High-Income Business Writing

#358: How to Handle Client Requests to Pick Your Brain

Allyssa Jane Rodelas — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 16:04:14 +0000

Have you ever had a client, prospect—or even an acquaintance—ask to “pick your brain”?

At first, it might feel flattering. But after the fourth or fifth time, it starts to feel like a burden.

You feel taken advantage of.

In this short episode, I talk about how I changed my approach to these requests. Instead of making excuses or feeling resentment, I started charging for “brain picking” sessions—and it completely transformed how I handle these situations.

I walk you through how I reframed these requests into a structured offer, how I set the price, and how you can do the same to ensure that clients and prospects value your time and expertise.

It doesn’t matter what type of work you do as a solo professional. If you get these requests regularly, this episode will give you practical tips on how to handle them with confidence.

The notes that follow are a very basic, unedited summary of the show. There’s a lot more detail in the audio version. You can listen to the show using the audio player below. Or you can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Highlighting the time and experience involved in providing advice
Acknowledging the worth of professional wisdom
Move from reluctance to structured offer
Emotional relief in setting boundaries
Need for higher fees and structured sessions
Importance of framing expertise as valuable
Different strategies based on the relationship
Free exchange with peers
Charging for non-peers and acquaintances
Establishing a “brain picking offer”
Using platforms like fm for easy setup
Creating effective options to manage requests
Reframing brain picking to foster respect
Ensuring professional contributions are valued

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The post #358: How to Handle Client Requests to Pick Your Brain appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#357: How Podcast Guesting Can Boost Your Brand and Help Build Your Solo Business

Ed Gandia — Wed, 16 Oct 2024 03:59:01 +0000

Most freelancers and solo marketers focus their marketing efforts on prospecting, networking, or LinkedIn.

But guesting on podcasts that your target audience listens to? Not so much.

And that’s too bad, because appearing on podcasts can be a powerful way to build your brand, meet and network with great people, generate leads and establish yourself as a thought leader in your market.

In this episode, I sit down with Angie Trueblood, a seasoned podcast publicist, to explore how freelance writers and solo marketers can harness the power of podcast guesting.

Angie shares her unique journey into the world of podcast publicity and breaks down why being a guest on the right shows can make a huge positive difference in your business. We dive deep into actionable strategies, including:

Why podcast guesting is an underused but highly effective strategy for freelancers
How to identify the podcasts that will bring real value to your business
Insider tips on crafting a genuine, irresistible pitch
Practical advice on preparing for your podcast debut to maximize impact
How to track and measure the success of your podcast guesting efforts

Whether you’re looking to expand your client base, increase your visibility or simply explore new avenues for growth, Angie’s insights will open your eyes to the untapped potential of this marketing strategy.

Key Topics and Bullets:

View interviews as conversations.
Mirror the host’s energy; adjust professionalism.
Use stories for expertise; avoid naming clients without permission.
Build confidence through practice.
Be genuine to attract similar work styles.
Balance personal and professional tones.
Use interviews for networking, not just leads.
Unexpected value can come from host referrals.
Use impactful information over long bios.
Propose one topic with depth (3-5 talking points).
Ed finds multiple ideas can occasionally be beneficial.
Use specific search terms for relevant podcasts.
Ensure relevance to the audience.
Avoid generic pitches.
Structured follow-ups: initial and final two weeks apart.

Timestamp Overview:

00:00 Angie– I was in outside sales for my career. And then when my husband and I had kiddos, I decided to come home to spend a little bit more time with them and run a part time business of my own and totally different business. I was serving mothers, and I recognized that I needed to grow my visibility in that space, so I started guesting on podcasts. I just reached out to host with a topic idea, and they either said yes, no, or no response. And some of my friends who also had businesses were asking questions of, well, how did you guest on that show? Like, how did you get to be in interviewed there? And I learned very quickly, like your listeners most likely, that what I am skilled at is something that not everyone else is, and a lot of people don’t like the idea of pitching themselves. So I pivoted the whole business and started as a freelancer taking on clients.

04:37 Ed– So let’s set the stage here a little bit in the context of a freelance solo marketer or writer or copywriter, publicist, etcetera. Why even look or why even consider podcast guesting as part of your marketing mix? What are some of the benefits?

Angie– There’s a lot of pros to it. I mean, first of all, from a purely marketing getting in front of more people perspective, it is a one to many approach. So you are getting in front of someone else’s audience. They are ushering you in as a thought leader or at least someone that they trust, just like your listeners are likely thinking, okay. Well, Ed invited Angie on. She’s legit. I’m gonna at least listen and respect what she has to say. So it’s a way to increase your influence and authority just by the nature of being a guest on someone else’s show, and you’re reaching a larger audience than if you were just reaching out 1 to 1 in a LinkedIn DM, which I still do, and it’s a really big part of how I create, client. Like, how I find and convert clients. But getting that initial exposure is really helpful in kind of seeing, well, who’s interested in this? Who raises their hand after that interview goes live that I should connect with? The other piece of it, and I think this is you know, I’ve been doing this for 7 years, is first, I was marketing on Facebook, and then I was marketing on Instagram. And now I’m on LinkedIn, and the others have kind of gone away. So social media is such an evolving platform, and, candidly, it’s one I don’t always love spending my time on. And guesting on someone else’s podcast, having a conversation like you and I are having, it just kind of warms my heart and reminds me that I’m in this human focused business, and relationships are at the heart of it. So it’s sort of a feel good approach to marketing for me. And then specifically about freelancers, they’re in demand.

08:44 Ed– That’s a really interesting perspective and one that I wasn’t really expecting because I and I get pitched, 2 2 times a day, 3 times a day, and which is crazy to me because, I mean, I have a long standing show. We’re on our 12th year now. But which is, like, whatever, 70 years in this business. But it’s still a small show because it’s a niche show. I was under the impression that it’s really kind of the big authors and speakers and thought leaders who get the traction as opposed to, well, I’m a practitioner. I’m a freelance copywriter in the healthcare industry. Who’s gonna wanna talk to me? And, I mean, of course, I know that people do wanna talk to you, but you’ve just validated this idea that, no, actually, a lot of podcast hosts would prefer to talk to you because they’re being inundated by all the, you know, the thought leaders, the experts, the authors. And, you know, that’s great.

Angie– I think, yeah, I think a lot of it depends on the types of shows you’re pitching, and I know we’ll get into that. But you mentioned health, health , what did you say? Health care wellness. Yeah. If you imagine a host who runs a coaching program for either health care practitioners or health and wellness practitioners, It would be great for them to have someone come on that is talking about how to specifically grow your business or what does an SEO look like for health care practitioners. So freelancers and I know I’ve listened enough to know that not that you have a love hate relationship with niching, but you don’t think it’s the end all, be all. The beauty of guessing on podcasts is that you can kind of niche your pitch. And I know I get bored sometimes when we have clients who are in the same industry, and then I love when I get some sort of, like, fresh blood and I get to put my eyes on their strategy. You can pitch to shows in the healthcare space, for instance.

10:12 Angie– At the same time, you can take that pitch and tweak it and make it really relevant for shows that are in the legal space. So that’s how you can stand out. So getting on the giant shows that we all know is a little bit more difficult, but there are a ton of really engaged audiences like yours that are speaking to a very specific audience, and you can sort of massage your expertise to fit that audience.

Ed– Well, let let’s start getting into that then. Okay. And I’d like to start by asking you this question. Okay? So you know that my audience, their clients, their own target audience is, you know, marketing directors at all size companies, but a lot of midsize larger companies or, you know, in many cases, maybe a founder, you know, of a SaaS company. Sometimes they’re dealing directly with a founder because it’s small enough where they don’t have a full marketing team. So we’re talking about, you know, people who are very busy. They’re inundated already with a huge to do list and a bunch of people, like, you know, reaching out to them. Do these people those audiences, do they actually listen to podcasts? You know, on the drive home after that kind of day, do they listen to podcasts, or are they trying to just completely get away from any more marketing and business advice?

14:19 Angie– So there’s definitely the networking part of it. And in that point, I mean, the audience is just, you know, a cherry on top. You’re getting to share and help someone else’s audience in a way that they couldn’t. There’s definitely the lead generation, but then there’s also just allowing people who might be interested in your services to feel how you are different from the next person who offers the same type of services. There are a number of podcast booking agencies out there, and I definitely have a different spin, a different flavor and take on it than some of the others, but listeners would never really know that without hearing me have that conversation. So it really helps in that sort of, like, attracting versus repelling. I rarely get wrong fit people booking discovery calls with me, and that’s because I’ve guested so much or they’ve heard my podcast and been able to get a sense of who I am.

Ed– You make a great point there that a big part of it is someone getting to really know you, and there are few channels that are better suited for that than a podcast. When I mean getting to know you, getting to know the person. I always equate it to if you’ve ever binge watched a show on Netflix and, let’s just say Breaking Bad, by the end of season 2, you feel like you know Walter White. Like, you’re you have an intimate relationship with this person. You know, you know him inside now. And that’s really, really powerful. And it’s the same thing with I found with podcasts. You know, I take them everywhere.

18:14 Ed– I’m a b to b health care writer slash copywriter. And my clients are typically health care systems, hospital systems, b to b medical device companies, you know, that sort of thing, where do I even start? What are some different ways to attack it?

Angie– So first of all, the clarity that you shared right there is what trips so many people up is they don’t go into searching with a clear plan of who they want to connect with. They think, I own a marketing agency. I wanna get out there and talk about marketing. But, really, you want to get in front of audiences that at some point might be interested in hiring you. That’s often the goal. Right? It could be networking. It could be brand awareness. But most of my customers myself, it’s lead gen. Right? You wanna get in front of the right audience. And so it’s like declaring who and what types of shows would those people even be listening to? And that question doesn’t get answered inside of Apple Podcasts. It can when you’re thinking, I know my client. What type of show would they be interested in listening to? What would they listen to to get complimentary information on the type of work I do for them? It sounds like to me, they might be listening to general marketing shows, but they also might be listening to marketing for health care shows or shows that are talking about hospitals and how hospital systems can connect with their community or marketing. So it’s really clarifying. Let’s get a couple search terms that we can just pop into Apple Podcasts, which is what we always go to first, and then you search with a search term, not the rankings. I see a lot of people go in. They’re like, well, let me pick a category and see who are the top podcast in this category.

21:15 Ed– Well and and what I’m hearing from you too is that, you know, I’ve been the example I use is very vertical focused, you know, a specific industry, but it could also be horizontal positioning. Like, we could really approach like, maybe maybe my specialty is writing long form content, researching heavy long form content, which means that I can write for many different types of industries. So now I have a whole new set of searches That I can make, right, and a potentially different set of shows.

Angie– For sure. And con marketing, like, that’s another search term. So it’s really about having the terms that people would use to find the types of shows that you think you wanna guest on. It’s really defining the show as, I wanna be a guest on the show that’s talking to this type of person, right, marketing professional in the healthcare industry about this type of thing. And in that example, it would be marketing strategies or I mean, outsourcing marketing would be great, but that’s probably not gonna like, that would be a perfect fit. But, yeah, it’s just getting really clear on what terms would you put into Apple Podcasts to find the type of show that you think is an ideal fit for you.

23:26 Angie– We already know for our clients and for yeah. We know for our clients the topics that are gonna be most appealing in front of the people that we want to get them in front of. So we have those already fleshed out, so we’re not writing an email from scratch. But we personalize the beginning of the pitch. We even personalize, like, why this would be relevant to that person’s audience. So for you, it would be an acknowledgment of knowing that you work with and that your listeners are freelance writers. I thought a topic that might be helpful for them would be x y z. Right? So you’re crafting the pitch and basically sharing why the topic, why you find it to be relevant to their audience.

27:36 Ed– But so I guess a couple of things. 1, I wanted to get your take on that approach. And second, do you find that it’s best to offer one idea, or do you feel as best there was a time when offering 3 without going too deep into each one seemed to be a better option. So thoughts on that.

Angie– So first off, I wanna call out that the sentence that you mentioned is, I have someone that I think will be an ideal guest. That thought is so important because when people email and say, I have a guest who I know will be an excellent fit, you’re already putting the host on the defensive. You don’t know my show. You don’t know my people. Just you knowAnd you would never speak to another human like that. Like, I know I have something that’s a perfect fit for you. We all hate salespeople like that, so we don’t do that in email form. So we always give the host an out because we like to lower the defenses, then their gut reaction to delete. We do include, and it’s not a bio. It is like a one sentence descriptor of our client, and that’s really just sharing credentials, level setting that they are an expert and qualified to be a guest on their show. We’re not doing a paragraph. We’ve seen 3 paragraph bios be included in pitches. No. You just need to and, again, your writers are skilled at this. Take their large bio and pull out the most impactful pieces of it so the host gets a sense of, like, okay. They check the box on the level of expertise that I want on my show, and then you go into the pitch. So we have a sneaky way of only offering one topic. I do think it’s important to offer one topic because I don’t wanna give the host any sort of work to do on their end.

32:33 Ed– Before we leave the pitch itself, tell me a little bit about follow-up, your philosophy on follow-up. Should you follow-up at all? And if so, how many times do you feel is ideal?

Angie– So you definitely have to follow-up. I mean and I was listening to one of your episodes, and you said the follow-up really is where it’s at, and it is 100% true in this. So there’s a difference between hounding and doing your due diligence to follow-up. So our sort of timeline that we follow is we send the pitch on a particular day. 2 weeks later, we send a follow-up, and we actually use the original pitch email and kind of resend it and just put a really short sentence kind of circling back to see if you’d given any thought to hosting Susie q as a guest on your show because the pitch itself will then be in line, and whoever’s reading it can scroll down and see exactly what we had pitched before. So we don’t need to reinvent the wheel and clog up and give them a lot of content to go through. So we do a second follow-up then, and then we’ll do another last follow-up 2 weeks after that.

35:16 Ed– Let’s talk about, like, moving on to I’ve landed an interview. You know, let’s talk. I know there’s a ton we could cover here in terms of getting ready. But any ideas, suggestions, maybe some that are not as obvious.

Angie– One, recognizing it is a conversation, and that’s where folks who are new to podcasting, especially when we’ve supported clients that might be a little bit more corporate in nature. It is a conversation, and so it is typically not the person getting on there and just sharing brain dumping content and expertise. So you gotta show up kind of casual, get a feel for the other person. I like to sort of mirror, and I think all of us do this inherently, kind of mirror the energy that the host is giving you. If they seem to be super professional, then maybe you sort of tighten up your persona from what it normally is. Like, that’s just sort of interviewing, you know, human skills 101. The other piece of it, and especially for freelancers that have, you know, a back not a backlog, but a catalog of client work, you have case studies in your brain, hopefully, somewhere else, where you can really bring to life some of the expertise that you are sharing. So rather than coming on a show and talking to health care marketers about how they can leverage white papers, you can give specific examples, and you don’t have to share the client’s name unless you know that they’re comfortable with it.

39:18 Ed– Be yourself within reason. Yeah. Right? I mean, don’t be yourself like you would be with your best buddy, you know, completely unfiltered. Unhinged. Unhinged. So, you know, that have some boundaries. I think that’s really smart. I I wanted to mention something before I forgot to speak to a point you mentioned earlier where, hey, don’t look at this strictly, and I’m paraphrasing, as a lead generation vehicle. So you do wanna interview. And if you don’t get 5 leads, you know, that that’s a failure. In fact, I would say if you get one lead at all from that, that’s amazing. Look at it as a long game and think of it as a multifaceted strategy where the benefits can come from many different sources and many different ways you didn’t expect. You mentioned one that’s happened to me and it’s actually happened recently to a client of mine who does podcast guesting. She gets on podcasts, b to b marketing, and other types of podcasts.

42:09 Ed– Well, why don’t we talk a little bit about results and tracking? Maybe let’s talk about it as success. How would you suggest one track and measure success? Because I do need some way. I mean, it might be, you know, gut feel. That’s fine. But what do you suggest your clients do?

Angie– So for your audience, I would almost take the most simple approach to tracking, and we even find this with our clients. We’ve gone through iterations where I’ve suggested we might even look at their Google Analytics, their website visitors, even their domain authority because of backlinks, and only a handful have expressed any level of, oh, yeah. That matters to me. So I think first of all, you just gotta figure out what matters to you. And likely as a freelancer, you going on these shows is ultimately to grow your network and to potentially generate clients or leads that you can nurture over time. So traditional KPIs that we track, love them or hate them, for me, when I guest on shows, it’s LinkedIn followers. I just track that normally anyway, so I just wanna see that that’s growing. I also for our clients, ask them if you had conversations as a result of your podcast going live, let’s keep track of it.

45:52 Ed– Since you mentioned, you know, working with you, I’m curious to hear your thoughts on when it makes sense to maybe work with somebody like you. So if somebody is listening, is thinking, I’ve either been doing this on my own and, you know, I don’t know. I don’t like doing it or I got too many things on my plate or I wanna try this, but I don’t wanna go at it alone. When does it make sense to reach out to somebody like you?

Angie– I think, honestly, whenever you feel like your lack of time or skill set is holding you back from putting your foot out there in the space. So assuming you’ve decided, I wanna give podcast guesting a go. If over and over you have found that it never makes it to the top of your to do list Mhmm. Then I would reach out. There are a 1000000 different ways to get support running spanning the gamut from you doing it a 100% DIY to fully outsourcing it. We have offerings where we’ll craft your strategy, your pitch topics, give you a pitch list, show you how to do it, and give you some support while you do it, but you’re the one doing the implementation. So just know that if you’re listening and you’re like, oh, I’ll never be able or I don’t wanna outsource something that big in my business, which I get as a freelancer. Fully outsourcing it can be a big line item on your budget, but there’s ways to do it without it being a 100% either way.

47:47 Ed– That that makes sense. Yep. Anything that I as we wrap up, anything that I haven’t asked you about that you feel is really important to know or understand when it comes to guesting on podcasts for people like us?

Angie– I mean, I think it’s just highlighting the overall theme that has been the through line of the conversation. I mean, I’m saying it’s not rocket science. Right? So let’s not make it be something bigger than it is. If you are already a strategic writer, if you are already an expert in marketing, you very likely can figure out who is it you should be talking to and what should you be talking to them about. That’s really what it is. Right? Getting in front of the right audiences, talking about the right things, and it’s just writing a human email to see if that’s a good fit for a particular host. So I think it’s just, like you said, lowering the temperature a little bit. This is just one form of outreach, and it may be great for you. It may not.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

The post #357: How Podcast Guesting Can Boost Your Brand and Help Build Your Solo Business appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#356: How Erynn LaFlamme Uses Custom GPTs to Transform Her Production Workflow

Ed Gandia — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 03:59:57 +0000

A growing number of writers are incorporating AI tools into their workflow.

Those who’ve kept an open mind and experimented with different approaches and ways to increase their productivity and scale their creativity have seen remarkable improvements in both the quality and quantity of their work, allowing them to stay ahead in an ever-evolving industry.

The current models are powerful out of the box. But what if there was a way to take things a step further and create personalized AI tools tailored to your unique needs?

In this episode, I sit down with Erynn LaFlamme, founder and CEO of Ethic Agency, a marketing agency based in Metro Atlanta. Erynn and I discuss how writers can harness the power of custom GPTs to handle nuanced parts of their client workflow.

Erynn has become an expert in using AI for content creation, and she walks us through the process of building Custom GPTs and shares real-world examples of how her team is leveraging this technology to produce better work.

We dive deep into:

The difference between Custom GPTs and using standard ChatGPT
Key steps involved in creating GPTs for specific clients
Challenges and ethical considerations in AI-powered workflows
How to refine and improve Custom GPTs over time
Deciding when to use a Custom GPT versus a general AI tool

We also explore what this means for the future of freelance writers and content professionals—will AI replace us, or will it become an essential tool in our toolkit?

Whether you’re curious about integrating AI into your business or looking for ways to refine your processes, this episode offers some very practical ideas, insights and tips.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Key to addressing audience problems and showcasing solutions.
Interest in AI tools to enhance strategies.
Comparison to early social media adoption.
AI enhances workflow, preserving human creativity.
Significant efficiency gains in tasks like ideation.
Tailored custom GPTs save time and ensure consistency.
Use of provided guidelines for accurate outputs
Steps to create custom GPTs using ChatGPT.
Preference for Claude AI over ChatGPT for adherence to guidelines.
Avoid feeding proprietary data into AI tools.
Ensuring originality and verifying AI-generated data.
Adapting to and leading new technology strategies.
Essential for maintaining quality in AI-driven processes.
Using custom GPTs for engaging email marketing content.
High ROI with ChatGPT subscription, handling 75% of writing tasks.

Timestamp Overview:

00:00 Erynn– I am a growth marketing consultant. I started an agency here in the metro Atlanta area that focuses on digital marketing. So I cover a wide range of full service, marketing aspects, right, everything from branding and messaging all the way to, you know, executing websites and, you know, managing social media. So a lot of different areas. How I got there, you know, my career is very much backed by copywriting. Started as a just digital marketing strategist, you know, doing everything from the ground up, in terms of messaging, writing copy, rebranding companies, you know, writing landing pages

05:46 Ed– What what exactly is a custom GPT? How is it different from just going in there and starting a new chat with the model?

Erynn– Totally. So a custom GPT from a copywriter perspective is really helpful when you have multiple clients who will have their own unique set of problems, brand voice, brand tones. I know when I first started using chat gpt to help me with copy, I got really sick and tired of having to constantly educate it on who my client is, what we do. I would be feeding it landing pages and previous blogs. I would have to do that for every new prompt unless I wanted to, like, have this ever going conversation, which wasn’t always relevant. So ChatGPT, with a gen…with a regular search is kind of like a general purpose search engine. It’s really good if you just have a quick question or something like that. But if you were trying to really tailor a response or a prompt to your clients, and not have to educate it every single time on what they do and how to match your voice and tone and things like that, that’s where custom GPT has come in.

09:48 Ed– So you’ve got a client, ecommerce. Walk us through where you go because I know, at least the way it’s designed right now, it takes you straight to the, I believe, the configure page.

But there is another tab, which is create Which I find confusing. So maybe walk us through how you do it.

Erynn– So when you’re actually, like, inside of chat gpt, you have, like, this left hand panel that has all your previous chats, and you can start a new chat. Well, on that, on the left hand side, there’s a little button that’s a black button that says explore GPTs. When you click that, in the you get to a new screen, and it says in the top right corner, create GPT, and you literally just click that. From there, it opens up this, like, new chat. It kinda looks like ChatGPT, but what you’re it’s it starts prompting or asking you questions. Right? Like, tell me how you’re gonna use me. Give me a name.

10:21 Erynn– You can even upload a picture. So I like to, like, upload my client logos so that way in the future, it shows up on that left hand panel with, like, all your existing chats. It’ll literally have your client whatever you named it. Right? So x GPT or, ecommerce GPT, whatever it is you named it. And I like to have the client logos for my, you know, visual purposes. So what you can feed it in this chat I mean, I feed it everything and anything that’s gonna be relevant. So brand guidelines. Right? The more you have, the better.

13:34 Erynn– I mean, it takes a lot of lift off. Right? I always say, like, ChatGPT will, especially as a writer, will get you 75% of the way. It’s not gonna get you all the way, and we’ll talk about that, but it’ll get you pretty far. So, so back to, like, our list of what you wanna feed it, brand guidelines, product and service details. If you have ICP over overview, so ideal customer profiles. Right? You can feed it the demographics, the personas, avatars, anything you have. Tell it who you’re talking to and, say this is who we’re talking to in all of our copy.

17:30 Erynn– So you can edit your GPTs at any point. Right? So I currently have a client who’s doing, like, a complete rebrand, and they’re totally shifting their messaging. And they’re changing their audience. Literally, everything is changing. We still want to apply our core functionalities through this rebrand. Right? But we’re trying to weave in new messaging. So I will go into ChatGPT. And so you, I’m trying to remember exactly where it’s located. It’s at the top when you start a new chat, and you can, like, highlight it and say edit gpt. And so it’s gonna keep you on that kind of conversational page. And you can start feeding it the new information that you have. Right? So here’s our new messaging. I literally treat it like it’s an employee. So using ChatGPT is a lot of shifting your brain from maybe, like, an execution standpoint to almost like a management role. Right? So if you were talking to an employee and telling them the change is happening in a company, how would you explain that? And I will literally write it to it and be like, this is what’s going on.

22:17 Ed– Here’s how I sometimes use these tools, or maybe this is what I will not use it for or whatever.

Erynn– Exactly. Just have those safeguards in place. Right? But as you know, as you start exploring, just be really careful not to feed it that kind of information because, ChatGPT, everything anyone feeds it is now a free game for you know, it just starts spitting answers to other people. Right? I mean, you don’t wanna put in a new company concept, and then it starts spitting that out in results for competitors or anyone else using the tool. Right? So you have to be really careful about what you feed it in that sense. So that’s, you know, from the NDA or data privacy side of things. Now in terms of I mean, just accuracy, plagiarism, things like that we need to worry about is copywriters. Right? I mean, you wanna be really careful.

25:38 Ed– The plagiarism is kind of a different story there. I don’t think that’s really been resolved yet because a lot of the plagiarism checkers will give you false positives or false negatives. I mean, it’s kind of all over the place.

Erynn– Yeah. So there’s a couple tools that I will use. As an agency owner, I do work with a lot of copywriters. Right? So I will work out. And I can’t tell you how many times someone has sent me a blog, and I know it’s completely ChatGPT. I mean, they didn’t even try to personalize it, humanize it, you know. And Chargebee Tea does still sound like a robot if you’re not training it not to.

29:07 Ed– Well, I think this is a good point for me to just make something really clear, and I know you and I are aligned here. But, I’ve talked about this in other episodes where we’ve talked about AI, but I can’t say this enough. The real power of these tools is in their ability to help you with a lot of the grunt work and to scale your creativity and improve your productivity. These tools should not be looked at as binary options. This is not a I’ll either use it to write this article draft and turn that in or, no, you should never use it to write an article draft. I can’t say this enough times. If you’re looking at AI in this binary with this binary perspective, you’re gonna be left behind. There are so many. First of all, I agree.

30:02 Ed– There are so many opportunities to integrate these tools in your workflow within your workflow. If there’s 15 steps to a workflow for writing an article for client a, it could probably help you dramatically in 6 of those steps. So I want everyone to think a little bit more in a more nuanced way about these tools and how you can incorporate them rather than in a very binary yes or no way. So, I know we’re very much aligned there. Right? It’s like if it can take me to a certain level, if the ideation process can go from 2 hours to 20 minutes, right, if I can use it to maybe generate an outline or help me with the outline, if I can use it for this part and that part, maybe test my logic in the piece and see if maybe there’s a better way to build my argument in terms of the the logic flow. Any of those applications, if I can use it for some of those, we’re talking about compressing something that would have taken 10 hours compressing it down to 5 or 6. Right? And that is huge. But you need to be a smart, critical thinker here.

35:55 Erynn– Well, it saves so much time onboarding. Right? I’m like, hey. If you’re gonna leverage this tool if you’re gonna do it. I take a position of educating my copywriters on how to use chat gpt because I’m telling you, it’s happened so many times where you’re obviously using it, but you’re not doing it right. If you’re gonna use it, I’m gonna help you learn how to do it right.

So I will share the GPTs with them, the custom ones, so they can start leveraging them. And, you know, I just try to educate them.

37:34 Erynn– You know, I tried Claude out, like, right as is the first time I started trying out ChatGPT. And I wasn’t impressed with it, so I haven’t played too much with it since then. I’m a big UI, UX person. If I don’t even like the way it looks, I can’t use it. You know? But I’ve tinkered with it since. It’s come around. One thing I will say, from a free perspective, right, if you’re not paying for Claude, I know that it doesn’t have the project’s function. That’s the pro plan if you pay for it.

41:03 Ed– Do I you’ve already had some people say, well, wait a minute. I could just use this. Why would I need you? Nobody really has a crystal ball, but, you know, what’s your best guess in terms of how this will evolve?

Erynn– So I think that this is gonna be a slow process, you know, too. I don’t think anyone needs to panic and say, oh, this is gonna take over my job or, you know I don’t think anyone’s job is in jeopardy at all. With that being said, I do think at some point, this is gonna fundamentally change the way we do things just like everything else has. Right? Any other technology. I expect AI to get much more integrated with our broader tech stack. So, you know, right now, you know, for blog posts, I’m using Semrush for my SEO research. I write my blog, and then I have to manually add backlinks. I have to change the headline based on keywords. Right? So I think at some point, we’ll see ChatGPT starting to integrate with these tools, right, so that everything that it’s creating for you is going to be implementing your broader strategy.

45:06 Ed– I think there’s so many opportunities to, like you said, move up the value ladder and actually become more of an adviser. You know? Do more and more of that work when the execution as more of the execution gets kind of outsourced to these tools, we’re gonna need somebody to oversee that and, again, be kind of the creative brain behind it all, the critical thinker. And I think there’s all kinds of opportunities to help clients integrate this, right, into their own workflow because somebody still needs to guide them, and they’re not gonna have that expertise in house.

Erynn– And, Ed, I think that one critical area where ChatGPT just, like, doesn’t meet the mark right now is integrating into your broader tech stack. Right? I mean, it’s starting to get integrations and stuff. But, I mean, wait for the day when you say, hey, ChatGPT. Can you design me this flier based on this copy or whatever? Right? I mean, the designs and stuff, it’s just not there. Or from an SEO perspective, I use SEMrush. It’s like once it integrates with my SEMrush and knows my keyword research and what backlinks I need, like and it starts writing blogs, pulling all that in. Like, again, you still have to be a strategic leader and be able to integrate those technologies and lead that strategy.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

The post #356: How Erynn LaFlamme Uses Custom GPTs to Transform Her Production Workflow appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#355: Why Desperation Can Be a Powerful Source of Breakthroughs in Your Business

Ed Gandia — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 03:59:12 +0000

I was doing an exercise the other day where I looked back over the past 3 decades of my career to think through every major breakthrough I had and every big move I made.

Not only was this a fun trip down memory lane, it also made me realize a few very important things.

One of them is that nearly every breakthrough happened during a very challenging moment in my career. And in a few cases, they happened when I was desperate—when I was in a very tight spot and desperately needed things to turn around.

And that got me thinking, “You know … desperation can lead to some very powerful breakthroughs!”

That’s the topic of this week’s short podcast episode below.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Identifying major breakthroughs and big moves
Realization that breakthroughs often occur during challenging times
Instances of desperation leading to significant progress
Desperation as a catalyst for risk-taking
Need to stretch beyond comfort zones
Acting differently under intense pressure
Avoiding a victim mentality
Viewing challenges as opportunities to grow
Acknowledging the role of deliberate, focused actions
Recognizing the improvements gained from challenges
Challenges shaping personal and professional identity
Honoring experiences as a testament to resilience and determination

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

The post #355: Why Desperation Can Be a Powerful Source of Breakthroughs in Your Business appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#354: Breaking Free from the Feast-or-Famine Trap: What You Need to Change Starting Today

Ed Gandia — Wed, 11 Sep 2024 03:59:09 +0000

In this episode, we’re tackling one of the biggest challenges freelancers face: the dreaded feast-or-famine cycle. Whether you’re a seasoned freelancer or just starting out, the strategies we’ll discuss can help you create a steady stream of work and avoid the panic that comes with dry spells.

The Growing Urgency of Client Prospecting
The freelance world is facing increased pressure. With a challenging economy causing many businesses to put projects on hold, freelancers who’ve enjoyed steady work over the past few years are now finding themselves in a tough spot. The solution? A strategic and consistent approach to prospecting that can keep your pipeline full, regardless of external conditions.

Recognizing Marketing as a Core Role
As a solo business owner, marketing isn’t just something you do when you need work—it’s a critical role that you must prioritize. Freelancers often come from environments where work is handed to them, but when you’re running your own business, you’re responsible for every function, including marketing and sales. If you’re serious about building a sustainable business, you need to accept this responsibility and make marketing a consistent part of your routine.

The 10% Rule: A Simple Strategy for Consistent Marketing
To ensure marketing becomes a habit, I recommend the 10% Rule—dedicating 10% of your weekly work time to marketing activities. This approach is flexible, achievable, and essential for maintaining a healthy pipeline of opportunities. Whether you’re booked solid or facing a slow period, this rule helps you stay proactive in your marketing efforts.

Building Marketing into Your Routine
Consistency is key. Just like brushing your teeth or going for a walk, marketing should become a habitual part of your weekly routine. When you make marketing a non-negotiable habit, you’ll find that opportunities start to flow more regularly. This doesn’t mean you have to cold prospect constantly—staying in touch with your network, engaging with past clients, and maintaining visibility on platforms like LinkedIn can all contribute to keeping your pipeline active.

The Priority Pyramid: Focus on High-Probability Opportunities First
When your pipeline is dry, it’s important to focus your efforts on the highest-probability opportunities first. That’s where the Priority Pyramid comes into play:

Current Clients & Open Proposals: Start by following up with current clients and open opportunities. This is the highest-probability area where you can secure quick wins.
Past & Dormant Clients: Reconnect with past clients or those who have gone dormant. They already know, like, and trust you, making it easier to reignite the relationship.
Dead Leads: Reach out to prospects who showed interest in the past but didn’t convert. Often, circumstances change, and they may now be ready to move forward.
Cold Prospects: Finally, if you’ve exhausted the previous three categories, turn to cold prospecting. This can be time-consuming, but it’s a necessary part of maintaining a full pipeline.

The Importance of Reps and At-Bats
Cold prospecting can feel daunting, especially when you face rejection or silence. But remember, like a slot machine in Vegas, the more you play (or in this case, prospect), the higher your chances of hitting a jackpot. The key is to keep going, even when it feels tough. The more reps you do, the better your chances of landing a big win.

Unwavering Commitment: The Foundation of Success Freelancing comes with its challenges, and it’s during these tough times that your resolve will be tested. It’s crucial to
have a strong sense of purpose—your “Big Why”—that keeps you motivated. Like the American colonists fighting for their freedom, your commitment to your business and your goals will carry you through the toughest challenges.

Upcoming Workshop: Build a Powerful Prospecting Habit in 21 Days
If you’re ready to take your prospecting efforts to the next level, I’m excited to announce a new prospecting workshop starting next week. Over 21 days, you’ll receive daily lessons and assignments designed to help you build effective prospecting habits that stick. This workshop is all about action, accountability, and results—perfect for freelancers who are ready to transform their business.

This is the last time I’m running this workshop in 2024.
To join us, send an email to [ed at b2blauncher dot com], and we’ll get you all the details. The workshop begins on Monday, September 16, so don’t wait!

Final Thoughts
Breaking free from the feast-or-famine cycle requires a strategic and consistent approach to marketing and prospecting. By embracing your role as a marketer, following the 10% Rule, and focusing on high-probability opportunities, you can create a steady flow of work and build a sustainable freelance business.

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of the High-Income Business Writing podcast. I hope you found these strategies useful. Until next time, keep pushing forward and stay committed to your success.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Why Prospecting Matters
Freelancers are having a rough time finding clients
Kick that feast-or-famine habit to the curb and build steady marketing routines
Keep pushing through those rejections and inner doubts—don’t give up!
40-hour work week plan
Finding Your Big “Why”
Know your personal motivation—it’ll keep you going when things get rough.
Marketing is your job too—think of your freelance gig as a real business
Always be marketing—even when work is plenty. Stick to the 10% rule
Dedicate 10% of your work week to marketing efforts—it’s like a business tithe
If work dries up, make prospecting your full-time gig until things turn around
Priority Pyramid for Prospecting
Focus on what matters first; quick wins boost your confidence
21-Day Prospecting Workshop
Keep some cash reserves and pay yourself consistently but cautiously

Timestamp Overview:

00:00 Ed– I don’t need to tell you that prospecting for clients has quickly become a critical issue in the freelance world. There’s a lot of reasons for this. AI is creating a ton of noise. The challenging economy is causing many businesses to put projects on hold or just scrap them all together. I really feel that that is the biggest reason. I don’t think we have seen the real impact of AI yet, and the impact may be very different from what we currently think it will be.

04:17 Ed– So you have to understand that one of your top jobs as a self employed professional is marketing, period. There is no getting around this. There’s no use in arguing about it. I didn’t make the rules. I wasn’t here when they were voting on this. This is the way it is. One of the many blessings of being a solopreneur is that you get to run the show. You get to make the decisions.

07:56 Ed– You are responsible for marketing. You are responsible for sales, for production, human resources, operations, finances. I mean, we’re talking about every single business function. Even, again, when you’re outsourcing some of this, you are still responsible. And if that’s not something you want to do, I hate to say it, but freelancing may not be for you.

10:58 Ed– Now let’s take it one step further. If marketing is a critical role, in order to execute that role effectively, marketing and prospecting can’t be a sometimes thing. It can’t be something you only do when you need work or when you just when you feel like doing it. It must be a constant thing, an every week thing. And, yes, even when you’re booked solid with work things, it just never ends. Now we’ll talk more about that later because there are ways to still adjust this. And the idea is you can dial this up or down, but you never want to just flat out stop. So how do you do it consistently? And how do you know when enough is enough or how much you should do? What amount of effort? Well, I recommend you follow the 10% rule. The 10% rule is about committing 10% of your committed weekly work time to marketing. Think of it as a tithe. In Christian traditions, there is this idea of a tithe that, you know, you give 10% to god. And this is not a religious conversation. I just love the simplicity of it.

14:21 Ed– So rules can be very healthy. Protocols can be very healthy. And I think the 10% rule is one that I think many of us can live with. So that’s the first recommendation, to follow the 10% rule. The second recommendation is to turn it into a habit rather than something you do only sometimes when you need to, when you need the work. And I’m talking about marketing, and right now, I’m specifically talking about prospecting and outreach. So when I look back at my 16 years of teaching and coaching freelancers on business building strategies, one of the most common patterns I’ve noticed is that those who always have work are consistent with their marketing. Now doesn’t mean that they just do cold prospecting. In fact, usually, they do a mix of things. Sometimes, they’re just really good about staying in touch with their network, cultivating relationships in nurturing long term relationships, staying in touch with clients, dormant clients and prospects, staying top of mind in other ways through LinkedIn and in front of their audience in conferences, just adding value, offering ideas. They’re just really good about the marketing piece, about staying in touch, about offering things, about knocking on doors. It’s usually a holistic strategy that they have at play. The great thing about turning this into a habit and the great thing about any habit period is that you don’t have to think about it. Once it’s a habit, you just do it. You just feel compelled to do it. There’s just in fact, when you don’t do it, you feel bad.

17:48 Ed– When I look around, I talk to people, the core issue is that the pipeline of potential projects is dry because they haven’t been feeding it. And now they’re desperate, which works against them. So that is the most common scenario, not not the former where they’ve been doing a great job and they just can’t convert, you know, all these people and the projects in their pipeline. It’s that they haven’t been feeding their pipeline. And because they’re now working with a dry pipeline, they’re desperate. And people can sense the desperation. People can sense the fear.

21:09 Ed– I’m gonna fix it for the short run, but I’m not going back. So I’m going to make sure that from now on, I have a habit in place that will drastically minimize the probability of me ending up in the situation again. So but, look, right now, you’re in it. You have to deal with it, and you have to deal with it head on. So here’s what you need to do to do that. Number 1, you need a strategy that puts your highest probability efforts first and then works down from there to lower and lower probability efforts. That’s the first thing. Start with the lowest hanging fruit. Number 2, you need a ton of reps or at bats, so you need a lot of numbers. You need to just get on that plate and just start swinging. And number 3, you need an unwavering commitment to make this happen. K? All 3 are so important. So let’s talk about them starting with your strategy to prioritize your efforts starting with low hanging fruit. I call it the priority pyramid. So when you’re under this kind of pressure, the priority pyramid can really give you clarity and guidance. Sometimes that’s really the thing that we need the most is we’re freaking out, and we start throwing a bunch of spaghetti at the wall.

24:20 Ed– I need to dig for opportunities with existing clients, and I need to follow-up on everything that’s outstanding if I haven’t done so already. And if I have, it’s an opportunity to see what may need another round of follow-up. You know? Most of us not we don’t follow-up enough. Most of us are under follow-up if that’s a term. That’s been my experience. The money is in the follow-up. It really is. So if you visualize this top section of the pyramid, you’ll notice that this is also the smallest area, the smallest layer of the pyramid. So when you add up your current clients, open quotes and proposals from the past few months, you’ll notice that there’s probably not a lot of them, but that’s okay. You don’t need a lot of them. But this is where you must start because this is the highest probability category. Alright. So let’s move on down.

27:21 Ed– So this strategic approach of just kinda going down the pecking order, if you will, not only maximizes your chances of success, but it also ensures that every action you take is meaningful and it’s impactful. So I just wanna remind you. Look. It’s not about doing everything. It’s about doing the right things first. So let’s talk about the second point, which is your number of reps or at bats that you get. And we’re gonna take a quick trip to Las Vegas for that, so bear with me. I want you to imagine that your best friend works at the Bellagio Hotel in Vegas, and he urges you to pay him a visit as soon as you can because he just discovered that one of the slot machines in the casino will actually work without you having to put money into it.

32:12 Ed– Your inner critic doesn’t have to rule your life. He or she is never going to go away, but you can loosen its grip over you. And one way to do that is to just do the work. You know, put your head down, do the work, focus on the effort, do the reps every day, rain or shine, even when you don’t feel like it. And you know what? Pat yourself on the back when you do and keep at it every day, every week, or whatever schedule you’ve committed to. When your inner critic sees that you’re not easily swayed, it’s gonna get tiring. It won’t give up forever, but it will give you the space you need to complete all your reps.

36:11Ed– You’re gonna come out the other end, and you’re gonna be fine. You can’t achieve any level of long term success as a solo professional without experiencing a few significant challenges and setbacks. K? It’s just the way it is. And, look, if it were easier, everyone would do it. It’s times like these that try everybody, and a lot of people fall off during difficult times, during difficult economies. A lot of people aren’t gonna make it, and it is what it is. If you’re listening to the show, I bet you’re not gonna be one of them. You know? The people who don’t invest in their businesses, you know, to read, to learn, to practice, commit, and do the work, the people who do those things usually are fine.

37:52 Ed– It’s well known that one of the major factors in the victory of the American colonies against the far larger and greatly superior British Army and Navy was the fact that the British soldiers were fighting to retain the colonies. Or to put it another way, these soldiers were basically sent across the Atlantic to risk their lives for land they didn’t personally own. And in a war for which the outcome was immaterial to them. I mean, like, if they win, okay, great. If they lose, okay, well, doesn’t affect me. Let’s think about the Americans. The Americans were fighting for their freedom and for their lives and the lives of their children and all their future generations. Now in light of what I just said of these historic challenges, which force do you believe was a more powerful motivator, the British soldiers’ duty to retain the land they had colonized or the American colonists’ fight for their freedom and future generations? K? I think you know the answer to that.

43:05 Ed– Now there are things you could do to drastically minimize your income variability, to increase income predictability. And these are things that I work with my clients on, and these are very doable things. But there’s still a variability to this, and nothing is for sure in life or in business. Okay? So because of the nature of our business and the variable income nature of it, you have to make it a priority to build financial buffers in your business. More specifically, you can’t be running on you know, you can’t be running a hand to mouth business. You need to have cash reserves, not just in your personal life, but also inside your business, checking account or checking accounts. One of the best things I did several years ago was to start paying myself a fixed salary. And by salary, I’m not talking about the technical definition of a salary.

44:51 Ed– When the 2008 financial crisis hit, that was a really, really difficult time for me. Financially, emotionally, I mean, just in everything. So my recommendation is as you get out of a tight spot, I want you to commit to building cash reserves in your business and to committing to a fixed monthly draw that’s conservative and forces you to live personally with that amount. I find that when we give ourselves constraints like this, life finds a way. We find ways to make it work in our personal lives. And then what that enables you to do is as you start growing your business and those financial buffers grow, you can and should then start giving yourself gradual and conservative raises, but always a few steps behind where you are from a cash standpoint. It is such a gift to be able to ride out a difficult period knowing that you have a little bit of extra cash on hand and that you can cushion the blow, not forever, but, you know, for a decent amount of time. And I would just tell you this. The past year for me in my business, in my coaching and training business has been difficult. It really has. And it’s been these cash reserves that have enabled me to keep things going and to sleep well at night. It’s not always easy, but I can just tell you from experience that if you put those in place when times are good, you’re gonna thank yourself. Your future self will thank you for being responsible and financially responsible and, and being a good CFO, a chief financial officer. So I’ll leave it there. Maybe if there’s enough interest, I can do a future episode. We can get into the specifics of how to do this and systems and protocols and rules.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

The post #354: Breaking Free from the Feast-or-Famine Trap: What You Need to Change Starting Today appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#353: Moving from Order-Taker to Trusted Advisor and Expert, with Amy Posner

Ed Gandia — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 03:59:33 +0000

As freelancers and solo professionals, we often (unknowingly) sabotage our own success from the very first interaction with a prospect.

