Taking the Monkey Business Out of Quote Requests

Let's say that today you received an inquiry from a potential customer:

"Hi there Web Content Writer,

My name is Oran Gutan and I sell bananas. The name of my business is Bananas Unlimited. I need a home page written for my website. How much do you charge? Please send me your rates as if I'm happy with the home page, I'll have other work for you.

Regards,
Oran"

Look familiar? The adrenalin begins rushing to your finger tips at the prospect of a brand new client. You reply:

"Hi Oran,

My price for a home page is one bag of peanuts.

Regards,
Web Content Writer"

Now one of several things can happen.

Here are a few that have happened to me.

1. He only wanted to pay one peanut instead of a whole bag, so you never hear from him again.
2. He sends the bag of peanuts with an email that says he needs this written by tomorrow and no further information.
3. He sends the bag of peanuts and a list of competing websites that contain content, similar to what he'd like to see on his site, but no further information on Bananas Unlimited.
4. He sends the bag of peanuts and a page of 5000 words he has written about Bananas Unlimited. He'd like you to cut the page down to 500 words, targeting his attached newly-found keyword phrase.

If Oran answered with 2, 3, or 4, you probably wish you would have charged more than one bag of peanuts and you might wish he had taken option number 1.

Don't let inquiries make a monkey out of you.

When you receive an inquiry and need to send a price, send a price range. Better yet, compose a rate sheet that contains the prices (or price ranges) of all the services you provide as well as the details of each service.

Compose a questionnaire for prospective clients. As well as helping you to understand the client's business and their web content needs,a prospect's answers will also give you an idea of how easy it will be to get the details you'll need to write their web content. I've attached a pdf of the questionnaire that I use as an example. Right click on the link to download it.

Once you have the completed questionnaire in hand, you should have enough information to write a formal proposal. If you're not using one already, start today! It will save you umpteen headaches in the future. My proposal is loosely based on Andy Clark's Killer Contract and although it is written for web design, it's a good starting point for any freelance business.