</p>
</td>
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</table>
<h2>Consider Alternative Approaches</h2>
<p>Unpaid internships have come under fire recently, and may be falling out of favor. However, offering <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5qUR3tpEdA" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">free work</a> – especially in certain creative professions – can help you get your foot in the door and show you’re a serious candidate.</p>
<p>If you’re dead set on working for a certain individual, company, or sector, then you may have to make sacrifices. If you’ve exhausted all avenues seeking out paid work, then offering services free of charge could be the way to get started. It significantly lowers the barrier to entry and gives you the opportunity to impress.</p>
<p>Again, make it easy for them to say "yes." Rather than asking “How can I help?” – which creates a burden on them to figure out what task they can give you – try offering solutions. Do some research and determine what specific skills or expertise you have that they might find useful, or where you could bring value to their life or business.</p>
<p>It could be doing <a href="/what-is-graphic-design" rel="noopener" target="_blank">graphic design</a> work for their marketing campaign, transcribing a podcast audio, sending ideas for articles, performing research, or turning their data into infographics. Get creative with it. Do your homework and find out if they're struggling with certain areas where they're lacking time, resources, or experience.</p>
<p>If you find the concept of free work crazy or unreasonable, consider the fact that you’ve been working for free for most of your life. You likely worked for <em>years</em> at school for free. In fact, if you went to college or private school, you likely <em>paid </em>someone to work there. What’s a few more months of working for free to gain access to a high-profile mentor or hard-to-reach company?</p>
<p>As <a href="http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2008ltr.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Warren Buffett</a> once said, “Price is what you pay; value is what you get.” Free work is a small price to pay for a tremendous amount of value.</p>
<h2>Make Time for Follow-up</h2>
<p>Standing out amongst dozens (if not hundreds or thousands) of applicants is hard. One of the best ways to set yourself apart is by following up.</p>
<p>In sales, <a href="https://mailshake.com/masterclass/follow-up-email/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">92% of salespeople</a> give up after four “no’s,” but 80% of prospects say “no” four times before they say “yes."</p>
<p>When emailing about a job or internship, you're likely emailing some of those same business owners and company leaders, and you're likely to see some of the same results. So be persistent.</p>
<p>Keeping track of who you’ve sent emails to and when you should follow up can be difficult and time-consuming, so consider automating the process with an <a href="https://www.g2.com/categories/email-marketing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">email automation software</a>. Many of these tools let you create templates to start conversations and to follow up on unanswered emails you sent.</p>
<p>You can also set the frequency at which the <a href="https://www.yesware.com/blog/follow-up-email-template/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">follow-up emails</a> go out. And as soon as the recipient answers, you’re notified so you can take the conversation to a more personal level.</p>
<p>The right job, internship, or mentor can literally change your life. Rather than leaving it up to chance, take the path less traveled and go on the offensive. Cold email is one of the greatest tools at your disposal for reaching “unreachable” people and positions. It can start conversations and build connections you would otherwise never come across naturally.</p>
<p><strong>Want to learn more about cold emailing? Check out these <a href="/cold-email-outreach" rel="noopener" target="_blank">cold email outreach</a> templates!</strong></p>
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