Now let's talk marketing. Because as a famous designer once said, "Don't only learn about design, you need to learn other skills, communication, finance, marketing..." Alright buddy, here I am applying my 3 weeks of marketing skills in real life. The 10% rule, I remembered: if you send 100 emails you'll get replies from 10% of them.
So I sent 100 cold emails in one single day. Why, you ask? Good question. Because I had just learned about this new tool called Apollo where you can find contacts for companies and people, complete with details about their position, what kind of company it is, when they were established, whether they've been funded recently, and other delicious details that any marketer would feel ecstatic about if they paid for the premium account. I didn't. I stayed with the free account and got enough contacts to "market myself." Damn, at this point I was proud of my marketing and research skills, but not for long.
The Wait
I waited, and waited, and refreshed my inbox. 2 days, 3 days, a week later. No reply. Zero. Damn, what is wrong with this? Where are those 10% people? Classic.
What Went Wrong
Then I realized that my email tone sounded the same throughout all 100 emails. It's like offering a brochure or flyer to a random person on the street. I can guarantee almost 99% of them will throw your flyer away. That's how I feel about this 100 Emails incident.
What I Should Have Done
I should have done more research and spent more time customizing each email to match the company I was about to contact. Make it bespoke. Make it personal. That's the lesson there.
Zero leads from 100 emails is actually a perfect result for what I sent. I'm not even mad about it anymore. It's the most honest feedback I've ever received, delivered entirely through silence.