Project 100 origin story

If we talk regularly, I will at some point mention "Project 100." For example, I allude to it in Gen Propel's course page and in How I change career so 'easily':

Every time I want to try a new career, I conduct a sales campaign and aim to talk to 100 people who might hire me. This “makes it real” real fast.

Here's how it started:

The years was 2013. I was trying to be my own boss. I read somewhere that copywriting is a valuable skill, and that people pay good money for it. I decided to learn copywriting, so I could sell freelance copywriting services.

I read every book and took every course. When people ask, I’m working to become a freelance copywriter. I’ll triple what I was earning as an employee. It will be great.

After six months, almost all my savings are gone. I’ve read so many books and taken so many courses. I still didn’t feel ready or good enough to sell copywriting services.

"Enough! I'm sick of this," I decided. I admit it. I kept hiding behind my books and courses because I was scared to go out there. To sell. And potentially get rejected. That's when I turned around and walked the opposite direction. My motto became: Sell first, figure it out later.

I took a bestselling book on copywriting from Amazon, copied the book’s description into an email, and looked for 100 potential customers. I emailed this to all of them. Basically, I wrote,

I can do X, Y, and Z for you (stuff I copied from a book’s blurb, even before reading it). Will you hire me?

You know what? I got responses. One of them - actually a tech entrepreneur I admire and respect - proposed to do a one month project with me. This turned into my first opportunity to work in tech.

Since then, I’ve used this approach - Project 100 - to do all kinds of things: Test ideas for new businesses, career transitions, and of course, land a job in a new country, in my case, Germany.

Since using Project 100, I never get stuck in my head anymore. When I have a compelling idea, one of my early steps is to find 100 people to talk about it with.