A common mistake freelancers make when first approaching a client is trying to get hired. I know what you’re thinking – “Wait, what? What do you mean my goal shouldn’t be to get hired?” Mind that the operative phrase here is “when first approaching a client” – when pitching clients or replying to prospects’ inquiries, that is. Intrigued?
Watch the video or read the transcript below to learn more.
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Today I’ll share a well-kept secret – what your goal should be when first approaching a client.
(Hint – it shouldn’t be getting hired!)
Imagine this!
You have professional skills you want to get hired for. You may even have some experience as a freelancer. You have so much to offer to any given client. You know that! But how do you land that project you want so much?
Sure, you have to impress the client but how could you possibly cram in a brief email everything that you know and everything that you can do for them to improve their business?
After all, that’s what the first contact is all about, right? To convince them that you are the right fit for their project!
WRONG!
Rarely, if ever, clients decide to hire a freelancer based solely on a proposal.
Why try then to sell yourself all in that single message?
It’s way better if you hook them with your email so much, that they urge to reply, begging for more information. Charm them with your email.
This of course doesn’t mean you have to lick their boots and send flattering proposals without any substantial information. No!
What I’m saying is – don’t try to share everything you know for the client in that single first email you send. Your goal when sending your proposal is to spark the clients’ interest and make them reply to you. Once they reply, you’ll have the chance to further discuss and convince them you are the right fit.
The difference between sending an application and actually being interviewed for a project is that single reply you so much want your client to send you. Don’t blow it. Craft your proposals with the right goal in mind.
Wonderful video, Diana! I subscribed to your YouTube channel.
Reminds me of the sales acronym, AIDA…
Attention
Interest
Decision
Action
You can’t approach a prospective client and jump right to getting them to make a decision. If you do, that the action they take will almost always be to reject you.
Instead, capture their attention, generate interest, and lead them to a decision — which is essentially what you said in this post / video.
Sharing now! Nice job.
Brent
Right on, Brent – this is exactly the key takeaway of my post. Oddly enough, I didn’t remember to mention the AIDA approach… Your comment and addition would give good grounds to the reader to further research and perfect their pitch. Thanks! 🙂
~Diana
Very nice advice Brent. To stand out from the crowd it is important to create an impressive proposal that makes clients to send you a personalized message.
Hi, Sunil, I’m glad you found Brent’s comment helpful 😉 Just be careful what the meaning of “impressive” is – it can be a quite loaded word and some mistakenly think that using fancy words without giving substantial info in their proposals makes them look cool and interesting. It doesn’t. Keep it simple, on topic, and peak the client’s interest specifically about their benefits and project specifics – then you should be all set.
Thanks for reading!
~Diana
Diana your post is very informative and I agree the word Impressive is very vast in meaning just like great. When someone says impressive personality which means a personality that attracts his or her targeted audience. Here the word has been used in that sense.A proposal that makes your targeted clients send you a personalized message. However, I understand a little clarification makes things easy to understand.
Diana — I enjoyed your video. You get right to the overarching idea — get their attention first. Try to find the grabber that will want them to learn more.
Thanks for your positive feedback, Jeannette – always good to hear from you 😀
~Diana
Hi, thank you for this post I agree with you that the better if you hook them with your email so much, that they urge to reply, begging for more information. Charm them with your email. useful information
Thanks for reading and for the positive feedback, Tushar – glad I could help! ~Diana