We present ourselves and our services in a way that works against us. It erodes trust and diminishes our perceived value before we even begin working with a potential client.

It often starts the moment we ask our clients, “What can I do for you?”

This simple question can unknowingly shift us from being experts in our field to mere order-takers, losing control of our own business direction.

From there, it shows up in what we say to clients and prospects. What we offer. How we price our work. How we position ourselves in the market. And how we talk about what we do and our value we deliver.

In this episode, we’re diving deep into this critical issue. My guest is Amy Posner, an experienced freelance professional and entrepreneur who has mastered the art of positioning herself as an expert rather than an order-taker.

Amy shares invaluable insights on how to regain control of your freelance business, build authority with clients and establish yourself as the go-to expert in your field.

We explore a number of important topics, including:

Recognizing when you’ve fallen into the order-taker role and how to break free

Practical steps to shift from order-taker to expert (and yes, you ARE more of an expert than you realize!)

Building and demonstrating authority—even if you’re shy or introverted

Setting boundaries and managing client expectations

Developing the communication skills and confidence needed to position yourself as an expert

Whether you’re a seasoned freelancer looking to level up your business or still in the early stages of growing your practice, this episode offers valuable insights to help you take back the power in your business and truly thrive as a freelance professional.

I hope you find our conversation enlightening and actionable!

Key Topics and Bullets:

Consistently improving skills and focusing on client experience
Positioning and demonstrating expertise through written content
Understanding and diagnosing client needs through effective questioning
The ongoing nature of self-discovery and growth
Being deliberate in positioning oneself and not letting the market decide
Understanding client priorities and varying levels of expertise
Impact of business skills on freelance success
Transitioning from partner in businesses to freelance work
Emphasizing reliability, communication, and serving clients well
Personalizing content and developing a voice
Using questioning to spark dialogue and position value with prospects
The potential for freelancing to serve as a personal and professional improvement program

Timestamp Overview:

04:02 Amy– There’s some basic things that people need to know in order to eat well as a freelancer because I’ve seen really talented freelancers who don’t have business chops, just don’t eat as well as maybe a mediocre practitioner who knows how to run a business. And I’m looking to close that gap.

Ed– I approach it from a very different angle. It’s interesting that, sometimes coming from a totally different world can help you be a more successful creative because I, you know, having come from the corporate world, especially corporate sales, I thought of this as a different first of all, I thought of it as a business. And then I thought of it as a business where nothing happens until someone makes a sale. So to me, everything was about marketing and selling, and then the production kinda takes a back seat to that as opposed to what I thought was really strange is my colleagues who’d been in it for decades were approaching it in reverse. You know, marketing and sales kinda took a backseat, just as an example. I mean, there are other elements of the business. So, I definitely resonate with what you said.

06:59 Ed– So what would you say are some common signs that a freelancer has fallen into the trap of being an order taker rather than, you know, an expert or a trusted adviser? Let’s start there.

Amy– So I think I think the basic thing that defines an order taker is someone who says yes. So the client calls, you know, I need an x and the freelancer says great. It’ll cost you y. I can get it done by x date. Let’s go. And that they’re taking an order, essentially. You know, they could be ordering a sandwich or they could be ordering a web design or they could be ordering a piece of copy and, you know, you’ve got a menu and you say yes. On the other hand, you know well, you didn’t ask me this. You didn’t ask me the difference.

Ed– I knew we would land there anyway, but I wanted to see what you see as the signs because then listeners can start to kinda self-identifying, you know, if some of this resonates. But, yeah, however you wanna take it.

08:44 Amy– that’s what I see as the order taker. I mean, you’re literally taking the order. Right? Like, you know, like the wait staff. They show up at your table, you tell them what you prefer, they say great, and they go get it done and they bring it back hopefully in a timely and a delicious way. The expert says great. So tell me what’s going on? Like, why you know, great. You need a new website. So what’s going on? What tell me, you know, what brought us to this call? What’s the genesis of the call? What’s been going on in your business? And, you know, tell me a little bit. Why do you need this thing? And that’s and that’s the expert trying to discern what’s actually behind the need. And I think why that’s important is because very often, clients show up needing a thing, you know, or ordering a thing, but what they’re after always is an end result. And what we don’t know as the consultant or the contractor, we don’t know that what they’re bringing us is actually the best solution to the problem. And and and we can choose for that to be something we care about or not. Right? I can say great. You need this. I can create it.

11:43 Ed– So it sounds like a lot of this starts with mindset. Right? It’s how you view your relationship with a client or future relationship with a prospect. So one of the objections I hear to this or not objections, Sometimes you could just see it in their face, you know, when you suggest that there’s a different approach. A big part of the pushback is, well, yeah, but the client knows what they want. Who am I to then start questioning that? So maybe we can explore that a little bit because that’s kind of the starting point. And if you’re already coming into this with the wrong mindset, it’s gonna be very, very difficult to kind of move in a different direction.

16:45 Amy– there are all kinds of clients out there. There are clients that don’t want, you know, they don’t care about the service. They care about the price. There are other people who care about the price and the service. There are people who you know, for whom the service is gonna be really important. Everyone wants good quality output. Right? I mean, we can assume that every client, you know, wants the best deliverable that you can, you know, that you can possibly create. But what they’re looking for too are like, there’s some other really important factors that tie into expertise that aren’t related to your craft specifically.

19:27 Ed– What have you instead of seeing it as a binary thing, like not an expert or an expert, what have you seen it as different levels and degrees of expertise? Because I think automatically, we think of, you know, fill in the blank. Right? The top level person who’s written all these books, like Seth Godin, you know, or name your favorite star in your field. Well, you know, those are extreme examples. This is why I often hate these examples of business about Steve Jobs and, you know, because they’re so extreme that there’s a there’s a limit to their utility, you know, and I think if we saw it as like, hey, like you said, the fact that you just put yourself out there and that you’re doing something, you’re already at level 1. You know, levels 2 and 3 could be delivering a great experience by always doing what you said you were going to do. You know? Because I listen, I’ve worked with people. Now that you say that, you’re right. I’ve worked with people and I’ve hired writers in the past who didn’t do a very good job of positioning themselves as experts, but they always came through for me. And that was the person I would go to, you know, immediately. So to me, I didn’t think of it as expertise, but that you know, we don’t have thought of them as a pro. She’s a real pro. So maybe use that word, right, if you’re having trouble with it.

Amy– I like that. I like pro, and I like this reliability thing, it’s like it sounds so mundane, and so many people don’t do it. It’s shocking. Like, it’s just shocking to me. I mean, I’ve hired people who I’ve liked, I’ve seen them. I’ve seen their work.

21:11 Amy– I thought I knew who they were, and they ghost me. Or, you know, like, something happens and they don’t communicate. And it just shocks me to my shoes, really. Like, it’s so easy it’s so easy to be a good contractor. You know? Like, you need to communicate and you need to be reliable. But people, like, even there and this kind of crosses into the expertise because I think there’s this sense that, like, maybe I’m bugging you. Right? If I’m the contractor and, you know, you’re the client, like, I don’t wanna reach out or I don’t wanna you know, you know, I’m not really your employee. And what do you expect? And this is where processes will really save you because, like, great communication is really important.

25:29 Ed– I’m gonna name a couple of the things that came to mind as I was listening to you, and they’re we’ve kind of touched on this, but indirectly. One of them is what I harp on all the time, which is positioning. I find and I work with a lot of writers and solo marketers on their positioning, and I find that so many of them are undervaluing themselves and being very, very understated. You know? And I I know their background in many cases, and I’m not seeing it being communicated. And right away, I said, what about your degree from MIT? What’s going on there? Oh, but I don’t, you know, I don’t wanna talk about that. It’s like, are you out of your mind? And I’m giving you a real example, by the way. But it’s not unusual.People don’t, I think in our society, we’ve been brought up not to brag. But to me, there’s a fine line between bragging and just showcasing, you know, your experience, your expertise, your track record. So I think positioning is really, really important. You know? Talk about what you’ve done for others. Talk about whom you’ve worked with. Talk about your credentials, your experience, your years of experience. Oh, but I don’t wanna talk about it because believe me, that right there can make all the difference. You’ll never know how many people just kind of skipped over you and went to somebody else who really highlighted everything they had. So positioning is a really big one. And then the other one is to showcase what you know through written content. Right? It’s so, so important in oh, well, people don’t you know, there’s already so much out there. Who’s gonna read that? Or I don’t wanna feel like I am bragging, or I don’t want people to think that I’m a know it all. But here’s the thing that most freelancers don’t recognize is I don’t really care when I’m writing my stuff. Honestly, I know this is gonna sound bad. I don’t really care who’s reading or not reading it. But guess what? If I put it out there, someone will. And if they will, they’re gonna get a better understanding of how my head works, you know, my thinking, right, my perspective. And that’s what I want. It’s not that I want to reach everybody. It’s not that I want everybody to agree with me to read it. It’s for the few who do. I want them to get to know me a little better. And, man, even if you just have a few people reading your stuff, that’s really what matters.

28:06 Amy– it’s interesting that you say that because I think I mean, I kinda think positioning solves everything. I really do. I think it’s all I think it’s so much about positioning and how you, how you’re positioned, how you put yourself in relation to whatever situation. It’s so funny that you say that too because I have a client I’ve been working with for years. He’s got a PhD. I mean, he’s barely using it, like, barely talking about it now. But it’s been a real struggle for him to talk about that and to, you know, kind of brag on himself and his and his expertise.

32:03 Ed– I guarantee you, you could bring in a story from your personal life, your upbringing, an example of an application of that with a client of yours recently. You’ve just given it your own angle, and that’s what people want. They don’t want the same thing rehashed, but give it some sort of twist. And especially most of my audience as writers, this is what we’ve been trained to do. Right? It’s not like, oh, gosh. I wish I had a writer who could do this.

Amy– Exactly. Exactly. And I think and I think we get a little shy about that too because, you know, it’s one thing to do it for somebody else, but, like, you know, your own opinion and your own stuff. And it’s like, you know what? It’s it like, at the beginning, no one’s looking anyway, and you’ll develop a voice. And it’s just really I think it’s really, really important. I think it’s important for your own you know, you asked earlier about, like, the confidence and how do you get to feel, you know, sort of like an expert. And I think that’s part of the ownership. It’s not like you have to develop this expertise to talk about it, but you talk about what you do, and you kind of surface yourself as an expert.

36:57 Ed– So I’m telling you, the way it happens is little by little. You push yourself one step at a time, you know, and then breakthrough. And then that feeds your confidence. The confidence comes later. So I want to put that out there because I don’t want people to shut us out thinking, well, yeah, but, you know, they got all this confidence. Listen, one baby step at a time. So I don’t know your experience, Amy, with that. Your thoughts.

Amy– Yeah. I I think the truth is we all experience that all the time just at different levels. Right? I mean Yeah. Right. So every time like, I’m in a point in my business right now, I mean, things are sort of sorting out, but I’ve been in a pivot state for, like, 8 or 9 months, and I was lacking confidence. Not, like, just like, I don’t know what I’m doing. It didn’t feel really uncomfortable. I have enough experience that I know that the confidence will come as I figure out what I’m doing, but it’s not like, oh, I’m at a level now where I have innate confidence, and so I just, you know, plow forward with everything.

38:56 Amy– I think that this is the ongoing quest, right, to, like, to, you know, feel comfortable with who we are and what we’re doing in the world and, yeah, and and and sort of easing into that with whatever whatever we’re doing. And then it’s funny because there’s all these different places. Right? You can be confident in business, but you’re not confident as a parent or you’re confident as a parent and you’re, you know, you hate discovery calls. It’s like I mean, it’s this constant sort of finding yourself as a human, I think. I mean, unless you’re a narcissist, maybe. I don’t know. I I think that’s I think it’s fine kind of the human condition, and I think I think we’re really do well to to realize that, you know, that that that your coaches and your mentors and, you know, and everyone else all have their moments and, you know, everyone’s doing the best that they can, hopefully. But that’s the journey. Right? That’s the journey of being human is getting better and more confident and more sure of yourself and then going, oh, yeah. And I you know, falling backwards because you do. So that’s my take on it. I I think, you know, I think it’s a series of steps.

43:08 Ed– So, you know, what are some ideas maybe people can take to start moving in this direction with their questions?

Amy– So let me suggest a couple things. And I just wanna underscore something that you said, which is, like, to remember to to ask questions or remember that that’s that that’s that that’s a goal. And I think, you know, it so here’s the thing. When you first get an inquiry, there’s that. Right? There’s someone, you know, interested in what you offer, and then that will progress ideally to a discovery call where you’re having a conversation. And so I think initially, I think you wanna be pretty open ended and you wanna ask people like you might say something like, you know, could you tell me more about that? Or, you know, why is this you know, tell me what’s, you know, what’s brought you to this point or things that are pretty general. You know, what have you so it’s like let’s say they’re coming to you for something they’re coming to you for web copy. You’re a copywriter.

44:25 Amy– You know, tell me about your current web copy. You know, what, why, why do you feel it isn’t working, or what do you need it to do for you that it isn’t? And, you know, how long have you had it? And, you know, did it work for you at one point and it stopped working? Or, you know, what you’re what you wanna do is you kinda wanna probe, and you might not feel comfortable as you pointed out. Like, if you’re not feeling really comfortable at first, I think those more general questions can kinda get you in the door. Like, so tell me about this. So tell me, like, you know, great. You need a new website. That’s cool. What, like, like, what’s what’s going on with your website? What, you know, why does it need to change? Just ask some really basic questions, but what I would suggest from there is don’t be afraid to drill down a little bit more.

49:35 Ed– when you ask good open-ended questions, you’re asking some very simple things and then let them do the presenting, if we wanna call it that. That takes the load off, which is huge.

Amy– It does. And it really, really has the effect of making people feel seen. You know, like, we were just saying, like, in a personal situation or professional. When you’re curious and you’re really interested, somebody can sense that. Right? And, ideally, you should be curious and interested because it’s, you know, it’s what you do. And this is why I like to talk about it in the problem solving sense because, you know, clients have problems. You have solutions. You know, is their problem a problem you wanna solve? Is it a problem you’re good at solving? That’s what you can ascertain in these conversations.

51:47 Ed– It doesn’t mean that by the way, that doesn’t mean that the client could have all this figured out. But even if you ask the questions and they have great answers for you, awesome. It’s still a win win still because you’re showing them that you know your stuff and you’re asking good questions. I know if I were on the other side, I would think, hey, Amy, that’s she knows her stuff. This is good. I’m glad she’s asking this. We got all this figured out. But because she’s asking means that she’s the person for the gig because she knows. She covered all the bases. So I think, you know, and I wanna kinda tie it back to where we started, Amy. I don’t want people to think that well, that means I I can’t have any order taking clients. You know? Look. I think realistically, you’re gonna have a mix. Many people are gonna have a mix. You’re gonna have, let’s say, content marketing agencies who have everything spelled out, figured out, and they’re gonna tell you, here’s everything we need.

54:03 Amy– I think the important thing is discernment and that you know what you’re offering and that what you’re offering or how you’re positioning yourself is where you wanna be positioned. And if not, that you can, you know, gradually work yourself toward another positioning. And it doesn’t, you know, it doesn’t have to be immediate. It doesn’t have to be overnight. But I think it’s important to know what’s available and how the marketplace works so you can choose how you wanna position yourself and then, you know, and then work toward that.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

Claim your free book:
Discover the secrets to a thriving writing career in Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. — Download your FREE copy

2. Level up with the ultimate business-building toolkit
Ready to fast-track your freelance success? My comprehensive Business-Building Toolkit equips you with the essential skills to command higher fees, win premium clients, blend AI into your workflow, and build more predictable freelance income. Developed from years of coaching top freelancers, this toolkit is your roadmap to rapid results. — Learn More?

3. Work with me for 90 days
Need a trusted “sparring” partner to tackle your most pressing business challenges? I occasionally offer an intensive 90-day coaching program for freelancers at all income levels. We work together 1-on-1 to identify your most critical business obstacles, come up with innovative solutions and develop a customized, actionable plan. Email me at ed@b2blauncher.com with “90-Day Accelerator” in the subject line to learn more.

4. Banish 6-figure burnout
One of my core specialties is helping 6-figure freelancers earn more in less time with less stress. If you’re at that income level but you’re burning out and want to create a business that actually serves you, let’s connect. Email me at ed@b2blauncher.com and put “Boardroom” in the subject line and I’ll get back to you with more details.

The post #353: Moving from Order-Taker to Trusted Advisor and Expert, with Amy Posner appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#352: How Building a Community of Like-Minded Peers Can Help You Land Business and Create a Valuable Support Network

Ed Gandia — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 03:59:47 +0000

Freelancing can be a lonely journey. But it doesn’t have to be.

Many freelancers struggle to find consistent work, navigate client relationships and stay up-to-date with industry trends. They often feel isolated, unsure where to turn for support or guidance.

Not Rachel Smith, my guest in this week’s episode. Rachel is the founder of Rachel’s List, a thriving jobs board and community for Australian freelance writers that has been going strong for over a decade.

But here’s the kicker: Rachel’s List started almost by accident.

Early in her freelance career, Rachel found herself frequently recommending other freelancers when she couldn’t take on projects. This informal network of referrals gradually evolved into a highly successful business that has transformed the freelance landscape for countless writers.

These days, Rachel’s List isn’t just a job board. It’s a vibrant community where freelancers share information, find overflow work and access practical skill-building masterclasses. The success has even spawned a popular podcast (The Content Byte) and an annual conference — The Content Byte Summit.

I was thrilled to bring Rachel on the show to share her insights on how freelance opportunities have grown and changed over the years. We go deep into this idea of building a small community of your own. And we discuss the skills freelancers need to thrive in today’s market.

Whether you’re a seasoned freelancer looking to expand your network or a newcomer trying to find your footing, you’ll find a number of valuable insights on building a supportive freelance community and turning connections into business opportunities.

Key Topics and Bullets:

The significance of a strong community for the longevity of a product or program
The value of a private community and its unexpected benefits
The impact of developing and growing a network of peers in freelancing
Avoiding isolation and benefiting from professional support
Engaging deeply in selected communities rather than spreading too thin across multiple networks
Building trust and professional relationships through consistent connection and support
Advantages of online groups for sharing industry insights and leads
Seamless flow of information and potential for collaborations
Benefits of networking and community in the freelance industry
Getting work through connections and trusted sources
Prioritizing building and engaging a professional network for securing opportunities and support
Value of community for members and monetization strategy
Resilience and not allowing external factors to derail progress
Overview of the Content Bytes Summit in Sydney and its focus on sustainable business
Gaining confidence and support through online communities

Timestamp Overview:

04:10 Ed– I’m glad we’re doing this, and we finally made it happen. I want to make sure that, for people who don’t know who you are, maybe give us a little bit of the origin story. And, and then we’re kinda gonna get to talk a little bit about networking and, you know, how to kinda create a group of trusted peers. But, you know, tell us a little bit about you, your freelance business, how you got started, what you did before, you know, and how you ended up here.

Rachel– Well, I, you know, I find with freelancing, there’s often 2 stories, like people who are pushed into it through redundancies or, you know, something happening and people who really take the leap consciously and make that choice. I was the pushed one. I mean, I’m in that camp. Yeah. So I sort of got out of uni. I moved to London and worked there as a sub editor on magazines. And then, got back to Sydney and worked for various magazines and also worked as a movie rear reviewer for a long time. And then, the dotcom bust happened. It’s around 2000- 2001, and the market was just awash with journalists. And, and that was, yeah, that was really hard. So I was sort of, you know, I had at that time, I was working for a company called Scape that was sort of a website, that was, you know, a little bit ahead of its time. It was a joint venture between sort of a TV company and a big digital movie company, and they just sacked everybody. And so I was yeah. I ended up working for the TV, for channel 10 for a while, and I was, like, doing the email marketing. This is years ago, like, so different to the email marketing we do now.Like, back then, I was taking the scripts from, you know, the anchors and the TV, journalists and turning them into stories and putting them on a newsletter for their, you know, subscriber list. And then that whole entire content department got the sack as well. And, so I was really like, right. Okay. I’m in this flooded market.There’s no jobs. What do I do? And I was like, right. I’m gonna freelance. I’m never going back. This is it. I’m starting. And, yeah, it was a hard couple of years. And I slowly started to pick up work and jobs, and that’s when I started doing the movie reviewing. I got one gig, and then I got a second one. So I was really isolated. I’ve sort of been pushed in this direction. I didn’t know any other freelancers. There wasn’t it wasn’t like it is now where, you know, there are all these communities and stuff like that. I really felt alone and very disconnected. So I met these other 2 freelancers who through a job share arrangement, and we didn’t know each other. We were just, like, communicating through notes on our work because I would come in one day, and then I’d have to pass on a story.They’d finish it. And we just realized these notes got funnier and funnier and we were like, let’s go to lunch and meet each other. So we did. And that sort of started this list of freelancers, who wanted to meet, and kind of get out of the Garrett, so to speak, and have lunch every month. And that list completely snowballed. It would have been over the space of about 2 years. It went from 3 people to maybe 200, and then it got to 800 people. And around that time, because I was very much in the magazine world then, editors started to send me jobs and say, can you put this on your list? Can you put a job on for a feature writer? Or we need a sub editor for next week. Or we need, you know, an editor or we’ve got a perm job coming up. So I just started, you know, sending these jobs to my list of 100s of people. And the only stipulation I had even back then was, to be on this list, you had to have a track record behind you. So you had to have experience and that sort of thing. So this list became this curated list that was very well known for being very high quality freelancers, who could hit the ground running. And editors loved it, and they used it a lot to the point where it became so big that I had to make a decision, like, what do I do? Because I was splitting it in 2 to send the newsletters out. Otherwise, they’d hit spam folders and that sort of thing. And I was like, right, I really need to create a website and try and monetize this because it’s bigger than Ben Hur.

