A good while back, I was doing my usual marketing — send the LOI, follow up, try to get a conversation going …. you know the drill.
One contact in particular stood out in a weird way. He’s a guy who’s moved his way up the food chain at his company from assistant to director. We’ve been in touch for a decade, so the relationship is easy. The getting-him-to-hire-me part? Not easy. At all.
That’s the weird part, actually. This is a guy who has invited me — a number of times — to contact him. At one point, he shouted to me across an exhibit hall floor. He had need for my skills. Could I call him in a week to discuss?
I did. He never returned the call. Nor did he return the second one.
On the third call, I asked him to drop me a note when he needed my help, as I understood he was busy. And I told him I’d send him a quick email so he’d have my address handy.
That was in 2008. I’m still waiting.
Actually, that last part isn’t true. I’m not waiting. Sometimes, you just have to know when to give it up.
I’m still on good terms with the guy. I’m just not reaching out regularly, nor am I including him in my pre-conference marketing push. I stop by his booth and chat him up at the show, and I like his tweets whenever I see them. I’m just not counting on ever working with him.
Funny how my own attitude about marketing has changed over the years. Used to be I’d continue to contact people for a year or better. Maybe even beyond that.
But once the marketing became easier (meaning once I had enough expertise in the specialty area), I realized that continuing to put energy into contacts who may never hire you is wasted time.
That’s not to say you cut off the networking entirely. No way. It never hurts to know one more person in your specialty area. In fact, it’s rather nice to have one more acquaintance. It’s just that I did one thing that I think all writers should do at some point in these one-way conversations:
Make a decision on that prospect relationship.
I tend to look at these contacts from these angles these days:
- Is this really a potential client?
- If not, is this someone I’d like to remain friendly with?
- How long has this particular prospect been dangling the potential-work carrot? (If it’s longer than a year, I’m thinking it’s not happening.)
- Is this a tire-kicker whose hesitation can’t be overcome despite my best efforts?
That last one — I’ve had plenty of prospects want to know prices, how to work with me, what to expect, you name it. Some do suffer from analysis paralysis, and it’s not hard to move them to yes (or to no; either way is an answer). But what about the prospect who keeps communicating, asking more questions, wanting more information, asking for proposals, amended proposals, detailed emails….?
That right there is a tire-kicker. And if they can’t get to yes by the third or fourth contact, they may never get there.
That’s a problem, especially if that prospect ties up far too much of your time. It’s also a problem if they’re mining you for ideas. There are people in the world who will take your ideas and just do them without you involved. In fact, I suspect a contact from four months back was angling for that. It’s why I give general information on what I intend to do for them. I don’t assume any prospect is 100-percent trustworthy. That would be foolish from a business perspective.
When do I give up on a freelance writing prospect? Here are a few times in which I did just that:
- When the relationship had stalled in the Q&A round
- When the prospect had voiced doubts about what they wanted (you will never please someone who has no idea what direction they’re heading)
- When they aren’t 100-percent comfortable with moving forward, and your efforts to ease their concerns aren’t making any impact
- When I feel like they’ve already filed me in the “occasional employee” category (you can tell by the tone or the verbiage in their emails)
Did I miss your reason for giving up on a client prospect?
What makes you walk away?