pman45

Enterprise Account Executive

Personal Narrative

Advice on good sales side work

hey everyone.

I've been trying to find some good freelance / sidework as a salesperson. I've tried here on Bravado to find good freelance gigs but have not landed one yet - maybe I'm not using the platform correctly.

I've gone on fiverr and upwork to try to find startups that need help from experts in the field who have been doing this for a while but most of those submissions are BS.

anyone have good tips for someone starting out in this? for context I've been in sales for 7 years since I got out of college, closed a huge variety of deals. been in SaaS for about 5 years. worked enteprise, mid-market, SMB ect. I've sold for both system integrators and SaaS vendors. sold to many different business lines. I'm currently focused in financial services for banks, credit unions, capital markets and wealth & asset management. I've done the startup grind and big company grind. I feel like I've kind of done it all.

I know I'm not tremendously experienced but I do really feel like I could help a lot of people out, Ive been very successful I just want to start operatering on my own so I can open my own gig down the line.

what do you all think?

🦄 Entrepreneurship

10

16 comments

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oldcloser

Arsonist

5

💀

You want to do this along side a full time gig? Not advisable if that’s the case. And how do you have all this industry experience in just 7 years? What are you, Superman? Or have you just done a bunch of job hopping? Tell more please.

pman45

Executive

1

Enterprise Account Executive

Not necessarily job hopping I got promoted 3 times in three years at one of my companies and did a few of those roles I mentioned at one company. I left for one other job for a year after that crushed it, then I had a really enticing startup opportunity as a founding AE that I had success with but it lasted under a year (funding issues and they let go of me and half the company) and now I’m at a systems integrator. For the past two years I’ve been primarily financial services focused.

oldcloser

Arsonist

3

💀

Conventional wisdom is that a side funnel is always a distraction and has a good chance of blowing up both gigs. But if you gotta you gotta. Have you checked out fractional VP Sales opps?

pman45

Executive

1

Enterprise Account Executive

No I have not, where would be a good place to look?

oldcloser

Arsonist

0

💀

i'm not 100% sure it's within reasonable site rules to cough up names here. Hope you understand.

salesboi22

Politicker

2

Head of Growth

Sell more of your current product, don't focus on other things. Most people want a side gig cause they're afraid to do outbound and destroy their numbers.

pman45

Executive

0

Enterprise Account Executive

Hey this is for sure good advice. It’s not income driven though. Just trying to acquire more skills. Not afraid to do outbound at all.

saaskicker

Celebrated Contributor

0

Enterprise AE

take a class or course to boost your resume. any side gig for sales is going to be commission only, and you have to source your own leads - 99% of the time the founder/manager can't do the sales themselves so they churn and burn "experts" who they deem contractors to try and get people through the funnel.

Maximas

Tycoon

1

Senior Sales Executive

Believe you should have no worries,keep on trying as even if it might take a while you could get back to SaaS or any other roles you got an experience even temporarily as a part time job until you'll find a good freelancing opportunity .
At the mean time,I recommend you enhance your resume on both Fiverr and Upwork to find a good match alongside with seeking thefinancial services for banks opportunity,and your patience will not go in vain, and wish you much of luck!

HVACexpert

Politicker

1

sales engineer

Why sales as a side hustle? I mean you can literally do anything as a side gig so why keep doing the job you have? What else are you interested in? My opinion is that if you are going to cut into your free time with a side gig it should be something you enjoy.

RandyLahey

Politicker

1

Account Executive

So I have two side projects that currently occupy about 7-8 hours a week. Most of that comes on the weekend.

Both are, however, wholly unrelated to sales type gig that you are thinking of.

I would find that far too draining....

detectivegibbles

Politicker

1

Sales Director

What's keeping you from opening your own gig now?

CPTAmerica

Opinionated

1

President/CRO

If the goal is knowledge and experience I'd find a sales trainer/consultant in your local area. Let them know you're looking for a mentor to improve your skills. See if they could use some part time help.

As others suggested though, this can be a dangerous game to play. Make sure you know why you're doing what you're doing and that the risk is worth it.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

0

🦊

Not a bad idea 🤔

Sunbunny31

Politicker

0

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Are you needing more income, or are you looking for more to do? If it’s income, I suggest moving up into a role that will pay you what you’re hoping to earn, and focus on one job.

If you’re looking for something helpful to do, you might want to consider consulting, if you can find something, as you mentioned helping people. Or maybe look at doing something useful in your community, even volunteering. That’s a great way to provide something of value to your community but also benefit you by keeping you busy. Just a thought, as I don’t know what’s driving your interest in a side gig.

pman45

Executive

0

Enterprise Account Executive

Hey everyone - just to clarify a few things based on questions. I’m not really seeking supplemental income on the side it’s more of to get experience as an advisor / consultant to expand my skill set.

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