Four hours being painstakingly human

Hello

Yesterday I sent out a newsletter which included an opportunity to book a 30-min “Unoffice Hours” session with me. People signed up (hurrah!). One included the following message:

“Can you help me (and others, after) be you? Your way of doing client contact and internet use is a breath of fresh air (or even a lifeline) and has been for years. I hate being kidnapped and manipulated by the platforms.”

I was really struck by that phrase: “kidnapped and manipulated by the platforms.”

It’s how so many of us feel, isn’t it? Especially those of us who are self-employed and creative. We’re told we need to post daily, build our personal brand, optimise for engagement, track our metrics. Ugh. It’s exhausting.

And it doesn’t feel like us – well, not like me (I should speak for myself).

So today I did something different. I spent 4 hours doing outreach to potential clients in a way that felt like craft, not content. Painstakingly human. A bit weird, maybe. Definitely slow.

I sent 10 people:

1. A package in the post, including a handwritten note telling them about
2. A personalised voice note, embedded on
3. A web page featuring their own name in the URL

These are people who don’t know me. I hope it’s not overkill. I hope they will like it very much.

The whole thing lives on my infrastructure, not someone else’s platform. It took 4 hours total, then I was done. No algorithm to feed. No digital analytics making me feel anxious about THIS, or that.

I’ve written up exactly what I did as a 3-part mini-series. I’m quite pleased with it (British understatement, in case you wondered.) I think you might find it useful – not because you should copy my tactics exactly but because the approach is transferable:

• How to create layered surprises
• How to be painstakingly human in your outreach
• How to do this on your own terms, without ghastly platforms

It’s £7 to read all three parts. Yeah, seven.

Why charge anything at all? Because the small payment filters for people who are serious. And because – well, this is how I make my living as a creative person.

If you hate being kidnapped by platforms, if you want to work at human scale, if you’re looking for a way to find clients that doesn’t make you feel sick – this might help.

Painstakingly Human Outreach

3 part email series
→ Pay £7 to access the series

(Link no longer works. Please just email me for a new one.)

JPF

P.S. The mini-series will live on my website (of course) but I’ll send it out as a three-part email series. After you’ve read it, you’re welcome to book a free 30-minute Unoffice Hours call with me to talk about how you might adapt this approach for your own work.