A Super Quick Guide to Writing Proposals for WordPress Projects

Flash proposals – we’ve all sent them. You know, when a prospective client wants the next steps, more details, a quote, or maybe even a proposal … and you rush to crank out an email that – you think – is all they need to hire you.

Such emails work… sometimes. For example, they could land you small projects, but for the larger projects like website, theme, or plugin development, let’s face it, they are not enough. Because clients who are making big investments in larger projects expect to know more than just how you’ll price and deliver the project.

Here’s where proper, detailed proposals help. Detailed proposals help clients understand your offering better. In a way, clients look to evaluate your overall suitability for a project through your proposal.

Getting Started Writing a Project Proposal

A WordPress site development project proposal typically takes the following format:

·         Cover letter (or the cover page content)

·         Goal/Objective

·         Timeframe

·         Budget

·         About

·         Contract

Cover Letter

The cover letter or the cover page content simply introduces your proposal. To introduce your proposal, you could use the following message:

Hey [client name],

Thanks for your interest in working with me.

Based on the project brief and our correspondence, I’ve put together a proposal with details about the deliverables, scope, timeline, and budget.

If you have any questions, let me know.

Thanks,

[your name]

Goal/Objective

The goals section of a proposal should list the client’s needs. When you’re writing this section, simply think about the deliverables.

For instance, the objective for a responsive web development project where the design is not included would be something along the lines of:

“To develop a responsive business website using the provided PSDs”

When writing the goal section of the proposal, use words from the project brief or description. Doing so will help you steer away from jargon and show the client that you actually understand what they need. So, if they call a responsive website “responsive,” call it that. If they talk about it as “mobile-friendly,” use mobile-friendly.

You could jazz up the goals section with persuasive tactics, such as highlighting what the new responsive website could mean for the client. For example, in this case, you could point out how the responsive website could help the client gain more mobile traffic.

Project Scope

The project scope outlines what’s included in the project. For example, for a website design and development project, the scope could look like:

·         Research

·         Design

·         Development

·         CMS integration

·          

In addition to listing what’s included in the project, the project’s scope section should also address common scope creep scenarios.

Take the revisions scope creep instance, for example. Many web developers complain when clients request what they believe is an unreasonable number of revisions. If this happens to you, you could mention in the project scope that the project entitles the client to X rounds of revisions.

Timeframe

The timeframe part of the proposal tells the client how you plan on delivering the work.

A sample timeframe:

“The live website will be deployed in ~3 weeks from the date of project commencement. Here’s a timeline outlining the different stages:

Phase	Days
Frontend HTML/CSS development	7
Backend development	7
Uploading content	1
Testing and reviewing	6
Final site launch	1

Budget

The budget section tells the client how much their project is going to cost. There are three interesting ways you could propose the budget:

·         A fee with an itemized list with a breakdown of the costs

·         A flat fee

·         Packages

Developer Rachel McCollin prefers offering an itemized failure of the costs. According to Rachel:

“A quote with just a headline figure and no explanation of how it was arrived at feels like that figure’s been plucked out of the air.”

Most freelancers stick to itemized lists when offering project quotes. If you want to develop an itemized cost list super-fast, try this free.

So now that we’ve covered offering detailed pricing breakdown, let’s talk about what it means to offer a flat fee.

Coach Troy Dean from WP Elevation prefers the flat quote method over the itemized pricing. He once had difficulty explaining a client why he charged for a dedicated project manager.

“I once had a client question why ‘project management’ was included in my proposal. She couldn’t understand why we needed to have a dedicated project manager to make sure the project was delivered on time and within budget. So I offered to remove the project manager and add the fee to the development cost. It was a frustrating argument with an inexperienced client but it did make me realize that I had not illustrated the value well enough.