If there’s one thing I’ve learned working for myself…
It’s always be prospecting.
ABP, one might say.
I do a lot of different kinds of prospecting. Networking has been my most lucrative, but job boards and freelance sites have delivered me their share of wins as well.
(I am Top-Rated Plus with 100% Job Success on Upwork. Sorry, had to flex.)
One lead source I haven’t had enough time to look into is SolidGigs.
Someone recommended it to me, and it looked interesting, so I got on the list and got a free trial.
I was pleasantly surprised to see they write some good emails.
They should, though. After all, the founders are freelancers with years of experience. They’ve got marketing chops, even if they didn’t do marketing.
Alright, enough yapping (keyboard clacking?) from me. Let’s bite into this email…
| Table of Contents |
| About SolidGigs The Email: Starting a Conversation… a SALES Conversation The Subject Line and Sender Name: The Body Copy Takeaways What to Do Next |
About SolidGigs
SolidGigs is a premium freelancer job board that blends AI and human expertise to help freelancers and good clients connect.
The site is adamant that it is NOT just a freelance marketplace, like Upwork and Fiverr. Neither is it a job board. It is more of a lead gen tool freelancers can “plug into” their business, although it sources opportunities from these (and other) sources.
SolidGigs lets you set search rules, then the platform scours the web for quality opportunities and sends you the details.
The big goal: To save freelancers time!
It was founded in 2016 by Preston Lee and Bryce Bladon. Both had succeeded in the freelancing world already, but like many freelancers, went through the pain of hunting for high-quality clients constantly.
They wanted to fix that for other freelancers, so they created SolidGigs.
Since launch, SolidGigs has focused on what any good online tech/SaaS product does — listening to user feedback, then adding new features and tweaking existing things to continuously improve.
The platform costs $21/month (billed yearly) or $35/month (billed monthly) at the time of writing, but you can try it for free for 7 days. SolidGigs also offers lifetime access for a one-time fee of $179, but only to 50 people per month.
Not bad if you can make that money back.
In the business, we call that previous line foreshadowing…
The Email: Starting a Conversation… a SALES Conversation
Today’s email is a “mostly-plain-text” email that offers a unique blend of “starting a conversation” feel and “value-stacking” to sell the product and get feedback while softening the “salesy” feel:
At first glance, you can see it’s nice and readable. There are line breaks (but not too many), bolding, parenthesis, and even a few implicit CTAs in the brand colors.
This one’s a bit shorter than many other emails I break down. But it’s still got its share of copy, marketing, and psychology takeaways.
So let’s get into it.
The Subject Line and Sender Name:
This subject line grabbed my eyeballs for a few reasons:
First, it’s relevant to me. I am a freelancer. I am in SolidGigs’s market.
But beyond that, it’s the “intensely personal” approach. Someone is quite literally just asking about my rates.
That, too, comes back to knowing the market. “Question about your rates” sounds like a prospective client is writing back to me. Or maybe one of my coaches who’s trying to connect me with a potential client.
Or perhaps it’s a peer who wants to talk shop and trade tips. Maybe even a “newbie” who got the nads to ask me about my rates!
So the subject line had me before my brain could process any other piece of the subject/preview complex.
Now, I also noticed the send name:
Obviously, I now know this isn’t a prospective client.
But the subject line doesn’t lose much potency because the send name is from “Preston at SolidGigs” instead of “SolidGigs.” Person (and cofounder, at that), not brand.
The Body Copy
The body copy continues the personal feeling conveyed by the subject line by starting the conversation about rates — how much the reader charges and how they charge:
I like that Preston mentions they’re trying to keep the price of SolidGigs low. It seeds the idea that SolidGigs is trying to match pricing to rates so the user can achieve a relatively predictable ROI.
Think about it:
The platform helps you find clients for a fee. If you run a freelance business, you don’t just want ROI, but you want to estimate it. That way, you know what business investments produce the highest ROI.
So this conveys that SolidGigs understands the freelancer’s mind.
(Of course, it also shows the reader that SolidGigs works hard to run a tight ship, which, in the long term, can justify a price increase if such a time comes. I did a series about a similar promo for my email list!)
That’s all fantastic because SolidGigs says this part out loud next:
That sounds like “telling” instead of “showing,” but makes much more sense given the context shown in the last section.
Now, the reader knows SolidGigs is careful about keeping prices reasonable and that SolidGigs cares about the customer getting an ROI.
This tickles the brains of the right customers — smart business owners. Those who, again, understand the importance of ROI and can empathize with SolidGigs’s efforts to maintain decent pricing.
These people aren’t stubborn about spending money because they know money spent on the right things is an investment.
You want those kinds of customers to buy from you because if you have a good product, they will earn an ROI and will be far less likely to demand a refund. They’re the kinds of people who can do well for high-quality clients and just need an easier way to connect with them.
That brings us to the next section, where SolidGigs makes an intelligent decision…
Bring numbers to the sales argument:
Numbers offer specificity, sure, but the bigger point is putting numbers lets the reader make the calculation. After all, “price” is not a real objection. It’s a stand-in for “value.” If customers don’t feel comfortable paying, they don’t believe they get enough value for the money.
If SolidGigs costs $35/month, you only need one $35 monthly project to earn your money back. The parenthetical adds humor while acknowledging how easy it is to earn that $35.
