We are talking about how to convert a great pitch into the actual work and what that involved. In lesson one we covered spec work. in this lesson I want to cover a much better alternative: the small job.

Expensive

The most expensive job with any client, and by expensive I mean in terms of time, in marketing, in changes etc is always the first one. Why? It’s because you’re getting to know each other, you’re finding out how the client works, their response time, the style of whatever you are doing. There is a much steeper learning curve with the first job.

Here come arguments

This is why it’s better to do a small job first rather than a big one. First of all it means that you can potentially get the small job out of the way and if the client has been a pain get rid of them, and vice versa because there is so much back and forth initially with a new project, it means the client can get to know you too. If they were to hand over a big project straight away then this might lead to buyer’s remorse.

Big Chunks?

If you work in a profession like web design or marketing then finding a small job to get people on the hook can be tricky, after all you can’t do a bit of marketing and expect any kind of result. I would advise breaking off what you do into a smaller piece. So with marketing, why not do the review first? With web design, you could come up with 3 concepts first, and then bill them to make the website.

Sell the journey

I just want to make a clear distinction here between taking on small jobs and offering small jobs. When you are pitching, it’s you that sells the journey to the client. Although you may go in with information about your small offer, its key that you tell them about the bigger picture, in much the same way that when you’re offered a free sample they always tell you how much the actual product is.

Costs and Saves

This approach costs you more money in that this first job probably won’t have much profit in it, and for all you know you could do a good job and the client never comes back. It will also save you a fortune in avoiding those big, time consuming projects with troublesome clients.