• Home
    • About Us
  • Services
  • Portfolio
    • Testimonials
  • Book Catalog
    • Reviews
    • Free Reads
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Contact
HEN HOUSE PUBLISHING
  • Home
    • About Us
  • Services
  • Portfolio
    • Testimonials
  • Book Catalog
    • Reviews
    • Free Reads
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Contact

Hens Lay Eggs

food for thought

Free advice

11/2/2016

 
I wasn't really sure what to write this week, but the topic dropped into my lap this morning.

A freelancer contacted me (no, I didn't respond to an RFP) asking what I could do to help her improve her proposals. Well, that was vague, so I asked for more information, such as what services, exactly, did she want? Did she want someone to edit existing content or write (or rewrite) content? They're distinct and separate services.

She replied with even more information, explaining that her proposals to provide proposal writing services weren't generating her anticipated response from potential clients. She admitted that her boilerplate content might need a total revamping.

OK, I replied. Are you submitting privately or through a platform? That's important, because bidding on RFPs through a platform is 1) convenient and 2) fiercely competitive. It often boils down to whoever quotes the cheapest fee. If using a platform, what's the maximum character or word count permitted? I asked that because it's best to know what we have to work with; limits on response length can and do restrict detail.

Again, I received a prompt reply. This was looking promising. She attached a sample proposal and asked for my opinion. Well, I wrote back, it's generic. I offered to rewrite her proposal boilerplate, provided she supply the necessary information and posted my fee for the project. The fee I quoted her was about 20 percent of my normal fee for writing a business proposal--a courtesy extended to a fellow freelancer.

And...you guessed it. She declined. I didn't think my fee exorbitant in the least, considering that this project would take about a week to complete, considering all the back-and-forth we'd need to go through to ensure that it satisfied her requirements and fit within the average limitations for document length.

What she did want was for me to point out just what needed to be fixed and to tell her precisely how to fix them. In other words, she wanted free consulting service.

It's bad enough that people hiring "content consultants" don't value the time, effort, and skill that go into crafting their documents; but, having a fellow freelancer try to take advantage of me really stings. I'm sure she'll manage to sucker someone else into providing her with free consultant work.

Sometimes it's hard to take the high road.

Comments are closed.

    Share!

    Picture

    Author

    Hard boiled, scrambled, over easy, and sunny side up: eggs are the musings of Holly Bargo, the pseudonym for the author.

    Follow
    Karen (Holly)

    Picture
    Enter To Win Silver Dagger Book Tours

    Blog Swaps
    View Guest Author Posts
    Looking for a place to swap blogs? Holly Bargo at Hen House Publishing is happy to reciprocate Blog Swaps in 2019.
    For more information: 
    Email Us

    Get Your Copy of
    Hen House Publishing Blog via Email:

    Delivered by FeedBurner



    Books Of The Month 

    Satin Boots by Holly Bargo
    Picture

    New Releases

    Picture
    Picture
    The Eagle at Dawn by Holly Bargo
    Triple Burn by Holly Bargo
    Bear of the Midnight Sun by Holly Bargo

    Holly Bargo Books on Amazon

    Event Banners

    Picture
    The Writer's Block Author Fair 
    December 14, 2019

    Long & Short Reviews
    Picture
    Best Book Award @LASR
    Picture
    Picture

    Blog Hops

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Books By Holly Bargo
    Egg Reviews
    Events
    Guest Author
    Interviews
    Mfrw
    Mfrwauthor
    #MFRWHooks
    Reviews
    #SpringfieldOHBookFair
    Status
    #WinterBookFair

    Share

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015

HOME | ABOUT US | SERVICES | FREELANCE PROJECTS | TESTIMONIALS | BOOK CATALOG | FREE READS | BLOG | EVENTS | CONTACT
Copyright © 2015 - 2020
  • Home
    • About Us
  • Services
  • Portfolio
    • Testimonials
  • Book Catalog
    • Reviews
    • Free Reads
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Contact