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Comment by sudonim | Hacker News Reader

Hey there, sounds like what you're lacking in your current situation is a network. It becomes easier when you have other people looking out for your interests.

Towards the end of last year, we (a company of 3 in new york) were running low on investor cash and started looking for consulting gigs to cover our burn. We didn't end up going that route, but every gig we had lined up was through a word of mouth referral.

I'm not totally comfortable networking and meeting lots of people (sounds like you aren't either?). I'd encourage you to get out there and do what you can locally, but also hang out in the right places online where iOS work tends to appear. Some iOS people who do contract work can probably point you in that direction.

Good luck!

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This is the advice that everybody gives me, but for some reason this is not working for me.

I'm not uncomfortable in networking and meeting people. It's a skill I have learned with time and I'm pretty outgoing. I know many people and through some event I organize and conferences I've been, I've gathered a good network. I've been involved in a lot of activities locally and I'm quite known.

Still, clients fail to materialize through all these connections. Given that this advice keeps popping up all the time, there must be something I'm doing wrong. I have to find what that is.

Not knowing anymore about you than you wrote, my gut is that your problem is one of 2 things:

1) You lack a compelling value proposition for your clients. Something like, I'm really good at X, better than anyone, hire me. 2) You don't follow through with clients, finish the job etc. so you don't get referred business.

I seem to notice that the HN crowd, and even finance crowd completely ignore marketing. This is a huge oversight that is likely to cost you a ton of money.

I'd read this: How to Close Every Sale (Joe Girard)

The guy is a used car salesman that looks ridiculous, but the book is actually good and there are several big lessons to learn in a very small paperback for less than $10.

I applied the concepts to selling $10m+ apartment buildings with 3 to 6 month sales cycles. The big lesson is that you must always assume you will get the sale. If you are doing things like writing emails in a timid way, no one respects it. You must assume your interactions with others will result in results.

Thank you for this advice.

It's true, many people completely ignore marketing, and I did for a while. Now I'm learning, I'm getting books on it and try to fix my deficiencies.

I'll write on the blog about it. At the moment I'm reading "Book yourself solid" from Michael Port: http://www.bookyourselfsolid.com

I also have another book I just bought in the pipeline: http://doubleyourfreelancingrate.com/the-blueprint

I'll have a look at the book you recommended, thank you.

I don't want to tell you you're doing things wrong. So I'll just share what I did.

6 years ago I was trying to get in to tech. When I would meet people, I had next to nothing to offer them. But I would find out how I could help them and bend over backwards to try to do that.

When I started a business and had no product to sell, I reached out to companies who had the problem we're trying to solve and try to understand the problem space, share things we've learned and try to help them before we even had a product to sell.

I've found that helping others is the best way to build a group of people looking out for you -- whether it's personally or in your business.

Next time you're at a networking event, give it a shot. Make it your goal to help 3 people you meet there.

I'm definitely doing something wrong if given the advice I get and the connections I have I still fail to find clients.

Your advice is definitely spot on, this is something I'm reading in other business books and I have to reframe my thinking in this way.

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