#002 It’s time to face your fear of selling.

It’s time to face your fear of selling. 

Why do freelancers struggle to ask for the sale?

Fear.

Some face a fear of failure. 

“If I win the project, now I’m in the spotlight to deliver. What if I can’t do it? What if I’m not good enough?”

Others have a fear of judgment. 

“What if they don’t like my work? Will they think I’m a fraud?”

But often, it’s a fear of rejection. 

We don’t want to hear that someone doesn’t like what we have to offer.

It’s time to face our fears. 

When I was starting out freelancing, I took losses very personally. 

With every client who said no, I told myself: “They don’t like me.” “It’s something I said or did.” “I’m not good enough.” 

Sound familiar?

Fear of rejection kept me from going after new business – even when I knew I had value to add.

Yes, I could claim a high win rate, but that was a vanity metric to keep my ego intact.

In truth, I was letting my fear keep me small. 

It was three crucial realizations that helped me face the fear of rejection:

First, getting turned down isn’t personal. It’s vital to realize prospects decide not to buy for many reasons, most of which have nothing to do with you.

Second, your value and self-worth as a freelancer are not defined by a client’s approval or rejection. Your value has much more to do with how you show up every day for yourself to build a business guided by your values and beliefs.

Third, rejection can be a good thing. 

Hear me out a second:

I’ve adopted the mindset that a client who doesn’t see eye to eye with my values/approach/skills is a bad fit client. Rejection from a bad-fit client creates an opportunity for a good-fit client to say yes. 

I want prospective clients to say no as fast and as firmly as possible so that I don’t waste cycles on bad-fit clients or expend energy following up on opportunities that aren’t likely to materialize.

Final thought: distinguish fear from intuition.

As a freelancer, your intuition is a good thing. If you’re picking up a sense that this client isn’t a good fit for you, take a moment to evaluate what your gut is telling you.

Ask yourself whether this is your inquisition warning you of a genuine concern or an irrational fear that’s trying to sabotage your growth as a freelancer. 

Don’t be too quick to throw in the towel whatever you do.

The next time the fear is causing you to doubt, “What if they say no?” stop and ask yourself: “What if this could turn out better than I could ever imagine?”

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Have a great week, and face those fears! 

- Jeff

PS If you read these emails, can you reply back and say hey? I love getting messages from other freelance marketers.

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