Category Archives: Mindset

Ed Gandia

#232: Getting a Response From “Radio Silent” Prospects.

Getting nothing but radio silence from prospects can be frustrating. Especially after you’ve had some initial discussions and sent in your proposal. When you hear nothing back, your self-esteem and confidence can take a hit. And you …
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Ed Gandia

#231: Try This Powerful Question When Pricing a Client Project

A few years ago, I shifted my thinking on how I price my work. And it’s had a huge impact on the growth of my business and income. For most of my writing career, I would ask …
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Ed Gandia

Staying Focused and Productive When the World Is in Turmoil.

It’s challenging to get work done with everything that’s going on in the world. Seems like every breaking news alert brings our work to a halt and puts us into an emotional rollercoaster. But no matter how …
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Ed Gandia

#230: Developing Your Own Personality Brand — Why It Matters and How to Get Started

We’ve all heard the expression “you are your biggest asset.” So why do so many of us feel reluctant to let our personality shine in business? Maybe it’s because we don’t know how. Or worse, we fear …
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Ed Gandia

How to Say No Gracefully

It’s hard to say no. Especially when you’re a people pleaser, like I am. And it’s especially hard when you have to say no to a prospect or client. As service professional, you’re wired to say yes to …
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Ed Gandia

The Success Triad

If you want to survive and thrive in this difficult economy, you need to change some elements of how you think and what you do. Specifically, you need to adjust your critical thinking, creative problem-solving, and …
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Ed Gandia

#228: A 12-Month Financial Action Plan Anyone Can Follow

We don’t talk enough about money in the U.S. But as self-employed professionals, few things are more important than mastering our personal and business finances. Because when we’re stressed about money, it puts undue pressure on our …
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Ed Gandia

What to Do When You Have No Experience Writing What Your Prospect Wants?

Everything was going well. You hit it off with the prospect, she seemed ready to work with you and she could afford your fee for the white paper she needs.  But then she asked the dreaded …
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Separate the “Magic” from the Work

Are you trying to scale your writing business by hiring other writers?   That can be a very profitable and rewarding model. But it also comes with its own set of challenges, one of which is clients …
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Ed Gandia

#220: A Letter from a Copywriter to His Son in the Midst of the Pandemic

Every challenge carries with it the seed of tremendous opportunity.  We understand this intellectually.   But when we’re in the middle of a challenge, it’s not so easy to see.  When the pandemic hit, many of us found ourselves having to lead our children with their distance learning efforts.   We’ve had …
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Ed Gandia

85% is Good Enough

According to bestselling author Dan Pink, we learn best when we teeter on the edge of our confidence. If a challenge is too difficult, we get discouraged. But if it’s too easy, we become complacent and stagnate. So …
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Ed Gandia

#219: Kaleigh Moore on Managing Stress Effectively as a Freelancer

Yep, running your own business is stressful. Sometimes things get so hectic, you wonder if you should take an office job! Of course, running away from stress isn’t the answer. You have to find ways to lower your …
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Ed Gandia

#218: The Grown Ups Have Left the Building

In his 2012 keynote address to the University of the Arts, author Neil Gaiman said: “The old rules are crumbling and nobody knows what the new rules are. So make up your own rules.” Many of my …
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Ed Gandia

Your NOT-to-do List

We're all familiar with to-do lists. But have you ever created a NOT-to-do list? This is something I did recently. My NOT-to-do list is a list of things I do but no longer WANT to do. These are …
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Ed Gandia

Awareness: The First Step in Setting and Maintaining Healthy Boundaries with Clients

Setting and maintaining healthy boundaries with clients is an important topic. But we don’t talk about it enough as freelancers. For a relationship to be healthy, it needs to be balanced. Each side must feel like …
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