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Deaf and Daft, getting my first sale

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

jpanarra

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Ok time to update on my progress, I haven't really moved much on my book.

However, I started a simple youtube series that I haven't released to the public yet. It might be a bit cliche but it is about personal finance is done in ASL. I will be having closed captioning on it which is really the time-consuming aspect for this process. I'm also thinking about getting a voice over but not sure how I'll do that. Thinking about bringing in my brother to just do the voice over for me so i can reach out to the hearing audience as well.
 
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When I was a kid, I had a deaf neighbour who was being recorded speaking by his mother to help him learn how to speak without hearing himself.
It was really tough, but by the age of 12 he was able to speak so it was possible to communicate with him at least in a unilateral manner. He's currently doing presentations representing deaf people.

What do you think? Sounds like something beneficial for you?

All the best wishes,
Jay
 

jpanarra

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When I was a kid, I had a deaf neighbour who was being recorded speaking by his mother to help him learn how to speak without hearing himself.
It was really tough, but by the age of 12 he was able to speak so it was possible to communicate with him at least in a unilateral manner. He's currently doing presentations representing deaf people.

What do you think?

All the best wishes,
Jay


You'll be surpised how many deaf people are capable of speaking clear enough for hearing people to understand, myself included. However, the challenge that comes with speaking to hearing people is the assumptions that the general public makes at an immediate notice. They automatically think we can hear "a little bit" or that we read lips like they do in the movies. I always have to explain myself, i cannot hear or understand you if you turn your head away or you talk too quickly/slowly. Sometimes it's just easier to keep your mouth shut and type on the phone and let google translate do the job when they speak.
 

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Ok time to update on my progress, I haven't really moved much on my book.

However, I started a simple youtube series that I haven't released to the public yet. It might be a bit cliche but it is about personal finance is done in ASL. I will be having closed captioning on it which is really the time-consuming aspect for this process. I'm also thinking about getting a voice over but not sure how I'll do that. Thinking about bringing in my brother to just do the voice over for me so i can reach out to the hearing audience as well.
Fiverr.com might be a good resource to for you to check out for the voice over.
 
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jpanarra

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Current update, If you followed my other thread about podcasting. This thread and discussion inspired me to tackle a pretty large project and possibly might be the fast lane. I have a direction to go now, but the whole vision still needs some work. I will need to design and program some things before this might come to fruition. I might have to freelance and whore my skills out a bit to try and earn more funding to pay for the programmers and other expenses that might come along with it. I’ll also start writing up a business plan because I need a plan of activities for my MBA capstone project so this is perfect timing. I can practice those skills and apply the idea in real life and if the product is good enough, might be able to get a VC in on this and speed the process up.
 

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Current update, If you followed my other thread about podcasting. This thread and discussion inspired me to tackle a pretty large project and possibly might be the fast lane. I have a direction to go now, but the whole vision still needs some work. I will need to design and program some things before this might come to fruition. I might have to freelance and whore my skills out a bit to try and earn more funding to pay for the programmers and other expenses that might come along with it. I’ll also start writing up a business plan because I need a plan of activities for my MBA capstone project so this is perfect timing. I can practice those skills and apply the idea in real life and if the product is good enough, might be able to get a VC in on this and speed the process up.

Just for reference:

Why I hate the podcast trend and watching Youtube.
 
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jpanarra

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It's been some time since my last update, I've been working on the website I've mentioned. Made some progress on designs and learning HTML and CSS from code academy. I think i would benefit myself and my knowledge better if I did the site myself as opposed to hiring a programmer blind. So being a perfectionist at some point I will probably have to hire someone to finish up the website designs for it to be ideal. However, I'm focused on my growth and skills and I'm relying on the widsom from Fox's thread here.
 

jpanarra

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Some time since my previous update, haven't been on here in awhile because working on my website. This forum is still a source of inspiration and information for me.

Over the past week i've been working on the website and learning front-end web development on the side along with it. I have to say this stuff is a lot of work and can be overwhelming at times. I just went through a udemy binge today and yesterday and put in maybe 12 hours into learning about HTML5, CSS3 and Javascript. The fact that is i haven't even chipped the tip of the ice-berg which is at the sometime exciting and overwhelming at the same time.
 
