#freelance-talk
Thread
I'm thinking of making some pivots after recent outreach efforts haven't been bearing fruit. I've been pitching leads for months and have 1 new client to show for it. Time to change something.
I had a coaching call with a mentor and we think the problem isn't with my pitch, but that I need to spend more time nurturing. So for the next few weeks I'll work on connecting with prospects on LinkedIn and building a relationship over time - sharing jokes, articles, referencing mutual connections - and then offering my services after we've interacted a few times. If they don't respond to me on LinkedIn, I follow up with the standard cold email pitch.
I'm also thinking of trying new niches to target. Mental health and wellness, ecommerce, travel maybe.
Today I even had the idea of connecting with founders and CEOs on LinkedIn and offering to write their LinkedIn posts. Some copywriters make pretty good money doing that.
Goal is to close 1-2 more clients by the end of September. My coaches and mentors think it's completely doable. If that doesn't work, I may have to work something else out.
Start stripping on OnlyFans? Take up mungbean farming? Join a monastery and become a monk? Buy a shotgun and blow my brains out? Open to ideas.
YMMV, but I'd be careful with replacing "connect 'n' pitch" on LI with "connect, lets-be-friends, pitch." As someone on the receiving end of massive amounts of both tactics, I know exactly what's coming when a stranger connects and says "I just want to get to know you, what are some challenges you're facing?" Instead of a pitch, it's going to be a bunch of pen pal stuff I don't have time for... then eventually a pitch.
I'm not saying this under the delusion that I'm necessarily representative of everyone you might pitch to on the medium, nor am I saying it can't/wouldn't work. What I am saying is that the "let's be friends so I can later pitch to you" is ubiquitous on the medium, so you'll probably need to be very careful that it doesn't come off as inauthentic.
IMO, the best time for making friends is when you have plenty of clients and you’re actually happy to just connect with people under no pretenses.
If you’re in need of work and need to be pitching, then just go for it. It’s honest. Less than one month from “let’s just connect and be friends” to closed deal is probably not that realistic (in my experience). That said, when I need work quickly to fill a gap, I have much better luck when I reach out to people who are actively seeking freelancers, whether that’s through Superpath, looking on LI, other job boards, asking friends for referrals, etc.
Searching linkedin for “Looking for a [insert what you do]” and then filtering by “posts” “in the past week” has been helpful for me in the past. Best of luck!
(FWIW, definitely not saying that I haven’t done plenty of work for people I’ve first ‘just been friends’ with or that you don’t need more nurturing in your sales workflow, but just that a one-month turnaround time for that probably isn’t that realistic. Most of the work that I’ve gotten from people I’ve gotten to know over time has come 1-2 years after I first started getting to know them.)
+++ on the last paragraph.
It was after 1-2 years that work started coming in via referrals and word of mouth, eventually inbound. Initially I just picked or did what would build a pipeline and credibility for my work ethics and skills.
I have worked primarily off referrals and word of mouth the past 2 years and I am still also struggling. I even picked up a steady part time gig to supplement. It's still barely enough to support things financially for myself. I wish I had a better answer for you right now.
I've decided this week I am quitting the majority of this all once I land another FTE role back in cybersecurity. It's been an amazing 4 years in so many ways and I will always continue some byline publication work plus blogging. But I am getting whip lash and motion sickness from the rollercoaster of this market lately.
Even if I am the best and most experienced in the space option available, there will always be someone who can do it cheaper and faster than me, especially including AI lately.
Just to illustrate my earlier point from the recipient's perspective, I'm going through my periodic LI message inbox triage right now, and this was the very first unread message thread. Is this person:
A) So overwhelmed with free time that they're looking to make friends with everyone that ever attended my alma mater or...
B) {sigh} acting casual while trying to chum the waters?
(Kinda my own fault -- I still accept connects from strangers when it isn't obvious to me what the person is going to pitch, and I should probably stop)