Our blog, The Benefits of Joining the IPB covers:
- What we’ve included in the ultimate IPB Membership.
- Our top ten membership benefits should you decide to get involved.
- Information on who our membership aimed at.
- And our top five bits of advice for anyone considering joining.
It has never been a better time to join the IPB, with everyone transitioning to a new way of working, there is no reason why you can’t take control and set your own schedule. Join the 70.4 million people in the USA who already freelance. It has been estimated that by 2028 that figure will be more like 90.1. That’s a huge 53% of all US workforce – wow.
In the US alone the freelance market is worth over $1.4 trillion for the US economy every single year and more and more skilled workers are seeking this route to building their career. No wonder it’s pipped as one of the highest growing work markets, globally.
What is IPB’s Membership:
Now that we have set the scene for the freelance marketplace and why we need solutions like the IPB, it’s time for us to discuss – what is IPB’s membership?
The IPB is a global network of experienced and accredited bid and procurement freelancers looking for new clients.
Business owners join the IPB to seek out freelance bid writers capable of producing high quality bid submissions for their company. Our clients bid at varied times throughout the year. Some clients bid once per year while others bid multiple times per month. So experienced and talented professionals are always needed.
The IPB membership has freelance bid writers in mind.
Why?
Because we understand that freelancers want flexibility, they want to work from home, and want to work to a flexible schedule. That’s the whole ethos behind the IPB, flexibility and quality solutions that meet everyone’s schedule.
The ultimate top 11 membership benefits:
1- Helps freelance bid writers to secure new clients
Securing clients can be tough when working as a freelance bid writer, that’s why we do it for you at the IPB. Our internal account managers take the role of sales and lead generation, so you don’t have to. Who wants to cold call and lead generate anyway?
2 – Helps freelance bid writers to manage their clients and their bids, using intuitive technology
Our platform has been designed with bid management in mind. We have used our decades of experience to make sure every bid is managed effectively and with quality in mind. No deadlines, actions or submissions will be missed using the IPB portal. Did you know we have over two decades of bid management experience?
3 – Helps our freelance bid writers to take on local, national, and international clients
Due to our global reach, the IPB is a great way to gain experience in national and international markets. Advancing your career and resume. The world really is a village, utilise our network and expand your horizons.
4- Helps freelance bid writers to get an accreditation specific to delivering high end, cross-sector bids
We all know the importance of a solid resume for career development. Well freelancing via the IPB allows you to gain experience working across multiple sectors, all while being trained and supported by our in-house sector specialists. Our leadership team have over 60 years collective experience spanning fifteen different sectors. Learn from best, only at the IPB.
5 – Provides our freelance bid writers with expert mentoring, support, and guidance
All our professionals go through our onboarding training which includes an accreditation. But our support doesn’t end there, we offer constant mentoring, guidance, and support from afar to make sure you feel included and a part of our community.
6 – Allows our freelance bid writers to take a sick day, our team can support to make sure projects don’t fall behind.
It’s unlikely that sickness won’t come knocking at some point in your career as a freelancer and it’s an awful thought to have to let customers down who are relying on you. That’s why we cover your sick days to ensure client deliverables are delivered while you do what you need to do, recover. That’s what community does – supports once another.
7 – Membership allows a community approach to freelancing.
Freelancing doesn’t have to lonely when you’re a part of a large community aimed at helping, supporting, and guiding the process. We have online community events to support with enhanced collaboration, and even offline socials for us all to meet, network and share insight on how we best support our clients and increase our win rates. Work doesn’t have to be boring! We even have a global conference in the works – what this space.
8 – Allows freelance bid writers to set their own schedule.
Our freelance professionals can choose if they want to work a traditional 9-5 or if they’d rather work early mornings, evenings and perhaps weekends. Our clients all have different schedules so there really is a client for everyone on the IPB.
9 – Allows professional bid writers to ‘opt in’ or ‘opt-out’ of projects.
This gives our professionals true ownership of what work they decide to take on. Within our portal, professionals can simply ‘opt-in’ if they want to deliver a project or ‘opt-out’ if they don’t.
10 – You’re paid on the day of submission
Without fail, you’ll be paid on the day of submission every single time. Meaning no bad debtors and no time wasted chasing invoices. It also means you don’t have to have difficult conversations when no payment is made. Knowing when you’re going to be paid means you can run your finances with ease too and budgeting becomes much easier.
11 – Community builds friendships
With community comes friendships and who doesn’t need an extra friend or two? Our community are all working for the win. We all face to same pressures and time constraints and can support one another through the process.
Who is membership aimed at?
Membership is aimed at bid and procurement professionals looking for more flexibility by freelancing on a schedule that meets their needs. The IPB is suitable for:
- Freelance Bid Writers
- Freelance Bid Managers
- Freelance Bid Coordinators
- Freelance Procurement Managers
- Freelance Finance Professionals
Businesses are seeking support from professionals who can assist with projects, usually because they don’t have the skills in house to write bids themselves or need additional procurement support from experienced professionals who can help move projects forward during busy periods.
Membership truly is for everyone, you may only want to deliver one project a month to earn extra money for vacations or Christmas, or you may want to consider a full-time freelance career, whatever your choice, we can help.
Why should you join us? Top 5 tips for freelancers:
1 – Consider every opportunity presented to you
When joining the IPB we ask that you remain open to opportunities you wouldn’t usually consider, there is so many benefits to delivering a wide range of projects, such as:
- More work potential.
- Widen your horizons by expanding your sector knowledge.
- Advance your CV by working nationally and internationally instead of just local.
- Gives variation of work, ensuring you don’t get bored delivery the same type of bid time and time again.
2 – Be flexible
Clients like flexibility, by opening the hours your prepared to be contacted / work, you will see that more clients want to work with you and are open to considering your skillset even if it does not match their requirements 100%.
We have clients who would rather work a traditional 9-5 and others who are only contactable on a weekend. Being flexible will create more opportunity.
3 – Speak to other freelancer bid writers
LinkedIn is full of connections who are currently freelancing. Seek their advice and guidance on the benefits of taking this next step in your career and listen to what it takes to be a success. Social media provides us with a constant real time focus group – utilise it.
4 – Collaborate on your first few bids
You don’t have to take on the whole bid for your first project, you can collaborate with professionals at the IPB or with other IPB freelancers. This allows you to find your footing with our processes in a ‘real bid’ environment and understand our clients in full before embarking on a solo project.
5 – Use your mentor
When joining you will be assigned a mentor and an account manager. It’s their job to support you every step of the way. Use that support, and you’ll find the journey of being a freelance bid writer so much more pleasurable.
Recap
We hope you enjoyed reading about the IPB membership and how it benefits freelance bid writers globally. We look forward to hearing from you soon as you start your journey to become a world leading bid consultant.
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