When I speak at conferences for bloggers and online entrepreneurs, I absolutely always recommend ditching cover letters.

Why? Because everyone says something different, and cover letters are incredibly biased because some people know what to say and others don’t.

From the business owner’s standpoint, asking everyone the same set of questions makes it so much easier to filter through dozens of applications.

For freelancers, this method levels the playing field so everyone knows what the business owner is expecting applicants to share about their work history, experience and background.

But here’s the thing: The rest of the world has not caught up with this approach.

So in the meantime, here are a few things to include a cover letter so that you stand out as the excellent candidate you are.

(Hint: Business owners, these are also the questions you should be asking for applicants to submit in your job posting instead of requesting a cover letter.)

What to include in a cover letter

In general, your cover letter should succinctly answer the following questions for business owners to clearly understand the value you can provide and what sets you apart.

1. Why are you the best candidate for this position?

This is probably the most obvious information to include, but it still needs to be said because it’s one of the most important details. It’s also a great way to start your cover letter after the introduction.

The best approach here is to include specific results you’ve gotten for your clients or, for newer freelancers, for yourself.

Why? Because candidates can say a lot of fluffy things that sound good, but don’t always have the skills, experience and expertise that they say they do.

If you can offer clear results and benefits you’ve provided, that’s more powerful than saying something more vague, like you’re a “hard worker” or “good with details.”

Here are a few ways you can do this:

Say something about your proudest accomplishment in social media management.
Mention the results you’ve gotten in project management.
Incorporate the sales results that the marketing copy you wrote had.

2. What is your Zone of Genius?

Mentioning your Zone of Genius is perhaps the best information you can include in a cover letter, especially as a freelancer.

It sets you apart because it’s not something every candidate is going to include in their cover letter.

It is also valuable information to the online business owner because they are typically looking for a specialist, which your Zone of Genius can highlight.

When you position your Zone of Genius, be sure that you do it in a way that relates to the work

One time, I had a virtual assistant apply for a position who went on and on that learning was their Zone of Genius and how much they were going to learn from working with my client.

It’s ok to want to learn from a client, but positioning your Zone of Genius in a way that could come across as self-serving is unattractive, especially to online business owners.

Because here’s the thing: When this particular client and most online business owners hire a freelancer, they want someone who is ridiculously good at what they aren’t good at.

It’s not that they don’t care about your growth and professional development, but that shouldn’t be the main reason you’re pursuing the opportunity.

Instead, make sure your Zone of Genius showcases a certain skill you can provide the business owner. Some ideas could include:

Writing compelling, story-based sales copy.
Organizing complicated workflows into easy-to-understand systems and projects.
Answering questions and troubleshooting problems for community members with attentiveness and speed.

3. Why are you interested in working with this client?

Similar to the first question, this might seem rather obvious on the surface, but it’s also a chance to make your application stand out from other freelancers.

Now, there may be many reasons you want to work with a particular client, and technically there are no wrong answers. But there are reasons that stand out more and are more helpful than others for the online business owner.

When I recruit a freelancer on behalf of a food blogger, one of the more common mistakes is that applicants focus so much on their love of food at the cost of communicating their qualifications. Even worse, what they don’t realize is that most freelancers applying for that position love food.

The key, instead, is to strike the right balance between communicating your interest in their industry and highlighting the benefits of working with you.

Here are a few examples that you can use as a starting point:

This position is the perfect fit for my skills, talents and interests. I know my background in [name 2-3 of your strongest skills] would be a strong match for this opportunity.
I specialize in working with clients in the ______ industry, and I support them by [name 2-3 of your strongest skills].
I love [the industry or niche of the business] and know my experience with [name 2-3 of your strongest skills] would make me a solid fit for this opportunity..

4. What is your current capacity?

Many freelancers simply don’t think to include how much bandwidth they have and their hours of availability, but this information can be extremely valuable to business owners looking to hire.

For a lot of freelancers just starting out, it’s common to have a full-time or nearly full-time job as they establish their freelancing businesses.

There’s no shame in this, but be upfront so that you can save yourself and the business owner a lot of time.

A business owner who really wants someone who can be available during typical business hours is going to be disappointed if they can only get in touch with you during limited windows of time each week.

You can include a sentence in either the opening of closing for your cover letter that goes something like this:

Introduction: I saw your posting for a [position name] and am confident I’m the perfect fit. I have been freelancing full-time for [number] of years and have capacity to take on an additional client at this time for [#] hours a week.

Conclusion: While I am working full-time, my job is flexible and I have capacity to take on a client for [type of work] for [#] hours per week.

5. A few additional cover letter tips for freelancers.

A final way you can help your cover letter stand out as a freelancer is to incorporate some of the key words from the job posting throughout your cover letter.

This makes it much easier for the business owner to see that you are the right fit and recognize that you paid attention to the details of their job posting.

Remember that the person hiring probably doesn’t hire very often and is likely overwhelmed by the process, so anything you can do to make it easier on them is going to help you stand out.

If it’s a good job posting, the person hiring should have an idea of what’s important to them, but be sure to watch out for these red flags when selecting jobs to apply for.

A strong cover letter is the first step to booking dream clients

Ultimately, a solid cover letter is just meant to help you get an interview. No resume or cover letter will be enough to land the position, but it’s a starting point.

These tips will help you stand out and showcase your skill-set to future clients, and ultimately help you book more interviews and work in the months and years to come.