09:26 Ed– And so today, you have I wanna make sure I understand. 4,000, those are companies looking for freelancers, or those are freelancers on the list?

Rachel– Yeah. So we’ve got about 3,000 registered job seekers who are Okay. A mixture of like, they’re in the membership, but they’re also just registered and approved. Because you come on and you register, these are all Australian Australian job seekers. And we’ll look at check them out, make sure they’ve got a track record in a creative field, usually journalism, content, or copywriting, and then we approve them. And then they will get newsletters with the job headlines and all the information, and it’s up to them to say, well, I actually want a membership. And we’ve got a couple of tiers that are really reasonable, and they can either do monthly or annual. Then we have a list of job job posters that register to post jobs, and they are publishers, academics, agencies, blue chips, small business owners, a whole range of different kinds of job posters that need writing, content.

12:36 Ed– I love the fact that you saw this, that you saw a business opportunity here, that you were what I like to call a market maker. You know, you’re matching buyers and sellers, and you had built this brand and this level of trust with your audience. And you had a process that companies and people who needed writers really, they trusted you. They trusted your process, the quality of your list. And, I mean, what a great opportunity for everybody. So kudos to you for seeing it and for getting creative with it. That’s really cool.

Rachel– Oh, look. It’s been a journey. I didn’t like… I said, lots of trial and error. I had to, you know, hire the right developers. I stumbled there a few times. I had to learn about project managing custom site builds and, you know, planning all that out, marketing, SEO. And it’s really interesting, you know, I was listening to one of your episodes with, I think we’ve talked about this before, Shane Sams.

13:42 Rachel– He talks about, you know, you create this product that fulfills, you know, it’s like a pain killer. Fulfills a pain point for somebody, and then you add the community. And so they come for the product, and they consume that, and then they stay for the community. And I remember listening to that and thinking, wow, I did that with Rachel’s list without really realizing it. Because you asked earlier, when did it snowball again? It really snowballed when I realized, hang on, what’s missing from this is the community aspect and I started the Facebook group. I’m pretty sure I started that in about 2016 or maybe 2017, and then it just went because, you know, people love people love a jobs board, you know, lots of well paid jobs coming through that they can see that there’s work in the market. But I really now hear over and over that my members pay their membership fees for that community. And it’s really unbiased, but it’s a lovely place to hang out.

18:18 Ed– Well, let’s talk a little bit about the, really the underlying core message here, which is really this idea of developing and growing a network of peers, the value that that brings to your business and to others and how it enriches your life as well. So tell us a little bit about maybe some of the lessons you have learned, just from seeing not just yourself, but others get involved in a community of like minded peers and, and how it’s changed people and made thir businesses better, their lives richer.

Rachel– Absolutely. Well, I I think it’s crucial. I think in freelancing, you know, you can feel like you’re operating in this vacuum all the time. You know, it’s a really lonely life and it’s not good living in your head too much and not having people to bounce things off like you would perhaps in a perm job if you’re a bum on a seat somewhere. And I think, you know, it’s a really unique position, isn’t it, to be working for yourself? And our families can be sympathetic to bad days, but there’s something really powerful in being able to pick up the phone to another writer and say, hey, this crappy thing just happened to me. How would you handle it? You know? And I have slowly, over the years, brought together a tribe of people who I can do that with and feel like I can trust them to do that with, and they do the same with me. Not a lot, but just a handful. But it’s just those people you can call on, you can commiserate with them, share your wins, and share those bad times.

22:36 Rachel– I think you were mentioning as well, like, creating your own online groups is a really big thing because there could be just maybe 3 people that share leads or that have discussions about what they see going on in the industry. You know? Like, what’s the word on the street? You get a bit of intel about a magazine that’s, you know, frozen its freelance budget. And no one else knows about that, but your friend does because she’s one of their key freelancers. Or, you know, you wanna pitch to someone, someone shares a contact with you. So it’s all of those little things that kind of become more seamless, I think, when you’re in an online group. I mean, if you like, one is a WhatsApp group with some other writers. I’m also in a new business owners group with different businesses, not not specifically writing businesses, but they’re all sort of small businesses.

25:37 Ed– Sometimes we want the perfect group. We wanna create, oh, that’d be amazing if I had this trusted group of peers. And it was only a few of us, but I want it to be just right. And you’re focused on perfection Yeah. And not taking action. So you never take action.

Rachel– Well, you know, I’m in the midst of trying to create something at the moment. And for me, it’s been about it. I don’t think it’s something to rush. If you want it to be a professional group that is going to complement everybody in the group and they all come from slightly different angles or, you know, have something different to share, that’s really what you want because all those people, will have different viewpoints on, you know, a problem that you might be having. So for me, like, I have just been there are 2 freelancers that I know and work with separately, but they know each other. So it feels like a natural progression for me to bring the 3 of us together. But then I also am thinking, who else might be a really good addition to that group? And then just reaching out and saying, are you interested in this? Is it something that we can, you know, like, perhaps formalize in a monthly thing or maybe a WhatsApp group or a private Facebook group where we’re just the only ones in there? I’ve seen those work really well too.

29:06 Ed– I’ve seen groups or I’ve I’ve heard of I haven’t seen them. I’ve heard of groups that started out this way and then ended up being 4 or 5 people, and they kept it small. But then they met a couple of times somewhere. Like, they planned a trip to have, like, a weekend meetup, and I thought that was really, really cool. Like I said, I have in my group coaching programs, we have just a community, and we do it in Slack. And we also in one of my groups, we meet twice a year in person. And that just changes everything. Because once you meet somebody, you’re there collaborating with them in small breakouts and 1 on 1 discussions and then going out for dinner, talking in the hallways during the breaks.

29:52 Ed– It just changes the relationships that elevates it dramatically. And then they are getting together, and they’re having discussions, you know, amongst each other. And then even when the program is over, I’ve had some people who, there’s one group of 3 ladies who I wanna say they’re going on 6 or 7 years after my coaching program, still meeting every Friday. Every Friday, they meet. And they collaborate, of course, throughout, you know, the month, but they, it’s pretty amazing. So, yeah, it happens organically, but I would say don’t wait. Right? Don’t wait for somebody to take the lead. If you’re inspired by this, you know, you take the lead. If you’re inspired by this, you know, you take the lead.

Rachel– I agree. The other thing I was gonna mention, which is an amazing app that has sort of inspired me to do this with this group that I’m currently looking at putting together is Voxer. Have you used it?

35:39 Ed– So, Rachel, what are some of the key skills do you think are really essential for freelancers to develop, especially right now in the market that we’re facing?

Rachel– I think there are definitely a few, and the first one is to start a newsletter. So one thing that I think and that I see working really well for people, especially now when algorithms are going bananas and AI is freaking everybody out, is email marketing. And whether that’s to a few clients on your, you know, your normal email once a month or whether it’s a weekly substack, I think you need to start something, show up, and share value. Because we hear all the time, don’t we? Build a list of subscribers. It’s the last thing you have full ownership over. And I think, and I’ve seen from my own email marketing, that if you’re consistent with it, you can definitely get engagement, especially if you get really nerdy with all the metrics like I like to do.

39:10 Rachel– I think it’s about watching, tweaking, and being consistent. The 3rd skill I think freelancers need is to learn SEO, even just enough to help you optimize your site. Because ranking for just a few keywords, like, it takes a while for that wheel to start turning, but once it does, it can mean fabulous lead generation. I probably share about 30% of the leads I get with the Rachel’s List Facebook group as overflow work. So that’s another reason to be in a community. You get and other people share theirs as well. So you’re constantly, you know, getting stuff from a jobs board and stuff from, you know, other members in the community. So but SEO for your own business is essential.

41:17 Rachel– I still lose clients like anybody. I still lose regular gigs. But I try and think of that door slamming as a window opening somewhere else, and it might be opening to something new and really cool that I hadn’t expected. And I feel like, as a freelancer, you have to believe that you can turn things around and maybe be a bit dogged about it. So not focusing on all the bad stuff that’s happening and not perhaps not being around people that just wanna focus on that doom and gloom, but looking for people that are more optimistic and more dogged about, you know, moving forward. And, because I think once you start believing that you can’t move forward and that you’re in trouble, that just compounds. You know? And you might be better off. I’ve seen a lot of freelancers come into freelancing and decide they actually wanted to be in a perm job because they just wanted to feel more secure and not have to think all the time about, you know, where do I go now? What do I try next? And all of that sort of stuff.

44:50 Ed– I love it. I love it. Well, speaking of conferences, you know, you and Lyn have put together a pretty amazing conference that I was just thrilled to be a part of last year, the Content Bytes Summit in Sydney, and you’re doing it again this September. And I wanna make sure that people know about this because, first of all, even if you don’t live anywhere close to Australia, there are some options for you to check this out. So why don’t you tell us a little bit about the summit and how people can learn more about it?

Rachel– Look, we were so glad to have you and Jennifer there. It was amazing to have you guys fly in, for the very first one and to kick it off for us. 2 rave reviews, of course. People just loved you guys. But yeah. So we’re in the 2nd year now, and it’s really the summit is an extension of our podcast, The Content Bite, which I do with Lynn Testoni. And last year, we had very much an AI focus. This year is more about building a sustainable business, you know, getting paid well, setting up processes and systems so you’re not burning out. And we have an amazing lineup again this year with your friend, Austin L. Church, is opening the 1st day for us.

46:18 Ed– He is always just so thoughtful and shares mind blowing information. He’s opening the conference?

Rachel– He’s opening on the 1st day. Then we have a really brilliant copywriter, Bernadette Schwert, who’s opening day 2, and she will be talking about how to find high paying clients in your niche. But there are just so many, exciting sessions and panels this year. I mean, you can learn about creating digital products from Lyndy Alexander, email marketing from Kirsty Fanton. Susan Reock is returning, and she’s gonna be doing, like, not tear downs, but kind of glow ups on freelancer websites. Like, how could this convert better? How could, you know, what could you do to your website to make it work better and harder for you, which we’re so excited about. And we’ve got top editors talking about pitching and content chiefs talking about getting corporate work. And we’ve also got Brooke McCarthy coming, and she’s gonna be talking about how to craft a freelance marketing plan that you can stick to.

51:11 Ed– Well, Rachel, this has been fun, and such an important topic. I think we need to do more of this. My observation, by the way, I should mention this, has been that over the past 5 years, but especially over the past 2 years, I’ve noticed a significant trend toward more and more writers in my communities getting a big portion of their work through their network. So for that reason alone, if you want a business justification, do it for that. I think you may start thinking that that’s gonna be the biggest thing, but you’ll quickly see that the benefits go far beyond that. You know, you suddenly won’t feel as lonely. You’re gonna feel way more connected to like minded people, and that just enriches your life. So I wanna encourage everyone to not just say, oh, that’s really nice. I should do that. No. Like, make it a point to take the first step over the next few days.

Rachel– I agree with you. And I think, like you say, it really does open up those work doors for you, you know, because we all go through those awful times where, you know, an agency drops us or a regular gig, you know, that we’re really comfortable in suddenly disappears overnight. But when you’re in a community, you have that layer of support and you can say you’ve got these people that know you and that you trust, and you can say, you know, this just happened to me. Has anyone, you know, got anything? Has anyone got any overflow work? Or, you know, can I collaborate with anyone on this? And it will be amazing how many people will step up and help you when you’re in that stage. I’ve seen it time and time again. So without that, you know, you’re kind of back to the drawing board doing it yourself, you know, ramping up your marketing and, like, you know, sending sending, you know, LOIs and all of that sort of thing. But if you can go to your community and ask your tribe just if they can help you, if they’ve got anything, anything at all.

53:02 Ed– I think more and more, clients or prospects would prefer to reach out to their network and see if they know someone than to put something out there publicly. Yep. It’s just they don’t, they just don’t have the time.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies, and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Get my Business-Building Toolkit.

Too many freelancers lack a critical set of business skills that would enable them to earn more in less time doing work they love for better clients. I’ve taught these skills to my coaching clients for years. And now I’ve packaged it in a way that will enable you to start getting results FAST. — Learn More

3. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

I’m putting together a new implementation group this month. If you’re earning $5k+/month (or the part-time equivalent) from your freelance business … and you’d like to grow your income quickly with better clients … just hit reply and put “Case Study” in the subject line.

4. Work with me privately.

If you’re a 6-figure writer who’s trying to earn more in less time, with less stress, I might be able to help you get there faster than you think. Just email me at ed@b2blauncher.com and put “Breakthrough” in the subject line, and I’ll get back to you with more details.

The post #352: How Building a Community of Like-Minded Peers Can Help You Land Business and Create a Valuable Support Network appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#351: Useful Shortcut and Cheat Sheet for Pitching an Advisory Engagement

Allyssa Jane Rodelas — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 03:59:45 +0000

When you’re starting to offer advisory engagements to clients and prospects, it’s very common to get nervous.

Say you’re talking with a prospect and you can tell that they need help beyond writing. In fact, you can see that it doesn’t yet make sense to go right into a writing project — mainly because they need to make some other decisions first.

But you’re nervous … because you’re not sure how to think about what they’re telling you.

Or you’re not sure how to explain that they need to do something else first before creating that marketing asset.

Here’s what I do to help me get better clarity quickly and calm my nerves. It’s a bit of a decision tree or decision flow chart. A powerful heuristic, if you will.

I ask myself the following questions:

Does it sound like they need help coming up with the right solution or intervention? In other words, the right solution is not well defined yet. And you can’t really move forward with anything until they figure that out (hopefully with your help).
Do they have the right intervention BUT need help improving how they’ll produce that intervention? For example, the have the right idea for how to solve the problem. But as you listen to them talk about it, you realize the topic, theme or approach they want to take is flawed.
Do they have the right intervention AND the right approach … but they need help bringing that intervention to life? For example, they want to interview 15 subject matter experts, which is way too many. Or they want to do too much too quickly.

Why are these internal questions valuable? They’re valuable because they can help you categorize the exact type of need the prospect has AND how you’ll steer the conversation and how you’ll offer to help them.

And if you can determine this quickly and efficiently during that prospect conversation, you’ll have more mental and creative bandwidth to listen more attentively to what they’re saying AND end the conversation by stating your case confidently.

So give this heuristic tool a try next time you go into a prospect or client conversation where you notice that they may need help beyond just writing.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Importance of Recognizing Client Needs Beyond Writing
Client may require assistance beyond a writing project
The need for advisory engagements
Decision Tree or Decision Flowchart
Questions to Ask Yourself
Does the client need help formulating the right solution or intervention?
Do they have the right intervention but need help improving their approach?
Do they have the right solution and approach but need help with execution
Categorizing Client Needs
Identifying which of the three buckets the client falls into
Steering the conversation based on the categorization
Having more mental and creative bandwidth to listen tentatively

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies, and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Get my Business-Building Toolkit.

3. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

4. Work with me privately.

The post #351: Useful Shortcut and Cheat Sheet for Pitching an Advisory Engagement appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#350: Unlocking Your Full Creative Potential by Unleashing Your Inner Muse

Ed Gandia — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 03:59:30 +0000

Life can often feel like a never-ending hustle — especially when you feel like you’re working harder than ever but getting poorer results.

Deadlines loom. Responsibilities pile up. And the bills keep coming.

It’s so easy to get swept up in the daily grind and feel like you’re constantly in the middle of a storm that just won’t let up.

Before you know it, the love you once had for your work starts to dim. And frustration and burnout take hold … leaving you with a persistent feeling that you’re merely going through the motions.

Sound familiar?

If so, I think you’ll really appreciate this episode. My guest today is my mentor, teacher and good friend Peleg Top.

I’ve known Peleg for 14 years. He’s had a huge influence in my life and in my business. And he’s the person who encouraged me many years ago to become a coach. I’ve learned a ton from him over the years, and much of that inevitably seeps into the work I do with my own clients.

I wanted to bring Peleg on because what I’ve been seeing in our business over the past year troubles me.

I’m seeing a level of frustration, burnout, doubt, fear and uncertainty among creative professionals that I haven’t seen in a very long time. So many solo creative professionals are feeling rudderless and uninspired.

They’re tired and deeply in burnout territory. They want to change. And they’re trying their best to improve their situation, reinvent themselves and create something new. But they feel plagued with a lack of clarity, fear and self-doubt.

Peleg believes that these symptoms are a clear sign that your inner muse is inaccessible. It’s locked up in a prison cell made of routine, stress and self-doubt. And in order to break through and create the change we want, we must unleash this inner muse so we can tap into our core creative potential.

I couldn’t agree more.

In this conversation, we get right into this. We explain what this inner muse is all about. And how we can start embracing it to open up pathways to new ideas, emotional healing and a profound sense of fulfillment—both in our professional and personal lives.

An Invitation

One more thing. A few months ago, Peleg and I felt called to do something about the challenges we’re seeing among creative professionals. We wanted to do something more profound and life-changing than a podcast episode.

Don’t get me wrong. You’ll get a lot out of listening to this conversation. But we’ve also decided to co-lead a retreat this September in Santa Fe, New Mexico. And it’s something I’m super-excited about.

We’re calling it the Unleash Your Inner Muse retreat.

This is a 5-day event where we’ll work together to help you rediscover and nurture your creative spirit, unlock your full creative potential and craft a compelling vision for your personal and professional life.

You’ll reconnect with a profound joy and exhilarating freedom that will make you wonder how you ever lost touch with this divine spark within.

And by the end of our journey together, you’ll walk away with:

Practical tools to reignite your creativity

A renewed sense of motivation and direction

A process that nourishes your authentic self and reconnects you to a creative energy you haven’t felt in years

If what we share in this episode resonates with you, I invite you to listen to the end, where we talk a bit about that event. I’m also including a link with all the details in the show notes page for this episode. Or you can go straight there by visiting www.unleashyourinnermuse.com.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Finding joy in the creative process
Importance of maintaining curiosity
Transitioning from constant doing to embracing abstract and creative practices
Creating a daily creative practice without judgment or pressure
Consistent practices for self-expression and individuality
Embracing a variety of activities to prevent boredom
Providing a safe, judgment-free environment for self-expression and growth
Nurturing the inner muse for authentic creative output and well-being
Various forms of art and their role in expressing joy and pain
Engaging in art for personal growth and enjoyment
Art as a pathway to taming the inner critic
How engaging in art helps individuals embrace diversity and take more chances
Connecting with the inner muse for authentic creativity
Nurturing the inner muse to sharpen intuition and guide decision-making
The impact of societal emphasis on productivity and the need to reestablish a connection with one’s true self

Timestamp Overview:

00:00 Ed– Peleg. It’s great to have you here, my friend. You often talk about creative free spirit. You talk about your inner muse. And I’m wondering if you can maybe share a little bit about this concept, what that is, and, and how we can start tapping into that part of ourselves to access all this creativity, love, this boundless energy that can really transform our lives and and our work for the better.

Peleg– So the concept of inner muse refers to this source of inspiration and creativity that lives in each one of us. I like to think of our inner muse as this guiding spirit or this voice that encourages and influences our creative expression. It’s the purest part of our creative self. It’s free from pressure. It’s free from judgment. It’s free from constraints. And that part of ourselves, that muse, if we don’t nurture that part of ourselves and give her the space to live in us, we will very quickly meet ourselves in a space of disconnection from our creativity or that burnout or the block. You know? So when we connect with that inner muse, it ensures that we are creative, our creative output is authentic.

04:10 Peleg– It’s for the sake of solving a problem that will ultimately bring a result to our client. That’s all good. That’s blessed. But that doesn’t really tap into our creativity in a way that expresses who we really are. It’s not who we truly are. We’re channeling our artistry in our creative abilities in, you know, in this process of supporting a client in the work. But we’ve also abandoned ourselves in that process and who we are as artists, who we are as creatives. And if we don’t have a practice where we are on a regular basis meeting that part of ourselves, right, that muse is just gonna fall asleep. That muse is gonna say, well, he doesn’t really need me. He doesn’t really care. You know? Clearly, he’s too busy with using his creativity for these projects and these clients. So I’m just gonna check out for a while. And, you know, sometimes that reservoir of creativity that we have in us can last us for a few years, sometimes a few decades, but there will come a point where there’s this sense of I I can speak for myself that there’s a sense of emptiness that I have nothing more to draw from. You know? Especially, you know, I remember when I was doing creative work as a designer, I started feeling like I’m kind of repeating myself with every project. I’m kind of, like, doing the same thing, going through the same process. The results are starting to kinda feel the same.

07:08 Ed– You talk a lot about the difference between doing and being. And, you know, you and I have worked together for a number of years. You know this better than most people, but I have generated quite a bit of success in my career over 30 plus years just being really good at the doing. And in fact, you know, a big part of what I teach and what I coach people on has to do with the doing. More and more, however, I have come to the realization, not just in my own work as a coach, but me as a person, as a professional, as a human, that real success, real happiness comes from also focusing on the being. And I think I’d like to get your thoughts on this. I think sometimes you have to hit rock bottom, or you have to go through a period of significant burnout to meet to suddenly realize you have to meet yourself differently, to suddenly realize that, you know, another tactic or another strategy or another, you know, more effort, more doing is not necessarily the answer, at least to get you out of where you are right now from rock bottom. So can you talk a little bit about this idea that sometimes, very often, when you have hit rock bottom or you feel like you’ve hit rock bottom or you’re close to that, you’re burnt out. The questions you ask yourself really matter. And questions around what can I do are probably the wrong kinds of questions. And if you agree with that, Peleg, what kind of questions should y

Peleg– You bring up a really important aspect of being human, the idea of doing versus being. We live in a country that celebrates the doing, celebrates the success. We grow up with that model, and we create a mindset that promotes doing, doing, doing. And I don’t know about you, but over the last, you know, 10 years or so, maybe even 20 years or so, it feels like the world is getting faster and faster. You know, we continue to look for hacks to save more time, to be more efficient, to get more done in in less time, to be more productive to and along the way, when we are consumed with all the doing, it’s very easy for us to forget who we are, you know, because the doing begins to define who we are. And when the doing loses its essence, loses its power because we have neglected who we are, that part of ourselves will signal to us, hey. There’s something wrong here. You’re disconnected and misaligned from your essence, from who you really are.

