Avoid these 5 disastrous steps when pitching clients

When many freelancers pitch to clients, they find it to be one of the scariest parts of the freelancing process. But it shouldn’t be. Trust me, I’ve seen hundreds of pitches come across my desk and most freelancers aren’t doing it right. That offers you a way to step in and impress future clients easily.

Start by learning these 5 quick steps to disaster. (If you’re NOT doing these, you’ll be way ahead of most other freelancers.)

1. Making the pitch too long

Nobody has time to read an essay of a pitch. You’ve got to put yourself in your potential clients’ shoes and understand that they have an inbox filled with messages. They’ve also got Asana or Trello boards filled with messages, Slack channels blowing up with things they’re needed for … and that doesn’t even begin to touch on all the things going on in their personal lives.

So the last thing they want is to read a long drawn out email all about you.

Here’s a tip I can tell you (as a freelancer who got successful quickly by figuring out how to pitch clients properly) and as someone who has hired hundreds of other freelancers in the time since. It’s going to sound a little harsh but here it is:

As the client: I don’t care about you. I only care about what you can do to help my business.

Remember this every time you’re getting ready to pitch clients. You always want to structure things around what benefit they will get from working with you, so your pitch needs to quickly give them the reasons why and help them understand how you can fix their problems.

2. Making the pitch too short

A client is rarely going to hire someone who gives them a quick couple of lines that tell them virtually nothing. Why respond to an email with a line like, “I am forwarding my resume in case you have any opportunities to work remotely.”

It just screams laziness all around. The client is thinking:

• I don’t know what you do

• I don’t know what your relevant skills are

• I have no idea what position you are interested in or qualified for

• I don’t know if you’ve checked out my business and have genuine ideas for ways to help me with my needs

• I don’t feel like going through your resume and looking for possible matches between what we need and what you do

All the client knows is that your interest in a job was so low that you wrote one sentence, attached your resume, and sent it off hoping that a job would magically fall in your lap. It won’t.

3. Not including the most important details right away when you pitch clients

When you’re going to cold pitch clients you need to immediately give them something to care about when reading your pitch.

If you and your potential client both know some of the same people, you need to name drop and name drop fast. Establish a connection.

Remember to always put the most attention-grabbing points upfront when you pitch clients, because if you don’t, the client might not even get to the later parts. 

4. Not customizing the pitch to the person on the other end

What’s wrong with this email? Well, it’s obvious that it’s not customized. This person thought they could pitch clients by typing up a generic email, and then sending it out to a bunch of people.

The trouble is, the one to me wasn’t sent until June. They didn’t even take the time to update the body of the email — a sure sign that it’s a copy/paste pitch to a ton of generic clients versus customized to me.

Things like this are super inauthentic and go straight to the trash. While you can use a base template it should always be a base! Each detail should be customized to the client’s specific business and needs.

5. Talking about yourself too much when you pitch clients

Don’t talk about your background unless it’s relevant to the client’s problem and how you can solve it. I don’t include where I went to school because it doesn’t matter. But if I went to MIT and that was somehow relevant and important to the client, then I would include it.

No one cares that you’ve been looking for freelance work for a while, or that you made the transition to freelance work after you broke up with your boyfriend and started a life over from scratch. Or that you’re thinking of moving to Australia and buying a van and doing the #vanlife thing for awhile.

They don’t care. They’re focused on their business goals and it only matters what you can do for them.

Keep these 5 tips in mind the next time you go to pitch clients and you’ll be far ahead of the rest of the crowd. 🤗 

How a coffee sign in the airport prompted a deeper reflection on messaging

Back in March of 2023, I was sitting at Frankfurt Airport between flights. 

I had just come from Dublin airport and I was on my way to Split, Croatia to settle there for three months. I had some time between connecting flights so I got off the plane with my laptop (of course), and I sat down at this little cafe to get some work done. 

I happened to look up and I saw one of those wall decals that have common sayings on them. You know, the Live, Laugh, Love, kind.

It distracted me (I am very easy to distract) from what I was doing at the moment because I started thinking, “Okay, this is interesting…” 

The coffee industry is huge.

A lot of people drink coffee, myself included.

I know that I don't NEED it. For many of us it’s just a part of the morning routine — along with struggling to get out of bed and thinking: “Ugh, I'm so tired, I need coffee.”

These wall decals, and all of this: “Don't talk to me before my coffee,” culture we all know and have seen got me thinking…

What other messages are we taking in in all sectors without ever stopping to think about them?

It’s a powerful question for sure and explored more in depth in one of my podcast episodes. Have a listen here. 

After you listen, give me a shout and let me know some of the messages that you have identified and are examining, I would love to hear from you.

How to write an attention getting Upwork profile

Writing an Upwork profile is a necessary part of beginning to work on the platform. It can trip many people up as they stress about how to create “the perfect Upwork profile” in order to win jobs. Guess what! I’ve hired 100s of freelancers over the years so trust me when I tell you this: Please do not stress over your profile.

