Oh Pick Me Me! Me! I’m your gal! The funny cycle of selling oneself.
Written by Siotha on September 8, 2010 – 4:20 pm -There’s something amazing about big meetings, interviews, or proposals. Especially when you’re a freelancer, such as myself. Today is one of those days where – I get to shine. Shine my shoes, style my hair, the flooding, the printer not working, the kids almost being late to school, the dog panicking over the weather – don’t matter. I’m selling myself, my brand, my services, and this far into the process, I’m sure they’ll pick me. Emotionally this process takes a toll on everyone. Let’s recap this cycle shall we?
- Deciding, I need money. Yep. You don’t go through this process, unless there’s a reward. Most of us have money, paying off bills, affording new shiny tech toys, or travelling as used by that money.
- Searching for Money. Hallelujah. The fun begins. Where do I drum up business. Do I submit my resume today? Do I search craigslist, Yahoo, google, indeed? Do I go to companies and fill out hiring applications, do I send out friendly emails reminding everyone that I’m available… and can wrap up that problem project yesterday? You gotta start somewhere. However, with the electronic age as it is, I’ll just send 500 resumes out and hope to get 2 bites 4 months from now.
- Ok. I’ve made a hunting plan. Now I must go for the kill. I must write a proposal, also known as a resume, also known as a cold call sales pitch. I’m talking to someone – is anyone listening, I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe I aught to re-word my online brochure. Maybe I need to do things that will constructively add to my personal brand. After all, business is all Me2Me now, not B2b, or B2C. Thank you Gen Y. I could alternately do a video resume. Yep. Great thinking. I’ll start that next week, after I go to the mall.
- Brrrrrrring! (ok, so at my house, it’s more like some funky “hello MOTO”). “this is Siotha” “oh hi! how are you, sorry bout the noise in the background, after all you’re calling my cell phone…” “yeah, so what I can offer is this…”"great, well now let me ask a few details, what’s your budget? timeframe? (or- I’m willing to take $2/hr, and work 95 hours a week for you -no problemo)” “What do you mean you’re launching today? Well, to help you I need at least a month to get the basics, and well, we need to do this this and this” “good, i’m so glad I could help you… so when can we sit down and go through a detailed plan… (or interview)” “in a few weeks?” ” Great, I look forward to your call”. Or the decidedly short and sweet version: Brring! “Yes this is her, oh hi, how are you today… yes, I’m still looking… yes, I can drive way out there… oh great… and well I think I can help you this way and that way… great… well, i’m flexible on pay, but I’d like to stick to A million dollars, well yes sir, i’m qualified, experienced, and oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was way out of your budget” click. The third scenario goes something like either of the above, but then schedules a sit down lunch.
- Rain. Great. Lunch date 14, lets do this again. Oh Hi. Oh I didn’t know you were bringing your partner, assistant, and buddy – who also already do this type of work. Sure I’ll order soup. Gab Gab Gab. Um. Are you sure you want to do the business this way? I’ve had great successes if we do this or this or this, but it takes time to build that site that way, and the brand you need…. yes, I’m sure of it… i can cheat the system, but unfortunately that takes money up front. Are you sure you can’t put a little down now on some work that will establish you as a high page ranking, site? Well, yes I’m invested, but really, I know that if I put my money into it, you still have the option to pull out or not pay, and no matter how good my lawyer is, yours is better, after all you have money. Sure, I’ll send a proposal. Yeah, no problem.
- 4 hours later. Proposal specifically written, articulate, thoroughly planned, spit polished, sent.
- Days go by. Weeks start racking up. Nothing. Finally. After 3 reminders, 2 casual emails, and a phone call. Thanks but no thanks.
Now this is where I should insert the… Well, this is how the life goes, you just do this cycle over and over again, until you get a viable client. Sometimes you get great referrals and never have to worry about this cycle. Sometimes, you stumble upon an opportunity that turns out to skip all that hassle and shows you the money immediately. And, as I’ve found out in the last 2 years, the Economy takes a dump. More and more people are offering the same skills, better prices, and are more desperate for crappy clients…. work dwindles… now Obama can have anyone be a self – employed guru. Health insurance won’t be an issue. Accountants will always have jobs. And.. Well… my client list… they’ve all hired great people – at my recommendation. They’ve all planned their budget, and are sticking to it… as per my recommendation… They’ve all chosen to hire 3 people in house – to do the work I provided. Amazingly. I’ve worked myself into the cycle of bringing in new business, or a new job, or something again. Wow.
So. I’m off. Off to fight the torrential down pours, the printer that guzzles ink, and the shoes that I don’t want wet, but honestly, I’m not getting any other shoes wet either today. I shall win this proposal. Prove how good I am… and then come home and eat steak for dinner. Yum. Ok, Pizza might actually be on the menu just because I don’t want to do anything else but focus on this meeting today.
Tags: looking for a client, looking for a job, siotha, the funny side of job hunting
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