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Soliciting work, do’s and don’ts?
Since the new year just rolled over, I’m prepping a mass communique to try to solicit more business, put myself in the minds of people I haven’t contacted in a while, and introduce myself to some new prospective clients who may be in need of my freelance crew services, in several markets within say 300 miles of me.
I did this last year with simple introduction email, and while not overwhelmed with responses, the ones I did get ALL asked for my rates. So this time around, I plan on including those rates from the get-go, but I feel like I may be putting too much information in this, so I’m opening this up to those here to humbly ask….
When receiving such emails like this from freelance crewpersons, what kind information is VITAL, and what do you NOT want to see?
Thanks!
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14 Replies
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Rates, a list of what you’re qualified to work with, maybe a list of your actual toys, and some references, at least a link to an online portfolio site.
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Rates right off the bat are always great. I also like it when freelancers have a public view Google calendar so I can quickly see if they’re even available when I need them. You don’t have to get specific with it, just blocks of time when you’re already booked.
Mike Tomei
Intel i7-930 2.8GHz
12 GB RAM
1 GB VRAM
500GB system HD, 4x1TB RAID5 media array
Adobe Production Premium CS5
https://www.miketomei.com -
I will respectfully disagree with putting the rates on there. Reason is, the folks who contacted you didn’t have a problem doing so and ASKING for your rates which gives you opportunity for one on one conversation. I find I get a lot more business from a conversation than an advertisement. By having them call you, they can gauge pretty quickly if you’re someone they want to work with….er no….
Mick Haensler
Higher Ground Media -
Offer something more than just “hey, here we area, hire me :)”, give them a reason to engage with you, maybe talk about a recent project and have links to some video, talk about how hiring you will make them money, improve their workflow, etc.
Guess what I am suggesting is more of a newsletter rather than just an e-mail, here’s a recent one I did.
https://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=7ef632153bd221ce286bb643a&id=4de10bf03f&e=%5BUNIQID%5D
http://www.MediaCircus.TV
Media Production Services
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada -
That’s an interesting departure, but I can see your concern, and I share it to a degree, cause I don’t just want to bombard people with what feels like an advertisement.
I do feel that the people that bothered to respond to my past efforts all requested rate information, primarily for “just so I have it” concerns, not because I immediately fitted a role they were looking to fill. I can’t speak for those that never responded as to why. This leads me to try to provide as much info as possible from the get go, but try to be sensitive and not make it so much a boardwalk pitch.
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Thanks for outlining a feature I never thought to add in a booking calendar. I’ll see if I can add that to my website as well.
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[Mark Suszko] ” a list of what you’re qualified to work with”
This has come up in conversations and correspondence of mine before, but in my particular situation, I don’t know what kind of governing body could verify my ‘qualifications’ other than my body of work experience.
In this regard, I can always submit a resume, and in my experience, many people I’ve worked for in the past in a different capacity appear to not grasp what a DIT is or does, and why it’s important. So, I feel I’m already trying to legitimize my purpose in the crew as a DAT/DIT in my targeted markets, and the amount of information is getting laborious, no matter how much I try to simplify it.
Also, since you mentioned references, how do you want these submitted: Immediately or stated they are available upon request? Again, this just adds more and more info, to which some may see and put in the round file just from the shear length of it, or at least that is my concern.
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[Scott Carnegie] “talk about how hiring you will make them money, improve their workflow, etc.”
Thanks, this is both on my website, and in the past, was part of a series of emails I sent out. So that leads me to ask, whats better, one contact with a lot of information, or more than one message tailored to each task? I have to admit my materials are no where near as complex or slick as your example, but I’m a freelance crewperson, not a content creator, and my work doesn’t vary as much or have as many projects
I have incorporated what I feel to be a great money-saving and streamlining process into my DAT/DIT service into the draft of this email I plan to send, but as I mention elsewhere in this thread, there’s also a matter of educating potential clients and justifying my expense on productions, and I just want to try to be complete without overbearing.
Thank you for the tips.
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Perhaps a bit of everything?
“Hi, this is Chris your friendly neighborhood production guy…”
“I have incorporated a great money-saving and streamlining process into my DAT/DIT service so if you want to save some money this is a great time to get in touch with me…”
“Check out my demo reel and I hope to hear from you…”
End with a call to action of some sort without being overbearing. I started my newsletter a few months ago and have only had a few people remove themselves from the list so I guess the content is working out okay so far.
http://www.MediaCircus.TV
Media Production Services
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada -
PS
This is a great thread with a lot of good ideas. As someone constantly trying to improve the way I reach clients and potential clients, I really appreciate threads like this.Mick Haensler
Higher Ground Media
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