Photo: Purienne
When we speak to talented creative people about new opportunities, we often ask them about their willingness to freelance.
Those opposed to freelance always cite the same reason:“I don’t like the idea of constantly having to sell myself."
I’m not just talking about “introverts” either. Many highly charismatic, connected professionals who could easily crush the freelance game and earn multiples of their full time salary… don’t.
This common aversion to selling is rooted in two distinct beliefs:
Selling yourself is bad
Selling yourself is avoidable
They are both incorrect.
MYTH #1: SELLING YOURSELF IS BAD
It’s easy to understand why we see selling as corny: it’s because we have the wrong mental picture when we imagine it.
Properly selling yourself is not about super-salesy bozo activity. It's not about “networking”, thinly veiled compliment-fishing, humble bragging, fake empathy or ham-fisted self-promotion. (We have LinkedIn for all of that.)
It’s about building a high-integrity social circle around your vocation, within and outside of your employer.
It’s about positioning yourself in a city, in a company, in an industry as someone who’s uniquely great at a specific stack of things (including being likable IRL).
It’s being someone that people want around. Someone who lives an interesting life, enjoys their craft, helps others. Spreads themselves out across a wide surface area of opportunity and luck. Raises their hand. Volunteers for the challenge.
It’s not easy, but it’s easier than the alternative.
MYTH #2: SELLING YOURSELF IS AVOIDABLE
To be clear: it’s perfectly possible to avoid selling yourself. Just pop out of your shell every 3-4 years when you need a new job. It’s what most people do. And it doesn’t serve them well.
A a more useful approach is to just always be interviewing. Not only in the formal sense, but in the sense that every interaction is an opportunity to make a friend, and almost every conversation is a sales one.
Think about the people you know who are happily doing well in the workplace: They articulate their ideas, speak compellingly to groups, persuade others, say hard things in easy ways, and remain friendly with people they disagree with.
These are all sales skills.
THE TRUTH
So how does all of this tie back to freelance? It doesn't. Not exclusively.
The same traits that a freelancer uses to drum up a constant business pipeline are used by full time creatives, leaders and executives to build armies of advocates. This helps them advance in their jobs, and ensures multiple options when it’s time to make a move.
Selling yourself is not just the burden of the freelancer.
It’s the hallmark of a successful pro in any position.
It’s fun, necessary and can be done with class.
