Why I Won’t Take Your Call
It’s nothing personal
A few years ago, I had a go at this self-employment thing. I would land an interested potential client and set up a ‘call’. In the run up to the appointed time, I would fret, my stomach turning over and over with anxiety as I over prepared. My visit to the toilet would be a good 15 minutes too early and I would be sitting in front of my screen completely ready with time to spare. Too much time.
A smile plastered on my lips, my brain running through words and sentences to remind myself of how to speak, another mind compartment would be rerunning videos of how to act like a normal person.
The call would usually go well because, hello, I over prepared. I would smile and laugh and nod. I would say the right things and, maybe, come across as a normal human being.
When the call ended, I would be dry of mouth with tingling finger tips, standing up, going back to the toilet, and then I would need a lie down.
I hate calls with clients.
It’s a similar scenario with in-person client meetings.
A lot of fake smiling, trying to remember how to human, and then that’s me done for the day.
I am not a people person.
You want to know what I am? I’m a writer.
I don’t like calls and being professionally social around strangers. I like to sit in my own space with my laptop and write. It doesn’t matter if I’m creating new worlds, new people or great copy for your website. It doesn’t matter, either, if I’m writing, editing or formatting for myself or for a client.
I like to be left alone to get on with a job and to do it to the best of my ability.
Yes, yes, yes, client calls come with the job. When you’re employed, you have to go to endless meetings while people drone on and you fake smile and fake laugh at their stupid jokes. Therefore, it stands to reason that if you’re freelance, you should also have to suffer this fate.
Really, though?
My previous businesses, full of client calls and meetings, failed. Not because I couldn’t find the work or secure the work, but because I just didn’t have the energy. With the lack of energy came a lack of motivation. With a lack of motivation comes sloppy work and that’s the last thing I want to produce.
So with this business, I made a decision.
No more calls.
Nope. Not doing it.
I get it, I understand. You want to know if I’m real.
I am. Hello! My name’s Jenny and I’m real. I’m a British writer who loves cake and autumn with a fascination for history and folklore, who believes in ghosts and who enjoys watching property programmes to relax.
I’m real.
Maybe you prefer to outline your projects by talking it through.
I get that.
But me? Not so much. If that’s you and this is me, then we’re probably not the right fit for each other.
Your call about your project you’d like me to work on won’t leave me excited and ready to work. It’ll leave me in need of a lie down, demoralised, and uncaring.
Hey, we all work in different ways.
And this is not the only way. I’ve secured a great number of clients who message me, we have a quick chat over email, they send me the work and I send it back along with an invoice.
Done. Sorted. Everyone’s happy.
Which is why, if you contact me wanting a call, I’m going to say no.
It’s nothing personal.
You want to know if I’m real? Well here I am. And the real me doesn’t do calls.
Remember I mentioned creating new worlds and people? You can find them at www.jenice.co.uk (off site link) in book form.
