Assemble the pieces and hit send

You’ve packed a ton of information into your draft proposal so far:

• The business context

• Your introduction

• The strategy and plan

• Deliverables

• Timeline

• Pricing

• Impactful case studies

• Additional sections

Now, you want to make it beautiful and send it to the client.

Create the proposal

You can make your proposals extremely stylized or straight to the point. It really depends on the client and what you think will resonate with them and make you stand out.

As a freelancer and solopreneur, you have limited time. It is completely reasonable to do the final proposal in a google doc or PDF. If you do this, make sure to add a level of polish.

• Include your logo and company name

• Make the content easy to read and scan. For example, each new section should have a clear header

• Incorporate images where appropriate

• Use easy-to-read fonts (Helvetica, Arial, Lato)

If you do go the stylized route, make sure you can do it well. We sometimes see this backfire on people — making things visually beautiful is tough! If you want to go this route, Canva is a phenomenal tool. It allows you to make beautiful slide presentations or interactive documents with images, graphics, and more. You can even automatically turn documents into presentations.

If you’re not sure where to start, we recommend keeping it simple and drafting up a word or Google document with the sections laid out in a straightforward text. We’ve included a full template altogether in your workbook.

These formats are widely accepted:

• PDF

• Slide deck

• Word document

• Google Doc

And voila! You’ve created your project proposal.‍

Send it over to the client

Before you send it over, make sure you:

1. Proofread for typos, errors, etc.

2. Double check the project fee is accurate and covers all of your costs.

3. Remove any unnecessary detail

4. Add any necessary detail

Once you’re good to go — send your soon-to-be client a short email with the proposal attached. Ask them to take a look over and offer to answer any questions. They might have questions or amendments they would like to see. This is a very good thing — it means they are interested and making sure it fits their needs.

Congratulations on creating a killer project proposal!