How to send your first proposal

Read the project to the end

Before writing anything, read the whole brief and look at three fields: the budget type (fixed or hourly), the experience level requested, and the expected length. If the client asked for an expert on a job longer than 6 months and you only have two weeks free, that project is not for you — and recognising it saves a slot in your weekly quota.

What to write

A good proposal is short and specific. Start by showing that you understood the problem, in your own words. Then describe how you intend to solve it: the steps, what you will deliver and what you will need from the client. Point to one or two portfolio items that are genuinely similar and explain in one line why they are relevant. Finish with a concrete question; proposals that ask a good question often get a reply even when they are not chosen.

Avoid boilerplate. Clients read several proposals in a row and recognise a generic template instantly.

Your weekly quota

On the free plan you can send 30 proposals per week. Higher plans raise this limit or remove it. Thirty is generous, but it is not unlimited: spend the quota on projects that genuinely match your skills instead of firing proposals at everything that appears.

Proposal statuses

• Pending — sent and waiting for the client to decide.
• Accepted — the client chose you.
• Rejected — the client went another way.
• Withdrawn — you cancelled the proposal yourself.

You can only withdraw a proposal while it is still pending. Once the client has decided, it can no longer be withdrawn.

What happens when a client accepts

Acceptance triggers three changes at once: your proposal becomes accepted, every other proposal still pending on that project is automatically rejected, and the project moves to in progress.

From there the client creates the contract, which has its own statuses: draft, active, completed, cancelled and disputed. Use the chat to settle anything still unclear — deadlines, delivery formats, what counts as finished — before you start working.

If no answer comes

Not every project gets a fast decision, and unanswered proposals are part of the job. Keep sending well-targeted proposals, keep your profile and portfolio current, and reply quickly when a client writes. Consistency pays better than volume.