How I "networked like crazy" to get $200k [Issue 004]
I've been asked by several people to go into more detail about how I "networked like crazy" to get $200k.
So here's that story...
The One Sentence Version
When I didn't have work in Jan 2021, I made it my full-time job to tweet about my goal, reach out to peers, and cold email studios.
The Two Paragraphs Version
In Jan 2021, I made it my full-time job to network like crazy until I got the work I needed. I had a three-pronged method... Tweets, Peers, Clients. I tweeted about my goal to get awareness that I was looking for work. A majority of my network has come from being active in "motion Twitter" for years, so I knew that would be a great place to start. And by announcing such an audacious goal, I figured it would stick in people's minds. I then privately reached out to peers. Some of this was re-connecting with people I've known for a long time. Some of this was reaching out to people I've never talked to (some were big names that I was nervous to DM). Lastly, I did a decent amount of cold outreach to studios.
Here's how most most of my work came in. A handful of peers (out of the dozens of peers I talked to) gave my name to studios or clients when they were busy and couldn't take a particular client. I've had some success with cold outreach and if I didn't get work through peers, I would have sent a bunch more cold emails.
The Full Details Version
Started with zero network
In retrospect, I had an unfair advantage. I went to school and worked for my first 8 years in the small mountain town of Boone, NC, population 17,122 (in 2008). Besides my handful of classmates, I had no network at all. There were no creative studios and not a lot of potential design clients. Why do I consider this an advantage?
How I started networking online → I craved connection
I craved connection with the wider creative world. But I didn't have it where I lived. So a friend told me about a new website called twitter.com, I jumped at the opportunity to meet other creatives!
People who lived in big cities were meeting people in person and working in their studios, while I was making connections all around the world.
To be fair, I don't think this is a huge advantage, but I have been building the very valuable skill of connecting with people online for almost 15 years. So when the pandemic hit, I had already been working remote for 6 years and had connections all over the place. Not just my local area.
I didn't realize that what I was doing was called "NETWORKING." I was just having fun making friends and talking about design.
My network is how I was able to go freelance
Fast forward to 2016, I had been at my first job for 8 years (still in Boone, NC), and I was about to take the leap into freelance. I was an in-house graphic designer, videographer, marketer, ui/ux designer, and motion designer. But all I wanted was to focus on motion design. So when I quit my job, I didn't take any work other than motion design... niching down as they say.
My strategy back then was similar to my 200k strategy... share my journey live, connect with peers, and cold outreach potential clients.
I made about a dozen videos on YouTube (here’s the first one I made) and talked about what it was like quitting a stable job to go freelance. This helped my network know I was freelance and along with lots of Skype calls, I was able to get enough work to stay afloat. Most of my work came from peers giving my name to clients or studios when they were too busy to take the work. My rates were lower back then and I didn't stay busy all the time, but it changed my life. I had escaped the 9-5 and had so much more freedom to shape the kind of work I did and places I went and hours I worked. It was an exciting time. Scary, but exciting.
Jan 2021... Project200k announced
After 5 years of freelancing and never making over more than ~$70k directly from freelance (I made $100k twice, but part of that was from courses sales), I announced to the world that I was going to try to make $200k with freelance and share everything I learned along the way.
I could have privately made that my goal, but I was banking on my old strategy of Share, Connect, and Outreach working again.
Sharing my journey to $200k
By sharing my goal, progress and everything I was learning along the way, I figured this would be a "sticky" idea. In Chip and Dan Heath's book Made to Stick, they define a sticky ideas as...
S - Simple
U - Unexpected
C - Concrete
C - Credible
E - Emotional
S - Stories
While I didn't intentionally make Project200k to be "sticky", it really does tick off all of these boxes nicely.
Sharing about my goal and my journey made networking with peers quite easy. I had people reaching out to me to share advice, ask questions, and just to catch up and talk shop.
So in January, I had a countless of DM conversations and 13 one-on-one Zoom calls.
In these conversations, I shared my goals, my reasons for them, my plan of attack and what kind of work I was looking for. I also try to make sure I am as interested in their journey as well. This is about connecting. And it's not all business. I love talking shop, but random chit chat and generally just hanging out is awesome too.
A lot of people are surprised to hear that I get most of my work from peer referral. But here's the thing... peers open the back door and get you in past the "gate keepers."
The Power of Peer Networking
The power of connecting with peers who can refer you to other people is that you practically get to skip the KNOW and LIKE stages of KNOW, LIKE, TRUST.
When Janet Motion has worked with Studio X and she refers you, she is saying to that studio, I KNOW, LIKE and TRUST Austin. He transfers his TRUST to them and as long as you don't mess up, they will probably give you a chance.
And this is how I got connected to most of my new clients in 2021. Out of the, I don't know, 50 or so peers I reached out to, about 6 or so referred me to studios that needed freelancers. And those studios hired me multiple times throughout the year.
Peer networking ftw!
Cold Outreach
I did a fair amount of cold outreach (22 emails), but probably not enough to get much work. Cold outreach requires high volume, 3-5 follow up emails and consistency. I don't think I did any follow up emails.
Concluding Thoughts
Peer networking has been my greatest source of work since going freelance in 2016. But I did 8 years of consistent networking (social media, meetups, alumni groups, and conferences) before I went freelance. It certainly doesn't take 8 years to build up a good network, but that just happened to be my situation. So if you have practically zero network right now, you probably won't go from 0 to 60 mph in 2.3 seconds like my favorite car, the Porsche 911 Turbo S 😍🤤 But building a thoughtful network and a name for yourself is a worthwhile effort that takes time and consistency.
Advice for thoughtful, long-term networking
Be intentional – Connect with people genuinely and wholeheartedly.
Keep a spreadsheet – Don't trust your brain to remember names, emails, and portfolio sites.
Refer your friends to freelance work or full time jobs any time you can.
Don't go months without reaching out to new and old friends.
Be open – Share your rates, struggles, and dreams. This is where the magic happens.
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