proposals to the right buyers on Fiverr & other platforms as well.