The client needs you as much as you need the client. It’s a game, and you’re probably losing.

Talent, that’s the word all large organizations are worshiping nowadays. If a company wants success in the upcoming 5 to 10 years, they have to acquire the best of the best. If they don’t, someone else will. The one unspoken lesson that all successful organizations know, is that talent should be acquired and controlled because if not, it could benefit someone else, and that’s a company loss.

Organizations know that this talented person has potential more than she/he could imagine, yet they don’t have the company’s resources. It’s like a soccer player in the world’s best club, looking at a very talented player in a club no one has ever heard of.

Potentially, this person could rise and destroy him/her to become the best player on the planet, but it probably won’t happen. Unlike soccer players, organizations don’t take probably as an answer. They need to limit the probabilities as much as possible. If there’s a probability of that person being the best, hire her right now.

Now let’s shift to the alternative reality. You’re a freelancer, you’re probably not worried about being hired by an organization. Your focus is your potential client, and that’s the wrong game. Somehow the table has turned.

• Instead of the organization wanting you. You’re wanting the client.
• Instead of the client doing whatever it takes to acquire you, you’re doing whatever it takes to sign a contract.

That… that’s the number one problem of every unsuccessful freelancer in this world.

You see, when you apply for a job at an organization, you send your resume. There’s almost nothing else you can do. They’ve closed the channel, it’s now a unidirectional channel. This creates the issue that people send off hundreds of job applications unsuccessfully, then get disappointed. It’s a game of odds, you will probably get multiple rejections, look at how many people are on the planet. You’re one out of 7.7 billion humans. You’re probably not the best.

With the freelancing game and clients, it’s different. The channel is always open; at least that’s what some freelancers think. You can send a client a message and cold call the world till you get that pocket full of money.

Truth is, both worlds are the same.

The only difference is believing you can make a difference in the freelancing world, compared to the other one. If you can eat an apple, then you most certainly can eat an orange.

Here’s the thought that kept me on the good side of freelancing for close to 10 years; know your worth, and don’t underestimate yourself. If you believe that you’ll do fantastic work for this client, and deliver as much as possible to explain that to the client, then a no-reply comes in. Then the client is probably doing a mistake and losing the game. It’s similar to Microsoft not hiring the best coding talent in town. It’s a mistake.

What you should do is move on. You’re a talent, if Microsoft skipped you, Apple will hire you.

One of the major mistakes is hanging on to a person, not necessarily a client. You’re conveyed as desperate, and certainly don’t qualify for the word “talent”. You could have the skills of the most talented person ever, yet you ruined it by your lack of self-confidence.

My methodology as a freelancer is quite simple.

While some send-off freelancing job applications as follows:-

Hey CLIENT NAME! You’re probably wondering why you should hire me? It’s easy. I’m the most qualified to do this job. I have:

• Worked a 100 years in tech.
• Helped over a 10000 insects achieve their full potential.
• I’ve studied for almost 90 years molecular statsticial rocket-musk engineering
• I’m top rated everywhere in the world.

I only focus on delivering perfect results, and you get a full money-back guarantee if that doesn’t happen.

I usually send the following:-

Hi, I’m Al, here’s more information about me: https://www.alanany.com

Let’s talk,
Al

What I did is simple. I conveyed that I’m ready to work with this person if she/he would like to talk. I put it on my website and showed that person that I don’t care whether she/he replies or not. Thereby, I showed that client my game, and that she/he doesn’t mean the world to me. That I won’t starve if I’m not hired. (The website contains basic information about myself. Only if the person is wanting to know statistics about me, then she/he has to exert some effort by surfing through my website to find that answer.)

That’s what you want to achieve; switching the game.

Instead of the client believing that she/he has the better hand because they’re receiving a lot of applications, make that client feel that they would be doing a mistake by not hiring you (which very well might be true).

The world of freelancing is different than the organizational one, simply because everyone could be a client, and clients are not necessarily successful organizations. Hence, they might not understand that talent is the most vital term that should exist in a successful organization. Clients are different in forms and shapes. Some are after cheap services, others are after loyalty. Smart ones are the ones that value talent.

Here’s your final lesson.

If you don’t deem yourself as a talent, then the problem is within you, and your game, not the client, nor the organization. Stop sending those resumes and freelancing job applications. Learn and evolve into the talent you could be. One that is unskippable by both the client and the organization.

Be aware of who you are; It’s easy to win when you are every piece of your chess game.

---

I’m Al, a business consultant in Zurich, Switzerland. I believe in the power of delivering value to you, the reader. I’m focusing my content to be more and more on Medium, and Linkedin. Hence, follow me on both channels to keep in touch and connect.