I never thought I'd be writing something like this...
But here we are:
The problem is bigger than I imagined it would be in 2021
And I've been getting a lot of messages about it lately...
So it helps that I address this in the best way I can
The problem;
"Andy, I was chatting with a prospective client... and things seemed to be going well, until I sent them my contact/portfolio and they realized I was Black/Nigerian and that was the end.../ I've not heard from them since... What should I do? "
I understand how painful this can be..
It even happened to my friend and buddy Abdul-Qawiyy
He wrote about it on Twitter and guess what?
That thread went viral and brought him more quality deals bigger than the one he lost because, well....
Just when the deal was looking as good as done...
The Prospective client automatically lost interest thinking he was going to get scammed by a Nigerian Prince
That deal was worth tens of thousands of dollars
But Q moved on and got bigger deals
And if this has happened to you before...
It can be tempting to assume it's the lack of white privilege:
That is, these guys are racist or they hate or are scared of working with Nigerians/blacks even if you're very good at what you do..
ln a few cases, your suspicions are likely true...
But mostly... if you're good at selling....
And you're good at what you do...
That's not the case all.
People develop cold feet even when they're dealing with whites
And I know a lot of blacks... Nigerians.... closing deals every month with whites they've never met before...
Some are my students, some, my friends... some, my partners... some, my mentors...
And they may have their individual differences....
But there's a few things they have in common:
Their positioning is mad!
They know how to establish trust and credibility very early on in their conversations with foreign business owners/clients
And they are very good at demonstrating just how good they are at what they do....
Of course, they don't close all the deals they negotiate
Or all the prospects they pitch
But they're getting new deals/clients consistently
And it's not white privilege
It's the few things I've mentioned above and more
Sure, there are a few jerks out there
But there's a larger number of people out there who don't care more about what you can do for them...
And less, about the color of your skin
Trust me...
And if a deal doesn't pull thru
Or a Client doesn't reply after you tell them about yourself...
Don't assume it's because you're Nigerian or black (most whites go thru similar stuff too and they don't complain it's because of their skin color do they?)
Instead, what you should do is:
Follow-up... (most people won't)
And follow up as many times as your heart tells you to...
If they still don't respond...
Move on to the next person
Just focus on being the best at what you do
And putting your message in front of as many prospects as your time and resources allow you to...
Okay?
Don't focus on the wrong stuff
And if you're an aspiring writer trying to land foreign clients in the U.S, U.K, Canada, Australia, Austria, South Africa...
You can get all the guidance and support you need here
Stay frosty
A.