“If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door” - Milton Berle

When I was 22, I was chased down the street by a group of men.

I was a journalist in Liverpool and had knocked on someone’s door to ask them about a story. I was alone and it was terrifying. I ran back to my car, got in quickly and drove off. My heart was beating so hard I could hear it.

These were the early days of my journalism career but it was not an isolated incident. I’ve had people throw things at my head on the doorstep, angry dogs nearly bite me and been told to f*** off more times than I can remember.

You become less sensitised to it the more it happens. You do what it takes to get the story as a journalist.

So why keep knocking? It seems pointless right?

Well I’ve also knocked on doors and been invited in when I least expected it. I’ve been given several cups of tea (and sandwiches). I’ve sat down with whole families for hours and they’ve poured their hearts out to me and given me the full story. In some cases we kept in touch and they’ve told me they were glad I knocked on their door and trusted me with their story. 

I left journalism a few years later and this feeling of being on the doorstep laid dormant… that was until I started my freelance business.

Suddenly in trying to find work, to find clients and create opportunities for myself I was back on the doorstep knocking on doors once more. I now realise that being a tabloid journalist was the best training I could have had for landing clients. 

It turns out getting clients is the same as getting the story. 

Neither are easy and neither are guaranteed. Both take guts and determination.

The doorstep is a symbol of opportunity to me. It’s the image of a closed door that I have to knock on, excited at the prospect of who or what is behind it. 

If I don’t knock on the door, I will never know what’s behind it. It’s a moment that comes up time and time again for me and I always knock. I can’t forgive myself if I don’t, even if waiting behind that door is:

• Rejection

• No answer

I can handle both of those but I can’t handle not knowing. Would you be comfortable knowing that you didn’t at least try?

The way I see it is… the more doors you knock on, the less you worry about a) knocking on them and b) the outcome.

This for me is transformational when it comes to boosting freelance clientele, especially at the beginning when no one knows who you are. 

See yourself as a journalist knocking on doors to get the story. The ‘journalist’ is the ‘opportunity generator’ and the ‘story’ is the ‘opportunity'.

This simple mindset transformed the way I saw lead, client and opportunity generation. I had nothing to lose by reaching out and knocking on doors and neither do you!

The reason this story matters is if you sit at home and do nothing, no-one is going to come and knock on your door. They don’t even know you exist, so you have to go and knock on their door.

I learned this the hard way on the streets of Liverpool. It makes sending an email, message or even picking up the phone seem small-fry in comparison. 

I want you to go away thinking about your outreach and not be scared of the consequences.

The key takeaways being:

1. If you sit and wait for something to happen, it won’t. Opportunities don’t happen, you create them.

2. People will knock on your door eventually but you could knock on their door first.

3. You should believe that the worst thing that can happen is someone could say no or ignore you. That’s really not so bad. 

4. The thing you should fear is missing out on an opportunity, not trying to make one happen.

5. The more doors you knock on, the easier it gets to open them.

I knocked on hundreds if not thousands of doors at the beginning trying to make things happen and get my name out there. I still knock on doors to this day because I don’t let my ego stop me. I know every door won’t open but enough will and that’s why I’ll never stop knocking.  

So back to you…

Fire over that message.

Send that email.

Make the call.

Knock on doors.

Create opportunities. 

And most importantly. Channel your inner journalist.

What have you got to lose?

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