HistoryFour years ago I started what I thought would be my dream job… It wasn’t, as it turns out I hated it after only six months of being there. I even was so bold as to tell my boss how much I hated the job she gave me. Yes I know what you are thinking, how could I be so stupid, irresponsible, and ungrateful. It was a very conflicted time for me and I didn’t really know how to handle it all. Fast forward another year and nothing much had changed, I should have left but didn’t know where to go. I didn’t want to go into another full time job, I didn’t know anything about owning a business and I don’t have a college degree. One day a friend told me about a book called The Four Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss. This book changed my life forever, I had never thought that I could be an entrepreneur before but this book was very insightful. It also wrecked me because I didn’t have the type of business that Mr. Ferriss had and unfortunately the book didn’t give you the idea just the follow through. I was missing half the puzzle. With this new found fire I started doing some research, a lot of research! I plotted my way out of the 9-5 hole that I felt I was in and finally my window opened a couple years later. I was free! After being laid off from a job I wasn’t fond of, I unlike everyone who was apologizing profusely for my new found unemployment, wasn’t afraid anymore. I had a plan, I walked out of the building for the last time and day one of my freedom had begun! I dusted off my best suit, called my photographer friend Nina, it was time to get a good headshot photo! I found someone to help me update my work history, check out Fiverr they have all kinds of freelancers willing to do odd jobs for as little as $5, then made a list of all the production companies I knew in my local area. After the first couple of stops I felt entirely overdressed in my suit, but still made some traction and started to build relationships. I was able to get enough work to sustain myself for the first few months but let my emails laps and felt forgotten. I was chasing my tail, letting the relationships grow stagnant, I had been noticed but not being remembered! Get NoticedThis really is different for every freelancer I’ve met but these are just the ways that I have found that help me get noticed. One day before I was about to make my rounds, I decided to stop and get some doughnuts. I loaded up a number of half dozen boxed treats and headed off. After dropping them off, shaking some hands, and letting the sugar do it’s magic I was getting almost immediate results (calls). I was being noticed! Of course the fact that I had been around town a few years helps as I had already built some relationships by then but most didn’t know I had started to freelance full time. Another way you can get noticed and be remembered is to possess a skill that managers and labor coordinators can utilize. I found out recently a skill that is currently in high demand and I am currently pursuing that path. This one question, “What is one skillset that you need the most but can’t find?” Can help you more than anything. Of course some managers may not have a current need for specialized skills most of them can utilize general help as shop work or stagehand help. Though this may not be a long term solution it can be a great way to solidify a manager’s remembrance of you and get your hard work noticed! Be remembered Weekly emails are one way most freelancers stay in touch with their main contacts. Obviously your work ethic, attitude, and skillset are the main things to be remembered for but there are ways to stand out from the crowd. These emails for me, until recently, have been short bland email blasts that aren’t very memorable. Most of the professional type emails go through a service like MailChimp. I had learned of this a while ago but was afraid of the complexity of using a system like this. I’ll put a link below to my post on the How-to’s of professional looking emails, this really is much easier than you might think. Blog: How-To's of Professional Looking Emails Pick up the phone and call someone! Yes I know what managers reading this might think, please don’t… I am not suggesting you call just to shoot the breeze, although this can be welcomed if you have built a relationship with that person. My suggestion is to call to genuinely offer your help, not tie up their phone line forever but just a quick 5 minute call to check in and offer help. Preface with that you don’t want to take up too much of their time just to see if they can use some help with anything. I know of one freelancer who makes a point to call everyone in his phone at least once a year! You should never be afraid to pick up the phone and have a conversation with somebody who is your current/potential client! Make a list for your Monday to stop by offices that you have a prior relationship with, a quick drop in doesn’t hurt if they aren’t too busy. Create a meetup group in your area, maybe there are some other freelancers and friends in the industry who would want to get together for a beer… Never do something over an email that you can do over the phone and never do something over the phone that you can do in person! Get your headshot done, a current well done headshot is a great way to be remembered, if people are usually better at remembering faces than names. I try to put my headshot on everything so people remember who I am. It is professional, mostly current and looks great. You can expect to pay somewhere around $100 for a good headshot, yes this might sound like a lot but it is deductible and goes a long way for being remembered! For those in the Atlanta area click here for my recommendation on a great headshot photographer. Business cards, even in 2016, are still relevant and necessary! Vistaprint, yes, does have free ones but for $50 you can get quite a few very well done cards, be sure to put your headshot on them to be remembered! Include all your relevant information and what skills you have but follow Steve Job’s recommendation on design and keep it clean keep it simple. Be professional. When you show up to an office, warehouse, or show site please please please be dressed and maintain a professional demeanor! If you show up in torn jeans and a confederate flag t-shirt to someone’s office they will think that is how you will act/arrive to their show site. For the most part you don’t need to be in a suit to meet project managers on an office day but it doesn’t hurt. Just be dressed to impress! I have heard from just about everybody that your attitude will be the one thing more than anything else that helps you succeed. If you have a bad attitude when you show up, this will get you nowhere you want to be! Get bookedOne of the best ways to get booked is to be trained or at least willing to do the hard stuff. Please see my blog about How To Get Free Gear Training, there are lots of resources on FREE training classes online and in person as well as tips for getting on-the-job training. Are you a closer? If not it will be very hard to make it as a freelancer, you have to sell yourself to make it otherwise all this work was for nothing. Now I am not suggesting you do what some in the industry do… overinflate your capabilities. Straddling that line with truth and fiction isn’t somewhere you want to be. Be honest, be forward and close! How do you close? Nobody made it in the business world by sitting at home and waiting for the phone to ring. You need to TAKE ACTION as my friend Scott Voelker says on the Amazing Seller podcast (check him out). Do what you have to do to make the sale, close the deal but be honest and have some decency. Get a good headshot to be remembered, clean up your emails to get noticed, get some business cards with your headshot so you can get booked. Next Steps: Take Action
Labor Coordinators and ManagersAre you a Labor Coordinator, Project Manager or CEO of a production company? Lets keep in touch! I would love to hear from you and keep you updated on my availability. Please subscribe below to my weekly availability email list.
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