Paul Lima cuts right through the crap in his Six Figure Freelancing blog. Do you want to earn six figures? Lima gives some sound advice; pick up the telephone. One of the recurring themes in ALL blogs I’ve read on high-dollar freelancing is the connection of two words that makes even the most hard-core fulltime freelancer cringe: cold calling.

Lima is absolutely correct. My own personal foray to the outer edges of five-figure work has included cold calling, but not nearly as much as Lima wants YOU to do. The reason I don’t do much cold calling in my line of work has nothing to do with me being a total badass freelance genius–it is purely circumstantial. But the fact of the matter is, if I want to break the glass ceiling and actually MAKE six figures next year (as opposed to the high fives I earn now) I WILL have to make more cold calls. Yes, it’s been on my mind a lot lately for obvious reasons. When you’re that close to hitting the holy grail figure for the first time, you really want to GO FOR IT, know what I mean?

Cold calling is absolutely vital, and not just for the kinds of freelance writing Lima does. There is huge money in corporate writing, but there is just as much in other sectors…but you will have to let your fingers do the walking, as the old telephone book ad used to say. A freelancer like me, with a strong background in interviewing, being live on camera and behind the mic, and chasing stories has no trouble picking up the phone. But if you don’t have that killer instinct for telephone calls, you need to learn it. Wanna know how? Here are a few hints to developing those ninja phone skills: Continue reading Six Figure Freelancing: How to Make That First $100,000 →