After receiving a strong project lead from HandyCanadian.com via e-mail, you may decide to contact the project owner and/or bid on the project. Second only to your profile page, your first contact with the project owner is very important to online success.

Your e-mail message doesn’t have to be stiff and formal to be professional; it can have a conversational tone. You should not, however, try and solicit work by sending a vague, non-committal message such as “Hi – I saw your project online and would like to meet with you and possibly provide an estimate.” That is not why project owners post projects online.

Business and homeowners who post projects online at HandyCanadian.com want responses from contractors who bid on jobs. Or, contact from contractors who request additional information needed in order to provide a bid.

Once bids have been received, project owners will peruse each contractor’s profile page and other available information in determining whether or not that contractor is right for the job. Therefore, construct your e-mail communication to the project owner carefully using the following guide:

1. Introduce yourself
2. Introduce your company
3. Highlight your areas of expertise and range of services
4. Include credentials, awards, and notable achievements
5. Either provide a detailed bid based upon the project description, or request specific additional information required to make a bid
6. Make yourself available to meet in person if the project owner would like to consider you for the job.

In some cases it might be appropriate to copy and paste information provided on your profile page, such as from the Company Overview and Awards section. The main points to remember when composing an e-mail in response to a posted project are this:

• Include ample information about yourself and your services
• Be as specific as possible when you talk about projects
• Ask specific questions if you need additional information
• Be as specific as possible when you bid on jobs
• Make yourself available for meetings, but do not push for one