12:58 Ed– I just wanted to go a little deeper there because I feel so many of us are have been living in a world of doing for so long that some of these ideas and concepts seem to resonate at some level, but can still feel a little fuzzy because they’re not as concrete as the doing, as the checking items off, as the effort, that we’re so used to expending. In terms of daily practice, I want to come back to something you were discussing a little earlier. You talked about how you have a daily practice. Tell me a little bit more about what some of those practices might look like. What elements could you include in a practice like that in order to really tap into your creative free spirit and your inner muse.

Peleg– That practice is an ever evolving and ever changing practice. I know for myself that I can get bored really easily if I do the same thing over and over again, even if it’s something that I love to do. So I have a variety of things that I do that support who I am as an artist, support who I am at my core, at my being, activities and practices and rituals that allow me to express myself. Now that self expression may not necessarily ever see the public light of day. It’s between me, myself, and I. And those practices, you know, they came out of many years of playing and experimenting and exploring. So there’s a variety of things that I do. But there’s few things that are consistent that no matter where I’m at in my life, I know that I can always rely on this practice to help me connect to myself.

14:14 Peleg– For me, it’s journaling. It’s writing. It’s sitting down with a blank journal book and just writing what I think, allowing my emotions to express themselves on the page. That is a constant practice that I do almost daily, and I’ve been doing that for decades. It keeps me sane. I mean, I have bookshelves and bookshelves of journal books that I’ve collected over the years. But that meaning of myself is the idea that we wanna think about. So it may look very different for every person, but there’s something really powerful about journaling, about sitting down and writing without the inner critic in place, without the in place, without the inner editor in place.

18:27 Peleg– I would say 95% of the art that I make never sees the height of day outside of my studio because it’s my medicine. So if we wanna tap into that creative flow of creativity and keep that muse alive and healthy, we have to do some work. We have to engage in a practice. So, you know, I teach many practices to the students who come to work with me, and, ultimately, they have the choice of either using some of the practices that I teach them or develop their own practices that feel right for them. And that’s what’s most important here. It’s to develop a way for you to express yourself on an ongoing basis that nourishes you. That act of self expression is nourishing. It is the energy that you are feeding yourself that then you can take out into the world and apply it to your professional self, to your social self, to the other places in your life where you need to tap into your creativity.

22:57 Peleg– Being an artist is dancing with our muse as adults because we’ve abandoned that part of ourselves when we were children. Because becoming an adult comes with responsibilities, and it comes with commitments, and life can get in the way. Right? So oftentimes, you know, I think when we think of the idea of being an artist in the world and we look at people who are artists, those are the kind of people who have basically given their self expression a priority in life. Right? Everything else comes around that. So, I’m not saying that that is the path for everyone to lean into, you know, being an artist professionally and moving through the world as someone who is devoting themselves to art. But we have to remember that we are all artists. That art is the vehicle that helps us express who we are. You know, art is the vehicle that helps us interpret the world, and, ultimately, art heals us.

25:52 Peleg– It’s that’s that’s the beauty of art that there’s so many manifestations of it in the world. Thank God we have that. You know? Life would be pretty boring if art didn’t exist. Think about it. Life would be pretty boring if art didn’t exist. I often think about this idea of why do people go to museums to look at art? You know? What’s what’s really, really the core of the reason that people go to museums to look at art? Can you think of an experience that you’ve had when you went to a museum and you saw, let’s say, a painting that moved you? Right? Piece of art that moved you. You could feel something by looking at this painting. You could feel what the artist was feeling.

31:09 Ed– If the inner critic is really monopolizing the conversation, a feeling of lacking clarity, lacking direction, being frustrated, being anxious, it creates a vicious cycle because the inner critic feeds on that. When the inner critic feeds on that, it gets stronger, which furthers And exacerbates those emotions. So, you know, I wanna kinda start tying this together because I love where we ended up here. If you’re not careful, that’s gonna be the dominant force in your life. And if that’s gonna keep you from tapping into your higher self, from having access to your inner muse Yeah. Creatively spirit. And look. You taught me this. You can’t get rid of your inner critic. Your inner critic has a very important role to play.

Peleg– It’s actually it’s impossible to it’s impossible to actually align it, annihilate the inner critic. We need the inner critic to a degree because our inner critic, when we have a healthy relationship with the inner critic, becomes our adviser. Not our disciplinarian. Right? It it comes up when we are at moments where we need to make a decision or a choice in life. |

32:33 Ed– Interesting because one of the many things that I’ve gotten from an art practice has been and this is completely unexpected for me, was the willingness to take more chances. The ability to not be married to a specific outcome. Making art for the sake of making art. Right? And it’s such a powerful metaphor, and it’s really bled into so many aspects specifications, for example. Right. And it was frustrating if it, you know, if it didn’t meet the specifications, for example. And we live so much of our lives that way, that there was no room in my life for creating something just for the fun of it and taking chances and not being married to, I got this kind of vision in my head of what I wanna create, and then it ends up not meeting that and then being frustrated.

35:59 Ed– We can talk all afternoon about this. This is a fascinating topic. But as we wrap up, I want to make sure listeners not only have a lot to think about here because we’ve unpacked a lot. But I’m curious as to what might be a good simple next step that listeners could take toward a more inspired and creatively fulfilling life today. Right? You know, all these ideas, all these thoughts. Where would be a good place to start? A simple next step?

Peleg– Well, I would say create a new creative practice for yourself, something that fulfills you. So devote 15 to 30 minutes a day where you engage in an activity purely for the joy of it without the pressure of the expectations or the outcome. I mean, whether it’s doodling or journaling or playing an instrument or experimenting with photography or crafting, whatever it is, the key is to allow yourself to explore freely and express whatever comes up with that judgment. Just get into a space. Again, it could be 15 to 20 to 30 minutes a day where you’re simply getting in touch with that part of yourself. Now it might be a very challenging experience because I can guarantee you, you will meet your inner critic along the way. As you’re drawing, your inner critic will say, oh, this sucks.

42:48 Ed– I think it’s a beautiful step to take, and it’s 15, 20 minutes a day is not a big ask. And I think it could be in fact, I know it can be the start of really a different journey for people. I know it has for me. So you and I are about to lead a a retreat in September. I I love I love what we’re calling it. I I wish I would have come up with this name. It was your idea. Unleash Your Inner Muse.

Peleg– We’re gonna spend 5 days engaging in activities and practices that are going to quiet our inner critic. I mean, first, the inner critic will absolutely come alive because I’m gonna be, we’re gonna be challenging people with some creative activities that are new and are different. So, you know, new and different is definitely something that wakes up our inner critic. But the difference in this experience is that, a, you’re not alone. B, you have guidance. C, you are in a safe judgment free container where you get to play, where you get to express yourself in ways you never expressed yourself, and you get to make art. And that practice alone, you know, over the course of 5 days, you know, the goal is when we leave this retreat, the muse is alive. She’s awake.

44:20 Ed– It’s unleashyourinnermus.com and the dates are September 10th through 14th, as Peleg mentioned, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. All the details are on that website. So if this is resonating with you, I invite you to check it out. Any questions, reach out to me. And, you know, I hope to see some of you apply. There is an application process. We wanna make sure that we have the right set of people there who are ready for this work, because it’s important that we have the right, the right environment and the right, the right vibe there. So there is a short application process.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Get my Business-Building Toolkit.

3. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

4. Work with me privately.

The post #350: Unlocking Your Full Creative Potential by Unleashing Your Inner Muse appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#349: Saying Yes Less Often

Ed Gandia — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 03:59:22 +0000

In this transformative episode, I discuss the importance of setting boundaries and being selective with opportunities through practical tools and methodologies.

Borrowing from Greg McKeown’s book, *Essentialism*, I introduce two powerful concepts: the 90% Rule and the Extreme Criteria Exercise. These tools are designed to help you master the art of saying no, enabling you to focus on what truly matters in both your personal and professional life.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Feeling overwhelmed by competing priorities in personal and business life
Learning and applying the 90% rule and the extreme criteria exercise from Greg McEwen’s book, Essentialism
90% rule: If it isn’t a clear yes (90% or higher), then it’s a clear no
Applying the 90% rule to new requests, ideas, and projects
Extreme criteria exercise: Creating minimum and extreme criteria to evaluate opportunities
Applying the extreme criteria exercise to a decision about reviving a coaching program
Objectively evaluating the criteria and making the decision based on the results
Understanding the impact of saying yes or no to opportunities
The importance of focusing on opportunities that bring joy, fulfillment, profits, and growth
Emphasizing the significance of focusing on the 20% of opportunities that deliver 80% of desired outcomes
Sharing personal experiences and reflections related to implementing the 90% rule and the extreme criteria exercise
Sharing insights and takeaways from the application of these tools

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Get my Business-Building Toolkit.

3. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

4. Work with me privately.

The post #349: Saying Yes Less Often appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#348: Rediscovering Your Core—Finding Clarity and Stability in Your Business Amidst Chaos

Ed Gandia — Wed, 19 Jun 2024 03:59:48 +0000

In today’s episode, we’re diving into a topic that’s especially relevant given the current global climate: finding stability in your business amidst chaos. Are you feeling more stressed, burnt out, or anxious? Are you questioning your path as a solo professional more frequently?

If so, you’re not alone.

The Ever-Present Chaos

Life is full of uncertainties. Whether it’s the economy, AI advancements, elections, or geopolitical tensions, there’s always something that can induce fear and anxiety. However, history shows that this is a recurring pattern, and often, things are better than they seem when viewed through a historical lens.

Reasons for Optimism

Despite the chaos, there are many reasons to be optimistic:

Technological Advancements: We live in an era of unprecedented technological growth, from healthcare advancements increasing life expectancy to technologies that connect us globally in an instant.
Improved Standards of Living: Global poverty rates have significantly declined, and more people have access to education and essential services than ever before.
Greater Awareness and Action on Social Issues: There’s increased awareness and robust discussions around social, environmental, and political issues, driving actions towards equality and sustainability.
Resilience and Adaptability: Humans have consistently overcome challenges, often emerging stronger and more united.
Access to Information: The vast availability of information today allows us to make more informed decisions and educate ourselves better.
Scientific Understanding and Rationality: Our improved understanding of the world through science helps us address problems more effectively.

The Hedonic Treadmill

We’re all subject to “hedonic adaptation,” where we quickly normalize our experiences. This can make it easy to lose perspective during setbacks. Recognizing this can help us maintain a more balanced outlook.

Personal Reflections

I’ve been self-employed for 18 years, experiencing many difficult periods that made me question my career path. Recently, my business revenue has trended down, partly by design and partly due to uncontrollable factors. These challenges led to a period of grumpiness, fear and anxiety.

However, through coaching, self-reflection, and a shift in perspective over the past 18 months, I’ve managed to address and manage these feelings much more effectively. My journey included soul searching, which has intensified and brought about positive changes this year.

Questions to Guide Your Reflection

If you’re in a funk or questioning your path, revisiting your core principles can help. Here are key questions to ponder:

Why do I do this work?
What do I do better than most people?
As I look back at my career, what activities or parts of my work tend to put me into a state of flow? What have clients and colleagues commented very positively about before (i.e., When have they said, “Wow, you’re really good at this!”)
Why does my business exist beyond making money?
What are my top-3 core values? How well is my freelance business enabling me to live those values? And if I’m not happy with the answer, what do I need to change about my business so it’s better aligned with those values.
What are my biggest financial fears as a freelancer?
Reflect on a time in your business when you were really fearful? Did that fear materialize? And if it did, how did you deal with the situation? What did you learn about yourself in the process?
What am I fearful about right now? How is fear and anxiety guiding my actions?
If you find yourself in a really bad situation right now, ask yourself… How much worse could this be? What would be the worst possible thing that could happen here? And what would I do if that happened—how would I address it?
Reflect on a time or two when adapting to change led to unexpected opportunities. How can I apply those lessons to my current situation in freelance writing?
How can I leverage AI and new technologies to enhance my value proposition to clients rather than replace my services?
What is the vision for my business, and how does the current situation match that vision?
What would a perfect workday look like for me? Make it up! Design it however you want and describe it in detail, hour by hour. Use your imagination. No rules, restrictions, or constraints!
If I’m seriously looking for full-time work, what am I trying to run away from? And what do I honestly feel a full-time job would give me that my current business can’t?
Who do I need to become to have a business that brings me joy again?

Find a quiet space, open a journal, and think through these questions. Let the words flow, then take a walk to clear your mind. Answers might not come immediately, but they will. This process of thinking and connecting with your Higher Self is an act of self-love.

A Request

If you found this episode helpful, please forward it to a friend or colleague. I suspect that many solo professionals out there could benefit from these reflections.

Upcoming Retreat

Finally, I’m planning an immersive retreat and workshop this fall on this topic. If you’re interested in getting early details, send me an email with “FALL WORKSHOP” in the subject line or body.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Not losing perspective in the face of challenges
Historical context of human resilience and adaptability
Positive developments
Impact of technological advancements on global connectivity and healthcare
Improvements in global standard of living, poverty reduction, life expectancy, and access to education
Greater awareness and action on social issues
Leveraging AI and new technologies to enhance client value proposition
Reflecting on past experiences to identify unexpected opportunities
Desired vision for freelance business and ideal workday scenario
Encouraging self-reflection as an act of self-love
Identifying core values and examining alignment with freelance business
Encouraging listeners to forward the episode to friends or colleagues
Details about an upcoming immersive workshop and retreat

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Get my Business-Building Toolkit.

3. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

4. Work with me privately.

The post #348: Rediscovering Your Core—Finding Clarity and Stability in Your Business Amidst Chaos appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#347: On Impostor Syndrome and Feeling Guilty About Your Fees

Ed Gandia — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 03:59:44 +0000

Think back to when you first went out on your own.

Remember those first few projects? Getting paid for your writing felt like magic, didn’t it?

You put in, say, 10 hours of work and the client paid you $750.

Wow!

What made it magical was that the $750 was all for me. And I loved the idea that a few units of effort in would translate to a few units of compensation on the other end.

Eventually, we all get used to this kind of reward ratio. And we (rightfully) start expecting more. We may even get to a point where one hour of our time is often worth $300, $400 or more. Especially when a project goes real smoothly.

And for some solo professionals, this can start feeling odd. We feel a bit guilty that we’re earning that much on some or all of our client work.

Impostor syndrome kicks in. And that inner critic starts taking over our internal chatter.

In this week’s (short) podcast episode I get into these feelings of guilt and how to address them.

This is important stuff. Because if left ignored, these feelings will create a cascading effect of guilt and negativity that inevitably leads to self-sabotage.

I hope you find it useful.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Initial feeling of magic and excitement when getting paid for projects
Transition from corporate sales to solopreneurship with full payment going to the solopreneur
The expected increase in fees and internal hourly rates as a solopreneur becomes more experienced
Feeling guilty about earning higher fees for client work
Impostor syndrome and inner critic
Understanding that fees are not just for the current effort but for the years of experience and growth
Years of mistakes, setbacks, and negative feedback contributing to personal and professional growth
Investing in self-improvement, continuous learning, and stepping out of comfort zones
Professional growth before starting as a solopreneur being a part of the journey
Emphasizing the years of effort, learning, and emotional energy behind passive income streams
The significant effort behind seemingly simple tasks like selling a product or providing guidance to clients
Recognizing the value and skills acquired over the years and applying it to the current work
The importance of being fair to oneself and appreciating the journey to understand the earned compensation
Avoiding the trap of thinking that one doesn’t deserve the earnings
Reflecting on the journey to put the current numbers in context

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Get my Business-Building Toolkit.

3. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

4. Work with me privately.

The post #347: On Impostor Syndrome and Feeling Guilty About Your Fees appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#346: How Wendy Helfenbaum Takes 4 Months Off Every Year While Maintaining a Healthy 6-Figure Income

Ed Gandia — Wed, 22 May 2024 03:59:21 +0000

Freelancing is amazing. Until it isn’t.

You wake up one morning and you realize that you’ve created a very demanding job for yourself.

And chances are, you take LESS time off than you ever did in any previous job you held.

Sometimes it even feels like you’re working for a tyrannical boss who makes you feel terrible any time you ask for a small break.

That boss, by the way, is YOU.

Sound familiar?

Not to Wendy Helfenbaum, my guest in this week’s episode. Wendy is an established freelance writer out of Montreal. And for the past 18+ years she has taken 4 months off every year.

And when I say “time off,” I mean real, non-working time off. No client work. No working on the business. No marketing. No nothing.

Just time to be with her family. To decompress. To enjoy life. And to savor the freedom freelancing is supposed to afford us.

Just as impressive, Wendy has consistently maintained a 6-figure income for years—even while taking a full third of the year off.

I was super-excited to bring Wendy on the show to tell us how she does this. It was a very lively and insightful conversation. I learned so much, and I can’t wait for you to hear it.

This is a great follow-up to the wonderful conversation I had last month with Satta Sarmah Hightower, where Satta discussed how she was able to take a 4-month maternity leave recently. If you haven’t listened to that episode, I urge you to give it a listen, because it complements this week’s episode really well.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Balancing income streams from journalism and content marketing
Taking time off and maintaining a balanced work-life routine
Planning and financial goal-setting for time off
Transitioning to a semi-retirement phase
Planning time off throughout the year
Managing client expectations and workload during time off
Understanding productivity and setting boundaries for time off
Strategies for avoiding burnout and prioritizing self-care
Changing the mindset about finding clients
Consistently marketing to maintain a steady flow of work
Taking ownership of marketing efforts and building referral networks
Turning marketing into a game and motivating oneself for marketing tasks
Embracing the changing idea of retirement
Pursuing important goals with planning and resilience
Front loading work for retainer clients

Timestamp Overview:

06:07 Wendy: My son and I went up to the cottage and spent the entire summer there, and I did not crack open my laptop. And it was the most transformative experience that I’ve had in a long time. I realized, wow, this is something I have to make happen every year. And so I sat down that 1st summer and did some math. How much do I have to make? What happens if I take June through Labor Day off? What does that mean for the rest of the time? How can I manage my income? And I realize that it’s actually really doable if you plan it out. Now, hope is not a strategy. Wishing is not a strategy.

06:48 Wendy: You have to sit down with an Excel spreadsheet or whatever system you want and figure out how much you have to make to the system you want and figure out how much you have to make to sustain you if you take a certain amount of weeks off. After that 1st summer, I started realizing I also wanted to take off several weeks at Christmas, several weeks during March break when my son was off school and every other, you know, professional day where the school was closed and the teachers weren’t there, I turned into an adventure day with my son. And before I knew it, I was up to 16 weeks off a year, and yet I was consistently hitting my income goals. And I know there’s been a lot of flack on social media lately about people harping on 6 figure freelancing and how that shouldn’t be a goal. Well, it was a goal for me because I had determined that that’s the amount of money I wanted to make in order to pay the bills and live the kind of life I wanted to live. And to my astonishment, taking 16 weeks off did not put any kind of a dent in my income. And the only reason that that happened is because I planned for that. I knew how much I had to make in the weeks and months where I was on duty in order to afford my little sabbaticals throughout the year.

11:00 Wendy: You have to know that you have to know for, let’s say, a 1,000 word story with resources. How long is it going to take you to get from A to B? And everybody’s different. So you really have to know what your superpowers are, what your limits are, what your abilities are so that then you can cram in only as much work as, you know, you can reasonably do. I never want to promise more than I can deliver, and I always want to deliver more than I promised. So that kind of gets me onto the mindset of what can I realistically take on that’s going to meet my income goals in the time that I have? And that’s more math. You have to track your time. You have to track your time on certain types of assignments so that you know that, you know, I do a lot of marketing material for the National Film Board of Canada. I know exactly how long it takes me when they want me to prepare a package for a new animated feature that they’re sending to the Oscars.

14:05 Ed: I’m hearing from you, that once you made that decision, you made that declaration. And of course, there was this math and the planning and the brainstorming. Things just kind of had a way of working out. Like you were able to make it work. Not magically, but you’re able to think constraints are really important things in our lives because they force us to make better decisions. I think when we have too much time, you know, too many resources, we weigh so much of it. But if suddenly we got to get this done because we got 8 months to get it done. And instead of 12, we just make it happen.

Wendy: Well, I mentioned to you when we first started chatting that I really believe in that whole cliche of putting on your own oxygen mask first before you can help somebody else. I think that so many writers are either on the brink or in the full throttles of burnout, and that is caused by running on fumes and not keeping your glass full. And it’s so important to take the time that you need to recharge your batteries and find the things that bring you joy. Because if you don’t do that and all you do is chase after, you know, the next client, the next assignment, the next invoice, it’s not sustainable as a way of life. And you’re not gonna be any good to your clients, to your family, to your partner, to your children, to your friends, if you have no energy in reserve. And what I have found is taking those 16 weeks off in various chunks throughout the year. Sometimes it’s just a long weekend.

18:16 Wendy: And I give myself permission to procrastinate on a task that I’m working on. If I send a letter of introduction or pitch a story or make a LinkedIn connection, something that’s going to further my business. And I would argue that if you’re not marketing every day, you’re leaving money on the table. I can’t tell you how many times a simple note to connect on LinkedIn has led to 1,000 of dollars worth of work, and it took 10 seconds of my time. You really have to understand that money is going to come to you, but only if you scatter a lot of seeds. So be a gardener. Just throw out heaps and heaps of flower seeds. Lots of them are just gonna blow away in the wind, but there’s lots of them that are gonna root.

20:42 Wendy: I am certainly no math whiz, but in that Excel projection spreadsheet that I have, which I have named on the books, there’s a calculation that’s showing me how off I am, you know, how far away I am from my income goal and how many months I have left to get there. So it’s not like I’m gonna punish myself and say, oh, you can’t go to the cottage to ski for 2 weeks over Christmas because you didn’t make your money. I don’t do that. But I just know that over those 8 months, I have to reach those income figures. And so I take as much as I can realistically do in those times and market like crazy if I see things are getting a bit low. So, you know, it goes hand in hand. You have to figure out how much time things take for you to do, and you have to keep marketing to make sure the work keeps coming in.

