Sometimes when something isn’t selling, our first instinct is to pivot.

Maybe I need to lower my prices. Maybe I should change my offer. Maybe I need a whole new offer entirely…

It’s super tempting to want to tear everything down and rebuild especially when the current one isn’t landing (and there’s often shame with that, too).

But sometimes, what needs to change isn’t the offer itself. It’s how you’re talking about it.

That was exactly the case with one of my students, a talented photographer named Poppy.

She knew how to create stunning work, she was putting herself out there, sending proposals, taking meetings, and making connections.

But no matter how hard she worked, she kept hearing “no.” Or worse, she wasn’t hearing back at all. (Getting ghosted is the worst.)

She started to question everything:

Am I losing out to better photographers?

Are my prices too high?

Or worse, am I just not good enough?

That sense of “I’m doing everything I can and it’s still not working” is more common than you think.

And in Poppy’s case, it wasn’t about her talent. Or her effort. Or even her pricing.

It was her proposals.

When we looked at them together, we realized they were missing some crucial pieces including a clear, compelling reason why she was the best choice for the client.

Instead of focusing on just the deliverables (photos, edits, turnaround time), she needed to highlight the experience of working with her—the ease, the professionalism, the creative vision of storytelling she brings to every client project.

I helped her make a few small but important changes:

✅ She rewrote her proposals to focus on outcomes, not just the tactical services and timelines.

✅ She included specific examples of past client experiences.

✅ She adjusted her pricing strategy to reflect her value.

And suddenly… she started landing more work.

So if you’re working hard and still not landing projects the way you’d like, try asking yourself:

👉 Are my proposals just a list of services, or do they show who I am and why I’m the best fit? 

👉 Am I making it easy for the client to say yes?  

👉 Do I sound confident in my value—or am I subtly apologizing for my prices?

Take a look at your last proposal. What’s one small shift you could try this week?

What’s one thing that’s been holding you back from making more money as a freelancer? Let’s turn it around together.