It’s been a while since I’ve worked as a freelancer, and even then I rarely wrote proposals. For the most part, the how and what I would do for a client was worked out in meetings that started with relationship building before moving into increasing detail about proposed solutions.

Now that I’m the one asking for help, it’s interesting to see how little time potential contractors spend on detail. There’s minimal focus on addressing needs, or suggesting alternatives I might not have considered. They all race to the quote – and in a couple of instances, the quote didn’t even address what I asked them to do.

Perhaps this is how things are done in today’s market? Bring in as many potential clients as possible and hope you land enough to prosper?

This wasn’t the case with our copywriter. When I asked her to write some ad copy, we spent considerable time together before getting started, and even more once we initiated the contract. She then not only wrote the ads but helped define the brand going forward. As a result, I look forward to working with her again and again.

I realize people’s time is valuable, but in a time of quick solutions, wouldn’t a slower, more personal approach be a competitive advantage?