Ask HN: Did you try coldmailing HR/founders to find freelance gigs?Did it work?

If anyone looking for freelance leads - I've started curating freelance jobs from many different sources - job boards + LinkedIn + Twitter etc, filtering them and sharing the best leads with freelancers. Started getting huge shoutouts from some web agencies/shops. This is totally free for now and planning to release it as a service [1] soon.

Most of these companies in this list are most likely to hire freelance developers/marketers/writers.

It's still in beta, feel free to reach out/dm me if you would like to access the full document. [2]

[1] -> https://twitter.com/RahulrangarajR/status/148021905157812224...

[2] -> https://twitter.com/RahulrangarajR

Yes, it worked. It's how I started. It's the least efficient form of marketing, as you immediately start with a negotiation disadvantage. Ideally, you want the client to approach you first.

It's still a little better than approaching people who post ads looking for freelancers, because they get flooded with offers and are often inexperienced enough to take the cheapest.

There's a methodology: Keep it short. Show, don't tell. Approach people near the top first, not from the bottom (e.g. email the CEO instead of customer service). And follow up.

It depends a lot on your specific situation, but I actually did it for consulting gigs when I was quitting my full time job last year.

I used Twitter DMs instead of Cold Email or LinkedIn.

And I focused on startup founders who were actively hiring.

I sent out custom pitches to each of them, some of them converted. I did end up getting a gig.

So it does work. But you have to be persistent, and hone your pitch, get better at copywriting.

In my experience, cold is the absolute worst and last resort. It's almost always better to get in via someone who knows you, because, for example, if a coder at the company everyone regards as highly competent advocates for you and says you're also highly competent, that instantly cuts through tons of nonsense.

I would only do cold after I had asked each and every former colleague or anyone who even knows me, if they could help me get a foot in the door.