Evan Carmichael explains how to land $50k projects without proposals. Start with a small, high-value piece like a $1,000 logo from a $50,000 branding suite, overdeliver on it, and the client will naturally hire you for the rest. Proposals exist to reduce risk. Exceptional work eliminates that risk.
Chapters
How to avoid writing proposals. So I made a video not too long ago called— what did I call it? Why I Don't Write Proposals. And in that video I talked about how I hate writing proposals. I hate writing proposals and instead rather work with clients who understand what I do and I could spend my time working on servicing them and building great things instead of bogged down in admin work and making proposals. So I got a a message from one of my YouTube viewers, love you guys, Vicky, who wrote in to ask, "I wish I saw this video earlier this week. A potential client found me and reached out, we chatted, and then she asked me for a proposal. Although I don't mind, I was a bit surprised she asked since she was reaching out to me. What should I have done differently? Thank you so much for the amazing value you always bring." So Vicky, this is a really important question. Now we're getting into the nuts and bolts and the hands-on of actually how to do it. First of all, understand that it's natural for clients or prospects to want a proposal because it's risky and scary for them, right? They're thinking about this huge project. They don't know you from anybody else. They want some comfort and security that by looking at this proposal that you put together, it, it makes them feel safer. It makes them feel like you can deliver on this thing. How I like to do it, and this is the best approach I found, is you take this big scary project and you break it down and find the most painful individual spot that you can help out with. So I don't know what you do, you didn't say in your comment, but let's say, let's say you're a graphic designer, okay? You're a graphic designer, a new client comes to you and says, "I need a logo, a website, I need an email template, I need business cards, and I need flyers." This is a huge project, right? I don't know what you would quote, let's say it's $50,000, okay? So you have this $50,000 potential project with the client. That's a big number. For a client to say, "We're gonna work with you," it's usually not gonna happen just over a phone call, right? That's a scary number. So they're gonna say, "Well, put together a proposal and we'll, we'll review it." And they're gonna compare you against everybody else and all the other proposals. What I would do is through the conversation, identify with them what the single most important, most painful part is. What sparked this whole project? If you think about a big project, there's usually one thing that started it and then it became this bigger project and they had to go out and get budget for it. So for example, for them maybe it's the logo. Okay, let's use that as an example. The logo was the most painful part. They looked at the logo and like, this does not represent us anymore, so we need a new logo. And so because we need a new logo, then we need a new website, we need a new flyer, we need new business cards, we need new newsletter templates, all that stuff. So it became this big project. What I would do is work with them just on the logo. So say you charge $1,000 to do a logo. Let's throw that number out there. Work with them on just the logo because that's the most painful part for them, and it's so much easier for them to say yes to a $1,000 project and not need a huge proposal than a $50,000 project, right? And if you blow them away, you give them a great logo, you provide great service, you're the best supplier they've ever had in across any of their business, the rest of that deal and more is just going to come to you without having the proposal at all, right? You do a great job on the logo, they love it, everybody's saying, "Vicky is the best person ever." Now you have to deliver on that, which I hope you will. They're just gonna give you the business card and give you the website and give you the newsletter template because they love you and they love everything you're doing. They know that you're gonna deliver. The biggest point of a proposal is to reduce the risk, right? Help me make an educated decision and reduce the risk that I'm gonna screw up. But by working with you on a simple project that means a lot to them, where you're overdelivering like crazy, you've reduced— you've eliminated all the risk because they love working with you. They know you can deliver, and so that you're just gonna be their person ongoing from now on for all of their projects, that $50,000 project and beyond. And you never had to write a proposal. That's how you do it. It works. It works, I promise you. Believe. For those of you watching, like the video, give it a thumbs up below, leave a comment, ask a question, I'll make a video response, and click on my face to subscribe to the channel. Thank you so much, and I'll see you soon.