24:10 Ed: I wanna go back to a couple of things you had mentioned. One of them was the fact that you give plenty of notification to clients, okay, so they which is great. So there’s a lot of planning that goes into this. But you also mentioned that you have several retainer clients. So I’m just curious about, in a retainer situation, when you’re going to be gone for, let’s say, in the summer, that seems to be your biggest extended period, right, when you’re off. You’re gonna be gone for 2 or 3 months. How does that work in a retainer situation? Do you hit pause, obviously, on the billing? But what about the work? You know, is that also paused completely and then they make do on their own? Do they find someone who could help them for 2 or 3 months while you’re gone? Or do you basically get the work done ahead of time so that during those 2 or 3 months, you know, nothing happens?

30:28 Ed: Did you, was that a process or did you find yourself really good about flipping that switch from day 1?

Wendy: I think at the beginning when I just took the summers off, you know, when you have a baby or a toddler, you certainly don’t have a lot of time for reflection. It’s just really, really busy. And yet it was a lot of fun. And over the following years, when I kept adding more and more and more and more time off, it became more intentional. And I think it was a process in the sense of, I’m not somebody that gets bored easily. I really don’t need a lot to entertain myself and I really have taken a lot of pleasure in very small things in life. I mean, when you wake up and you can listen to the birds, there’s a mother robin that makes a nest under our balcony at the cottage for the last 10 summers or so.

32:47 Ed: What are some of the other periods that are, you know, pretty much recurring every year?

Wendy: So my husband’s shooting schedule is usually 4 days a week. So whenever he has a Friday off, I take a long weekend off too, and I won’t work Fridays. I know a lot of freelancers that don’t work Fridays, by the way. That is a big thing. And that’s a great way to start. Start by giving yourself long weekends and see if you can do that. And then and then give yourself a 4 day weekend and see what happens. And, you know, you don’t have to just decide you’re gonna take 4 months off. You can do it in increments. And so that’s what I started to do. I will take the occasional day off. Again, it let my son, who is now in college, so he doesn’t have this anymore. But all through elementary school and high school, if he had a day off from school on a Wednesday, we’d have, you know, an adventure day. So those, you know, once a month I just add them to my days off. And it’s been fantastic because you and you have to make plans for those days, by the way. Give yourself something to look forward to so that that gives you a sense of purpose as well, whether it’s planning a hike or a picnic or a, you know, a day, you know, at a flea market or just going kayaking or going to see a friend or going to spend time with your parents, have a plan for that time off because that is part of the joy and part of the cup filling experience.

37:23 Ed: I’m curious if you have started to think about the next phase of this idea. So obviously, your son is now in college, and, you know, we’re, you’re entering a new phase of your life if you want to use that as a milestone, right? And have you thought a little bit more about, hey, what might this look like over the next 10 years or so? How will this evolve?

Wendy: So I think what’s gonna happen is that those 16 weeks are gonna slowly start growing until they resemble a type of semi-retirement, I guess. I’m not really interested in retiring just yet. I feel like as long as I can keep the kind of pace in my life where I have enough time to seek joy and do the things I wanna do and travel and be with my family, I’m very happy to keep working on projects that I wanna work on. And I think it’s really important here to say, don’t work for clients that are gonna burn you out. Don’t work for clients that aren’t gonna bring you joy. I think a lot of the stress that freelancers take on that make them wanna dream of retiring or leaving the profession and doing something else is because the people that they’re working with, just bring them aggravation and dread. So I have learned over the years to get rid of those kinds of clients. You’re allowed to fire a client.

40:05 Ed: I feel like the story about retirement that we’ve all been sold is based on an old paradigm of people working in a job they hated with people they hate until they can’t take it anymore. They need the rest. They’re so burnt out. They need a break from that. But when we’re self employed, and we have the control to decide who we work with, what kind of work we do. You really I’m a big believer like you that you should create the kind of situation that you don’t need to run away from. And that’s a very powerful thing.But the reason I asked this question is because in a way, you’ve lived such a balanced life that I was curious about your perspective. You know, when you don’t feel like you’re burnt out, that you need a break from that, You know, what does the second half of your life look like? And I’m happy to hear that you enjoy your work so much that you’re in no hurry to necessarily go, take a break and just retire from it all.

Wendy: I think, you know, one of my favorite editors, Richard Eisenberg, who, is he’s coining phrase unretirement because he he left his full time job as an editor at PBS and is now freelancing and living his unretired life, and he’s writing a lot about that. And it’s really resonating with me because I think a lot of people, as you mentioned, have an idea of retirement that just doesn’t make sense for our generation at all. And I think that you have to have something to go to. And for a lot of people, if you love what you’re doing and there’s no reason for you to stop doing it and you can make your own hours, choose your clients and the type of work you wanna do, why wouldn’t you want to keep your hand in it as long as you love it and still want to do it? So that’s what I do myself continuing along this path until it turns out that maybe I’m only working 16 weeks a year and the rest I’m off. I don’t know. But for now, I’m really happy with this pace. It’s the perfect amount of time off. You know, some years it’s a little more than 16 weeks.

43:08 Ed: And I want to, as we start wrapping up, I kinda wanna either maybe touch on this a little bit. It’s kinda self explanatory, but it’s so important. You said, My best tip is if you want something badly enough, you’ll find a way to make it happen. Trust me. Speak to that a little bit. I know, you know, we’ve kind of touched on that indirectly, but, when it comes to creating this kind of lifestyle, Is that true for everybody?

Wendy: I think it’s I think it should be. I think that once you’ve really dug deep and figured out what is important to you, you will reevaluate everything around you. My husband had a health scare 5 years ago that completely changed the universe for me and made me realize even more that we have to live for today, and we have no idea what’s gonna come for tomorrow, but we can project. And for me, when I say if you want something badly enough, you’ll figure out a way to get it. That means that you have to do your math, do your planning, do your thinking, figure out who you are, what you want, and then look at the different pathways to get to that goal, whether it’s losing 10lbs, learning how to play the guitar, or, you know, starting a new side hustle. You know, hope is not a strategy. You have to sit down and say, what are the different ways that I can get from 0 to 1 and take that first step forward? If you want to take more time off in your year, then take a look at a calendar, block out some time, and make that happen. Highlight it in bright yellow as untouchable and figure out a way to work around it so those weeks happen.

45:09 Wendy: It’s all in their mindset and they need to get out of their own way. If you decide you’re going to be successful, money is going to come to you. If you decide that you want to take off family vacations and not bring your laptop to the beach, leave it at home and just don’t pack it. I mean, just do it. You know, you can’t just hope for things. You have to actually take a step. And if something that you try doesn’t work for you, guess what? As a freelancer, you get to press reset and do something different. So, you know, there’s a lot of trial and error involved here to figure out what the right balance is for you and for your business and for your family.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Get my Business-Building Toolkit.

3. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

4. Work with me privately.

The post #346: How Wendy Helfenbaum Takes 4 Months Off Every Year While Maintaining a Healthy 6-Figure Income appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#345: How to Be a Generalist AND Specialist at the Same Time

Ed Gandia — Wed, 08 May 2024 03:59:03 +0000

I’ve heard this argument hundreds of times:

“I don’t have a specific target market, Ed. I’m a generalist who works with all kinds of businesses. So I’m having a really hard time narrowing things down, and I’m not convinced I should.”

When I ask them about their motivation for continuing to do things this way, I typically get a response along the lines of, “I want variety in my work. I don’t want to be writing for just one industry.”

And that right there is the crux of the problem. Most people who view themselves as generalists use the “work and client variety” justification.

I don’t blame them. I want variety too! But that’s a logical fallacy.

There’s a way to have your cake and eat it, too. But you have to look at this challenge differently.

In this week’s (short) podcast episode, I explain how to do that. And how to arrive at a well-defined target market that works for you AND keeps things open and flexible for unexpected opportunities.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Misconception that being a generalist provides work variety
The misconception that being a generalist allows for variety in work
The fallacy that being a generalist has to include working with different industries
Tightly focused work still allows for plenty of variety
Getting specific about whom to pursue, not just whom to accept
More focused, efficient, and effective marketing outreach
Being able to accept opportunities not squarely in the target market
Efficient and cost-effective marketing outreach
The target market does not have to be limited to an industry
Examples of successful professionals with non-industry target markets
Analyzing past clients for common attributes rather than industry
Looking for common threads among past better clients
Finding other shared factors beyond the industry
Detail-oriented work to find non-industry-related target market attributes

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Get my Business-Building Toolkit.

3. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

4. Work with me privately.

The post #345: How to Be a Generalist AND Specialist at the Same Time appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#344: How to Navigate Maternity Leave (or an Extended Break) Without Missing a Beat: Satta Sarmah Hightower’s Success Story

Ed Gandia — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 03:59:01 +0000

For most freelancers, the concept of taking an extended break—be it for maternity leave, personal health, or a sabbatical—has been shrouded in trepidation.

We love the idea of a long break, especially if we’re experiencing burnout. But we immediately dismiss it as unrealistic because we don’t think we can afford to lose the income. Or we fear losing momentum, falling behind and not being able to seamlessly re-enter the business on the other end of our break.

This week, we’re challenging that narrative head-on, with a deep dive into how you can navigate maternity leave (or any extended break) without missing a beat. Not only is this possible, it’s an opportunity to strengthen your business and come back stronger.

My guest is a very successful freelance writer and content marketing strategist, Satta Sarmah Hightower. Satta is a previous coaching client of mine. And while we were working together, we put together a plan for a successful maternity leave.

Of course, not every plan works seamlessly. So I wanted to bring Satta into the show to tell us what she did, how it all went, what she learned from the experience — and what advice she has for other freelancers who are thinking about taking an extended break like this but aren’t sure how to make it work.

Satta didn’t just manage her maternity leave; she mastered it. From planning and preparation to execution and the transition back into the business world, her journey is a blueprint for any solo professional contemplating a similar break. I’ve been particularly impressed with how she’s managed the work/life balance upon her return—especially with two little ones.

We also spent quite a bit of time discussing her secrets to success. Satta has built a very impressive, high-six-figure business where she’s almost always fully booked. So I asked her to share the biggest factors that have made that possible.

Even if you’re not contemplating a maternity leave or an extended break, I urge you to give this one a listen. You’ll get a glimpse into how a seasoned solo professional runs a very successful business that enabled her to truly exercise the freedom freelancing is supposed to give us.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Combatting isolation and loneliness during maternity leave by relying on the freelance community for support and connection
Reflecting on the fears and financial impact of taking leave and realizing the flexibility and adaptation capabilities
Financially financing her maternity leave through regular savings and making adjustments to her financial plan
Finding high-paying clients through modern websites, assessing company budgets, and negotiating rates early in client conversations
Using a freelance payment tracker to assess project profitability, internal hourly rates, and client income share
Building a healthy marketing pipeline and finding look-alike clients
Finding clients through working with agencies and visible publications
Slow start upon returning to work due to adjustment to increased responsibilities as a mother
Strategic planning for maternity leave, including preplanning and client communication
Reaching out to potential clients before and after returning to work to secure assignments
Treating freelancing as a business and focusing on client service
Providing high-value content that AI cannot replicate
Focusing on higher-paying vertical markets like fintech and healthcare
Knowing when to let go of clients who may hinder growth opportunities
Categorizing clients as passion, payer, or portfolio, not solely based on money

Timestamp Overview:

03:51 Ed– One thing that I was very curious about, and I know our listeners are too, you’ve done really well for yourself. And I am curious as to what you feel were the critical success factors to getting to this high 6 figure level that you have. Because, I mean, obviously, you’ve been doing it for 10 years. That’s one thing. But it’s not like it took you 10 years to get there, number 1. And 2, you’ve been you know, some people can hit really strong 5 figure months, you know, that add up to an annual 6 figure, but it’s very variable. Like, 1 year is bad. 1 year is amazing. The next year is really bad. You haven’t yo-yoed like that. So I’m curious. What do you feel has really worked for you and enabled you to get to this level and maintain it?

Satta– So since becoming a freelancer over the last 10 years, I probably averaged a 20% increase in income year over year, and I really credit that to a mindset shift. Like, I really started treating my business like a business. Not like, oh, I was just a writer doing freelance writing, which sometimes as freelance writers, we kind of box ourselves in that way. It was more about, I am a business owner. There’s a strategy to this. Like,I sort of treat it the same way a big enterprise company would treat their, you know, strategy and business planning, business continuity planning, risk assessment, all of that stuff. It’s like, okay. I can look at, you know, some of the spreadsheets that I use to track my client operations and say, oh, too much of my income is coming from that one client. I need to up my marketing and get more clients. And I really focus too, on client service. That I mean, that to me, that’s the best marketing there is. Like, if I turn in quality work on time, on or before deadline consistently, and I’m very responsive to my clients, For the most part, the rest takes care of itself. I get repeat work from clients, and then that helps me build a portfolio which I can use to attract new clients. Because new clients always need social proof, and so they’ll check me out on my website or my LinkedIn page. And because they’ve seen that, I’ve worked with other marquee brands, big content studios, that sort of gives them confidence that I can take on a project and do well for them.

08:29 Ed– One of the things that a lot of writers have trouble with is letting go of clients who no longer are fit for them. And the reason they it’s not a money thing. My experience has been I mean, that can be part of it, but it’s an emotional thing. It’s like, I hate saying no. I hate letting go of somebody. It’s fear. How do you get around that? How do you know when you know, okay, this is no longer a fit, but it’s not like something blew up. Because if something blows up, it’s a lot easier. Right? It’s just no longer a fit. How do you get over that emotional element?

Satta– Admittedly, it’s still something that I have to work on, but having a safety net makes it a lot easier, and having multiple clients makes it a lot easier. You know? Okay. If I let this one go, I have other work to back me up. And sometimes I have to look at it from a purely mathematical point of view. There was a client I stopped working with a couple years ago, and I looked at it first. I was like, oh, I don’t wanna do it because it’s a new line of business. You know, I know I can get steady work from them all the time, but it just wasn’t a fit. Even though I liked them personally, the work just was not a fit for me.

09:52 Ed– Tell me more about what you track. You were someone who I was always impressed with, you know, the Google Sheets and documents that you would share with me. You you keep you know, going back to this idea of treat it as a business. Yeah. You do a really good job of tracking different metrics and really thinking through your business operations. So what are some of the other things you track?

Satta– So I have this Google spreadsheet that I call the freelance payment tracker, and it’s by year, but then it breaks down by month. And it has cells with formulas that I use to track not only how much I’m making per project, but my internal hourly rate for each project on each row. That’s Okay. So I know for a given project if I’m working on a white paper for a given client, I know, okay, it took me 20 hours to do that. I ended up making $250 an hour on that project, let’s say. So I can easily see at a glance how much I’m making per client, what clients are, accounting for the largest share of my income in a given month or even in a given quarter or a given year, and what clients I’m netting a lower internally hourly rate for. And do I need to either replace them, or do I need to keep on working with them because there’s some other value I’m getting from them? Like Karen, I think her name is Karen Reynolds. She’s a freelancer, and she appeared on another freelance podcast. And she’s like, you have to group clients into 3 groups, passion, payer, portfolio. So I try to look at my relationship with clients and the projects I take on from them in that lens. So it’s not purely a money decision for me. It’s like, oh, am I growing my skills in other ways? Or do I really enjoy working with this company? I’m working on these types of projects? Because then I can treat it as, to use another business term, a loss leader. Yeah. I’m not making as much money on this project, but I can make up for it with other projects with other clients. So it all balances out in the end.

13:25 Ed– I would also say, however, that there’s a lot we can do individually, you know, just to at least build some sort of financial cushion. And not just a financial cushion, but to the marketing machine. Make sure that that marketing machine is always running. So that’s another way to build a buffer is if you have a healthy pipeline, then makes decisions a lot easier. You know, you’ve done a really good job of landing high paying clients over the years. I’m often asked, how do we find high paying clients? How do you find and land high paying clients? What do you feel are the secrets to doing that?

Satta– I think once you have a good client, find look-alike clients. So if you’re working with a certain content studio that’s part of a media organization, It’s likely their competitors also have a content studio and that the pay is pretty similar. So, I think what helps me too with high paying clients is I like working with agencies and content studios because they take care of the business development end of things. I’m not constantly having to find new clients in that respect because they already have a pipeline. I do have some private clients, but I really like working with agencies in that respect.

17:52 Ed– When does the budget fit into the conversation with a new prospect? Because I got to imagine that you want to know as early as possible if this is someone who can afford you.

Satta– So in the initial conversation and that’s…this week, I had another call with a prospective client. And, you know, after we got through the nitty gritty about, like, their process, how they work with freelancers, I just asked straight out what are your typical freelance rates for the projects we’ve talked about, and they usually share. And I feel like that puts you in a position of power to ask the question first rather than you state what your rates are because I realized this several months ago or last year. There was a client who I asked this question first to, and I wasn’t expecting the response that I got. Because if I would have said my rate first, it would have been half of what they paid.

21:34 Ed– I wanna point out something you haven’t mentioned that I think factors into the high fees you’re able to command. Everything else you’ve mentioned, completely agree. You’re also working in vertical markets that tend to be higher paying, right? Fintech, certain sectors within health care, certain sectors within tech. So you have done a really good job. I just wanna commend you. Done a really good job of kinda staying in these vertical markets and really building a nice portfolio and track record, which only attracts more of that. Right? I mean, is that a fair statement?

Satta– And that was deliberate or that was intentional at a certain point. You know, I would say maybe around the 6 year mark. Because I think when you’re first starting out as a freelancer, you will take, for the most part, whatever work you can get. You don’t really have a niche. You’re like, my niche is whatever client will pay me to do this project. So after a while, you figure out the things you enjoy doing and the things you’re good at or the things that really pique your interest, I think, is really important to say, and then you pursue those things. Like, I like, you know, enterprise tech and Fintech and financial services, because I’m actually really interested in those things.

24:59 Ed– You know, I think your experience just tells me and confirms the suspicion that I’ve had is that, look, the market might be slowing down, but it’s not a 100% slowdown. It’s slow for a lot of people right now. But, you know, there’s still plenty of work out there. I’m seeing and I’m hearing from people like you and others who are really, really busy. But, you know, it becomes one of those things. And I think we all got used to a time, especially, like, 2020 to 2023 where it was, like, beyond full capacity for everybody. And that’s not reality. This is my take. That’s not reality. And now it’s definitely below that. So, you know, not everyone like, before, you could just if you sneezed, you’d land work.

Satta– And I think a lot of people a lot of freelancers are seeing online on LinkedIn are worried about AI. There’s a lot like, if you fall down that rabbit hole, it can make you feel like my business is going to disintegrate. So I try not to focus too much on macro trends. I try to focus on what I can do. And I feel like AI can’t replace me if I’m doing long form white papers and all this other stuff in the b to b space, creating very high value content that you can’t really have a machine create. So I feel like it’s important to just focus on what you can do, keep on marketing, and growing your business, and let the rest take care of itself.

27:45 Ed– So let’s talk about your maternity leave. Why don’t you set the stage for us a little bit? Right? Because you have a young son. Right? And now you call me up one day. Says, oh, guess what? I’m pregnant, and I’m thinking about taking maternity leave. So walk us through what happened, what you planned…

Satta– So I have a 5 year old and an almost 5 month old. So I will say my first time taking maternity leave was very different than this time. So that was in 2018. So I was 4 years into my business, and I think I more so operated from a place of fear. Like, I intended to take a 3 month maturing leave. I took 2 and a half months because I had a client come to me with a project, and I was like you know? And they were a retainer client beforehand, so I was worried about losing that retainer contract. So I’m like, you know what? Let me just hop on it. But this time, I was very deliberate, intentional, and prepared, and you really helped me with that. So just preparing to go on maternity leave from a business perspective. Like, I created a post maternity leave, like, marketing plan or, you know, during, maternity leave. I checked in here and there. Like, just I did stuff on LinkedIn, posted things on LinkedIn, you know, engaged with folks on LinkedIn. But I just created a plan for how I would go on returning leave, like, letting my clients know in advance. Probably a month or so in advance, I let my clients know. Mhmm. With certain clients where I was on retainer with, I let them know even earlier because we have, you know, ongoing projects.

31:44 Ed– I wanna come back to that, but let’s rewind a little bit because I wanna hear about your experience. So last time, you felt really bad because you didn’t take the time with your first son that, you know, in hindsight, you should have taken it. Yeah. How did it go? 4 months now with your baby and with your family. Overall, how was that experience? And, you know, what things came up for you that maybe surprised you?

Satta– Well, I really enjoyed the time. It was nice to focus on one part of my life. You know, we talk about work life balance all the time, but there’s, like, no such thing. You’re always juggling multiple things at multiple times. So it was nice to just wake up in the morning and not have anything to do aside from take care of this little baby. So that was nice in a respect. On the other end of the spectrum, I did miss work. I missed being creative.

32:32 Ed– How did you, how did you manage that? Were there some things that you did that ended up working to help lower that isolation factor?

Satta– I mean, I think I can’t remember if I, you know, had lunch with the freelance friend or she and I traded emails back and forth, you know, to check-in. I think, actually, what was really helpful was being in touch with my freelance community. So there’s a community I’m part of called Freelance Success. So, you know, I would go in there from time to time. I think when I was on maternity leave, I did a webinar just before I went on maternity leave. I did a webinar, and I would just, you know, check-in. So it was nice to have that connection to people. And sometimes people post questions. I would answer questions there. So that helped me to maintain some sort of a connection as well.

36:36 Ed– We don’t have to get into numbers here, but I’m curious from a financial preparation standpoint. What was your model? Did you save up for a few months so that you can then use that, to help, you know, your living expenses? Or did you decide, no. I’m just gonna kind of you know, through my regular savings, I’ll just tap into that, or was it some other model?

Satta– Yeah. Through my regular, like, regular savings from my business account because I have enough of a margin given what I make each month and what our expenses are that there’s always, like, leftover in a buffer there. And then, obviously, before I went on maternity leave, I tried to take on a little bit more work. Obviously, it was hard being in my last trimester of pregnancy, but I really wanted to be cognizant of that. And there are certain adjustments I had to make. Like, I don’t know if I’ve ever told you this. Focus on early retirement, so I really try to supercharge my retirement savings. Well, I had to pair that back a little bit to accommodate for the fact that I wouldn’t be working for 4 months.

41:21 Ed– First of all, how do I get my business to be really successful? And or I love the idea of being able to take a maternity leave, a sabbatical, some sort of leave. What advice would you give to each?

