How to write a project brief freelancers can bid on properly
Most disappointing freelance projects were decided before anyone started work, by a brief that left the important part to guesswork. A good brief takes half an hour. It gets you bids you can actually compare, and it defines what you are entitled to when the work comes back.
Why the brief matters more than the hire
Every bid you receive is an answer to the question your brief asked. A vague brief gets vague bids: wide price ranges, generic proposals, and freelancers quietly pricing in the risk that you meant something else. A precise brief gets precise bids, and precise bids are the only kind you can compare on anything other than price.
The brief also decides the argument you will or will not have at the end. When the work comes back, there are two questions: is it good, and is it what was asked for? The first is a matter of taste. The second is a matter of record, and the record is the brief.
The life of a brief
Your brief
What you need, by when, for roughly how much
is answered by
The accepted bid
A freelancer’s price and plan against that brief
together become
The delivery test
What the work is checked against when it comes back
The seven things a good brief contains
- 1The outcome. One or two sentences on what the work is for. “A logo for a bakery opening in Pune in March, to go on the shopfront, packaging and Instagram” tells a designer more than “need a logo” ever could.
- 2The audience. Who will read, use or see the result. A landing page for procurement heads is a different job from one for college students, even if the word count is identical.
- 3The deliverables, exactly. File formats, dimensions, word counts, number of pages or screens, number of initial concepts, languages. If you will need a source file, say so now; it is a different job from a finished image.
- 4What “done” means. The test you will apply when the work comes back. “Approved by our two founders”, “passes our brand guidelines”, “loads quickly on a budget Android phone” — something both sides can check.
- 5What you will supply. Brand assets, logins, product information, sample content, the person who answers questions. Missing inputs are the most common reason a project slips, and a delay caused by an input you did not send is not one the freelancer can fix.
- 6Budget and deadline. A range is fine. A deadline should be the real one, with any fixed date behind it named — a launch, an event, a board meeting.
- 7Rounds of revision. How many rounds of changes are included. Unlimited revisions sound generous and get priced as a risk; two rounds, stated, get priced as work.
What to leave out
- Confidential material that is not needed to bid. Describe the data in the brief; share the data itself with the freelancer you choose, once the project is agreed.
- Your whole company history. One paragraph of context is useful; three pages are skimmed, and the important line gets lost in them.
- Wish lists dressed as requirements. If something is optional, label it optional, so it is priced separately rather than folded into every bid.
- The solution, when you are hiring for judgement. If you want a designer’s idea, do not specify the idea. Specify the problem and the constraints.
A brief, before and after
Before
- Need a website for my business
- Should look modern and professional
- Budget negotiable
- ASAP
After
- Five-page site for a chartered accountancy practice in Coimbatore: home, services, team, fees, contact
- Audience: small-business owners comparing CAs; most will visit on a phone
- Built on WordPress so our office can edit text; we supply copy and photos
- Done means: our two partners approve it and it loads quickly on mobile
- Two rounds of changes, a budget range, and live before 1 March
The second brief is not longer for the sake of it. Every line removes a question a freelancer would otherwise answer with an assumption — and every assumption is either padding in the price or a disagreement at the end.
Reading the bids that come back
A precise brief makes the bids comparable, and then the price is the least interesting part of each one. Look for whether the freelancer has restated your outcome in their own words, which tells you they read it; whether they have asked a sensible question, which tells you they thought about it; and whether their plan delivers what your brief listed, rather than something adjacent to it.
A bid far below the others is usually a freelancer who has understood a smaller job than the one you described. It is worth asking which part of the brief they have priced, before you assume it is a bargain.
FAQ
How long should a project brief be?
Long enough to answer the seven questions above, which is usually a page or less. A brief is too short when a freelancer has to guess the deliverables, and too long when the important line is buried in background nobody needed.
Should I include my budget in the brief?
Yes, as a range. Without one, freelancers price for the version of the job they imagine, so the bids spread widely and are hard to compare. A range tells them the scale of work you have in mind, and you still see each freelancer’s own price.
What if I do not know exactly what I need?
Say so, and describe the problem instead. A brief can ask for a recommendation — “suggest how many pages we need, and why” — as long as it is clear that the recommendation is part of what you are buying.
Can I change the brief after I accept a bid?
You can agree changes with the freelancer, but the project you contracted for is the one described when you accepted the bid. On Lancerscape, our delivery guarantee covers that description, and changes requested afterwards are only covered where they were agreed.
Does it cost anything to post a brief on Lancerscape?
No. Posting a brief, browsing freelancers and comparing bids are all free. You are invoiced the project value only once you choose a bid, as a single GST invoice in rupees.