An Unorthodox Way to Land That Next Project: Start Without Being Hired

An Unorthodox Way to Land That Next Project: Start Without Being Hired

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I have now done it for the second time in my life as a freelancer…started working for someone without having been hired to do so…

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Facing some unwanted downtime last week (I am a professional writer), I decided to again try a rather unorthodox approach to landing my next project. It is something I tried back in July of 2009, an approach whose successful outcome was the catalyst for one of my blog postings soon thereafter.

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The idea is a simple one:

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Begin a job without actually having been hired. Without actually being interviewed. Without, for that matter, any prior contact with the prospective client. Sound crazy? It’s not…last time around it got me a 65-hour project! My goal this time around was to see if what happened last time was a fluke, a quirk, a "one-hit-wonder" as the saying goes in the music industry. Or is there really something more to it? Is it a practical way to bypass the competition, get one’s foot in the proverbial door and land that next project?

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Sitting in my office, having just returned from a walk with my dog on a blustery, chilly, rainy mid-morning here in Jerusalem, I began to brainstorm. I, once again began to think of ways to extricate myself from that dreaded scourge of freelancers the world over; yes, the dreaded "D-word": downtime! That’s when my mind flashed back to six months ago: the first time I began a job without the minor annoyance of actually being hired.

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I began, just like last time, to peruse websites which I could work on. What I was looking for were examples which were obviously not written by professionals. I was seeking out those with numerous grammatical errors, misspellings, areas which needed clarification, sections which should have been self-explanatory but weren’t, and those which could have used better, more stylized, more marketable words, language and syntax to appeal to prospective customers. Within twenty minutes, I had found my "mark."

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The company website itself was six pages in total, including the standard "Homepage," "About us," "Pricing," "Testimonials," etc. I chose one page in particular, "About us" which I believed could have been improved markedly. This page which should have been telling the reading audience about the dynamic team which comprised the management of the company in question was instead bland, boring and non-descriptive.

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So I sat down and began to type. Within twenty minutes I had rearranged the page with all of the information I had at my disposal; to my mind all of the relevant information had already been there. It was just a question of "spicing" things up with more descriptive and relevant terminology (vocational "power-words" as we in the writing business like to call them) and "humanizing" the short corporate-style bios of the team (what I like to refer to as making 2-dimensional personal descriptions into living, breathing, human entities).

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When I had finished, just as I had done half-a-year before, I attached the newly-created "About us" page to an email and wrote the following letter which has been abbreviated for the purpose of keeping this blog article as short as possible:

 

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Dear Ms. "Anonymous",

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My name is Yonatan Maisel. I am a professional writer. I beg your pardon in advance for the unsanctioned initiative I have taken in trying to bring to fruition the full potential of your website.

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Attached to this email you will find a new version of your website’s "About us" page. I would like to state in advance that the work which I have performed is "on the house," a demonstration of what I believe I can bring to your company; for it, you owe me not a dime. If you choose not to contact me, I will fully understand. If, however, you might be interested in having me do for your entire website what I have done for the demo page, all at a very reasonable price, then you may contact me at the following email address: yonatan@executive-penmanship.com.

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Regards,

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Yonatan Maisel

 

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To ensure that the email would not be discarded as Spam, I followed up with a phone call to the company secretary, requesting her to notify her boss of the importance of the contents.

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I am pleased to say that within 48 hours of sending the email, I received a positive reply. Half –an-hour and one phone call later, we had arrived at a proposed price for completion of the project. This morning, I finished the project.

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I believe that in almost any profession the unsanctioned beginning of work without being hired is possible. I further believe that it is an excellent tool to break out of the "downtime-blues!" As such, I have come up with the following steps:

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1) Find a business or person which/whom you would like to work for.

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2) Get your mind into the "sample mentality." Think of an ice-cream parlor which uses sample spoonfuls to entice customers to make a purchase. What type of sample can you offer?

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3) Make your mind up that what you are about to do is not a waste of time. If you succeed, you could land your next job. If it doesn’t work, you have only used up a few hours of your life!

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4) Provide a sample to the person or business in question.

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5) Let the person know that what you have completed is a sample/demo and that it comes with no obligation whatsoever.

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6) Politely let the person know that if they are interested, you will be happy to continue with the task right where you let off.

 

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It might take a bit of creativity to come up with ideas. If you are a caterer, perhaps send a free meal or two at lunchtime to the boss of a company you would like to cater for. If you are a graphic-artist, design part of a new company logo for a company you would like to be associated with. But, if you are a painter, don’t paint half of your neighbors house without asking!

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I have used this idea twice in my professional life when faced with downtime. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a simple idea: take the initiative, bypass the competition, show a prospective employer what you have to offer and dare them to hire you! It has worked twice. Whether or not it is a fluke or purely luck is anyone’s guess. Perhaps if necessary, I will try it a third time…

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If you find yourself stuck in some unwanted downtime, why not give it a try?

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The picture of the businessman is used with the permission of fotosearch.com. The image of the light-bulb is the property of flickr.com.

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Hello. My name is Yonatan Maisel. I am a professional writer, published author and business-blogger.

If you are seeking an experienced, proficient, skilled writer for your writing needs, I believe that you have come to the right place! I specialize in giving my clients that "personal touch" and in injecting vibrancy, vitality, enthusiasm and creativity into all of my written work! From resumes to corporate bios, from research to speeches, from ghost-blogging to web-content and much more…I will deliver a quality product at a very reasonable price. By clicking the following link http://jobshuk.com/yoni67 you will be redirected to my profile where you will find a summary of the services which I provide as well as a link to my website where my portfolio, testimonials and pricing can be found.