1 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:10,040 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning. 2 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 1: This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:21,639 Speaker 1: tip is that even if you are very successful, you 4 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:24,959 Speaker 1: might want to spend a little bit of time pitching 5 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:29,320 Speaker 1: new work. This increases the chances that you get to 6 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:35,279 Speaker 1: do the projects that you really want to do. So. 7 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:38,160 Speaker 1: I was talking with some creative folks recently who were 8 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:41,879 Speaker 1: all making a good living from their work. They had 9 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:46,280 Speaker 1: lots of clients coming to them with projects. One person 10 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:49,040 Speaker 1: mentioned that a new client had asked her to send 11 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:53,440 Speaker 1: them some ideas. She declined, saying she was happy to 12 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:57,280 Speaker 1: take assignments, but it wasn't part of her business model 13 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 1: to send over ideas that she wasn't sure people could use. 14 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:06,039 Speaker 1: And from a sheer time management perspective, this makes a 15 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:10,240 Speaker 1: lot of sense. It is so much more efficient to 16 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 1: have clients come to you with ideas for projects that 17 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:16,600 Speaker 1: they already know they are willing to pay for. I 18 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 1: personally love it when editors reach out to me with, hey, 19 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:22,920 Speaker 1: could you write two thousand words on this topic with 20 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:26,839 Speaker 1: a deadline of this At this rate, with one note 21 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:31,119 Speaker 1: or phone call, you might have a project going. Contrast 22 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 1: this with pitching, which generally involves sending a list of 23 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:39,760 Speaker 1: ideas that you have dreamed up. First, you have to 24 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:42,840 Speaker 1: come up with the ideas. Then you have to do 25 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:46,720 Speaker 1: enough research to make sure the ideas will work. Then 26 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: you have to convince the person with the budget that 27 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:52,080 Speaker 1: these ideas also match up with what they were looking for. 28 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:57,320 Speaker 1: Even if the person thinks your ideas are amazing, they 29 00:01:57,400 --> 00:01:59,840 Speaker 1: might have just decided to go in a different direction 30 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:04,560 Speaker 1: for the next year. So it makes sense to avoid 31 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:08,440 Speaker 1: pitching as a general business model once you have achieved 32 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:13,400 Speaker 1: some level of success, If demand is high and you 33 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: decide to take the assignments that come rather than pitching, 34 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:22,280 Speaker 1: you spend more time working and earning money and less 35 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:26,200 Speaker 1: time doing sales. Indeed, if you want to make a 36 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:29,760 Speaker 1: living as a solopreneur in a creative field, it is 37 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:34,720 Speaker 1: vital to not spend all your time pitching. But and 38 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:37,520 Speaker 1: you knew the butt was coming here, I still think 39 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: it is worth it to spend some amount of time 40 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:43,440 Speaker 1: dreaming up new ideas and trying them out on existing 41 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:48,080 Speaker 1: clients or new ones. Here's why doing the same thing 42 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: over and over again can get boring. People wind up 43 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:56,840 Speaker 1: burned out doing the exact same graphic design work, or 44 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: writing the same kind of copy, or writing the music 45 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:02,760 Speaker 1: for the same sorts of commercials over and over again. 46 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:08,160 Speaker 1: In order to have a successful, long running career, you 47 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 1: have to stay interested in the work, and the best 48 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:15,960 Speaker 1: way to do that is to have some projects going 49 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 1: that you truly want to do. The work fascinates you. 50 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:25,520 Speaker 1: It's also exciting to find new places to showcase your work, 51 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:30,280 Speaker 1: and it's practical on some level. Even the best clients 52 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 1: can disappear or change over time. You always want options, 53 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:40,320 Speaker 1: so set aside some amount of time for speculative work. 54 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 1: Maybe you spend every Thursday afternoon coming up with ideas 55 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:47,880 Speaker 1: that you would like to work on and figuring out 56 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:51,280 Speaker 1: who might be interested. You spend some of that time 57 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 1: marketing yourself and seeing what options are out there. Make 58 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:57,920 Speaker 1: sure you have a backup slot in case the first 59 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:02,240 Speaker 1: time gets taken away from you for some reason. Not 60 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:05,120 Speaker 1: all of what you come up with will land, but 61 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: some of it will, and then you will have projects 62 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 1: that are reasonably more interesting and new than what you 63 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:15,760 Speaker 1: would have been doing. And who knows, maybe one of 64 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:19,320 Speaker 1: those ideas will be a big breakthrough one that means 65 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: you wind up doing even less pitching in the future, 66 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:26,240 Speaker 1: as clients battle over each other to send you ideas 67 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:29,840 Speaker 1: that are even more perfectly suited to your interests. Hey, 68 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:35,000 Speaker 1: it could happen, So spend a little time pitching. Not 69 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:37,680 Speaker 1: all your time by any means you don't need to 70 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:42,479 Speaker 1: do that, but some small amount of time. You'll likely 71 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:47,080 Speaker 1: feel more fulfilled in your job as a result. In 72 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:52,640 Speaker 1: the meantime, This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's 73 00:04:52,680 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd 74 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips, 75 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:09,680 Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, 76 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:14,599 Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the 77 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:19,320 Speaker 1: number four then Breakfast pod. You can also shoot me 78 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:23,680 Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com. 79 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:26,239 Speaker 1: That before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. 80 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:28,920 Speaker 1: Thanks so much, should I look forward to staying in touch. 81 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:38,800 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts 82 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 1: from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 83 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:47,680 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.