Look In The Mirror: The Person Robbing You Of More Clients Money Should Look Very Familiar

Photo by gcfairch.

“Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.”
-General George S. Patton

The Imaginary Wall
You might not realize this, but fear is the imaginary wall that’s keeping you from all you can be as a freelancer.  What fear you ask?

It’s a common fear that keeps many freelancers frozen and paralyzed where they are in their careers.

I’ll tell you what that fear is in a second, but first I want to tell you a story of a famous outlaw who knew how to use the power of fear to keep people from action.

Lessons From An Notorious Outlaw
Have you ever heard of “Black Bart“?  He was a well-known outlaw in the 1800′s.  In fact, he was so well-known he became one of the most notorious stagecoach robbers of his time.

But there’s a surprising fact about this man that reveals the power fear has over us to rob us of all we could be and do.  What is the surprising fact I’m talking about?

Through all of his years robbing stage coaches Black Bart never fired a gun.  

That’s right.  Out of all the 28 robberies of Wells Fargo stagecoaches across northern California between 1875 and 1883 – robberies that were so successful and made off with thousands of dollars a year – he never even once fired a gun!

Black Bart’s Secret To Success
Do you know how he was able to be so successful without ever firing a gun?  He knew of a more powerful weapon than any gun: fear.

You see Black Bart’s brand was fear and he emanated it through his appearance and his voice.  How?   He wore a long linen duster coat and a bowler hat.  He covered his head with a flour sack with eye holes and he carried a shotgun.  He spoke with a deep resonant tone.

Because of all this, when people saw him and heard him they were struck with fear.

On his first robbery he told the stagecoach driver, John Shine, “Please throw down the box.”   When Shine handed the strongbox, Black Bart yelled, “If he dares to shoot, give him a solid volley, boys.”  Shine could see rifle barrels pointed at him from the nearby bushes, so he handed over the strongbox.  

But Shine was about to be in for a shock…

Shine waited until Black Bart was gone.  Then he went back to get the plundered box.  When he returned he found that the men with rifles in the bushes were actually carefully rigged sticks!

Don’t laugh too soon.  If you are a freelancer, then you might be making a mistake just as foolish as John Shine.

You see many freelancers are afraid to meet business owners face-to-face.  And that fear causes those freelancers to be held back from clients they could, and should, have.  (See Lee’s post here for more.)

These freelancers might have many reasons for this.  Reasons such as:

• I’m not good thinking on my feet.
• I’m kind of introverted.
• I don’t want to bother busy business owners.

But these reasons are all just “sticks in the bushes.”  They don’t add up.  They’re just excuses.  Don’t get offended at me telling you this.  I’m NOT judging you.  You see, I have a confession.

For most of my time working online (over a decade), I’ve mainly sold things to people via the internet and never face-to-face.  Over the last couple years I’ve done some phone consultations, but even those were people who found me online.  I did things this way, because that’s how I started and that was what was comfortable for me.

Until recently…
I went to a conference in June where there were entrepreneurs and business owners present.  Many of them had dreams of starting something or taking their lives in some new direction.

When I began hanging out with the group of people who were interested in starting businesses, I started sharing the ”common things” that I knew.  And they were floored.

You have to understand.  I wasn’t trying to “sell” them.  I was just trying to help them and do what I’m good at – teaching, helping people see in a new way, and brainstorming ways they could apply concepts.