Why is no one requesting for call from those with no reviews, I can't wait to show my skills to my first caller, is it not after calls comes reviews?

A few years back, a blog written by hackers emerged on the Romanian market. Back then, I was working as a web developer for the biggest jobs site on our market (>3M revenue). One morning, we got an email from the guy who started the hacker blog. It was a simple SQL injection that revealed a lot of sensitive data like user emails and contact data. We were instructed to fix this in 24 hours or he would go public and expose our error to the public. Nice guy, he gave us the benefit of the doubt. If we were a serious business, interested in the security of our users' data, we'd jump and fix things. If not, we deserved to be exposed. We spent the entire day going through every single script on the site and tried to secure everything we could think of. The coding had been done years before by a different team and we found a lot of security holes. The second day I went to my boss and told him the only way we're going to get them all is to hire the hackers to mess us up as badly as they could. It was a win-win for everybody. So, what I'd suggest is this: 1. Don't target startups. They have so many on their plate and so little resources, a small-to-medium security flaw won't be a huge priority. Making payday and turning a profit is top on their list. 2.Target companies with a lot to lose due to security. Go for the big guys. 3. Find one error, report it to the highest management level you can find contact details for, explain the risks and pitch your service. I'm currently running a SaaS where data security matters. We already did a crowdsourced vulnerability test and it was a pain to set up. I'm really happy to have found out about you guys! If you'd like to brainstorm a few more sales ideas, let me know, give me a few days to do some research and book a call. Either way, let's keep in touch! Matt

There's a reason that most CEOs and M.D.s are hard to get to and why their gatekeepers won't let you through... They WANT it that way. They are constantly being bombarded by people trying to sell them something! My best advice is to discover ways to put the target on YOUR back. Position your business/product/service in a way that compels them (or more likely someone from their office) to contact YOU. Tip: Make sure you develop and maintain an very high level of integrity - because even if you get through to one and make a sale - if your product/service is of poor quality then word will spread and your reputation will get destroyed. Best of luck!

It's a pretty broad question (cold calling for what?) - but in general, avoid it if you can.

If I understand your question correctly, you are asking about information interviews. That is the term. People are cooperative and like to show off what they know (I'm doing it right now!). So let them. This isn't hard. Nearly everyone you call will be open to at least talking with you on the phone for a few minutes. You may have to schedule a time to call back or meet in person later, and that's fine. So say there's a job you want to do, you think, and you'd like to find out more about it. The funny thing is, the same job done at different companies can be totally different experiences because of cultures. So it's best to talk to three or four people doing that job at separate firms to get perspective. To find these people is not difficult. You can use LinkedIn. Or you can use a simple method called the Little Unsure technique, where you ask the receptionist, "Hi, I'm not sure who I should speak with...I'm looking for the person who does [whatever role it is]. But again, I'm not sure who that would be there..." and trail off. This method is very effective. You may get voicemail. 3/4 times the person you're calling won't be available to take your call. Don't take it personally. Leave a quick message or call back later now that you have the name. For messages or live answers, say you are doing some research, are interested in the role they have and are wondering if it's right for you. If they could speak with you for about 15 minutes, it would be very helpful. If now's not a good time, when would work? Have your questions ready. They may want to go ahead right now. I have had employees get time for such interviews in person approved by their boss...again, people want to be cooperative. Once in awhile you may find someone who is "too busy". Simply move on. No big deal. That person is probably not a fit anyway. The higher you go in larger organizations, the nicer the people you'll find. How did the leaders in most organizations get there? The Sales career path. They know all about cold calling. The appreciate it. Nearly all of the success factors here are getting past your fears. These fears are simply not valid. They don't hold true in the real world. Nearly everyone is flattered someone would ask their opinion. Go find out whether this job is really something you want. And you'll also find out what kind of different corporate cultures exist...which will play a big part in your job selection, if you're smart. Don't be in "I'll Take Anything" mode. Start sorting.

My first startup was exactly in this space. We topped out at $500K/year before the 2009 recession trashed our client roster. I'd be happy to discuss what worked for us.