by Rachel Smith
11 September 2020
What happens when you’re pushing 50, have a bloody great body of work in your wake… but can’t get a job? Yep, it’s a familiar story.
And in our next masterclass, we’re going to hear from funny-guy and copywriter Jeremy Southern – who didn’t let the rejection letters break him. Instead, he just started ranting about it and writing about it – with regular posts in the Find-A-Finders-Fee Facebook group dedicated to peer-to-peer recruitment.
In doing so, he found a way to stand out and show off just what he can do – which is what we ALL want to do as freelancers, right?
As Jeremy’s posts racked up more and more comments, likes and shares, he realised he’d hit a nerve.
Job-seekers out there like him were also rolling their eyes at the blatant ageism, the idiotic listings for ‘unicorn wunderkinds’ or demanding experience literally no one has.
They found his humour refreshing, hilarious and real – and what started a frustrated way to blow off steam and make people laugh became a new way for Jeremy to build an audience AND started attracting clients.
When I asked Jeremy to do a masterclass about his experiences in carving out a new path and a new freelance career after leaving AdLand, his first comments to me were that he was in no way a master of anything.
But I think he’s got a lot to say to fellow job-seekers or freelancers struggling to stand out in an increasingly cluttered creative landscape.
It’s not easy. It takes massive courage to strike out from the pack and be noticed – really noticed.
Our instincts are to fit in, play it safe, don’t rock the boat. But safe is boring. Cookie-cutter websites are snooze-inducing. Freelancers who try too hard to be just like their competitors because they think that’s the path to success just end up blending into the background.
What works? Realising that your personality is your unique selling point. Clients are desperate to work with people they like and engage with. And letting your personality and business intersect might alienate some, but it could also attract the kinds of clients who ‘get’ you and want to work with you.
Being too safe makes it harder for people to get a hook on you, to engage with you and to be sold on your message.
So if you want to hear Jeremy’s story and be inspired by how you can get more of your personality out there – on your website, your socials and your marketing – I hope you’ll join us at his masterclass this Friday.
Need inspo to help you stand out from your competitors? Grab a ticket here for this exclusive masterclass!
