Before starting any new business, I like to consider one very important point which…

Can it pay me in dollars?

Now, I don’t need to say why earning in USD is a must in this Tinubu economy… So I’ll just jump right into telling you how I landed a $1500 client.

Before we get into the specifics, let me just say one thing…

See ehn… as soon as that money hit my account, I immediately lost my ability to sit down 😅

Everywhere was suddenly too small, too hot and too cold for me at the same time!

I needed to do like 50 press ups to stabilize my body system.

But don’t blame me though… it was my first time seeing such money… it was also my first time trying to sell my skills online for money.

It was a painful journey and I'll tell you all about it.

The process:

As you might have already figured out, the business model I was running is known as freelancing.

But unlike the traditional freelancing you’ve probably heard about, I didn't go searching for clients on upwork or fiverr.

Rather, I did something a lot of freelancers don’t like to think about, talk more of trying.

I painfully sent out cold emails and DMs to business owners who would likely need my services.

Look, like I said ‘it’s a lot of work’ so only read on if you have the balls to face hardship.

However, I'll do my best to break it down into 4 simple steps so you can copy it and use it to land your first or next client.

Let’s fire down:

1. Learn a high-income skill

Note: I didn’t say ‘learn a skill’ (this is one of those generic things you hear from people trying to sell you one course or another.)

If your plan is to make $1k (over a million naira today) from just one project, then the point is not to just learn any skill… you need to learn a high income skill

High income skills are simply skills that can be sold for big bucks eg programming, marketing etc

2. Gather a list of prospects

In this stage, your job is to look for a place where your ideal client could be and compile a list that will comprise the business owner’s (or the decision maker’s) names, email address, social media pages and business names.

A good place to gather a list like this is on social media or you can simply buy one.

The goal is to gather at least 100 names and put them all on a spreadsheet. You can use excel or google sheets.

As for me, I gathered every single prospect on my list by myself from social media.


3. Research each prospect

The reason I had to research each prospect is simple - to be unique

You see, I understood that I wasn't the only person reaching out to these business owners.

Most of my competitors just send out pitches promising heaven and earth or asking for opportunities… but not me!

I studied each person to find out the things they like, the recent places they visited, and other relevant details I could include in my cold message.

This way when they read it, they see that I have a genuine interest in them and their business and they feel inclined to listen to me.

4. Send your emails and wait

The next step is to send out the email and wait for a reply.

Sometimes the replies don't come at all so I'd have to send out a reminder after 2 or 3 days.

After sending out a few reminders and they don't respond, I cut my losses and focus on sending out more cold emails or dms.

As you can see, it was a lot of work!

And in all transparency, you really can send out up to 100 pitches without any favorable response.

it's just how it is.

I remember being caught between giving up and running mad many times before that first client paid.

Another thing is the continuous cycle of feast and famine…

Feast and famine is when you get a client today and you don't get another one until 3 months after.

Doesn’t have to be 3 months but if this business is your only source of income then not seeing any money for even 2 months is not going to be funny.

It's crazy!

Which is why if I had to make $1.5k again today, I wouldn't do it the freelancing way.

I don't think the stress is worth it anymore.

Especially since there are many other ways to earn in dollars right from your home without going through as much stress as I did.

Most of these businesses can even start paying you as early as a few days after you start.

and if you play your cards well, you can be making cool dollars every single day.

want to know which businesses I'm talking about?

I've created a free guide that explains what 5 of these businesses are all about and it can your yours today for free.

I can’t post pdfs here so if you want it, you have to reach out to me on whatsapp.

To get a copy, click on my profile and send the word “book” as a whatsapp message to the number in my profile.

And I'll try to send it over as soon as I see your message.

Till next time.

PS: In case nairaland removes my number from my profile, here is it again… 08.03344.8540