How not to sell your services

I have a simple contact form on my site. No captcha, no unnecessary friction — and sometimes interesting messages come through it.

Recently, I received a good example of how not to sell your services.

The message started with: “Your website is unfinished.” That is a weak opening. A judgment without context almost always comes across as dismissive, not helpful. A minimalist website can also be a deliberate choice. If a site has a specific purpose — for example, to present a résumé or collect contact requests — then the absence of “extras” is not a flaw, but part of the architecture.

Then the author introduced himself and said he had been building websites for more than 10 years and takes on projects of any complexity. That is a strong claim, but nothing backs it up: no portfolio, no examples of work, no links to projects. Even a developer who does not build websites professionally usually has a set of projects to show after 10 years.

At the end, he suggested getting in touch by email — using a free email domain.

And that raises the obvious question: if someone has been building websites professionally for 10 years, why doesn’t he have one of his own?

There is a simple rule in development: you do not sell with words — you sell with results. Your website, GitHub, and portfolio are your product. If they are missing, any message looks like mass spam, even if there is a real specialist behind it.

The first contact already demonstrates your level.

And in most cases, that is enough to decide whether to continue the conversation or not.