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jpanarra

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Been some time since I've posted in this thread.

I'm putting the book on hold because I don't feel right selling advice to someone if I haven't gotten any real momentum or an actual successful business to the point where I can step away from my current middle lane job. However, I've had some work done and will be shelving it for later and working at it time from time.

Regardless, I'm still a rookie in all of this, but I think I found a direction inspired by @Fox 's thread here and I've been moving forward into it for a good 3 weeks now. Still learning the ropes for the business and developing my skills regarding web development and cold call people.

I've finished the udemy course regarding CSS and HTML recommended on his thread. Also, am about to start another udemy course to learn java/jquery to give myself more leverage.


I've read a few books regarding cold calling and how to land a prospect. I've written a simple script for me to follow that only takes 3-5 minutes to get it across. All of that aside, let me tell you, cold calling people is not easy, I get a bit of the jitters before calling every time. I use this video to pump myself up 3 minutes before i go ahead and call.


^^and its Closed captioned too! ;)


I only call from 8am to 10pm, limiting my time to land a client so i can focus on other skill building and improving myself. Being deaf is definitely a handicap when it comes to cold calling, there is a major delay, another person is using their voice (i can't tell what their tone or confidence sounds like and what the pacing is out of whack). I might try to switch this to my advantage, I just found out I can upload a script to the video phone and have them cold call for me, I just have to be present for the call for the conversation after. Anyhow, I'm started to get used to getting hung up in mid-pitch so, every no i get gets me closer to a yes.. so ill just keep on dialing.

If the cold calling route is not successful for me for more than 2 weeks, I might have to consider to outsource my calling and maybe land a salesman to get me some clients.
 

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Been some time since I've posted in this thread.

I'm putting the book on hold because I don't feel right selling advice to someone if I haven't gotten any real momentum or an actual successful business to the point where I can step away from my current middle lane job. However, I've had some work done and will be shelving it for later and working at it time from time.

Regardless, I'm still a rookie in all of this, but I think I found a direction inspired by @Fox 's thread here and I've been moving forward into it for a good 3 weeks now. Still learning the ropes for the business and developing my skills regarding web development and cold call people.

I've finished the udemy course regarding CSS and HTML recommended on his thread. Also, am about to start another udemy course to learn java/jquery to give myself more leverage.


I've read a few books regarding cold calling and how to land a prospect. I've written a simple script for me to follow that only takes 3-5 minutes to get it across. All of that aside, let me tell you, cold calling people is not easy, I get a bit of the jitters before calling every time. I use this video to pump myself up 3 minutes before i go ahead and call.


^^and its Closed captioned too! ;)


I only call from 8am to 10pm, limiting my time to land a client so i can focus on other skill building and improving myself. Being deaf is definitely a handicap when it comes to cold calling, there is a major delay, another person is using their voice (i can't tell what their tone or confidence sounds like and what the pacing is out of whack). I might try to switch this to my advantage, I just found out I can upload a script to the video phone and have them cold call for me, I just have to be present for the call for the conversation after. Anyhow, I'm started to get used to getting hung up in mid-pitch so, every no i get gets me closer to a yes.. so ill just keep on dialing.

If the cold calling route is not successful for me for more than 2 weeks, I might have to consider to outsource my calling and maybe land a salesman to get me some clients.

Damn man you have the heart of a lion. So many people are more than capable and do nothing yet you are doing it and you're deaf.

Lets connect on Skype and we can chat back and forth. I might have some ideas to get around the cold calls. Rep +++
 

jpanarra

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Damn man you have the heart of a lion. So many people are more than capable and do nothing yet you are doing it and you're deaf.

Lets connect on Skype and we can chat back and forth. I might have some ideas to get around the cold calls. Rep +++

Wow, I'm honored! Your post inspired me in so many ways too, I go back to it on a daily basis trying to map my own route to success. And will take up that offer to chat on skype soon!
 
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jpanarra

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Hey,

Been crazy busy over the past few days working real hard. Now I've made real progress writing my own "portfolio/contact" site for myself. It does take some real commitment and time to those kinds of projects because some things you will have to spend hours on just for a small adjustment in the web page.

