A 100% guaranteed sales strategy

Back in 2005, I decided I wanted to get serious about making videos and doing motion design for a living. The problem was, I lived in Cincinnati (not exactly a hotbed for culture) and I had zero contacts in the industry.

So here’s what I did (and what you can do too):

1) Prove you can do the work

Generally speaking, people only want to pay you to do things you’ve already done. Nobody wants to be client #1.

So what do you do? Fake it til you make it!

I made a DVD with a demo reel I cobbled together out of personal projects: a music video, some animations with a friend of mine skateboarding, etc. The budget was literally $0, but I put a ton of work into them and they didn’t look THAT far off from the show opens you’d see on MTV, VH1, etc back then.

2) Get in front of people you want to work with

I burned DVD-R copies of my demo reel, spraypaint stenciled some artwork on the disc so it didn’t look like what it was (a cheap DVD-R) and sent out 5-10 of them a week to record labels, magazines, clothing brands… anyone that seemed like they might be a fit for my work.

It was a grind putting together every package by hand, going to the post office to mail them out, etc— but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Winners don’t quit, and quitters don’t win 😜

3) Convince them to pay you

I didn’t hear from anyone for months, until finally I got a reply from Flo Multizine— it was a really cool publication from NYC focused on music and action sports (two things I knew a lot about).

Every issue had a print magazine, CD and DVD and they distributed over 100k copies every issue at indie record and skate shops across the country.

One thing led to another, and to make a long story short I ended up making Flo my full time job for about 2 years where I made original video content about Bam Margera, Queens Of The Stone Age, Quiksilver, DC, Interscope, Christian Hosoi, etc.

Honestly, I’m still super proud of what we did. It was sick, and absolutely peak mid-2000s.

“Cool story Finn… what’s your point?”

What I did 20 years ago is STILL the blueprint for how to sell yourself.

There’s nothing fancy or complicated, you just have to keep putting yourself out there— prove you can do the work, get in front of the right people, and convince them to pay you.

Getting that first yes is by far the hardest part. And once the first person says yes, it’s 10x easier to get the second person to say yes. The 3rd one is even easier, etc etc.

Here’s the best part:

You don’t have to burn DVDs and mail out 100s of packages like I did.

Now, you can do it on LinkedIn and YouTube— and you can reach 100x more people than I did, without even leaving the house. Honestly, you’re spoiled 😒

It’s just a numbers game… it’s 100% guaranteed that you WILL get someone to say yes eventually!

Keep making content. Keep sending DMs. Keep shooting your shot.

I promise you that it WILL happen, as long as you keep putting in the work 💪