I’m going to give you some quick tips here to follow when writing your Upwork profile plus, I’ll also give you my biggest secret about Upwork profiles, so let’s get started.

Your Upwork profile title

Your title is the first thing potential clients see and you’ve only got a few seconds to get their attention.

The two most common things I see are people being too gimmicky in an effort to stand out and be unique, or going the other way and making their Upwork profiles totally generic.

You want to fall somewhere in the middle. Make sure that your title is simple and to the point. It should describe what you do and the kinds of projects you’re looking for but it should be short — 10 words or less is ideal.

Your Upwork profile photo

The photo for your Upwork profile should be professional and straightforward. People form first impressions almost immediately upon seeing it so you want them to get the right idea.

DO – Take the photo in good lighting with a simple background.
DO – Face the camera.
DO – Smile naturally.

DON’T – Have too much going on in the background.
DON’T – Take a sexy model-type photo. You’re a business owner looking for clients, not a modeling gig.
DON’T – Take a photo that’s completely unrelated to work.

Your Upwork professional overview

This is kind of like your cover letter in a traditional job but can be quite a bit more informal here on a platform.

1. Put the most important information first

The client only sees the first few sentences if they see a preview of your profile. So the title + the first few words of the professional overview are what pulls them in. If they like what they see, they’ll keep reading.

2. Focus on your client and not on yourself.

Think about the ideal client you want and try to speak to them in every word of your Upwork profile. Craft your skills to show them how what you do can help them.

3. Don’t stick to old, boring, generic rules!

This is not a resume and you’re not begging for a job. You’re a freelance business and the Upwork professional overview is the place to highlight your business’s services and skills in a way that draws in potential clients.

Organizing your Upwork profile

One common mistake I see all the time in Upwork profiles is people forgetting that Upwork doesn’t allow for formatting (at the time of this writing, at least) and this results in everything appearing all jumbled and mashed together.

Use spacing and hyphens to organize everything as best you can.

Lastly, here’s the tip I promised you…

Your proposal is far more important than your profile!

I don’t want to say that you shouldn’t put in time and effort on your Upwork profile, but learning how to write an effective proposal that stands out will get you further than your profile.

The Blue Lagoon in Iceland… on many people’s bucket list… and for a good reason

When I first heard of a magical blue lagoon in Iceland I pictured rugged and untamed landscapes, rocky cliffs, and a magical hot spring nestled beneath with steam rising gently into the sky.

Imagine my surprise when I googled it and found out it’s actually next to a geothermal plant and touristified beyond belief with a spa, restaurant, and worst of all a hefty price tag! 🤦

Here are 6 things you should know before your visit …

Ticket Prices

There are multiple ticket prices at the Blue Lagoon: Comfort, Premium and Retreat Spa.

Mine, the Comfort ticket, cost a whopping $91 USD and is officially the most I have ever paid for any tourist attraction anywhere! It gets you entry to the lagoon, a towel, the Silica mud mask, and one complimentary drink.

The other levels in the same time slot started at $122 for Premium and $553 for the Retreat Spa. 🤯 The prices vary based on time, so if you’re going earlier in the day you can expect to pay a higher price. The price drops in the evening — but then, of course, you get less time. The variance is only around $10-20.

Arrive early

I highly recommend arriving at least 15 minutes before your allotted time. This allows you to complete all the preparatory items beforehand and start experiencing the lagoon right at the beginning of your time slot.

You can store your luggage

The Blue Lagoon is set up wonderfully to accommodate travelers coming to or from the airport. You can leave large luggage items on site for a cost of ISK 550 ($5.25 USD), or store them in the lockers at the facility itself.

Let’s get naked!

You are required to get naked and scrub up in the locker rooms before getting into the lagoon. This is pretty standard for any pool, hot springs in Iceland and as they say on their website, “everyone benefits when everyone is clean.” Embrace the freedom of it!

This is the place to bring a unique towel!

You can take flip-flops and your towel/bathrobe out with you, though I have no idea how people find their items later when it is busy. When we walked out there were hundreds of identical white towels and bathrobes hanging up and flip-flops scattered everywhere.  (This would be a good time to use your Minions or Deadpool towel!)

There is booze!

The bar is not just a bar but more of an all-inclusive “drink stand” with numerous options: beer, wine, champagne, soda, Gatorade, iced coffees, and slushies.

To pay, you simply scan your wristband. The first drink is free but any additional purchases will be linked to your wristband and you’ll pay the balance as you exit the lagoon after showering.

To be fair, while expensive, the Blue Lagoon is still a pretty incredible experience. As much as I grumbled about the price, I’ve been on BOTH of my trips to Iceland and will probably go next time as well! 😂

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