Satta– I will say if you are not tracking your business metrics, that’s where you need to start. You need to know how much you make per client, who are your most profitable clients, who are your least profitable clients, what kind of projects are most profitable for you. So I will say that transparency at the outset is really important. You need the data and the information and the insights. This is a lot of business speak, but that’s what it is, to make an informed decision about when you can take time off and how long you can take and what, you know, when you need to come back. So I’ll say first, track your numbers. And then from there, come up with a plan. Like, you know, if there are clients that you’re on a retainer with, how will going on leave affect that? And if, you know, you can’t pick work back up, have a plan for how you can replace that income.

42:13 Satta– Like, if you’re making $5,000 a month with what one client and the retainer will likely end when you go on leave, come up with some ideas for how you can fill that gap. And then communicate openly and transparently and proactively with your clients. So if you have once you decide how long you’re going to go on leave, explain that to them and put it in the context of how it’ll affect your work with them. Like, tell them, okay. I know we have this project that’s in progress, and I plan to wrap that up, before I go on leave. And if we can’t wrap that up, here’s what I think we can do from a handoff perspective. And then also have a plan for returning from leave. Like, don’t wait until the week you get back. Just tell your clients, hey. I’m here. You got any work for me? You need to do that, in advance. And at the same time, you need to prospect. Because that’s, you know, something that when I was talking to you about this, you’re like, okay. So what’s your plan for prospecting and getting new clients? I was like because I didn’t really think about that before. I’m like, I already have a solid roster of clients, but always be marketing. ABM. You have to always be marketing. And I’ll say I actually do have new clients. I have just been onboarded with them. I just haven’t started any projects with them. And, again, they’re actually 2 major content studios for major news organizations. So, I’ve been on board, but I haven’t started to work with them. So even just being back a month, I’ve already landed 2 new clients.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Get my Business-Building Toolkit.

3. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

4. Work with me privately.

The post #344: How to Navigate Maternity Leave (or an Extended Break) Without Missing a Beat: Satta Sarmah Hightower’s Success Story appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#343: What to Do When a Client Wants You to Work with Their Existing Draft

Ed Gandia — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 03:59:30 +0000

What do you do when a client or prospect has a piece of long-form content they’ve written internally and they want your help finishing it?

What do you quote? What’s the right way to frame your fee for the client? And how do you approach this kind of project?

Check out my thoughts and advice in this week’s short podcast episode below.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Scope of Work
Project Complexity
Importance of Skilled Writer
Client’s Reaction and Handling
Client’s request for help finishing a long-form content they’ve already written
Concern about the amount of work required to finish the project
Project’s estimated completion percentage
Determining the scope of work required to finish the project
Approaching pricing and quoting for the remaining work
Underestimation of the complexity of the existing draft
Need for a skilled writer to bridge the gap between the current and desired states of the piece
Anticipating the client’s reaction and how to handle objections regarding pricing and effort required

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Get my Business-Building Toolkit.

3. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

4. Work with me privately.

The post #343: What to Do When a Client Wants You to Work with Their Existing Draft appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#342: Futurist Kevin Surace on Why Writers Must Jump on the AI Bandwagon (and Why the Future Is Bright)

Ed Gandia — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 03:59:33 +0000

As I record this episode in March of 2024, we’ve yet to feel the effects of generative AI in our solo businesses.

So why are so many writers, copywriters and solo marketers losing business?

Everything that I’m hearing and seeing points to other factors for the challenges many creative professionals are experiencing. And the main factor seems to be the softening economy.

You wouldn’t know it by the state of the stock market, unemployment rates and economic growth. All those factors seem to be pointing to a strong economy. But the marketing profession is seeing something very different.

It’s no secret that marketing is one of the first things to get cut during challenging times. It makes no sense, but it is what it is. And that seems to be the biggest reason behind cancelled content marketing initiatives, marketing team layoffs and clients that can’t seem to make a decision on pending projects.

AI is certainly starting to have an impact on our work. But where that’s been happening is not where we want to be. You’re seeing it in the lower tiers of the market—SEO content mills, small companies, and lower-budget organizations that wouldn’t be viable clients even before ChatGPT entered the picture.

However, that’s going to be changing. And the changes will be palpable.

Joining me today to explain why—and to dive deep into the issue—is Kevin Surace. Kevin is the CTO of Appvance.ai and is a renowned futurist, disruptive innovation keynote speaker and pioneer in the AI space since the 1990s.

This guy is the real deal. He’s the recipient of INC Magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year (2009), he’s built multiple startups from ground zero to $1B+ valuations and has been awarded 94 worldwide patents, including the groundbreaking technology behind Siri and other virtual assistants.

I wanted to bring Kevin on the show because I’ve had multiple discussions in this show about AI and its impact since early 2023. But most of these discussions have been with fellow writers and marketers.

And as fascinating and practical as those conversations have been, I wanted to bring in someone who could bring in an outsider’s perspective. Someone who could explain what’s really happening outside our marketing ecosystem and share his perspectives on what’s coming and what we can do to prepare.

Or better yet, what we can do to profit from the tsunami that’s coming our way?

Kevin did not disappoint. We dive deep into the issue in this conversation. Some of what he shares might feel uncomfortable to some. It may feel disheartening. And I’m sure it will ruffle some feathers.

That’s OK. I’m a big believer in hearing all voices. I hate echo chambers, especially when it comes to big, important issues. And Kevin’s is an important voice with a perspective you’re going to want to hear.

I hope you enjoy our conversation.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Kevin discusses the impact of technologies like GPT-4 and Copilot in Word
The need for writers to embrace AI tools, alongside critical thinking and strategic planning
Kevin explains prompt engineering and emphasizes the need for precision in prompts and fact verification
AI’s impact on consulting firms: reduction in partner ascension time and increased productivity
Productivity improvements in marketing writing due to AI technology
3x to 10x increase in speed
Rapid generation of illustrations, reducing the need for additional resources
Kevin disagrees with the idea that AI is more disruptive than previous technologies
Historical patterns of technology increasing productivity, creating jobs, and decreasing costs
Importance of scaling productivity gains to increase revenue when adopting new technologies
Legal aspects of using AI-generated content
Concerns about using AI as a crutch for ideation and brainstorming

Timestamp Overview:

04:14 Kevin– When the smartphone came out, some people didn’t want to embrace it. I’m never going to get one. And that included people at work and included parents and included all kinds. I’m never gonna get one of those. Well, today, I don’t know, 4,000,000,000 people have them or 3,000,000,000 people have them. Why? Because it’s a perfect productivity enhancement. And can you imagine running your business, Ed, today without when you’re on the road or wherever you are being able to look at your email just like that or someone text you just like that? So it’s expected that you’re going to get that information almost in real time, save if you’re in a movie theater. Right? So in fact, when you are in a movie theater and you come out, there’s almost always emails or texts that say, where have you been? I’ve been texting for 3 hours.

06:31 Kevin– I’m gonna tell you that throughout history, we’ve seen teams and people and everything get more productive, creating more output, driving the cost of goods and services down because they’re getting more output, you know, per human hour. Right? And, that drives demand up. So a quick example in this field, if I am an independent freelance writer and I’m writing copy marketing copy, blog post, maybe advertising copy, whatever, for data sheets, etcetera, for, for companies. I only had so many hours. If, let’s say, 50 hours a week, I could devote to that. And sometimes I had too many companies that wanted too much. I, you know, I couldn’t take on anymore, right, unless I’m building out a firm.

11:12 Ed– I’m gonna play devil’s advocate here for a little bit. Those who think, well yeah. But what I fear or what I’m hearing is that my clients are actually taking these tools on, you know, inside, internally and using it themselves. So they’re not gonna need me.

Kevin– Well, here’s the problem with that. Right? What they’re doing is they’re taking people that already have a full plate. And someone’s saying, we can cut that budget completely, and I’m gonna add to the things that you need to do. So let’s say I’m a director of marketing, and I used to hire Ed to write all my content. And I go, Ed, I don’t need you anymore. I’m going to do it myself, which means I’m going to become an expert in prompt engineering, an expert in understanding what comes back, an expert in editing, am I right? So, apparently, I had a lot more time on my plate as the director of marketing or one of my people did than I thought. Were they just sitting around doing nothing? Right? So they have to gain that expertise, and they have to get good at it. And then they have to produce the content, and they have to edit the content.

15:38 Kevin– And by the way, we’ve had, you know, essentially machines even before Gen AI pushing out SEO content and taking content of a writer and automatically rejiggering it and pushing it again and rejiggering it and pushing it again. Those tools have been around for a decade. Right? They’re they’re not AI based, but they were good enough. And, of course, we see this, you know, in the stock market space, in the stock advice space where these robo articles have been written for a decade, and you could tell it’s written by a robot, and They’re terrible. The numbers aren’t right. Okay. But they’re just pushing stuff out, you know, against thousands of stocks every single day. Right? That was never going to employ a real writer. The quality…it wasn’t about quality. It was about pushing out junk. So I don’t think there’s a great business in the volume business anyway.

18:08 Kevin– It’s going to come back with things. It’s not always right. It’s not always in your words. It’s not always the way you would say it. It’s not always something you’d include. However, there are more ideas on paper in 30 seconds than you would have had all day. It just is true. You don’t have to use them all, and this is where all of your writing skills come into play. What am I trying to show? What am I trying to prove? What’s my outcome, and what do I need to say in x number of words out of this plethora of ideas that came back? Because I can’t use all of them. Right? And some of them don’t apply, and some of them will be great for another post or marketing or article or whatever. So, I think everybody’s gotta look at these tools as well, first of all, they’re a brain multiplier. What I always like to say is I’m taking Ed’s brain, and instead of one Ed, I could have 2 or 3 or 5 Eds. They’re still ads because you prompt it.

20:20 Kevin– I have no ego about that. It’s like, actually, the voice clone is better, more articulate, sounds better. The writing is, you know, the words that it’s using are better. It’s just it’s a better me than me. I’m okay. You have to be okay with that. Right? I mean, that’s what these tools do. Excel made us better math people than we ever were.

24:35 Ed– I would say that a third to half of my audience is embracing the technology, and, the other, you know, half, two thirds are really cautious or against it. But, you’ve mentioned prompt engineering a few times. You have to be really good at prompt engineering. I know we could spend hours talking about that. But let’s talk a little bit about a realistic and practical plan for getting really good at prompt engineering quickly. Here and here’s where I’m coming from with that question. There’s a flood of prompt engineering information and advice out there, so much so that we almost need AI to be able to dig through it to understand. How do I approach it? How do I systemize the learning of that? Do you have a practical framework or or advice for, okay.

27:33 Kevin– You’ll probably get the best output you’ve ever seen because you gave it all the data that it needs. Right? The other thing is that in some of the professional versions like ChatGPT 4, you can set it up to go out and do some research from a particular website. So you can say, also based on the information gleaned from this page, give me the following stuff. Right? So it can learn from competition, for example. Right? More is better. That is if just remember that more is better. Who is your audience? These are all things a writer, a marketing writer, has already been thinking about in their mind, but they’ve never had to write it down before.

29:16 Kevin– Because that’s all it’s trying to do is create sentence structure. You know? If today was my birthday and and I and I and I said, chat g p t, what would you say to Kevin on his birthday? It has seen enough sentences where it says, well, I’m gonna start with the word happy. And then statistically, probability wise, the next word to come after that would be birthday. And perhaps there’s a third word in the sentence, which should be Kevin, Kevin’s name. Right? Happy birthday, Kevin. It’s about the only phrase that could come back because out of trillions of phrases that are learned when you’re acknowledging someone’s birthday, that’s all there is to say. Right? But it’s only putting one word after another with a probability. Right? So it’s not happy llama.

34:44 Kevin– So cursive isn’t as important, you know, getting that out of my hand, as it is to, forces generate the next patent or come up with a new invention in, you know, in my field. Or think about what the future looks like 5-10 years from now. Right? That’s a whole different level of strategic thinking, and that’s what I want all of these writers to do. Your outcome should be better because you’re not worried about sentence structure or which sentence comes after another. You’re worried about who’s my audience, What am I trying to accomplish with that audience? Is it just SEO? Is it selling something? Is it educating? Is it raising brand awareness? Any of those. Right? I gotta think about that. Right? And I gotta make sure that what my outcome is is that. And now I can come out with that in a quarter of the time.

36:31 Kevin– Now here’s what’s interesting. I don’t know if any of that was correct because I’m not an expert in extracting ethane from natural gas, nor are your listeners. Now interestingly enough, people in the audience, I had to ask them. Are those the correct steps? And they go, yeah. That’s it. That’s pretty amazing. Now here’s what’s interesting about that. If I am a manager in a company and I sent my you know, one of my people out to take a look at how I expect ethane from natural gas, I can actually educate myself now a little bit before they come in and actually be thoughtful about my questions even though I don’t know how to extract that thing.

41:12 Ed– I read an article recently that the big four consulting firms or whatever they are these days, they’ve been able to cut down the time it takes to make a partner by a year and a half, something like that. Because the first year, year and a half, people would have to spend all this time doing menial tasks, you know, doing all this grunt work. And, you know, part of it was character building. Part of it was weeding out, you know, the ones who aren’t gonna make it. But a big part of it was like, we need you here. We need you here to sort through this and do all this just menial work. And now they’re with AI, they’re able to just take care of well, first of all, these people, these new young consultants using these tools are able to just breeze through that year and a half.

Kevin– That’s right. And, look, there’s the menial, some of the menial tasks that we did are gonna go away. Like I said, sentence structure, yes, you’re gonna check everything, and, yes, you need to know what it is. But you’re not gonna slave over, should it be this word or that word? And is that the way to say it? You know, the models have that done for you. They have ideation, that you’re still gonna create your ideas on top of those. Again, just always remember, you’re in charge of the thing.

44:34 Ed– as a writer, it enables you to spend more of your time on your stone of genius. That’s the other thing we haven’t talked about. I mean, it’s been implied, but I don’t wanna spend, which is what we do, spend 90% of our time doing stuff that really that’s not what a unique capability is. I wanna spend more and more of my time doing what I do best.

Kevin– That’s a really good point. That’s a really good point because you might be really, really good at, I don’t know, this type of writing that’s very technical and very unusual and very tactical and very you know? And it takes a lot of time, and it’s really hard. You may be able to spend more time on those things or the things that really drive you, or maybe you’re writing a book. You know? You’ll be able to spend more time on that. Right? So we’re giving you time back. We’re making you more productive, but always when the cost of delivering services goes down and the price ultimately goes down to, you know, match that cost decline, then the demand for those services goes up. Right? The look.

48:43 Ed– What about those who say but what about those who say, look. You can’t use it because we don’t wanna be sued. You as a writer can’t use these generative tools to…

Kevin– No. No. No. I mean I mean, the the the big general generative, tool guides, including, you know, OpenAI, etcetera, are indemnifying, the use of that tool in case the tool somehow absolutely copies word for word something, which, by the way, they’re highly programmed to not do. It’s very hard to get it to do that without attribution. Right? So it isn’t gonna accidentally come up with 3 lines from Hemingway. It’s just that it’s programmed to not do that so much so that they’re saying, we will take on the lawsuit if that accident happens so Microsoft said the same thing. We will take on the laws if you get sued because our thing gave you three lines from Hemingway, and you’re getting sued by the Hemingway family.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Get my Business-Building Toolkit.

3. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

4. Work with me privately.

The post #342: Futurist Kevin Surace on Why Writers Must Jump on the AI Bandwagon (and Why the Future Is Bright) appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#341: Crossing Paths: Lindy Alexander’s Secrets to Succeeding with Journalism and Content Marketing

Ed Gandia — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 03:59:35 +0000

For many years there has been a myth among journalists that journalism and content marketing can’t coexist.

You either have to focus on journalism work or on content marketing, but not on both.

But this belief is based on false assumptions and outdated beliefs. And in this week’s episode, you’ll hear why you can do both very successfully as a freelance writer.

And, in fact, why you may actually WANT to focus on both.

My guest is Lindy Alexander, an award-winning freelance food, travel and lifestyle writer and content creator living in the vibrant goldfields town of Castlemaine in central Victoria, Australia.

Her work has been published in numerous digital and print publications including Sunday Life, The Age/The Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian, Travel + Indulgence, Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia, delicious, Good Food, The Saturday Paper, SBS Life, Dumbo Feather, Peppermint, Essential Kids, Essential Baby, Modern Farmer, Jetstar magazine and Homes+.

I had Lindy on the show a few years ago, where we discussed how to grow your income by going deeper with clients and leveraging key relationships. This time, we’re directly tackling the age-old myth that content marketing and journalism are incompatible.

You’ll hear exactly how Lindy has navigated these waters like a champ. How’s she’s maintained solid journalistic standards and ethics throughout. And how you can combine both to create real synergies in your business.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Different processes for magazines vs. content marketing
Strategy for balancing prospecting and pitching
Exploring other opportunities alongside journalism
Leveraging work from one area to get opportunities in another
Importance of full disclosure and communicating boundaries
Identifying specific niches and adjacent markets
TheFreelancersYear.com and its offerings
Transition from social work to freelance writing
Mix of journalism and content marketing
Prestige for journalists in content marketing
Networking, referrals, and securing writing opportunities
Caution in approaching sources for additional work
Importance of maintaining integrity and finding fulfillment in writing

Timestamp Overview:

04:31 Lindy– in 2017, my husband took a year off from his work and he had our kids and was looking after our kids while I said to him, I wanna see if I can make this work for us. So we had a mortgage. We had all the bills to pay, and I did my maths beforehand and thought I cannot keep writing stories, feature stories that take me hours to interview, research, transcribe, submit. Also, I’m getting paid on publication when I submit as a journalist. I just couldn’t see that I could make the income that I needed to make. So I had to look further afield and start to think about content marketing. And really that episode where Jennifer was talking about her content marketing clients and how she found them, I think, Ed, I probably listened to it 2, 3, 4 times because it was so inspiring, but it was so practical as well. And I really used that as my base to find content marketing clients.

07:44 Ed– Maybe a big fear is that if I do that, then it’s 1 or the other. You know, I won’t be able to do both successfully. I know you’ve already addressed this. You say that you do both. But let’s unpack that a little bit. Tell me, why is that not true?

Lindy– I think there’s a few reasons. I think that some people feel that it’s unethical, that I can’t be an ethical journalist. And I’ve had people say to me, I feel like I’m selling my soul. I feel I’m so ethical as a journalist. And I feel like if I started doing content marketing writing, then somehow I’d be going over to the dark side, and I would be writing copy that didn’t resonate with me and didn’t feel good. And I’d have to be writing for companies that didn’t align with my personal values. And I think that is a really big misconception. And, actually, one of the freelance writers in one of my courses, she came in and she thought, I don’t know, but I really wanna write for ethical only companies. Now ethical means something different for everybody.

12:12 Ed– So start with your clips. Start with what you’ve done.

Lindy– And as a journalist or someone with freelance writing or feature writing, you’re very good at investigating. And I think that’s the slight difference that, I feel like it took me a while to get my head around exactly what you just said, who is selling into his companies. And I think it’s not just what you see at eye level, like with journalism. It’s people, it’s companies, it’s places. And often the b to b world is hidden from us mere mortals usually. And so it’s just about doing some digging, some really thinking really thinking about, well, what are these emergency services? What sorts of products, services are they using to run their businesses? What software? What apps? What, administration platform? Whatever it might be. And as you start to dig, it’s like this whole world just starts to open up and it’s something that is invisible to most people in daily life, I think.

14:44 Ed– Let’s talk about from a marketing standpoint, how do you navigate things such as your LinkedIn profile? You know, now I feel like I’m 2 different people. So which one do I put out there just on LinkedIn as an example and or my website?

Lindy– You are talking directly to me. And this is something that I struggled with on a number of levels because I’m a generalist. And everybody says everybody says you need to be a specialist. What’s your specialization? What’s your niche? And I didn’t have one. And I agonized over it for years because I never had that beautiful, One was that I recognized that nothing is set in stone so that you can put something on your LinkedIn profile. And if it doesn’t resonate, if it doesn’t work, if you’re not getting leads, you can change it. So it isn’t something that you’ve etched and then that is the front of your shot forever and ever.

19:30 Ed– So how do you figure out how to do and manage your marketing time and resources? Right? So there’s pitching on the journalism side. There is prospecting on the content marketing side. There are some similarities, but still there, you have to go find work. How do you figure out that balance? You know any ideas, recommendations there?

Lindy– And that process is really different. Like I often think the difference between prospecting and pitching for magazines is like you’re walking into a restaurant. And with prospecting, when you’re sending out your LOIs, you’re really showing the customer, the client, what you’ve got, like in your kitchen garden. These are all the different things I have. If you sent an LOI, a pitch like that to a magazine, I can do this. I can do this. What about this? I’ve also got this. They’re not gonna be interested.

23:16 Ed– What what I’m hearing from you in my experience working with coaching clients has been that, hey, you know, once you make the decision and you commit, I think you might be pleasantly surprised by the opportunities and how they’re really not on the dark side. And they can enable you to then, you know, find opportunities on the journalism side that you would have normally not been able to take if that was all you were doing. So, let’s talk a little bit about ethics because this is an area where I’m not very clear on. And maybe you can educate us a little bit or at least me. Can you leverage one to get the other? So can I talk about my, you know, specific journalism experience and clips? And I know mostly the answer is yes. We’ve already talked about it. But what about the other way around? You know, so if you’ve written pieces in this area or for this specific industry or topic, where do you draw the line and where do you, where do you have more latitude? Can you speak to that a little bit?

Lindy– Yeah. And this is something I see a lot of riders struggling with, especially when they’re working for a company or an organization, and they’re doing deep work for them. And then they say, you know what? Their CEO is innovating in ways that are so exciting and so interesting. And I would love to write a feature story about them, But they’re paying me to write white papers for them or they’re paying me to write case studies or whatever it might be. And it is tricky. And I think you can do it, and I have done it, but my approach is always full disclosure. So I would say to an editor, I have been doing some work for this company, and I’ve come across this person in this company. I think it would make a great story.

25:25 Lindy– Would you be interested in me writing about them? And sometimes they say yes. Sometimes, do you know what they’ll do? If they’ll pay me, like a discovery fee, and they’ll say, we’ll assign one of our staff writers to them, but thank you for bringing, you know, that person to our attention. Now often with that discovery fee, I’m like, oh, I don’t know how I feel about that because you’re getting paid from both sides of the fence. But similarly, I know a lot of travel writers who are also doing public relations work. And I think as long as you are very clear in communicating where those boundaries are and letting everybody know which side of the fence is paying you because you cannot be paid from both sides of the fence for the same thing at the same time.