I also had a few chats with @Fox and he really gives great insight and direction. I have to tell you the content he shares are straight to the point and I've made faster progress on my work thanks to him! If you have the money and opportunity I would definitely take up on fox's offer over in the marketplace over here.

Thanks to all of my hard work, I might have just got me a new cold caller/salesperson and with my efforts trying to reach out to the community. I might have my first sale for a moving company this Monday. I've been on this forum for almost 3 months now, I don't know why my avatar profile says 2014, but reading and getting inspired by on the people here is real. Just have to stick with it and continue to move forward with your ideals and BELIEVE that things can happen, then things WILL happen. TILL NEXT TIME!!!
 

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Hey,

Been crazy busy over the past few days working real hard. Now I've made real progress writing my own "portfolio/contact" site for myself. It does take some real commitment and time to those kinds of projects because some things you will have to spend hours on just for a small adjustment in the web page.

I also had a few chats with @Fox and he really gives great insight and direction. I have to tell you the content he shares are straight to the point and I've made faster progress on my work thanks to him! If you have the money and opportunity I would definitely take up on fox's offer over in the marketplace over here.

Thanks to all of my hard work, I might have just got me a new cold caller/salesperson and with my efforts trying to reach out to the community. I might have my first sale for a moving company this Monday. I've been on this forum for almost 3 months now, I don't know why my avatar profile says 2014, but reading and getting inspired by on the people here is real. Just have to stick with it and continue to move forward with your ideals and BELIEVE that things can happen, then things WILL happen. TILL NEXT TIME!!!

That offer is out of date but another is coming soon. No problem man and its been great to help you out.
 
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jpanarra

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That offer is out of date but another is coming soon. No problem man and its been great to help you out.


Ah gotcha, just trying to give an shout out, because you deserve it!
 

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Rep +++ for taking action

Hey,

Been crazy busy over the past few days working real hard. Now I've made real progress writing my own "portfolio/contact" site for myself. It does take some real commitment and time to those kinds of projects because some things you will have to spend hours on just for a small adjustment in the web page.

I also had a few chats with @Fox and he really gives great insight and direction. I have to tell you the content he shares are straight to the point and I've made faster progress on my work thanks to him! If you have the money and opportunity I would definitely take up on fox's offer over in the marketplace over here.

Thanks to all of my hard work, I might have just got me a new cold caller/salesperson and with my efforts trying to reach out to the community. I might have my first sale for a moving company this Monday. I've been on this forum for almost 3 months now, I don't know why my avatar profile says 2014, but reading and getting inspired by on the people here is real. Just have to stick with it and continue to move forward with your ideals and BELIEVE that things can happen, then things WILL happen. TILL NEXT TIME!!!
 

jpanarra

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Rep +++ for taking action

Wow thanks! Just trying to better myself and achieve something. People like you is what makes this forum so special you don't have that much rep dollars yourself and yet, you give that extra oomph and excitement that makes me want to go for the extra mile. So I want to say thank you.. You deserve the Rep more than I do.
 
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jpanarra

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Life has a way of setting you up and smacking you down hard. This post is a milestone in this thread, I started this post talking about finding direction and trying to close my first sale.



Good news! I closed it 2 nights ago, the whole process was out of my comfort zone. The major advantage with this client was that, he was deaf as well. So I was able to call him via skype and communicate naturally. He is currently an owner of a moving company that is currently rated number 1 in U-haul's recommendation system with over 2000+ 5-star reviews in one of the northern-eastern US cities and he does not have a website. As we were discussing about his challenges and vision for the business that he wants to expand and how the website could help him meet his goals. Within the conversation was able to tell that he was tense about something. So I decided to break the ice and explain that I was new to the website development front and will be only charging 100$ for this service. While I explained to him, that I wanted to provide a opportunities for deaf businesses like his own to succeed and have a good online presence to prove to others that it is possible to be successful in business disabled or not. As I was explaining this whole perspective, I was able to see a wave of relief and his body language shift and the conversation loosened up a bit. Then at some point he went quiet, then something I didn't expect happened. He expressed gratitude then he said word by word, "F*ck $100, I'll pay you what you're worth. I'll give you what I budgeted for." I sat there in awe, the whole thing blew me away. Now, I still don’t know how much he budgeted for but I was content with $100 and giving another deaf man an opportunity to have true success.



