Are you offering vitamins or painkillers?
Are you offering vitamins or painkillers?
Finding clients can be a real challenge, right? Sometimes it feels like we're offering them vitamins when they're crying out for a painkiller.
Struggling to find clients or convince them of your services' benefits? It might be because you're solving a "vitamin" problem when they need a "painkiller.” Let me explain.
💊 Vitamins: Think of them as nagging issues that are easy to ignore. They don't bring immediate relief, right?
🤕 Painkillers: These are the urgent 'can't-wait' needs, demanding instant attention and solutions.
Clients are often quicker to invest in painkillers. Unfortunately, topics like sustainability or social change often fall into the "vitamin" category. It's not that they don't care; it's that the system is skewed. For example, a tree is more valuable as timber than as part of a forest, and fish are worth more dead than alive. And when businesses aren't held accountable for environmental harm, why would they bear the extra cost and effort?
So what can you do? Use your superpower: Creativity
We can make vitamins appealing. How?
One strategy is to bridge long-term gains with immediate needs.
Take my journey, for example. Diving into climate adaptation and resilience didn't gain much traction initially. Existing clients didn't grasp its importance, and those aware of resilience rarely thought about design beyond aesthetics. I felt stuck.
But a recurring question surfaced, "How can I personally prepare for the future?" This led me to explore every aspect of life, revealing that how we make a living is key to adaptability.
Working for yourself is one of the most resilient career choices. It gives you control over when, how, and where you work, as well as which projects you take on. Yet, going solo can leave you vulnerable, like a lone tree in a storm. But when we come together, we are like a forest with intertwined roots that support each other and help us thrive.
This is even more true when we want to find work that aligns with our values. Alone, you have to spend hours reaching out and finding those clients. What happens if we collectively look for them?
That led to the inception of IMMA – addressing the 'painkiller' issues in 'vitamin' problems, aligning my long-term purpose with today's needs.
I could delve deeper, but I trust you've got the idea. Now, let's bridge your vitamin solution to the painkiller problem. Find a shortcut below and share the vitamin or painkiller problem you are working on in the comments.
P.S. Thanks to Sam Lee, for introducing me to this concept during Indecollective.
The shortcut
There are various strategies, but the one I find most effective is engaging in a conversation with your potential or existing client. Use the following questions to gain a better understanding of their pain points. These insights will serve as the inspiration you need to build that bridge.
What keeps you up at night when it comes to [xxxx] in your business?
If you could wave a magic wand and solve one critical issue in your comapny right now, what would it be? Why?
Interesting opportunities for you
Again this week we saved you some hours by combing through numerous job boards, slack channels and other places to find freelance gigs in the climate and social impact space. Here they are:
Research & Design
Booklet Designer- Wild Alaskan Company
Product Designer - Zolar
Packaging Designer - The Woobles
Tech
Product Developer - The Woobles
Shopify Developer - The Woobles
Ops
Admin support - Academic Audio Transcription
Senior Reporting Accountant - Tier Mobility
🇳🇱 Projectmanager - Dormakaba
Project Assistant - The National Democratic Institute
Comms & Engagement
Marketing Designer - Kencko
Community Engagement Consultant Climate Resilience Consulting
Festival coordinator & Engagement lead - Marmelade
🇩🇪 Social/Environmental Compliance - Leadership & Sustainability
Sustainability experts
Sustainability Specialist - Oxford Solutions
Circular Business Project Manager - Burberry
Other
Consultant Rooster - Consult KM International
Recruitment support - London Screen Academy
Consultant Brazil - Wellcome
Business Development Associate - WattCarbon
Chairperson - PromisingTrouble
Learn Contractor - Woman Win
☕️ If you found this valuable and want to say thanks, buy me a coffee ☕️
♥️ If you found an exciting opportunity and want to share it with the community, click here.
What’s happening behind the scene?
We had a great session planning the London and Berlin meet-ups with Disha, Pelin, Josh, and Mark. Exciting details about the dates coming soon! 🫶
Also, if you're looking to add more intention to your business, don’t miss our Sense & Respond session next Friday. It's a great way to reflect on your progress and plan ahead.
Big thanks to everyone who joined the Explore IMMA sessions and took the survey. Your involvement in co-creating IMMA means a lot.
Talk soon, I’ll be in your inbox with more insights and opportunities next week.
Lilli