Getting Over My Fear Of Rejection | 102

Have you ever avoided reaching out to a client because of a fear of rejection?

This is something that I struggled with every day early on in my freelance career. I would be scared to reach out to a potential lead, and the next thing I knew, they were working with a different photographer.

I had a fear of rejection.

What if they say no?

Does rejection make me a failure?

What if they tell all their friends about me and no one wants to work with me?

Believe it or not, I’ve faced rejections thousands of times in my freelance photography business.

Thousands of unanswered emails.

Hundreds of discovery calls that went nowhere.

Hundreds of proposals that were never signed.

This might seem like I have a failing business. But the truth is much different. In the first 2 years of my photography business, I managed to land over 50 brands as clients. That’s two new clients a month on top of any retainers I already had.

This is the mindset shift that finally got rid of my fear of rejection.

How I Broke Through My Fear Of Rejection

Every business faces rejections. A lot of it.

Successful businesses understand that rejection is just part of the process.

Each no brings you closer to a yes. Putting in a massive amount of volume means that eventually the yes’s may come.

At the start maybe 1 out of 100 people say yes. As you improve, that number might become 1 in 10.

But how did I go from being scared to almost craving rejection? This is my 3-step process.

1. It’s Not Personal, It’s Just Business

This was my first realization. Clients rejecting me weren't turning down Chris Pieta the person, but the services I was offering.

Maybe they'd just hired someone, maybe they were out of budget, or maybe, just maybe, they were having a bad day.

The crucial mindset shift is this: It's not about me.

Clients aren’t out to get me. Rejection doesn't mean I'm not good enough. It's about timing, alignment, or a hundred other factors.

Once I realized it wasn’t about me, I was able to improve from each rejection.

2. Turn Rejection Into a Learning Opportunity

Instead of dreading rejection, I started to view it as feedback. The “no’s” gave me insights into what was working and what wasn't.

This led to a deep dive into my business processes.

• Identify Bottlenecks: Which part of the process sees the most rejections? Maybe it's the initial outreach or the final negotiations. Focus on this area, refine it, and learn new skills if needed.
• Ask Questions: Feedback from potential clients can be invaluable. Learn from your rejections and ask what might have changed their answer.
• Invest in Yourself: Sometimes, a new skill or a new approach can be a game-changer. For those just starting, I've launched a free workshop. This will guide you on client acquisition and more. Secure your spot.

3. Make Rejection The Goal

This might sound strange, but it was my final step to completely eradicating my fear.

How? Well, our brain loves rewards. If we make 'getting rejected' the goal, then every 'no' becomes a win.

The outcome? You become fearless, do more outreach, face more rejections, and guess what? The “yes’s” start rolling in.

With enough rejection, you might start to realize it takes 9 people saying no for 1 person to say yes.

That means you just need to get those 9 no’s. This makes you excited because you know that that yes is coming.

It’s exactly like hunting a boss in a video game for a valuable reward. Maybe every 100th time you kill it, it’ll drop a huge reward. You know that nothing is going to happen for the first 99 times you defeat it, but on that 100th time, it drops that thing you’re after. (yes, I know it’s not always 1/100, but the more you do, the more accurate this average becomes).

Make rejection a game and you’ll thrive.