Have you ever noticed that it is super easy for humans to spot any type/form of a hair piece?  Someone could spend a butt-load of money to have a very special section of customized hair to place on their grape, but no matter what they do they just can’t fool human perception.  I mean, ‘the flop’ (aka: comb-over) is bad enough, but a hair piece is always easily spotted.  So why the heck am I talking about hair pieces when I should be talking about websites, applications, print & marketing?  Well, when you really want a project and are desperate for income, your potential clients will sniff this out like nobody’s business.  Read on..

I don’t know what it is, but it’s so easy to see through people when they have even an ounce of desperation in their speech, body language or aura.  I’ve spoken with experienced sales professionals that said they started to finally sell things when they stopped caring so much about what the client’s answer would be.  This of course reminds me of those guys in college who could walk up to any girl and walk away with a phone number or date.  Hmm.. I think I’m on to something.

So anyway, you’ve lined up a good prospect.  Maybe it’s for video production or application development and inevitably you start fantasizing how wonderful it would be to finally start paying off your credit card debt with this ‘HUGE’ potential project you are going after.  Well, first thing..be careful of any red flags you may come across.  Then, when you realize that it really is a good lead and this could actually lead to some consistent income, be sure to check your emotions because potential clients become very skeptical of super-zelous behavior, too much excitement, the fact that you are falling all over them - telling them how great they are and how much you are looking forward to working for them (..ie..it’s like saying to a girl how beautiful a girl is over and over - then trying to land a date. Not gonna happen).  And in the name of Odin’s Hammer, please don’t freak-out and lose all composure (like I always did) when you start talking pricing.  You should know that if you under-price or over-price a project you will probably lose it.

The reason why I felt it important enough to include this post is because I’ve made every single possible mistake in the book.  And, ironically enough, I didn’t start landing projects until I finally, well… didn’t care anymore whether I got it or not.  Now, it is hard to ‘not care’ about getting a project when you need food to put on your plate each day, but it’s the wierdest damn thing I’ve ever seen.  The very moment that I stopped wanting projects and had more of a ‘take it or leave it’ mentality, everything changed.

One note I do want to make though is that this does not mean that you should be cursing the client under your breath as you are pitching the project.  This does not mean that you should be sticking pins in a little doll while calling back your potential client.  Nor does it mean that you should half-ass anything that you do or have an over-the-top F$%# the world mentality.  What it does mean is that you should loosen your grip just a tad. Wasn’t it Leia Organa who said “The more you tighten your grip Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers..”?  Damn I’m such a nerd.

Introduce yourself to the client, scope the project, propose the project and let the chips fall where they may.  I am certain that good salesmen could easily break this down even further and tell you more about the ins & outs of what to do and what not to do, but this is my experience.  Do not Despair!

SP