Some feedback for anyone who’s sliding into DMs to shoot your shot:

Solid advice Dan. One thing I got very good at in my early career was making sure people didn’t have to do more work around me. I did more than I was asked, always and never asked for anything back. Got taught this even before I started in design. I get a ton of these messages. And it’s always the same feeling. Me me me. And never how can you help you first before expecting something back. They’re never nasty DMs just very unprepared and full of assumptions that I have the time to do the homework to hire them.

Same! Every time I play basketball, I try to sweep the floor beforehand so no one’s slipping around. When I was CD’ing projects, I still regularly cut assets for my juniors when they were crunched for time. I’m sad to see less and less people invest in these kinds of efforts.

I have definitely noticed less hustle these days. Maybe it’s tech or maybe social media playing a part . But there’s an expectation of easy in everything now that’s very sad to see.

The amount of messages I receive just like this is obscene. Solid breakdown and great advice Dan.

💯 cosign all of this; common Dan Mall wisdom 🙌

I'm not a cold email or shoot your shot type of person at all but your video is making me think about what I'd be going for if i believed I can make strong impact somewhere. Thank you for sharing!

You’re welcome! My top tip on shooting your shot:

thankyou so much Dan for this video, really great to see this and its soo helpful for all of us, so yeah if its possible, please do make these kinds of videos 💙

Will do! What do you want to hear more about?

Right now, I can't think of any specific videos, but videos regarding some more examples related to the pricing. If someone is not an expert in a niche, then how should he or she take the pricing into his or her own hands? These kinds of videos might help me as well as others to know more, because I know you helped me on YouTube with that question. Still, I feel I need to get some more context about that question.

Great! Here’s a starting point:

100% agree with this. I would go farther and say that if you want to learn from me or someone, actually pay them for their time. It shows me that you are serious and you would probably get way more value than what you paid for.

Worth watching every second, super insightful, thanks

Glad to hear it! What stuck with you?

Always have in mind what value i can provide to others. Can be applied to so many things in life

So good advice 💯

What was new here for you?

Proper critique here, thank you for this.

You’re welcome!

@abbeytruth_

Great advice Dan, thanks for sharing!

You’re welcome!

It is very helpful, thanks

You’re welcome!

Thank you for sharing!

You’re welcome!

Thankyou Dan And you aren’t mean The guy knows better now hopefully

Thanks for sharing, Dan This gives me a mindset shift to bring as much value as I can to every moment To close it: to whom much is given, much is expected

Nice vid. No bs and straight to the point.

Thanks!

I love how you always provide a proper critique Dan, and share the insight that's practical and actionable.

Thanks Jon!

Nice feedback, thanks Dan for sharing

You’re welcome!

Thanks for sharing this, Dan. It’s really helpful. And Yeahh, feedback videos like this are absolutely useful

You’re welcome! What do you wanna hear more about?

Spotting core clients needs so that you can pitch a solution to them.

I can relate to it so well - i get many messages asking for feedback on some showreels, designs, profiles without even knowing the person. i feel flattered and happy someone sees me as professional but you don’t just come into someones house asking for advice. as you say “what’s in it for me?” - if this person has talent and potential i don’t mind helping but else i think people need to realise time is valuable. some charge 100-1000 usd per hr - if i gonna check out your work which takes me out of my actual work i loose that time. so yeah i would recommend just coming in w a soft launch or at least provide value back

Thanks for doing this. I've seen other people break down cold DMs / outreach before, but never to this level. Very insightful

Thank you, Dan. Create more of these videos

You bet! Whaddya wanna hear about?

Yes

Thank you, Dan. I've been looking for a good guide to cold emailing, and this sounds really good. And yeah, you should create more of these videos.

You bet! Here's another guide: What else do you wanna hear about?

Oh wow! Thanks again, Dan. Will definitely check it out

Thanks for sharing Dan! This will really help a lot people here!

I wish you would have showed the kind of message that would caught your attention

Habit 4: Think Win-Win. great advice Dan, thank you for sharing.

I started cold DMs 10 days ago. I spend 10-15 minutes per prospect, explore their website and explain likely conversion problems that I've spotted. Only 3-5 per day. One DM landed with a TechCrunch-featured startup, an hour after they decided to hire a copywriter. Proposal already sent.

Appreciate you for making this vid. I'm glad that you gave the time to break down what went wrong and help others. Please keep making these videos. It helps a ton.

Is it weird that I'm associating a one-sided proposal like this (however innocent) with trends in poor customer service? Or is it a generational thing?

I don't think you're been mean/cold. It makes sense. This is also the reason most of the time I prefer talking to people at an event instead of cold out reach. I noticed especially now, people's DM's might be more flooded then ever due to how the job market is. And most of the time DM's remains cold for this reason. Even if you do it the right way. That's what I noticed for what makes conversation happen = Local events. Still is a learning process for the digital world.

The only way I could imagine I, as a product designer, could possibly demonstrate value to a hiring manager/owner in a DM is to build something for them related to their product. I know, this is easier than ever with Claude/Codex, but it violates one of my core values: "If you are good at something, never do it for free". Which, I perfectly understand if hiring managers/owners have the same mindset. I've DM'd countless business owners/hiring managers over the past 4 years while searching for work. Talking atleast 900-1000. Less than 10 has resulted in any forward movement, calls, or interviews. And my DM's look like your example. Is there any other way to demonstrate that value to the owner/manager? Especially if you aren't a content creator?

Here’s a starting point: