In the spirit Letter to a prospective client after a few weeks of failing to get freelance work in the trenches of Upwork:
Hi C__;
Thank you for the invitation to join your project. I must say, at first blush your offer stirred up a lot of fantastic and optimistic thoughts in this newbie's brain. "This must be the opportunity I've been waiting for to prove my talents and get a foothold into the industry!" I immediately rejoiced
However, because I am quite used to rejection on this site, my more cynical angel quickly stepped in and reminded me that this message was probably sent to several hundred--or perhaps several thousand?--freelancers on Upwork with only one or two $ signs in front of their names and very little hours to show for their dozens and dozens of submitted proposals. (In my case, a couple messages but no callbacks.)
But being a glutton for punishment and knowing that this is the only attitude to have in order to create opportunities in the life of a freelancer, I am nonetheless responding in earnest with real interest to your request for an interview. I cannot promise that I will be the candidate you talk to who has the most experience or knowledge of important business jargon. Quite the opposite, I'm afraid. I come from a lofty literary background and I'm entering a business world where everything is a pitch--short and pointy. And I kinda like the honesty and pragmatism in this landscape.
I suppose there isn't any much more I can write to you to stand out from the many candidates you've offered invitations to, except shameless self-promotion. I am a person to whom many people say I have a "way with words." This is one of the reasons people send me messages on Facebook telling me that they follow me and like my posts, even if we have only met once or twice. It always strokes my ego to hear this, but unfortunately never gets much mileage in any quantifiable way.
This is probably the main reason I am interested in your project: I wish to learn the ropes of the industry from someone experienced, someone who has been there and done that, while showing this person (who I have a good feeling from her words I will respect) that I can write kickass copy and work hard to prove myself, if out of pride and ambition alone.
Without further ado, I'd like to formally apply for this position, and I hope to be given the chance to speak with you face-to-face over Skype sometime very soon and take your "training system" as soon as possible to land this gig, regardless of the late start date. And I would really appreciate a correspondence in the meantime, regardless of whether or not you hire me. I need to learn and I'm looking for every available avenue to do that.
Thank you in advance for having read this far and keep up the great cold-messaging ;). Please do message me if you have any questions at all!
~Kevin Heintz
