But I never give a quote right off the top of my head. I ask to see mockups, photoshop files, more in-depth documentation and information on their project so I can form an accurate (time) estimate for the project at hand. Then I apply my hourly rate to it and factor in a bit of consultation/correspondence/project-management time.

For me, doing anything more is simply a waste. Filling out an RFP, or just guessing and blurting out a number that I think might be correct based on the limited information provided in a post or quickly-written brief usually ends with unfavorable results.

I think the bottom line here though is that if your work meets the clients requirements (which are purely subjective) making them FEEL like you’re the right pick. Being quick to respond, a good writer and sales person simply ensures you’ll get the job regaurdless of skill level, professionalism or competency. At least that’s what it seems like to me.

-Adam Scott Paul
http://www.ImJustRestless.com
Freelance Interactive Creative

For design types guru.com is a decent source if you do a good amount of filtering the crap jobs and crap clients. They allow you to create “Proposal templates” which I use precisely as you describe. There are a few different bodies of text that are targeted for specific skillsets, and a couple general ones. I usually mix and match segments, and throw in either a distinctive intro, or a distinctive outro that mentions specifics that were in the listing.

On Guru, I’d say I average a response from every 30 or so applies. Although I get a much better return on places like craigslist where I check more frequently and I can respond as soon as a post goes up.

quicktext is a thunderbird extension that lets you input snippets

@Sam: When I was actively looking for work, I’d use FreelanceSwitch’s job boards (well worth the tiny amount of money), FreelanceWritingGigs.com, Copyblogger Job Boards, and a whole bunch of others that I can’t remember simply because I was subscribed to so many!