5 Ways Freelancers Can Use AI for Better Job Proposals

I’ve shared before how strongly I feel about the ways generative artificial intelligence (AI)is great for client work, but that’s not the only benefit freelancers and agency owners like me can get from generative AI. It’s also a powerful tool to help you create job proposals—and effectively pitch new projects.

Here are five ways that every independent professional can level up their pipeline by involving AI in their job proposals.

1. Use AI to polish and edit your proposals

One immediate way you can use AI technology to punch up your proposals is to streamline the drafting process. Tools like ChatGPT, Jasper, and NotionAI can all help you quickly develop an eye-catching proposal.

But—and this is really important—you still need to do much of the drafting yourself to give it an essential human touch. If you simply plug the job details into an AI writing assistant and ask it to produce a proposal, you might wind up with a generic-sounding message that won’t stand out to prospective clients.

I use generative AI writing tools to help with proposals in all of the following ways:

• Getting suggestions to make a proposal I’ve drafted more eye-catching
• Evaluating and tweaking the tone or style of a proposal
• Proofreading what I’ve written

• Creating new proposals based off of ones I’ve written in the past—the resulting content is a nice jumping-off point if I’m stuck on how to start

I always take the generative AI’s output and revise it to make sure it sounds like me and includes pertinent details about the job that the client has posted online.

I also make sure that it reads like a letter from an independent professional, not a prospective full-time hire. I do this by removing irrelevant language that the AI might stick in—like “dear hiring manager” or references to “benefits”—and ensure that it reflects my expertise as an agency owner.

2. Be up front about how you use AI in your work

I also make sure that I’m up front about how I use generative AI-powered tools in my work. A lot of companies are interested in using AI, but they don’t yet understand how to apply it to business. They aren’t sure where to start—or even what to ask for.

By highlighting that I successfully use AI to help my clients see positive, productive results, I can better catch the eye of a client who wants to explore how AI can work for their business.

Because AI is such a big (and rapidly growing) field, I think it helps to be really specific about how I can or plan to use AI for the project I’m sending a proposal about. Depending on the project, I might talk about how I use AI in my workflow to:

• Speed up content creation
• Automate time-consuming, repetitive tasks
• Develop new, detailed customer personas
• Enhance my SEO and CRO work
• Repurpose content into new formats
• Create briefs and templates for clients to use

If you’re comfortable with and regularly utilizing generative AI, it’s something to be proud of and talk about. This is an in-demand skill to have right now.

3. Talk about how using AI benefits your clients

When you mention how you use AI, remember to include the benefits for your clients, too. If I tell a client that I use generative AI to create more content faster, they could wonder why the price is the same (or more) than it was before I used AI to help me in my work.

This is the perfect opportunity to let a client know that by using AI, you’re freeing yourself up to spend more time working on the hands-on, strategic parts of the project, ultimately delivering better results.

My clients are happy to know they’ll be getting more strategy and personalized attention that only I can provide—while letting a computer pick up routine bits of the process.

Depending on the type of work you do, this could look like emphasizing that you’ll have more time to:

• Consult with them directly on processes and problems
• Provide hands-on support to their clients and customers
• Research topics in depth

And you might say that you use AI to help you with things like:

• Gathering data—and the subsequent data analysis process
• Developing target audience personas
• Fast audio transcription
• Breaking through writer’s block
• Brainstorming new ideas
• Proofreading content
• Repurposing content marketing assets into new formats, like social media posts
• Generating graphic design inspiration
• Writing website code

By communicating these benefits in your proposals, you can highlight the fact that you’re focused on maximizing the return on their investment (ROI).

4. Explain how you can help a client utilize AI

Some potential clients may be intrigued by your use of AI, but wonder how they’ll incorporate it once their engagement with you is completed. Let clients know that you can train them on specific AI tools so they’ll continue to see increases in performance and productivity.

For example, if you’re developing a social media strategy for a client and including some initial graphics they can post, you could also show them how to generate images in a similar style using Canva or Midjourney.

Or, if you are teaching a client how to update their new website, you could show them some AI chatbot tips and tricks for keyword research or content generation.

Adding this type of education into your client packages can also allow you to raise your rates—after all, you’re providing a highly useful and valuable service.

5. Place an emphasis on data privacy

I also like to let clients know that I’m respectful of their data when using AI. I won’t integrate AI into their systems without permission, and I take measures to make sure I’m not feeding confidential or sensitive information into a generative AI tool.

This extra attention to detail can help your proposal stand out even more and soothe any client concerns or fears about using AI.

Improve your profile by offering AI options

When you send a proposal using, and talking about, generative AI, clients may come back with more questions about how and when you use the tools. So it’s important to be educated on how you can best use AI—plus, it’ll help you stay ahead of the curve as you grow your profile as an independent professional.

If you’re a client trying to learn more about how generative AI can enhance your marketing, I can help. Visit my profile to learn more, or get in touch to discuss how I use generative AI to ensure my clients get the best ROI possible.