As a result, the reader feels more confident.
They know they can earn a mere $35 per month since one client will pay them FAR more for even the smallest projects (I charge hundreds per email and no good client ever bats an eye).
I also love how SolidGigs bolds the numbers to draw the reader’s eyes to the vital information.
Notice the value framing, too. The reader already understands that $35 is pennies if they can just land ONE client…
And then SolidGigs shows how it’s even MORE cost-efficient with a yearly or lifetime plan. That way, SolidGigs can boost cash flows by locking in full-year or lifetime subscriptions.
What makes it even more valuable, of course, is that readers understand how many clients they could land in a year. That’ll make the price of admission basically nothing.
Dropping the implicit CTA on “lifetime plan” is smart, too, since that’s what they want to sell most.
So now, we close out the email:
Closing with a question is a great idea. The email still sells to interested customers…
But it makes sure nonbuyers don’t just drop off.
Instead, it offers a way to start the conversation. People feel like they can reply, which opens up natural one-to-one selling opportunities.
It also lets SolidGigs learn more about who their customers are, their goals/objections (including price), and so on.
One last block I think was smart to add:
Trustpilot is a third-party review site tons of companies use. SolidGigs had 34 reviews at the time of the email, which isn’t huge, but isn’t small.
4.3 stars is pretty good, too. 5 stars is less believable than 4.3, but 4.3 is nicely above 4.
Notice that divider above Trustpilot, too. Sometimes, something as simple as a divider between email elements makes the email look nice and neat.
Takeaways
Here are some big takeaways:
1. The Copy Mechanics
Here are some mechanical takeaways:
Value framing
“Price” is seldom a real objection. It’s a stand-in for “value,” the REAL objection.
SolidGigs frames its price against the possible ROI of its service. This shows the value of the offer.
After all, $35 a month has no context…
But paying $35 monthly for a single project that could EASILY earn at LEAST 10x that?
Or paying the equivalent of just $21/month for a full year of opportunities to get clients worth several times that each?
Or how about $179 for a lifetime of access?
Mathematically speaking, you’d be stupid NOT to take the offer!
Puts the price into perspective. Also appeals to the brains of SolidGigs’s best potential customers since they think in terms of ROI, not price.
First- and second-person
This is written as a one-to-one email from Preston and the reader (even if the signature says “Preston & the SolidGigs” team, it still feels one-to-one).
Such an approach fits the “conversation starter” angle SolidGigs takes here.
Formatting and punctuation
SolidGigs uses a few formatting and punctuation techniques to break up the writing and make it feel natural:
- Parentheticals: These let you add more thoughts to a sentence without being run-on or convoluted (I love these, as you can tell).
- Line breaks: SolidGigs uses line breaks enough to make the text readable but doesn’t go into “LinkedIn Guru” overdrive.
- Bolding: Key information — the pricing and # of projects needed for an ROI — are bolded to draw attention.
- Brand color CTAs: Hyperlinked text is not the standard blue. It uses SolidGigs’s yellow brand color. Nice touch.
Implicit CTAs
Both CTAs are implicit, meaning they are not direct urges to “click here/go here/head here.” Instead, SolidGigs hyperlinks:
- The brand name
- The lifetime plan
Implicit CTAs can get some curiosity clicks (even if curiosity is not used in any specific instance) since it’s a link without a direct urge to action.
2. The Email Structure
The email structure is as follows:
- Question-style opening
- Justifying the question
- Value-stacking/framing
- More value-stacking/framing
- Closing conversation-starting question
- TrustPilot block
That question-style closing is unique. It’s not a standard “Hit reply” approach, but rather, it ends with the questions themselves to make it feel more like a real conversation.
3. The Overall Strategy
Starting a conversation
The ultimate purpose of this email was to sell, of course.
I mean, there are links to the plans and some benefit-driven, value-framing copy showing why it’s such a good offer.
But the proximate goal?
Simply start a conversation.
No high-pressure sales situations. Just get to talking shop with the customer about how they charge. Preston (the cofounder), after all, is an experienced freelancer.
Thus, it makes the email feel more like the opening of, well, a conversation and not a sales pitch.
Market research
Oh, and the company learns more about its customers.
By speaking directly to customers, you hear about their problems and pains around rates, client acquisition, and similar topics. You learn how they talk and what’s “happening now” in the market (like AI).
So much market research GOLD right there.
Winning back lapsed free trialers
I had a free trial but never signed up. I can’t be 100% certain… but SolidGigs seems to be targeting its “lapsed free trialers” segment.
They’re talking about pricing objections, after all. Price (or, as we’ve discussed, VALUE) is a common cancellation/non-buying reason across ALL niches.
Yet they aren’t making concrete references to that. It feels less like you’re targeted in a marketing campaign. It only adds to the conversational feel.
So overall, SolidGigs does a solid (lol) job at knowing what might be on their “winback” segment’s minds.
Me? It’s not the price. It’s literally just being too busy to look into it. Once I get some time, I’ll give SolidGigs another go…
What to Do Next
- Get on my email list using the signup form below for more Email Breakdowns and other helpful marketing content.
- Share this with someone who might find it helpful (or entertaining).
- Reach out to me if you want help writing emails like this one.
- Check out SolidGigs if you’re a freelancer/self-employed service provider looking for more leads, clients, and projects!