Now after this success, I was elated. I started working on the project immediately, finding templates, deciding color schemes, looking for images and saving them etc.



Yesterday was hard at work and trying to give this guy the best service he could ever see. The next meeting was tonight and I wanted to blow him away with what I already developed for him. Now, Like I said earlier, I was on cloud nine for this project and life has a way of smacking you down. I got a call from my wife that I needed to get to the ER and one of my kids got hurt really bad. OFC I drop everything and gear up and head out. My family is the purpose of what I'm doing all of this and I want to give them all a better life, and I still intend to. After the whole ER ordeal, my kid was fine and the dust settled. My feeling of being on cloud 9 has meddled down. This whole 2 day ordeal reminded me that you cannot have 100% control over your life regardless of how much of a system or how hard you work.



Came across this video last night, put a lot of things in perspective for me. Figured I would share it with you guys too. Stay resilient, stay alert, keep moving forward and things will happen, good or bad… just keep moving. Make sure to stay present for all of the people you love.


e.
 
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samsara

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While I explained to him, that I wanted to provide a opportunities for deaf businesses like his own to succeed and have a good online presence to prove to others that it is possible to be successful in business disabled or not.

You nailed it with that.

You gave him what he needed so he did the same to you.

Congrats for your first sale
 

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Hey,


Been some time since I’ve updated my progress on here. Been crazy busy lately with learning code. I know that there is a number of threads on here you don’t have to learn code to have a good business and I agree with that. I’m actually just enjoying the progress of learning and working with websites. I haven’t closed a larger client yet but I’m almost done with the website I sold earlier, right now it's more so waiting for his end of things to be finished and minimal changes are needed based on his feedback.

As for closing the next client, over the past 2 days I must’ve sent out 30+ cold emails. I’ve gotten a few responses but none of them really expressed interest. Oh, I did have 1 that seemed interested and he just dropped off the grid and stopped talking to me. I scheduled on trello that once I send an email to a certain site, I’ll call them 3 days later (just like a pretty lady after a good first date;)).

I’m also working on my own project, a website for sure. I might have to bootstrap the back end of this project but that money hopefully will be coming from my web development side of things. Also to help me with this, I’m going through courses on Udemy. Currently, on my "downtime" I’m doing Javascript and learning more about Jquery and what would really make me effective on making things work on the front end of things. I also intend on learning ruby on rails if the other stuff doesn’t catch on and write the project out myself.


I’ve decided that I will be making 6+ figures by the end of 2017, and if I end up making 3x of my current work salary for 3 months, that is when I will be turning in my 2 weeks’ notice at my J. O. B.(Just Over Broke) .
 
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jpanarra

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I’ve been busy trying to get a major sale. I’ve mentioned on the other thread here. I’ve been having some challenges reaching out to potential clients. Currently, I am making some pivots and trying to adjust my position to make sure that I can close some sales.

The primary challenge about my current business adjustment is that I need to rely on others to make my phone calls for me. I have sent out several emails, and I’ve noticed that my results are not as useful when it comes to the numbers game. I’ve noticed when I sent out over 50 cold emails in one week. I only got one response back and when I discussed this with a few people. I learned that it would be better to spend my time trying to target individual prospects that might be interested rather than emailing people with just a poorly designed website. I need to have a purpose before I reach out to them and try to offer them a solution. Also, another thing I look for is if they already “have” a web developer. I usually move on from them; the market is too big, and opportunities are too plentiful to waste my time reminding people to go back to their original web developer.

From my post last week regarding getting sales, I have been contacted via Facebook and the forum from some people reaching out to help me. I have a few people willing to do phone calls and a couple of people wanting to do business with me and make all of my sales from A-Z. This is a great deal because it can shift my focus on building websites rather than making sales. However, the challenge I face is that the A-Z salesman is new on this front, so I’m giving them my resources and what I already know, but I feel like my knowledge is somewhat limited. Regardless, this could work in my favor because I am forced to grow a team early on and move through that awkward phase of “should I hire or not.”

