If you want to grow your business, you need a solid foundation. Can't build a house on loose sand.

So let's lay that concrete for you to construct your castle on.

Whenever I write an e-mail like this, I imagine writing to my past self. I'm curious though to what your perception of my e-mails is. Feel free to reply to me with remarks or questions!

Now, let's get into it. Here's 10 steps to create a solid proposition for freelancers:

1. Specialize

Offering one specific service will make selling, marketing, collaborating, branding and positioning WAY easier than being a generalist. Narrow down what you love most, are good at and the market is willing to pay you for.

I'm passionate on this topic. Listen to the first episode of my podcast The Boss Level for my full thoughts on specialization.

2. Love what you do

I’ve once heard an entrepreneur talk about becoming successful with a thing he hates. He had build furniture from scrap wood out of necessity and saw it become a massive sales hit. He never intended to work with scrap wood full time and was miserable doing so fulltime.

Remember: business is a marathon and life is too short to do work you hate. Pick a service that won’t bore you out or burn you out.

3. Become great at what you do

Your proposition gets you clients, but your skills should keep them on board. Not just that, the better you become, the greater the results for your clients. Happy clients means awesome recommendations and cases to reinforce your proposition.

4. Validate if the market is willing to pay

When choosing to specialize in a thing, make sure there’s market for your service. When I started freelancing, I chose to become a Google Ads Specialist. I analyzed what the market needed in terms of online marketing and saw a growth in demand and shortage of supply.

5. Have crystal clear pricing

Hourly pricing is okay-ish. It’s easy to start with and requires little risk on your end. The problem? Your clients don’t think in hourly rates, but in budgets and ROI. If you want to speak their language and make it easier for them to sign with you, think about offering fixed prices, performance related fees or monthly retainer.

6. Think about your proposition composition

So you’re an expert in the service you offer? Supplement your income and diversify your proposition with offering live group training, coaching, online webinars and in house training.

7. Focus on a specific target audience

If I could go back in time and recreate my proposition, I would focus on servicing a clear target audience. Having a client in mind you want to service, makes it easier to brand yourself and creating specific marketing material. Also you prevent landing gigs for clients you don’t really vibe with.

8. Include the outcome of your service

I love it when freelancers have LinkedIN taglines that include outcomes. E.g. “I write landing page copy that doubles conversion rates”. Not only does this resonate with the client you’re after, it sets you apart from the rest of the copywriters.

9. Show proof of your impact

Who have you helped with your services? What were the results of these collaborations? Include this proof in your proposals, LinkedIN banners and sales pages. Also make sure to occasionally drop these testimonials in your social media feeds.

10. Summarize it all into one tagline

To me a successful proposition can be summarized into a single tagline. An example would be “I ghostwrite LinkedIN posts for CEO’s that will attract 10+ leads per month”. If you’re unable to write down a similar tagline for your service, sharpen up your proposition.

That's it! These are the top 10 tips concerning proposition I have to give you. Hope you learned something. Feel free to ask me anything in a DM on LinkedIN or by replying to this e-mail.

Happy freelancing!