TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Bringing in the leads--contract work From:John Posada <jposada01 -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 3 Dec 2001 18:56:27 -0800 (PST)
--- Andrew Plato <intrepid_es -at- yahoo -dot- com> wrote:
> Cold-calling. Its depressing, but its the only way to get in the
> door. You have to market yourself and services to every company
> in town.
I was in sales for about 18 years...straight commission. I did pretty
good...high 5 figures, some years inched my way into 6
figures...mostly based on referrals and attending/running
professional meetings (I don't mean like STC...STC, at the meeting
level, is Mickey Mouse) or private by-invitation seminars.
However, I knew there was something that I could not bring myself to
do consistently that was holding me from being as successful as I
knew I could be...that was cold calling. Ya gotta do it EVERY DAY.
Some sales people like it. I liked EVERYTHING about sales except
that...so I changed careers...instead of presenting proposals, I went
into writing them. I've never looked back.
Cold calling is numbers. After awhile, you get a feel of X cold calls
will achieve Y number of appointments (maybe 30:1), which boils down
to Z number of sales (If I made it to an appointment, I would close
maybe 75%). So, if you do 2X, you should do 2Y, and therefore 2Z.
I just hated cold calling.
> Also, go rent Glengarry Glenross. That will get you into the mood
> of a salesman. :-)
Depressing movie...closest to the hardcore sales grind I've ever
seen...and you can't beat David Mamet's dialog.
Collect Royalties, Not Rejection Letters! Tell us your rejection story when you
submit your manuscript to iUniverse Nov. 6 -Dec. 15 and get five free copies of
your book. What are you waiting for? http://www.iuniverse.com/media/techwr
Your monthly sponsorship message here reaches more than
5000 technical writers, providing 2,500,000+ monthly impressions.
Contact Eric (ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com) for details and availability.
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
