Writing a Winning Proposal: Land Your Dream Clients
A course by Ilise BenunEntrepreneur, Business Coach and Author
A course by Ilise Benun, Entrepreneur, Business Coach and Author
Learn to tailor your business proposals to your dream clients and stand out from the competition with a simple yet invincible strategy
Pitching a great idea is best done with a solid strategy to support it. Entrepreneur and business coach Ilise Benun has been helping creative professionals sell their ideas for over three decades. With a number of published books like The Creative Professional’s Guide to Money and The Designer’s Guide to Marketing and Pricing under her belt, she’s here to teach you how to write a winning proposal and land your dream clients.
In this course, she takes you step by step through her proven strategy to identify the right prospects, how to angle, write, and pitch your proposal, and everything in between. Are you ready to get your projects off the ground?
What will you learn in this online course?
15 lessons & 20 downloads
The Proposal Oreo
6 minutes, 54 seconds
Don’t Make These 10 Mistakes with Your Proposal
10 minutes, 35 seconds
Decision Time: Should You Make the Proposal?
5 minutes, 49 seconds
Essential Questions for Your Prospects
14 minutes, 25 seconds
How to Demonstrate Your Value
8 minutes, 57 seconds
How to Lead the Money Conversation
7 minutes, 53 seconds
What's included in this course?
Begin by hearing Ilise’s inspiring story about how her business has thrived over the last three decades, learning from her mistakes along the way. Learn about some of the people who have inspired her and influenced her throughout the years.
Delve into Ilise’s key ingredient for strategic proposal writing: The Oreo Strategy. She takes you through the different layers of the strategy before discussing the 10 most common mistakes when writing a proposal. Then learn how to choose the right prospects to write a proposal for.
Move onto the first tough cookie to crack: having the qualifying conversation with potential clients to decide if they’re right for you. Ilise shows you how to demonstrate your value to stand out when competing for a project, and how to lead the money conversation with clients with confidence and ease. With a good understanding of how to turn prospects into clients, deepen your knowledge of how to market your services.
Time to put theory into practice by writing the proposal document itself. Start by calculating and deciding on your hourly rate. Ilise guides you through the numbers before sharing with you the 10 essential elements your proposal needs. Hear the best practices when writing a proposal, and get an overview of tone, design, and length.
Next is the trickiest, yet most rewarding part: sharing your proposal. Learn how to present your project idea and how to present compelling arguments. Hear about the best practices for following up your proposal, and the next steps for when it has been chosen.
What is this course's project?
Write a winning proposal for a project using The Oreo Strategy.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
This course is ideal for any entrepreneur or creative professional seeking to build a thriving business or land a project.
Requirements and materials
No previous experience is required.
To take this course, all you need is a pen, paper, and inspiration to pitch your project successfully.
Reviews
- 9 months ago
Great course, I learned a lot. As a freelance illustrator, I get many projects, but while I am an expert in illustrating and design, I don't always know how to price my work, and here with this course, I have heard valuable information that will help me a lot. Grateful for all the information. Thank you, Ilise, for the creative way of describing the Oreo proposal technique.
- 11 months ago
Fantastic course! Ilise and Terri were both amazing. Clear, easy-to-follow instructions that covered every part of the proposal process. I'd strongly recommend this one!
- 1 year ago
Really Great Course. Awesome Learnings.
- 2 years ago
Nice!
- 2 years ago
This course is a fantastic resource for professionals looking to master the art of crafting compelling proposals. It offers actionable strategies to tailor your proposals to client needs, present your value effectively, and stand out in competitive markets. The content is clear and well-structured. Highly recommended for anyone aiming to elevate their business communication game!
Ilise has written seven books, including The Creative Professional’s Guide to Money and The Designer’s Guide to Marketing and Pricing. She hosts two podcasts, Marketing Mentor Podcast and HOW Design Live Podcast; and is lead author for The Marketing Mix Blog and the Creative Freelancer Blog. Her work has been featured in Toronto Globe and Mail, Crains New York Business, Working Woman, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Denver Post and more.
Content
- U1
Introduction
- About Me
- Influences
- U2
The Proposal Oreo Strategy
- The Proposal Oreo
- Don’t Make These 10 Mistakes with Your Proposal
- Decision Time: Should You Make the Proposal?
- U3
Cookie #1 The Qualifying Conversation
- Essential Questions for Your Prospects
- How to Demonstrate Your Value
- How to Lead the Money Conversation
- Meet a Successful Writer and Brand Advisor
- U4
The Cream in Between: Your Proposal
- How to Profitably Price Your Project
- 10 Essential Elements in Your Proposal
- Best Practices for Winning Proposals
- U5
Cookie #2 Sharing Your Proposal
- Presenting Your Proposal
- How to Follow Up Your Proposal
- You Won It! Now What?
- FP
Final project
- Writing a Winning Proposal: Land Your Dream Clients
What to expect from a Domestika course
Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
Certificates
PLUSIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
Yes, this course focuses on teaching creative professionals how to write persuasive business proposals that win clients, covering strategies, templates, and best practices tailored to creative fields.
Yes, this course is designed for intermediate freelancers and creative professionals who want to improve their proposal writing, client qualification, and business communication skills.
You’ll learn how to structure winning proposals, qualify clients effectively, present and follow up on proposals, handle pricing conversations, and avoid common proposal mistakes.
Some freelance or client-facing experience is helpful, but you don’t need advanced business knowledge. The course is ideal if you already work with clients and want to improve your proposal process.
The Proposal Oreo Strategy is a method blending marketing and financial justification to create persuasive, client-centered proposals that clearly demonstrate your value and expertise.
Yes, the course provides customizable proposal templates and structured qualification questions to help you gather client information and streamline your workflow.
You’ll learn practical techniques for initiating pricing discussions, presenting tiered options, handling budget objections, and confidently leading money conversations with clients.