Jessica’s Answer:

For all of you who hate making cold calls, you’re going to love my answer to this one: DON’T MAKE THEM!  I know in some industries cold calling is the norm, but ours is a creative industry, so it’s not.  The reason is because people want to hire people they know, like, and trust.  Money, jobs, and reputations are on the line. 

Put yourself in the shoes of the person doing the hiring.  If you had to hire someone on a $50 million feature and your job and reputation was on the line, would you hire a cold caller or someone you’ve worked with for 10 years?  Even if your entire network of people was unavailable, would you hire a cold caller or ask your network for recommendations to other people?  Cold calling is a long shot.  I’m not saying that people have never gotten jobs making them, I’m saying it’s working hard, not smart or right.  

I’ll answer the obvious next question tomorrow: if I shouldn’t cold call people, how do I meet them?

If you have a question, put it in the comment section.

To your success!