Whats the street name for it? — Rejection

Let’s start off with a topic that really hits the spot for most freelancers, when trying to get a gig. Rejection. How do you take it? Do you take it personally and shed a tear or scratch it and move on like it was nothing?

The article below is by Raj Dash.

Getting Through Freelance Rejection
Raj Dash

The new year is always a good time to reflect upon your business practices of the previous year. Did you perform as well as you’d hoped as a freelancer? Or did you get rejected more often than you were expecting?

When you’re turned down for a freelance gig, how does it make you feel? It stings, right? Even when you have a few years of experience. It’s tough enough being a lonely freelancer, tougher still being rejected for a gig you were hoping for – or worse, counting on.

But this is purely a default reaction you’ve allowed yourself to have. If you detach yourself personally from the outcome, then it allows you to move on and try for another gig. The fact is, most of the time, being rejected has nothing to do with you personally.

Some Questions to Ask Yourself

To make it easier to deal with rejection in the future, ask yourself some questions about recent rejections.

1. Was this really a slight against me? Don’t take it personally. There are many reasons a freelancer does not get the job, and it’s not always about you. When you realize this, then it’s easier to be detached.
2. Did I deliver? Maybe it was about you. Was this an existing client? It’s been said that existing clients are your best source of work. The effort of getting additional work from them is typically less than for finding a new client and an active project. Check back with clients after a project has completed, to be sure that they received what they were expecting.
3. Was I qualified? Maybe someone was more qualified. Clients are going to be more conservative during a recession. Improve your skills for the next opportunity.
4. Were my rates confusing or just wrong? Were my rates too high for the client? Too low? Believe it or not, the latter might lead some potential clients to believe that you’re not offering very much. Or maybe you are way outside the range of your market without clearly explaining what you offer to justify your rates.
5. Did I make clear what I could do for them? If you don’t tell them that you can do “X”, don’t assume they know.
6. Did I communicate properly to the client? Don’t assume that a busy client understood everything. Communications in the digital age get rushed. Long emails or chat sessions might not get absorbed. Ask direct questions that solicit a response, instead of just stating something. Repeat unanswered questions in followup communications.
7. Was there a personal crisis? Personal situations sometimes come up, and a rejection is sometimes due to that or simply an oversight. By checking back with them or staying in touch, you might gain other work.

Does detachment make you insensitive? Not at all. Consider for a moment the philosophy that many creative people subscribe to: a single, feasible, great idea is the result of having dozens or even hundreds of infeasible ideas.

So photographers take dozens of pictures to get one good one. Inventors try thousands of ways to produce a functioning prototype. As they achieve efficiency of style and work flow, later efforts become easier. Likewise, as a freelancer, you might have to apply for/ bid on several gigs before landing one. This gives you the opportunity to learn skills for applying and/or bidding, and to become efficient at it.

Got the hang of it? Ready to face rejection head on? Check out The Golden Pencil’s Rejection Letter Oympics, where blogger Jenny Cromie challenges readers to go out and get as many rejection letters as possible. The more opportunities you try out for, the better your chances of getting a “yes” at some point. Not trying might save you from rejection, but it limits your opportunities.

Have you been rejected for a project lately? What did you do to get through it?

Thanks Raj for sharing this. It is not very often issues like these are addressed or spoken of.

More Washroom/Design Related Stories…

The washroom scene is getting pretty creative I have to say. First it was women peeing standing, now its a game for men peeing. You have to see to believe. I guess the tagline for it is ‘Practice your SHOT now”

Roxy Pool Hauz *9 Ball Shoot

TITLE: 9- Ball Shoot
AGENCY: Saatchi & Saatchi, Jakarta, Indonesia
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: James Bernardo
ART DIRECTOR: Alvin Dharmawan, Rady Sutama
COPYWRITER: Ichwan Rinaldi
AGENCY PRODUCER: Maya Permatasari, Vivi Gemala
PHOTOGRAPHER: Hakalam Sutandi
DIGITAL IMAGING: Yudi Haryanto

Graphic Design enables women to pee standing!?!

I couldn’t help but applaud this one. What a classic idea to avoid all those nasty washrooms. Although, I must say, peeing in this stance would need some getting used to.
I can’t help but think, ‘another genius idea, brought to you by graphic design’. I wonder if this will reach Canada…
Click on the image below to view the idea in its full glory!

Fun Creative Hats

Yay! It’s finally friday Can’t wait to wake up late saturday morning.

Below is a collection of interesting hats, sported by members of the royal family and other.

Your Fired!!! xoxoxo Sir Alan Sugar

Sir Alan Michael Sugar, the UK version of The Apprentice. Pookey, follows this show on a more than regular basis. Sometimes he’ll play the show over and fwd or rewind to his favourite parts.
He’s tried to get me to watch it and for the most part I do watch it, but not like him. This morning it was down to the final 4! I was extremely sad to find out Lucinda Ledgerwood (Born in Singapore, and began her career in Risk Management before undertaking various roles involving I.T. in the financial sector.) was fired. I liked Lucinda, she always stood out, in her bright colours, she was her own boss and apparently the highest earner from all the contestants.

People who I didn’t like, ‘good jewish boy’ Michael Sophocles, who couldn’t tell ‘kosher’ from ‘halal’. Also Jenny Celerier (woman of the world), who not know was ignorant about the difference between ‘kosher’ and ‘halal’, but tried to sabotage the other teams progress by trying to bribe the sports shop assistants not to string the other team’s racquet. Definitely, distastefully conniving.

Double trouble

Week 7 Sir Alan shocked everyone in episode seven of The Apprentice by sending not one but two contestants home. Even show insiders were unprepared for Sir Alan’s actions and programme makers had to hastily scramble a second film crew to ensure coverage of not one but two taxi rides out of the show.

“Is it ‘Get rid of Jenny day’ or what?” – Jennifer Maguire

Sir Alan seemed disgusted by the goings-on in Morocco, and he certainly had plenty of potential candidates to get rid of as mistake after mistake mounted up. He told them, “There’s no written rule that says I can only fire one person… I can fire three of you today. I’ll fire all bloody five of you if I have to; it don’t bother me”.

In the end it was the two Jennifers who felt his wrath the strongest. “It was like he said, I’m not feeling the Jennys”, said Jennifer Maguire. “There’s a room there that needs to be cleared out. Let’s just get rid of the two of them”.

Already room mates, the women found themselves on the same team this week as Jennifer Maguire led Jenny Celerier in team Renaissance. While Jennifer Maguire was disorganised and lacked attention to detail, Jenny C’s crimes were more blatant. From trying to bribe the sports shop assistants not to string the other team’s racquets to some highly dubious shenanigans surrounding a kosher chicken, her actions didn’t impress Sir Alan at all. He fired her first and then told the others it was “because she’s a bit of a snake”.

“At the start I thought she was bright and articulate, but the tennis racquet trick is dirty cheap sabotage,” he said to his aides. “There is some element of dishonesty about her.”
read more…

Here’s a video of the boardroom going ons during this double whammy.

Now with Lucinda fired, theres Helene, Alex and Lee (yay Lee)

Lets see who wins shall we?