I admit that I didn’t send out as many emails as usual last week and didn’t make any phone calls on my videophone because I recognized that I need to focus my energy on helping the potential salesman getting sales and supporting them. I am finding/showing them how to target certain prospects. Working on how they can sound like me on the emails and all so it can be consistent, and the business can seem like they’re in unison.

I’m not sure if I'm impatient or my frustration is typical for a newbie entrepreneur. I’ve shared this with @Fox because I’m reaching out to so many people and businesses and only coming up short on so many ends. I only have one sale over the past 2 months, and that was with another deaf induvial with a lower price offer. Although I’m not planning on giving this up anytime soon, I plan to push forward. I just hope that my adjustment and pivot to bring in salesman is the best choice to put my energy and focus on. I’ll update you guys soon enough on how this is going.
 

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I'm laughing at my previous post, I had no idea how close I was to striking gold. Talk about a crazy week, I closed 3 different clients. Two websites and another one is a programming project. I will be outsourcing the one website which is a smaller business to someone I know and trust to do the website because I will probably have my hands full with the other two. It is a strange feeling and I have to admit I feel an immense amount of pressure to perform and present the best product for all 3 clients because this is the door that I worked so hard to build over the past 5 months for myself and trying to prove myself on this forum. None of the clients have deposited their upfront payment yet, but once they do I’ll hit the ground running and provide the best service/product possible.

As mentioned in the other thread, the one programming project is going to be a big time money earner upward to 30-50k within the span of 7 months which is an incredible start to 2017. However, It will be a large amount of time spent on this. I believe it will be me working with the client making sure that I understand what needs to be done and fixed. Along with outsourcing the different segments that needs to be done or trying to do it myself. Incredible learning experience to come for the next 7 months. Much thanks to @Jon L helping out with the phone call!

As for the other website, I want to tackle is a large commercial business local to me and has a hefty cash flow business. I reached out via cold email along with pictures pointing out all the different weaknesses they had and on google, they had a competitor next to them with an already upgraded and beautiful website. Basically, I showed them where they were bleeding and I rubbed salt in their wound by writing on screenshots where it could be improved and then offered them a band aid. This one I was able to go back and forth for a good amount of times going into the details along with the help of @Fox and really got the client warmed up before I handed it over to @Fox for the phone call. Which sounds like it went really smooth according to the people that heard it (I still need to get it transcribed so I know what went on in that dark dark looking video…) I know I said it plenty, but it’s still not enough.. MANY THANKS @Fox !!

The one thing I told myself, I will NOT stop getting sales. I will still send out a number of emails on a weekly basis regardless of the number of projects I have. Also, try my best to not say NO to the client even if I have my hands full. I will figure stuff out, scheduling, outsourcing, etc. This is the time to grow and continue to grow, there is no “timeouts” in business especially if you want to hit the Fastlane ASAP!! Now I’m moving for sure, I AINT STOPPING!
 

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I'm laughing at my previous post, I had no idea how close I was to striking gold. ...
Now I’m moving for sure, I AINT STOPPING!

That's awesome!

Thanks for the update. I always enjoy reading about how your progress threat is going.

Don't give up
 
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I'm laughing at my previous post, I had no idea how close I was to striking gold. Talk about a crazy week, I closed 3 different clients. Two websites and another one is a programming project.

Kicking a$$ big bro!

The one thing I told myself, I will NOT stop getting sales. I will still send out a number of emails on a weekly basis regardless of the number of projects I have. Also, try my best to not say NO to the client even if I have my hands full. I will figure stuff out, scheduling, outsourcing, etc. This is the time to grow and continue to grow, there is no “timeouts” in business especially if you want to hit the Fastlane ASAP!! Now I’m moving for sure, I AINT STOPPING!

Yep, just have to keep pushing through every barrier that comes up, but hey, we grew up with plenty of our own barriers so this is nothing, just keep working hard, you're a pan ;)
 
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I'm laughing at my previous post, I had no idea how close I was to striking gold. Talk about a crazy week, I closed 3 different clients. Two websites and another one is a programming project. I will be outsourcing the one website which is a smaller business to someone I know and trust to do the website because I will probably have my hands full with the other two. It is a strange feeling and I have to admit I feel an immense amount of pressure to perform and present the best product for all 3 clients because this is the door that I worked so hard to build over the past 5 months for myself and trying to prove myself on this forum. None of the clients have deposited their upfront payment yet, but once they do I’ll hit the ground running and provide the best service/product possible.

