I gave up on cold emails and started writing case studies for my freelance work

Last year I was sending maybe 30 cold emails a week for my web design gig and got almost no replies. Then I spent a month making a simple PDF case study for a local bakery project, showing the before and after traffic numbers. I sent that one page to 5 places and got 3 calls back. It felt like showing proof worked way better than just saying I was good. Has anyone else switched from just pitching to showing their past work like this?

3 comments

3 Comments

sean8541mo ago

Showing proof always beats just talking about it.

jadej501mo ago

Okay but what KIND of proof? Like, are we talking screenshots, raw data, a live demo? "Showing proof" sounds good but it can mean a hundred different things.

daniel_gonzalez1mo ago

That proof works because it answers their real question. They are not wondering if you are good, they are wondering if you are safe to hire. A case study shows you have done this before without blowing up their business.