Rejection
By Samantha Clark
One of the hardest parts of business ownership, consulting, or freelancing--in short, being your own boss--is the constant need to find new revenue streams. Building a new business often takes more time spent in marketing than performing the actual service.
As a business coach one of the biggest obstacles to growth I see is the fear of rejection. Writers have to submit queries, a plumber's business will expand with word of mouth referrals, and a lawyer may have to become a saleswomen to find new clients.
How do you motivate yourself to get out there and risk having the public tell you they think your work sucks?
Try making it into a game. Set a goal for weekly rejections. Just as you can have goals for taking half hour walks or not drinking sodas, you can make getting rejected an expected part of your work week.
My personal goal is five rejections per week. When I started I picked the easy task of inviting friends to like my Mariposa Facebook page. (Hint, hint... go like the page if you haven't already.)
See! That wasn't so hard.
I find expecting to be rejected takes the sting out of the big ones. Recently, when a nationally known literary agent rejected my manuscript after reading it a second time, I thought to myself, okay, only four more rejections left to go this week. It was time to get back on my horse and keep riding.
Give it a try.
You'll soon discover what my clients and I have--it's hard to meet your rejection goal. Often, I don't make my weekly number. People surprise me by saying yes or liking my work.
The other benefit of a concrete goal is I know when to stop. If I can get my rejection requests done on Monday, I give myself permission to take the rest of the week off. It helps me get past my procrastination. I also know when I'm finished. I can enjoy my weekend off instead of worrying about finding new work.
After awhile you'll learn how many rejections you need to get what you want. The same advice can be applied to dating or making new friends. The important part is to just get out there.
