Naturally to be a successful freelancer, you need to be able to secure the work. I’ve been trialling a few different ways to find opportunities (more on that later) and something I’ve noticed is the huge disparity in how organisations are marketing, and outlining, their opportunities. From vague one-liners to 5+ pages of in-depth context and prescriptive detail, there’s a real mix of approaches. One of the consequences will naturally be a huge variation in the quantity and quality of proposals that come back. So, from what I’ve learnt so far, what makes a good brief and why?
I think it comes down to six core factors:
1. Drivers: why is the work needed?
It’s great to see an outline of the organisation and the work, so that the opportunity has good context. Who are you and why do you need this work done? Will the freelancer be building on the foundation of something or starting from scratch? Set the scene for the freelancer’s involvement.
2. Results: what outputs and outcomes are you after?
Once you’re clear there’s a need for the work, next up is outlining the detail of what you’re after, especially if you’ve got specifics in mind. Ideally this is broken into outcomes and outputs – the outcomes of what change you want to see as a result of the work, and any specifics on the outputs you’re after. Do you want to understand your impact better through quantitative analysis? Or do you want a qualitative angle too through interviews, focus group or surveys? Do you want a written report to outline the findings, or a presentation at a meeting, or infographics for web and social channels?
Equally if you’ve got a clear outcome but are open and flexible to how this could be achieved -be clear you’re after ideas.
3. Working Practices: who, how & where could the work be done?
Location – Manage expectations early and set out in your initial brief whether the work is fully remote, on-site or any form of hybrid (and what flexibility you’re open to). It’s incredibly frustrating when it’s not clear on a brief, or worse, the arrangement turns out to be not what was originally agreed. For some a change in location is an inconvenience, but for some it simply means they can’t undertake the work.
People or organisations – It’s really helpful to get a sense of whether you’re after a single person, or are open to receiving a collaborative proposal. Likewise, if you’re just keen to hear from an organisation, it’s great to be specific.
Working relationship – Bonus points for this one, definitely – which is any outline of how the organisation will work with you, including aspects such as collaborative approaches, what resources or staff will be available to support.
4. Budget: how much?
Hard, but necessary. Give a budget. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a total sum budget, a set budget or an up-to budget, or a day-rate but give a budget. And be clear whether it includes any expenses (like travel or subsistence or VAT if relevant). In the same way that there’s a push for being upfront with wages in traditional job adverts (see Show The Pay), it’s the same logic for freelancers. It’s only fair to know whether the pay fits our needs before applying.
5. Application: how do you apply?
What – outline what information you’d like people to apply with whether it’s a written proposal (or video or other medium), CV, cost outline, covering letter, work examples, references etc – if you want to see it, specify it!
Who – it’s great to know who you’re submitting a proposal to, ideally a named contact with title and contact details
When – what’s your timeline for the project including deadline for submission (bonus points if you include a time), interview dates if proposed, date for awarding, any start or end dates if known or key dates that could be dealbreakers like a conference launch date
How – how are you appointing, particularly what’s your scoring criteria for proposals and are you expecting to hold interviews?
6. Contact
Be upfront about who to contact and their details for any questions or clarifications someone might have, as well as who to send the submission to.
Proportionality for Proposals
A big question for organisations, when developing their freelancer brief, should be – it the application process proportionate to the opportunity? Be aware of how much work is involved in collating and submitting the information you’re asking for, particularly in relation to the size of the contract you’re offering. Similar to advertising employed roles, taking a light touch approach to initial applications, such as just asking for covering letters and CVs, could help broaden your pool of applicants, and enable you to ask for much more detail from a select group later in the process.
Marketing on a budget
Understandably, lots of charities want to sidestep the cost of having to formally list an opportunity because almost all job sites charge for the privilege. One of the best ways of doing this is using social media such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to flag the opportunity and link back to your website for more details. The critical thing is doing enough to help freelancers find it – too tucked away and you just won’t get enough exposure to generate good quality candidates.
One of the most basic but effective methods is using appropriate hashtags to help freelancers find your post. As a minimum consider #freelance to catch the right audience, #opportunity and #job to highlight its an opening that might be of interest, #charity to help highlight the specialism and another other ones relevant to role e.g. #research, #strategy, #trainer, #evaluation etc – don’t go too crazy but a good use of say 5 relevant ones in total will open up your post to a whole new audience.
Freelance Matchmaking
Ultimately, organisations want great applicants for their roles. And freelancers want to be found. They want to have a range of opportunities, and more clarity there is about an opportunity, the more likely the right people are to apply, and the organisation secures the best freelancer for the role. A combination of the right marketing and the right brief give both sides the best possible chance of success.