What I, who am bad at sales, found useful for getting work during my 5 years as a freelancer

Today marks 5 years since I went independent. I have reached this day thanks to many people. I feel more strongly supported by others now than when I was a company employee. Thank you.

Since becoming a freelancer, friends from my time as a company employee and people who have just started freelancing often ask me,

they ask.

I have somehow managed to scrape by until now, but looking back,I don't really have any memories of trying to do sales and it going well.That's why I used to be at a loss for an answer.

Five years ago, when I was about to go freelance, I had absolutely no outlook or plan like 'I'll do this and that'.

Looking back on my life as a company employee, even when I wore suits and jackets, I often played a role in supporting reliable sales members, and I had few opportunities to pitch myself.

Even among my few sales experiences, I was better suited for inside sales inquiry responses and customer success, which involves facing existing clients, rather than outbound sales. I pride myself on being a natural-born agrarian, even if I admire the hunter-gatherers.

And above all, "selling yourself" is not something you do often in life, is it?

I am also really bad at job interviews, and I have never once been able to give a presentation that I was satisfied with. Just remembering it makes me break out in a cold sweat. I think I will be bad at it for the rest of my life.

Despite that, I received a request to contribute an article from the Professional & Parallel Career Freelance Association.

The topic was "Reasons why freelancers should start a note."

I thought, 'I can write about that,' so I did my best to put it together, and to my surprise, it was read a ton! It got the second-highest number of 'likes' among all the articles on the account. I'm so happy. It doesn't even grow this much on my own note!

I believe this is largely due to the efforts of the editor,Hatsuko-san, who carefully organized my long-winded text, and the promotional power of the Freelance Association. Everyone, please read it.

So,freelancers should write notes to do sales,is the point, but looking back on these 5 years, I realized thatthere are many other things too, so I'd like to look back on them in this article.

At the time of becoming independent, I expressed my gratitude to those who had helped me.

All things considered, I feel this was the most effective thing I did. I sent about 300 messages, not via email, but through DMs. I wrote them one by one, trying my best not to use templates.

As someone who is bad at sales, I have a mentality of wanting to avoid rejection as much as possible, but the good thing about this contact is that the purpose is to express gratitude and report my status. I just had to write a message that straightforwardly conveyed that I appreciated their help.

It was natural not to get a response, so I was happy if there was a reaction, and if I received a reply, I was happy to engage in conversation. I was able to get work from someone whose timing happened to align with mine.

I organized my activity achievements in an easy-to-understand way so that I could hand them over immediately.

I remember a senior freelancer telling me that it's good to have your materials do the selling for you.

When working online, I occasionally get inquiries. The person reaching out is enthusiastic, but I wonder if they can actually take it back to their company and persuade others.

“Manager, I want to ask this person named Mizuno to work on the upcoming project.”
“I read their note, but they write using only hiragana, so they can't be any good, right? Forget it.”

That might happen. It makes me sad just writing it. But I can't just tag along and plead my case directly to their superior.

So, it's good to organize your materials as if you are creating an alter ego to act as your company's sales staff. The less articulate you are, the more they will present on your behalf. Even if it's not perfectly polished, keep it organized and easy to read. Having someone else create it for you is also a good idea.

It's fine to just put it together simply in a note work request, and if you have the capacity, it might be good to prepare a few sheets that can be printed on A4 paper. I have also compiled them in a note draft and shared them by sharing the link.

I created a proper website.

In my dealings with large companies, I feel that having a proper website helped things proceed without delay. It is by no means a cheap investment, so I requested it at the time I transitioned from a sole proprietor to a one-person corporation.

I have summarized this in a note before, so I will omit it here. I'm glad I made it.

I made announcements at milestones.

When you become a freelancer, it feels like most days are spent chasing work, but I feel it is important to create a little bit of positive news within a reasonable range.

It's fine to just share things like, 'It's been three months since I went independent, and this is my current motivation for working.'

Just like announcing, 'A baby panda was born!', sharing news like 'I launched my company website!' or 'It's our anniversary!' will eventually lead to something good down the road.

I didn't turn down work I couldn't handle myself; I connected it to someone else.

No matter how capable you are, as long as you are working alone, it is natural that you cannot accept every inquiry. In those cases, I made it a point to introduce a trusted acquaintance.

In the beginning, there were times when I pushed myself to take on work outside my scope, but it didn't go well, and I ended up causing trouble. It was a video production job. It was completely outside my experience, and I feel I should have had the courage to pass on it.

When you don't have many requests, you tend to struggle, thinking you have to take every offer that comes your way. Of course, I don't think that experience is wasted, but leave it to the experts, right?

Depending on how urgent the project is, it might be a good mindset to not reply immediately, let it sit overnight, and then decide if you still want to take it on.

I visualized my availability.

To those around you, a freelancer who doesn't post anything just looks like they are doing well. You feel anxious when you don't have work, but when it starts to increase, you might lose your composure in a different way.

And when you look at social media, don't you think everyone else seems to be doing so well? It can make you feel a bit down.

No, you look that way to them, too. The reality of the situation isn't being conveyed at all. If someone can accurately guess your situation, they are a good fortune teller, so you should hire them immediately.

So, it's a good idea to communicate your availability regularly. That said, you can't just say, 'I'm free right now!!!', so why not try talking to people or posting on the internet in a positive way?

Isn't something like that fine? Just like a parking lot showing a 'Vacant' sign, you should think about your own way of signaling that you are available.

Since I started doing this, I feel like my workflow has stabilized. That said, it can be a hassle, so it's also a good idea to put a task on your calendar every three months to remind yourself to do it.

☕ ☕

That is all. Precisely because I lacked the courage to dive into cold calling, there were many things I did instead.

Looking back, these five years might have been less about charging at a mammoth with a spear, and more about working hard to create a cafe with good music where people could wander in on their own.

Moving forward, I want to continue steadily building approaches that lead to good connections.