As mentioned in the other thread, the one programming project is going to be a big time money earner upward to 30-50k within the span of 7 months which is an incredible start to 2017. However, It will be a large amount of time spent on this. I believe it will be me working with the client making sure that I understand what needs to be done and fixed. Along with outsourcing the different segments that needs to be done or trying to do it myself. Incredible learning experience to come for the next 7 months. Much thanks to @Jon L helping out with the phone call!

As for the other website, I want to tackle is a large commercial business local to me and has a hefty cash flow business. I reached out via cold email along with pictures pointing out all the different weaknesses they had and on google, they had a competitor next to them with an already upgraded and beautiful website. Basically, I showed them where they were bleeding and I rubbed salt in their wound by writing on screenshots where it could be improved and then offered them a band aid. This one I was able to go back and forth for a good amount of times going into the details along with the help of @Fox and really got the client warmed up before I handed it over to @Fox for the phone call. Which sounds like it went really smooth according to the people that heard it (I still need to get it transcribed so I know what went on in that dark dark looking video…) I know I said it plenty, but it’s still not enough.. MANY THANKS @Fox !!

The one thing I told myself, I will NOT stop getting sales. I will still send out a number of emails on a weekly basis regardless of the number of projects I have. Also, try my best to not say NO to the client even if I have my hands full. I will figure stuff out, scheduling, outsourcing, etc. This is the time to grow and continue to grow, there is no “timeouts” in business especially if you want to hit the Fastlane ASAP!! Now I’m moving for sure, I AINT STOPPING!

Great to hear! You mentioned in the other thread you'd crafted a cold email format that was getting good responses. Any part of that you'd feel comfortable sharing? I've been trying a few different tactics but haven't hit one that works well. Any advice you have would be appreciated!
 

jpanarra

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Sometimes you got to face the reality that things don’t work out like you mean them to. That 30-50k deal we made, over a month ago. The client hasn’t paid yet or sent us the things they want to be fixed yet, so things are still floating around in limbo with that. The deal I made with 5k for a website, they postponed it a month later, not even sure that they’ll follow through on it. The website that I got from a local business, I closed the deal for 800 but outsourced it to save time so I can focus on the other two that didn’t happen. So I lost some money on that, but no mind because I still have my time to try and get more sales.

The email system that was smoking hot a few weeks ago, people responding easily ½ to 2/3 but they never got warm enough for the phone calls. Also, due to my arrogance and laziness, I slowed down the cold emails going out because I thought I’ll have more working coming in soon. Now I’m sitting here without any heavy clients. Last week I turned up the heat on the emails, sending out at least 3-4 a day but still no responses regardless of the emails being typed out similar to what I’ve been doing for a while.

Now, I’m changing my strategy a bit. I’ve noticed that when I target the prospects I have a better chance of getting a response. Once I identify a prospective website, I turn up the heat on the detective work. Understand, I have a pretty large network on LinkedIn, if you know LinkedIn, you have a bigger network, the more names, and positions you can see. This allows me to have an advantage to see who has what position and who would be more likely to be the decision maker regarding websites, for example either a Marketing Director or President on top of the food chain that would pass me down to the lower ranks that would put me in a favorable position to push for a sale. Along with that, I try to find some typing or work by the prospect such as shared presentations or some sort of work they uploaded to the net, using @SinisterLex strategy of analyzing the personality by understanding enneagrams. I’m still a major noob when it comes to this type of thing but still working on it. I do see my emails are getting better, I know the breakthrough is coming sooner than later.

How I’m writing my Cold emails at the moment when I reach out to them the first time I usually keep it short and I point out what’s lacking on their websites and the fact that I help and fix those issues. The second time, I send out screenshots of their websites with notations on it pointing out the pain points and a screenshot of a competitor and why they’re doing so good. Then finally I mention that I can make their website better than said competitor. If they respond and ask some questions, I usually answer the questions and then try and set them up for a phone call for one of my “representatives”(people who can hear). I have not gotten to this point for the past 2-3 weeks so I’m still gnna chip at that wall.
 

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