Hey Reader,

It's getting ghoulish out there. 🎃

I'm in a neighborhood that's going all out for Halloween, but so far the most I've done is put a witch's hat on the bust of Elvis in my living room.

So to get more in the spirit, let's call this a Halloween edition. Because I want to discuss the undead, the ghosts, and the zombies that haunt freelancers.

Dead leads.

Those potential clients you spend time and energy on, the ones who get your hopes up, only to vanish right at the finish line.

It's a one-two punch: You wasted time putting everything together, and all those daydreams about the bump in income fall apart in front of you.

However, if you play your cards right, you can bring a fallen lead back from the dead. In fact, some of my best clients originally rejected my proposals.

There's a precise method I use to revive rejections, and I'm gonna walk you through it in this email. So get out your shovel, and let's go grave-digging. Mwahahahaa. 🪦

Setting Up Your Lead Pipeline

If you want to stress less about leads, you need a pipeline management system.

Once you start generating leads at a steady pace, things get complicated quickly. Without a system, leads fall through the cracks (which is basically like burning money). You need software or a spreadsheet that lets you track and visualize your leads as they move through every part of the conversion process, from the moment you first encounter them onward.

The good news: There are a number of tools that make tracking leads easy peasy.

​Notion has a pipeline template right here. ⬅️ This is perfect if you want something simple and free.

​Moxie's freelancer sales pipeline is awesome. ⬅️ I pay for Moxie, and this is one of my fave features. It has an automated chart that predicts income based on leads, which is so helpful.

You can also just set up a spreadsheet if you prefer. Just love whatever system you set up, because you will ideally be spending time every few days updating it as you move leads through your pipeline.

What does a healthy pipeline look like?

At the start, most freelance leads go through the same basic steps:

🙋‍♂️ Step 1: Initial Contact

A lead can enter your pipeline in a variety of ways. You might find them through warm lead generation (they DM you on LinkedIn, meet you at a networking event, or fill out a form on your website, for example). Or you might actively seek out leads through cold lead generation (reaching out via social media, email, etc.).

Either way, as soon as you think, "This person could be a potential client!" put their information into your lead-generation system. This includes name and contact details, of course, but also date of last contact and detailed notes about how you met them and what's already been discussed. (Both Moxie and Notion have all this stuff built in.)

⚖️ Step 2: Qualification

This step determines if the lead is a good fit for your services. I have two rounds of qualification: First a questionnaire via the booking form on my site, which weeds out anyone who isn't willing to spend enough to meet my "worth it" threshold. After that, I like a 30-minute call or meeting, where I ask them about the project, vision, and budget, answer all their questions, and test the waters with a soft pitch.

💰 Step 3: Pitch and Proposal

Once I've determined they're a good fit, I send a pitch and proposal, outlining the project and suggesting a price.

From there, things get interesting. There are three paths leads can follow from this point, here they are ranked best to worst:

🤝 They Agree: Yay! Get it in writing, send your first invoice, and start the project.

👨‍⚖️ They Negotiate: You work together to find an agreement everyone is happy with.

🙅 They Reject: They say no, or ghost you, for one reason or another. Ouch.

Commence waterfall of emotions: frustration, confusion, disappointment, shame... blech!

Not to turn this into brand therapy, but feel those feelings after a rejection. Get them out of the way, because if you can process the rejection and get past it, you can tap into the reject pile for some of the best opportunities later on.

How to resurrect dead leads

This is where your trusty pipeline management system comes into play. At the very end of your pipeline, leads should end up in one of three categories:

🤑 Wins (leads that become clients)

☠️ Leads that you don't want to work with again (bad fits, toxic clients, etc.)

♻️ Leads that rejected your proposal, but you'd still work with them if at all possible

That final category is going to be your money maker, and your first port of call when you need a new lead. Because in that category are pre-warmed leads who already know who you are and what you do. And since you've been tracking your leads, you know exactly how long it's been since you talked to them, what you last talked about, and how to contact them.

But you can't just come out of the blue begging for them to reconsider. You need to give the relationship a bit of time to cool, and then come at them with a twist---something exciting you can offer.

Some examples:

"It's been a while since we last chatted, and I'm wondering how things are going with the project you were getting ready to launch? I'd love to help by [doing this specific thing I know you need.]"

"I've recently been studying [insert new skill/technique], and it made me think of you because [reference to their goal]. I'd love to test it out for you!"

"I just heard about this [insert news story, case study, etc.], and thought it might be useful to you. Want to hop on a call and chat?"

☝️ Obviously, you'll want to craft something longer and more eloquent. But the idea is to approach leads with a fresh pitch, one you've customized based on the history of the relationship.

This strategy won't bring every lead back from the dead, but I've seen it work plenty of times. And when you think about it, if a lead has rejected you, what have you got to lose by trying again?

🤔 Do you have a lead management or pipeline system?

🤔 Have you ever rescued a lead from beyond the grave?

☝️ I'd love to hear from you. Reply to this email, or any email, any time. I get back to everyone.

Oh and by the way...

🧠 If you like detailed lead generation strategies, you'll love my Lead Generation Guide. The first chapter is free.

✨ I've got room for two more freelancers in my 1:1 mentorship program. Learn more here.​

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Other Bits & Pieces

🤓 Check out my article about budgeting as a digital nomad

🎨 I've been having fun with Canva's new magic AI tools​

⚙️ Speaking of tools, here's my Notion board with all my fave freelancing tools​

📖 I can't put down Doppelganger by Naomi Klein. Should be required reading for marketers in 2023.

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Until next time.

- Liam

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