Today I saw this video of a tiger that ended up making friends with a goat instead of eating it.
(Alas, it seems even I am not immune to procrastination.)
Apparently, here’s what happened:
This tiger was kept in a Russian zoo, and the keepers would often feed the tiger live goats to eat.
(The poor Russian zookeepers said they wouldn’t even name the goats, because it was too sad when they got eaten.)
So anyway, one day, they put in this goat called Timur.
Now for whatever reason, Timur didn’t behave like the other goats, by freaking out as soon as it saw the tiger.
No. What did it do instead?
It just casually strolled up to the tiger, like it didn’t have a care in the world.
And the tiger — who was apparently impressed by this brazen display of fearlessness — decided not to slay the goat, and instead became buddies with him.
(I hear the zookeepers now no longer feed goats to the tiger for Timur’s sake … kind of like the way you’d have to go vegan if you started dating a vegan, I guess?)
Anyway, here’s the point of this admittedly strange story I am telling you:
As a freelancer, you can learn a lot from Timur the goat.
Clients are like tigers — they can smell desperation on you.
(Oh, boy. Did I really just write the line “clients are like tigers?” I should have done this email earlier in the day.)
On the other hand, if you carry yourself in a way that shows you aren’t scared, they find that very attractive.
For example, in my case, every single client that has approached me pre-sold on me has said they LOVED the copy I wrote about my own services (in most cases, on Upwork).
And the reason that copy works so well can be summed up in one thing: it’s practically dripping with confidence.
When you genuinely are awesome at what you do, and you don’t need any one client, it shows.
What if you’re not yet in a position where you can say you don’t “need” a client?
Well, you’re probably closer than you think.
Remember the difference between desperate and fully booked can literally be ONE good client in some cases. And if not, then just two or three.
Are there three clients out there you could find who could use what you do? Probably.
Anyway, internalise the lesson of Timur the goat, and you’ll make yourself much more attractive to clients.
And for those prospective tigers — er, clients — on my list right now:
I don’t have any availability for the next several weeks at least.
But if you’re interested in discussing a project for after that, I’d recommend reading my Upwork profile, and getting in touch here:
https://www.upwork.com/fl/danielthrossell
Have a “grrrrrrr”-eat day,
Daniel
(Okay that was terrible of me sorry)