by Leo Wiles
23 November 2016
Hi Rachel and Leo. I’m not great at cold-calling or reaching out to prospective clients but I know I need to do it. What are your tips? Amy
As journos, sending a story pitch is mandatory for landing commissions. However, when it comes to hitting up prospective clients – whether it’s a small business or large corporates – it can be hard to know where to start. For many of us, writing any kind of client email can be tricky, in fact!
Instead of cold-calling, I’d be sending a good letter of introduction, which Lindy Alexander talks about on her great blog, The Freelancer’s Year. These are also sometimes called LOIs or ‘letters of interest’, and essentially, it’s the done thing in reaching out to potential clients or ‘prospects’.
Here are some ways to research who to send these to.
And bookmark the websites of potential clients. You’ll stay in the loop and see when they might have a new client requiring content. If you hit them up on a day when a new campaign has just been green-lit and they’re looking to outsource – TA-DA! There you are.
I think unsolicited approaches work best in terms of finding a regular gig. Mid-sized companies have enough money in the bank to make it worth your while, there are less people standing between you and the decision maker and it’s probably easier to wow them and negotiate with them in terms of how you can make their life easier (and for how much).
If you’ve sent an LOI and received a reply that the company would keep you ‘on file’, that’s common. But with so many of us retraining and reinventing ourselves (in my case, switching from feature writing to photography / video-making), it’s always good to follow up with your new credentials and new skills. You just never know.
Spotted a company you’d LOVE to work for, only to see that they’re advertising a full-time gig? Unless they state NO unsolicited pitches / emails, you could potentially drop them a line letting them know that while you’re not in the market for a full-time position, if they ever needed some extra help you have the perfect skill set to take it on. I landed a regular position with a company like this – they advertised for someone in-house four days a week and after meeting me agreed to two days if I worked 12-hour days. It was a leap of faith, but it paid off.
What are your tactics for approaching clients unsolicited?
Another good article Leo. I’ve picked up a few good clients over the years with cold calling so it can be done. Sadly, large companies more and more are using agencies so I especially agree with your tip to target mid-size companies. I’d also add that you can get work out of smaller companies but they do tend to be more price sensitive and you really need to show that you’re worth the money.