How I went from $400 proposals to $20k+ projects

8 years ago I started my first job as a copywriter for a company that sold supplements. The pay wasn't great, and I couldn't move out of my parents place. This was why I wanted to try freelancing, I figured I might as well write for other businesses and try to double my paycheck that way.

8年前，我开始了我的第一份工作，在一家销售补充剂的公司担任文案。工资不高，我不能搬出父母家。这就是为什么我想尝试自由职业，我想我也可以为其他企业写作，这样我的薪水就能翻倍。

I had no idea where to find clients or how to sell myself, so I asked friends if they knew anyone who might need copy. Got my first gig that way for $200 per month writing weekly emails.

我不知道在哪里可以找到客户，也不知道如何推销自己，所以我问朋友们是否认识任何可能需要复制的人。我的第一份工作就是这样，每月200美元，每周写电子邮件。

The hustle was real. I was sending hundreds of cold emails, joining Facebook groups, basically doing anything to find clients. And honestly, I was landing some work. But there was this weird pattern I kept noticing.

社会是很现实的。我发送了数百封冷冰冰的电子邮件，加入了脸书群组，基本上做了任何事情来寻找客户。老实说，我找到了一些工作。但我一直注意到这种奇怪的模式。

I'd have these amazing discovery calls where prospects were nodding along, asking great questions, clearly interested. Then I'd send my proposal and... radio silence. Or they'd come back with "we've decided to go in another direction."

我会接到这些令人惊叹的发现电话，潜在客户会点头同意，提出很好的问题，显然很感兴趣。然后我会发送我的提案。..没有回应。或者他们会回复“我们决定转向另一个方向”。

It was crushing my confidence. I started thinking maybe I wasn't good enough, maybe my prices were too high, maybe I should just accept smaller projects.

这粉碎了我的信心。我开始想，也许我不够好，也许我的价格太高，也许我应该接受较小的项目。

Then something clicked during a conversation with a client who gave me some feedback. I asked her what made her pass over me for another freelancer. Her answer completely changed how I thought about freelancing.

然后，在与一位客户的交谈中，我听到了一些东西，他给了我一些反馈。我问她是什么让她放弃了我，转而选择了另一个自由职业者。她的回答彻底改变了我对自由职业的看法。

She said "honestly, your proposal just looked so sloppy. Let me show you what I got from the other person. It just looks like they put in a lot of work into everything and I was worried your work would be as sloppy as your proposal."

她说：“老实说，你的提案看起来太草率了。让我给你看看我从对方那里得到了什么。看起来他们在每件事上都投入了大量的工作，我担心你的工作会像你的提案一样草率。”

That hit me like a brick. She was right. My proposals were basic Google Docs with barely any formatting. Just plain text with my services listed out and a price at the bottom. Meanwhile, this other freelancer had sent her something that looked like it came from a real agency.

它像砖头一样击中了我。她是对的。我的提案是基本的谷歌文档，几乎没有任何格式。只是简单的文本，上面列出了我的服务，价格在底部。与此同时，另一位自由职业者给她寄来了一些看起来像是来自真实机构的东西。

That's when I realized something: Clients often can't judge the quality of your actual work because they don't understand it. A small business owner doesn't know what makes good copy. A startup founder can't tell the difference between decent design and great design.

就在那时，我意识到：客户往往无法判断你实际工作的质量，因为他们不理解。小企业主不知道什么是好的文案。初创公司创始人无法区分体面的设计和伟大的设计。

So they judge you based on what they CAN evaluate. Your communication. Your professionalism. How you present yourself.

所以他们根据他们能评估的东西来判断你，你的表达，你的专业精神，你如何展现自己。

I call this "window dressing."

我称之为“橱窗装饰”

Think about it. When you walk into a restaurant, you can't taste the food before ordering. So you judge based on the menu design, the cleanliness, how the staff presents themselves, etc. Same thing happens with freelancing.

想想看。当你走进一家餐厅时，你不能在点餐前品尝食物。所以你会根据菜单设计、清洁度、工作人员如何展示自己等来判断。同样的事情也发生在自由职业者身上。

That brutal feedback was exactly what I needed to hear. That day I decided to completely overhauled how I presented myself. Instead of sending scrappy one-page proposals in Google Docs, I started creating beautiful, detailed proposals that looked like they came from an established agency.

这种残酷的反馈正是我需要听到的。那天，我决定彻底改变自己的形象。我没有在谷歌文档中发送零碎的单页提案，而是开始创建漂亮、详细的提案，看起来像是来自一家老牌机构。

The difference was immediate and dramatic.

这种差异是立竿见影的。

Projects that used to pay me $400 were suddenly paying $1-3k. Then $5k+. Then $10k+.

曾经支付我400美元的项目突然支付了1-3000美元。然后是5000多美元。然后是1万美元以上。

I just kept raising my prices until I hit a wall, and then I just kept adding value to be able to increase my prices even further.

我一直在提高价格，直到撞到墙上，然后我一直在增加价值，以便能够进一步提高价格。

But here's the thing that really surprised me. The higher-paying clients were actually EASIER to work with. They trusted my expertise more. They asked for fewer revisions. They referred me to other high-value clients.

但真正让我惊讶的是，高薪客户实际上更容易合作。他们更信任我的专业知识。他们要求更少的修改。他们把我介绍给其他高价值客户。

It turns out that when you present yourself professionally, you attract professional clients who value what you do.

事实证明，当你以专业的方式展示自己时，你会吸引那些重视你所做工作的专业客户。

The proposal I developed became my secret weapon. It has sections for project overview, detailed timeline, clear deliverables, and even a confidentiality statement that makes me look established. It's 4 pages at a minimum, and it doesn't matter if I'm pitching a 2k landing page or a 20k funnel redesign. I've used variations of this same proposal to land everything from small local business projects to work with venture-backed startups. Everyone would rather work with a freelancer who has professionally designed assets.

我提出的建议成了我的秘密武器。它有项目概述、详细的时间表、清晰的可交付成果，甚至还有一份保密声明，让我看起来很成熟。它至少有4页，无论我是在推销2k的登录页面还是20k的漏斗重新设计，都没关系。我使用了同一提案的各种变体，从当地的小型商业项目到与风险投资支持的初创公司合作。每个人都更愿意与拥有专业设计资产的自由职业者合作。

The crazy part is also just how much time I save. Instead of writing each proposal from scratch, I just customize the Canva template I built. Takes me maybe 10 minutes instead of 2 hours.

疯狂的部分也是我节省了多少时间。我没有从头开始编写每个提案，而是定制了我构建的Canva模板。我可能需要10分钟，而不是2个小时。

So if you're struggling with getting ghosted after sending proposals or feel like you're stuck in a cycle of low-paying projects, the issue might not be your skills. It might be how you're packaging and presenting those skills to potential clients.

因此，如果你在发送提案后很难被忽略，或者觉得自己陷入了低薪项目的循环中，问题可能不是你的技能。这可能是你如何包装和向潜在客户展示这些技能。

Sometimes you need that brutal honest feedback to see what's really holding you back. That client did me a huge favor by being direct with me, even though it stung at the time.

有时候，你需要那种残酷的诚实反馈，看看是什么真正阻碍了你。那个客户直接跟我说话，帮了我一个大忙，尽管当时很疼。

Window dressing matters more than we want to admit. But once you embrace that reality and tidy up your entire online persona, everything becomes easier.

橱窗装饰比我们想承认的更重要。但一旦你接受了这个现实，整理了你的整个在线形象，一切都会变得更容易。