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Re: Bringing in the leads--contract work

Subject: Re: Bringing in the leads--contract work
From: Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 04 Dec 2001 10:55:06 -0800

Andrew Plato 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.

Definitely, cold-calls are the way to go. They are also the only way you'll find many of the jobs that are never listed with head-hunters or on the job boards.

(The rest of my comments below are additions to Andrew's useful advice)

The best way to get leads is to get your hands on a copy of the local
chamber of commerce directory or the local Business Journal's book of
lists. Then start systematically going through the book and contacting
companies.
In most areas, you should also be able to find web sites for technology associations. These sites won't list everybody, especially not smaller companies, but they are a place to start.

The other thing that helps is to determine some penetration strategies.

Before you do that, you can try to target your efforts a little. Look at each company's news releases, and at the jobs they have posted. If the company is announcing the release of new products, it may not want to hire writers for a while. However, if it's hiring a lot of developers, then it may want a writer in a couple of months.

Check, too, in the business sections of the local papers to see who is suing whom in business. In many areas, a summary of business law suits appears once a week. If a company is being sued for a large amount, or by several people, it's obviously a bad choice for you.



Don't call up asking for the President or CEO.

An exception might be a very small, new company. In such a case, the CEO often has direct involvement with hiring. But do your homework, and find out who is an appropriate contact.

Marketing is a game of numbers. You call 100 people, maybe 1 or 2 will be
interested in what you have.

Strangely, I'm finding that well-crafted e-mails tend to have much better results; I average about 16 leads out of 100, of which about 6 or 7 lead to contracts. I'm not sure why. Off-list, someone suggested that it's because I'm in Canada, and Canadians are politer. But I also wonder if people feel more obliged to respond to e-mail than phone calls.

--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com

"'You're poisoned,' they said, 'with needless dissent,'
My system rejected the lies that they sent"
-Tommy Sands, "Humpty Dumpty Was Pushed"





















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Re: Bringing in the leads--contract work: From: Andrew Plato

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