Increase Your Chances of Success by Making Smarter Attempts (Part 2)

Your first few years as a freelancing professional involves working hard and a series of trial-and-error. But once you get the hang of it, you will realize that getting rejected is quite different from not making it due to other reasons.

Here's the second one: 

Case Number Two: "We'll keep your resume/portfolio in case we need your services in the future."

Let's say that you're a website developer and you also write content for companies in the process of growth and expansion. You have freelanced for a list of clients whose companies would like to increase their sales by pitching through their sites. 

One day, you were surfing the net when a link led you to a website that really caught your eye. As a freelancer that's not on any company's payroll, you're aware that workers like you are not entitled to health insurance and other medical benefits.

This led you to write articles of your own, calling attention to the possible health hazards that freelancers face as a result of working for long hours while being in a sedentary position and not getting enough exercise.

Now, the website had a "Fitness for Less" advocacy. The past few decades have witnessed a fitness boom, as more and more adults are getting into the habit of eating better and exercising more to reap maximum health benefits and enjoy a life of quality with their loved ones. 

What intrigued you was you didn't see any recipes of exotic meals that sound too hard to prepare, or with ingredients that aren't usually found in your nearby grocery.

And even better, there were no photos of attractive, youthful men and women with toned bodies sneering or smiling at you. Instead, the site is focused on giving reliable and accurate information on how individuals, regardless of age, body type, or lifestyle, can get into the fitness habit.

But when you tried to navigate the site, you realized that it needs a few tweaks here and there. Because of your background in content writing, you know that more people would be interested if you'd present case studies of Average Joes or Plain Janes who work regular jobs, pay bills, raise their families, but still manage to stay fit without expensive gym memberships, tailor-made diets, or personal trainers.

So you proceed to write an email to the site's webmasters, briefly introduced yourself, and cited specific steps on how you can help increase their site's page views. You also attached a one-page resume, plus links to your portfolio of past works. 

Now, what happens when you get a reply that says, "We're happy to appeal to another fitness enthusiast who believes in our advocacy. But our website is still relatively new, and we rely on a limited start-up fund and donations to support our pool of content writers. But even if we cannot take your offer now, we'd like to keep your resume and contact you because we would soon be in need of research assistants and even contributors to our site"?

I'll talk about possible things that you can do in my next article.