Ed-Is timing a huge part of this? So let me give you a specific example. Let’s say that I’m doing a story and I’m reaching out to some subject matter experts for interviews. And some of these or could be potential content marketing writing clients for me. Obviously, I’m not gonna say at the end of the interview, by the way, thank you. And if you ever need someone to help you write white papers and case studies, I would love that. But could I come back maybe once that project or this article is closed? You know, may or maybe do I have to wait a long time? Could I do this at some point? Because I could go back to these sources and pitch them?

27:40 Lindy– I think probably about 4 months later, the CEO of that organization reached out to me and said, we have all this marketing material, all these blog posts we need written. Would you be interested in coming on board and doing that for us? And I did that, and they paid super well. And that relationship has continued. And I think what happens is that often when you are talking to subject matter experts, often they don’t know freelance writers. They’re not sure. They need a writer a few months down the track, but they’re like, I don’t know anyone. Then they’re like, oh, there was that journalist who interviewed me. I’m gonna reach out and see if they can do it or if they know someone.

33:40 Ed– I think it’s wise advice. So, as we start wrapping up, I wanna kinda come back full circle to this idea that, you know, the way we started this conversation is you may have some passion topics. And as a let’s say you are now in the content marketing side or have been there, but really would love to kind of come back and do some feature stories on topics that are meaningful to you, either because you have a passion or a hobby or that is a cause that means something to you. And and and you would love to be able to do that. Right? I would love your reaction to this idea and react however you’d like. Maybe our business doesn’t have to fulfill every single desire and need that we have. You know, maybe that’s an unfair expectation of our core business. What would you say to that?

Lindy– Yeah. I would agree. I have some qualifications, probably. I think sometimes people feel, I know I did, that I’m dragging myself to content marketing. I’m gonna have to do it to make money. I felt really resigned about it. And then I get in there and I’m like, this is just like journalism except it’s paying me better. And so I was writing these think pieces for a health organization, a public health organization.

36:08 Lindy– But what I’m seeing is that a lot of the writers I work with in my programs, they come from journalism. They realize if I’m gonna earn good money in good time and not work 80 hour weeks, I need to add some content marketing into this mix. So they do content marketing, but a lot of them still feel this need to, as you said, pursue stories that fill them up, whether that is destinations, experiences, people, causes. They want to practice their creativity and write their own stories, come up with their own ideas rather than being given a brief or coming up with a strategy for a company. And so I think if you look at it in that context, your business can fulfill those desires if you have that balance. And I think the beautiful thing about writing is that you can find places that really do fill your cup, both in the content marketing and the journalism space.

Ed– I would agree wholeheartedly with that. I haven’t had the journalism experience, but I found out by accident that the stuff that I was writing eventually for my clients was a lot of fun. I didn’t realize that I was a business geek until I started writing for these software companies that were solving big business problems for their market. And I thought that is fascinating because what they’re doing is giving their customers a competitive advantage. From a technology standpoint, in a world that’s really hard to gain those advantages. And I thought that was just really, really cool. So I don’t know. Maybe it came like that passion or that interest was natural.

39:42 Ed– So, Lindy, I wanna make sure I send people to you and your networks and your social media. Where can I send them? And then what’s new and cool in your world that you’re excited about?

Lindy-So my website is the freelancersgear.com, and on there is a courses and resources page. So I’ve got lots of free resources and a $9 spreadsheet that has over 270 different publications to pitch to with their publication guidelines. So if you’re looking at, yeah, reviving some of your journalistic skills and wanting to pitch some publications but aren’t sure who’s paying and what they’re paying and what you need to do, that is a really great resource. And, yeah, I have a program called Write, Earn, Thrive that I run twice a year for. And it’s a lot of journalists who come into that who want to earn more money from content writing. And I’m just about to launch very soon a new small group intensive for people who wanna break into their dream publications and write feature articles for their dream publications.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Get my Business-Building Toolkit.

3. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

4. Work with me privately.

The post #341: Crossing Paths: Lindy Alexander’s Secrets to Succeeding with Journalism and Content Marketing appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#340: Ed Gandia and Sarah Greesonbach Get Raw and Real About Their Inner Battles, Fears, Aspirations—and What It’s Like to Be a Coach

Ed Gandia — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 04:59:14 +0000

This episode is very different from what I typically do on this show.

It’s a candid conversation between Sarah Greesonbach and me on a number of random topics.

Sarah is not only a very talented B2B writer, she’s also the founder of the B2B Writing Institute, an excellent coach to other B2B writers, a coaching client of mine and a friend.

We get into a number of topics, including where and how we face resistance … where we fall short … life experiences that shaped who we are today … how we make big decisions … fear … being kind to yourself … our pet peeves about the freelance industry …

And even the songs we have on our playlists that we’re embarrassed to admit to. What we love. And what we feel is overrated.

After our interview, I then share a raw and open account of my business struggles last year—what happened, why, and what I’ve done to navigate these challenges.

If you’re only looking for straight up advice for your business, this is not really that kind of episode. So feel free to skip it.

But if you’re curious about how Sarah and I have struggled. What we’ve learned. And what makes us who we are, give this one a listen.

It’s a long episode. The longest, in fact, of any episode I’ve created in my 11 years doing this show.

But I didn’t want to hold back. I wanted this to be exactly the kind of conversation Sarah and I might have at a Starbucks. And I wanted you to have an opportunity to listen to us talk with no filter.

Hope you enjoy it!

Key Topics and Bullets:

Insights on the Enneagram and its influence on personal growth
Importance of empathy and personal growth, value of coaching in providing perspective and support
Overcoming a victim mentality, treating freelancing or writing as a business, and adapting to change
Power of choice and resilience in the face of challenges, addressing blocks in client progress
Acknowledging life’s unexpected obstacles and the deeper value of coaching
Outlining the aspects of coaching: codification, collaboration, contemplation, and conversation
Discussion on decision-making frameworks and overcoming fear as a freelancer
Admitting mistakes in business operations and navigating difficulties with a coach and mentor
Focus on stabilizing and growing the business, serving and adding value to the audience
Overcoming fear and feeling inadequate in sales as a freelancer
Applying “the obstacle is the way” mindset in difficult situations
Emphasizing the need for compassion, self-reflection, and creating strong boundaries

Timestamp Overview:

00:00 Ed– I wanted to have this conversation. You sound like you were a game for it, which I’m-I’m glad you were. And just a little bit of background, I guess. You know, I know, none of my podcasts are really that scripted so when it’s a monologue, I do have notes, you know, because I don’t wanna make sure I don’t go down a bunch of rabbit holes and lose my train of thought. But I don’t script up my podcast. And when it’s an interview, I have some guiding questions that I’ll send the guest. It’s still not scripted, but I have been really bad about, like, just giving everyone a glimpse into my world. Right? Like because I feel like, it’s not that I-I guess I’m somewhat of a private person, but I-I don’t think I’d say that’s about me, not about them.

07:10 Ed– So, let’s start here. I’m curious about your younger days, young Sarah. And, specifically, what’s a formative experience you had as a young person that has shaped you into who you are today.

Sarah– Well, she was awesome. I’ll just say that. I think it should be very clear. And her number 1 hobby was to go out on her bike into the woods with an apple and just read for a couple hours. Which looking back, I mean, that really-that defines me now too, I think, because that’s one of the things that I would just love to do, but that I tend to put off. And I think the reason I did that was because I grew up with 3 older brothers. And so I was trying to get some peace and quiet to myself and to not be, I don’t know if I was picked on, but, you know, they didn’t chase me around and breathe garlic in my face, like, for fun. That was like a sport for them.

13:48 Sarah: Well, that kinda bleeds into the next question. I think in my natural state, I would be in the woods reading for sure. But one of the things that I’ve had to resist a lot, that I’ve Struggled with a bunch, is taking the time to do things that are just pleasurable and fun. Yeah. So it’s like, if it’s not giving me ahead in some way or, like, a literal chore that I can check off the list. I just won’t let myself do it. So reading has been one of my professional development goals of just sitting down and enjoying a book during the work day for, like, 2 years.

16:45 Ed– So there’s this constant battle, but the inner critic is the stealthiest little, you know what. Yeah. That’s my take. I don’t know. What do you resonate with that? Do you think there’s something else to it?

Sarah- It’s wild that you ended up with safety because what came to mind for me is it’s not safe to enjoy yourself or to have fun. And if you do, that’s the moment something just horrible is gonna happen, or you’re gonna be neglecting something really important. So the only way I’ve been able to get around that is to set a timer and be like, for the next 10 minutes, it is safe. I’m allowed to read this book. It’s gonna be fine. And then I start it. Have you always had that awareness of the resistance? Like, did you always know that something like, your new critic was keeping you from it?

26:33 Ed– too much of a reward actually works against you. So, again, that achiever mindset of, like, I’m gonna work really, really hard, but then there’s just gonna be this thing at the end of the tunnel, this pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and, that gets me into trouble. You know? I’m pretty good about exercise, diet unless I really put guardrails and controls there. I’m pretty bad because of the way that I think of and treat food just as a as a reward. And I get so much joy, you know, out of are just trying something new, making something special. But because I’m not at a restaurant where they’ve given me a certain portion

Sarah- How do you figure out how much joy is acceptable in the things that you love Before it becomes a problem.

29:18 Ed– What is something that gives you hope?

Sarah– This one I knew right away, and it’s whenever I see someone younger than me doing something wonderful because I had this really profound experience when I was a teacher. Well, that part sucked. But one moment when I was a teacher, they asked for volunteers to judge a storytelling, like, arts competition for young kids, and it was like, maybe 9th graders and 7th graders. So people who were, How old is that? Like, 12 and 13. And, usually, my experience with kids is just that they were goofballs, and they weren’t really trying very hard at anything. But I walked in, and these kids were just, like, poised in it and doing the dramatic monologues and memorizing stuff, and they were just… They really blew me away telling these classic stories, and that just gave me a lot of hope that the next generation is gonna do stuff at all, but then do it really well and maybe even better than I could.

35:42 Ed– Let’s talk a little bit about frameworks to make decisions, specifically big decisions. This is something that came up. I know you got stuff that you use. I’m curious to hear when you got something, a big decision in front of you, what do you do? How do you make it? What tools do you use?

Sarah– Well, I think this is where you’re really gonna shine because I don’t have a lot that I do. Mainly, I send people to your PCRQ matrix. And I realized while I was reflecting on it, I think it’s because I tend to make decisions with so much instinct that it’s not about how I make the decision, it’s more about giving myself enough time to make the decision. So it’s like, once I sit down and really think or write out whatever the scenario is, and then I have to give myself maybe 3 days to a week, and it’s almost like the sand in a what’s the time thing that you flip upside down? That princess Jasmine was stuck in. Hourglass. That sand in the hourglass, and you’ve gotta give it enough time for whichever side to get enough sand so that I just feel like I know what the next decision is. And I I wouldn’t have said I made really instinctual decisions until I sat down to think about it like this.

40:35 Sarah –I have a question for you kinda based on that. I tend to work with people who, for whatever reason, aren’t really sensitive to what their gut is saying or their instinct, and they’ve learned to push down any of that, and really only evaluate things on the surface and look at the pros and cons. Have you found that to be the case as well, or how do you help people kinda get more sensitive to the weight of things instead of just what looks right or what adds up?

Ed– Yeah. I and I have. And I think many people are that way. I agree, not just your people, like, people I work with too, and what I have them do is I can’t do that work for them. And I’ll send them off with some journaling prompts, some questions to ponder. I encourage them to write about it, but they need you to unpack it. Yeah. Right? I mean, because I can, I may know the answer based on everything I know about you, but now it’s me? I’m now taking ownership of it, and now I’m giving you answers.

43:15 Sarah– I’m curious, because you’re just sitting on, like, a mountain of having helped thousands of people do this. I’m really curious, like, the secrets you can offer people About freelancing and, like, what they learn when they coach with you and stuff. So the way I frame that is if you had to think of one thing that most people do that’s preventing them from achieving whatever their goals are with freelancing. Mhmm. What comes to mind for you? What’s kind of a common denominator with obstacles?

Ed– I would say it would have to be fear. I would have…it would have to be fear because everything comes back to that, doesn’t it? You know? It could be self imposed limitations, limiting beliefs. It could be any of those things, but they all point to… they all point to fear. I mean, what do you think?

48:28 Sarah– The question is, who do you think you are telling people that the obstacle is the way? Now, I have come around to this, obviously. It’s true. But I’m really interested in how you compassionately apply this idea that the obstacle is the way and that bad things can ultimately be good things, 2 people that you’re working with. And I think I’m coming at it from the experience of, like, a really rough time with parenting, Some wild chronic health stuff that in my wildest imagination couldn’t have anticipated. But somehow, you made it okay for me to look for the positives in all of these horrendous things, and I just can’t help but think that that might be awkward sometimes When you are in a position to tell people, like, maybe this is a good thing. Let’s look for the good things that are happening. So how do you do that?

Ed– It’s a great question. The first thing is I believe that you don’t have to have had those same experiences as somebody who’s going through them right now, in order to be compassionate, in order to be credible, you know, with your guidance and advice. That’s the first thing. Because if I have to have experienced every single thing, that’s gonna limit the universe of people I can work with to a very small group. Does it help to have experienced, you know, some of that. Yeah. It certainly does. And many times, I can commiserate.

55:14 Ed– It’s been fun. What is a pet peeve of yours, when it comes to the freelance industry or coaching freelancers or, you know, coaching in this industry?

Sarah– I have a lot of mild takes that I share on LinkedIn. So I’ll try to skip the ones I’ve shared before. And I think, this one, I actually fell into it myself before I was coaching, I think, before I was a coach to people. And I think it’s thinking that what you need is an answer when in fact, what you need is, like, that perspective in that relationship from somebody. Because the answers are like, the Internet is just literally exploding with answers constantly, so you can find the answer to pretty much any question that you have. But knowing when to apply it or when it’s relevant or when to push on it versus letting someone rest and just absorb what’s happening in their lives, That’s why I don’t think googling or the DIY path is ever really gonna be a threat to coaching.

01:01:34 Ed– So let’s talk a little bit about what you wish more people understood about what it’s like to be a coach.

Sarah- Well, you already took my answer before so… We probably shoulda compared notes, but It absolutely kills me when people come to a call or even wanna reschedule a call because they’re feeling guilty, and they haven’t done anything or made any progress. That just kills me. So I-I want everyone to know that, at least with me, I feel like with all coaches, when you’re getting together, it’s really not about going down the checklist of what you have and haven’t done and grading you on that and deciding in my mind if you’re a failure or a winner or, like, whatever is happening in your head. It’s really just about being in a relationship with you and figuring out if we haven’t made progress. Could there be any blocks that are happening that we can address versus, like, actual life mayhem that happens to everyone?

01:08:43 Ed– And when there’s a high degree of emotion, the lesson sticks. Okay? So sounding board, brainstorming buddy. Right? It’s having that pal, that partner, that thought partner, problem solving, all those things. So that’s the collaboration. The 3rd c is contemplation, creating space for self discovery, to meet yourself differently. You know? A good coach will provide that kind of space for you. So you can ask yourself a different set of questions. Think a little differently.

01:14:13 Sarah– What song or songs are on your regular playlist that you’re embarrassed to admit to?

Ed– Alright. So you’re not gonna be embarrassed. You’re gonna be happy, but I’m embarrassed to admit this. Taylor Swift, 2 songs, Delicate and a remix of Lavender Haze. It’s just a dance remix of Lavender Haze. They’re both fantastic.

01:20:28 Ed– Last rapid fire. What do most people… let’s flip it. What do most people think is overrated that you love?

Sarah– Now this one, I have a good, silly answer, and that is pens, Because I have become obsessed with fountain pens, and I am now a collector. And, yes, they’re all the same. And, yes, they all write just as well as the other ones. But, yes, I need 20 of them.

01:24:26 Ed– So I want everyone to know that, you know, just because we’re coaching others doesn’t mean that, you know, we don’t face challenges. We certainly do.

Sarah– Yeah. And that does come full circle a little bit because the obstacle is the way stuff. I think the time I started making the most progress was that Was right after I started coaching, and I would talk with people who were going through maybe just some really trying devastating personal stuff. And it’s like, when I took a call like that, and let’s say, you know, just something happened in the person’s personal life and, My ability to empathize with that and and understand and really be there for them because I had gone through the same absolutely crappy kinds of things, I think that’s when it started to really become true that I could see like, it was good that I went through that even though I was a wreck at time. Because now I can be there for this person in this really special way. And I think before, maybe that would have sounded kind of hokey and dumb. But in that moment, it felt like magic that I could really be there for them.

01:29:20 Ed-I had to start all over. I-you need to understand that most of my business operations, I don’t know how to run. Done a lot of things wrong, but one thing I feel like I’ve done really well is understand and admit where I have strengths and where I have weaknesses, and then find people who can fill in roles and functions that I don’t do well. And Crystal filled so much of this for me for a long, long time. So when she left abruptly,I I only had 1 other person on the team, and she did an amazing job, Ashley. But, you know, she wasn’t Crystal and that she wasn’t privy to, a lot of the behind the scenes stuff, a lot of the more tactical and technical aspects of the business, but she stepped in, and she was amazing. But it was clear that, you know, that her role was not going to be to take over Crystal’s job. So I had to start all over finding a new operations manager to run business operations for me.

01:34:46 Ed–I credit a lot of just kinda getting through this to the work that I did with my coach and mentor, Peleg Top, last year, which I’ve mentioned here in the interview with Sarah. It’s no coincidence, I feel, that a few months before the, 2023 started, so this is must have been around November, December 2022, I committed to working with Peleg on a very intense 100 day program that was gonna start in late January of 2023, and it’s a program that happened to start right when things were blowing up all around me in my business. And I’ve I’ve I credit the deep work that Peleg and I did over those 100 days to helping me weather that storm. The other thing is that good financial discipline over the past few years enabled me to get through it again from a financial standpoint. And I’m proud of the fact that we’re now in a really good position to stabilize the business and grow from here. We have some exciting plans for this year, including some new offerings we’re gonna be testing. I have no idea how they’re gonna work, but I’m excited to start testing new things. It’s been a while since I’ve tested some new and exciting offers.

01:38:03 Ed– My audience grows every month, gradually, not not by very much, every month. But I’ve come up with some new ideas that I-I feel are gonna make a big difference, and I’m gonna be purposefully, mindfully working on growing the audience. So why am I telling all, hopefully, I haven’t bored you to death by now, but I want you to know that last year was a crappy year for me in many ways just like it was for a lot of people in my audience, maybe even for you. And I don’t think I did a very good job of expressing that in today’s episode. So I-I wanted to just come clean and just be completely transparent with you and just share some of these struggles and what happened and what I did about it and the fact that, hey. It wasn’t all pretty. I-I-I-I wish I could tell you that I did swimming, but I I did not. There are many weeks where I really struggled with as and there were days when I thought, what’s the point of doing all this? I should just shut this thing down and go do something else. And that happens. I-I-I don’t think I think if you don’t experience that every once in a while, you don’t have enough challenges in your business or your life. So, looking back, I’m-I’m-I’m glad I’m glad I had the obstacles. And I want you to know too that I have a lot of empathy for freelancers who have struggled and found themselves in a difficult situation, especially over the past year. You know, you have taken a chance going out on your own. You take the hits every day. You have way more on your shoulders than your traditionally employed colleagues because it’s all on you. You know? By default, anyone who’s traditionally employed has others.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Get my Business-Building Toolkit.

3. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

4. Work with me privately.

The post #340: Ed Gandia and Sarah Greesonbach Get Raw and Real About Their Inner Battles, Fears, Aspirations—and What It’s Like to Be a Coach appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#339: How to Identify the Best Services to Offer Your Market in 2024

Ed Gandia — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 04:59:56 +0000

2023 has not been a great year for many writers and solo marketing professionals.

And when business is not great, one of the first things we ask ourselves is, Should I change or modify my offerings? Will that make a difference?

It’s a great question to ask yourself. But it’s important that you go about your decision in a more methodical way. So rather than just go with your gut, you’ll make better decisions if you take a more analytical approach to this challenge.

In this episode, we’re addressing this question head on. My guest is Nikki Rausch. Nikki is a selling coach and the CEO of Sales Maven. She has over 25 years of selling experience. And her specialty is helping entrepreneurs, small business owners ?and solo professionals sell successfully and authentically.

This is Nikki’s third appearance in the podcast. She and I are very well aligned in our marketing and sales philosophies, and I love having these important conversations with her. I always walk away with a bit more wisdom and lots of new ideas to think about and implement.

We not only address the issue of service offerings in this conversation, we also get into the importance of lifetime client value, tracking and doubling down on your best marketing strategies, and the biggest mistakes solo professionals make in their sales process when they’re facing a difficult economy.

I hope you enjoy our conversation!

Key Topics and Bullets:

Evaluating Existing Offers
Proactive Client Outreach
Understanding cognitive bias in business
Offering Value to Clients
Avoiding Assumptions and Gather Factual Information
Sales Maven Studio Launch
Cognitive Bias and Gratitude
Mistakes Solo Professionals Make in Selling
Nurturing Relationships and Staying in Touch
Analyzing Revenue and Understanding Client Needs
Advising a client to reach out to past buyers
The importance of testing offers before investing

Timestamp Overview:

04:46 Nikki– We should be looking at the $200,000 offer and how to grow that because it’s always easier to sell those things when you have momentum, And you obviously have momentum in your business. So I think you gotta look at your offers by category and go, what’s moving the needle in my business? And that’s where you should start to spend some time and energy. And then the next piece of this I’ll add is I think you should look and see who has been your top like, who in the last 10 buyers of that offer, where did they come from? And track back where they came from, because I always say, like, you wanna pour gasoline on the fire. Right? Like, we gotta build that bigger fire if you really wanna scale your business instead of trying to grow these tiny little offers.

10:16 Ed– So now that we know this is what we should be looking at, What, what other analysis or decisions are you making from that?

Nikki– So a couple other things that I’m thinking about are those top tier offers, does it make sense? And when I say top tier, I don’t mean, like, your I mean, like, the ones that are bringing in the most revenue. Like, your top categories of sales. Does it make sense to re-offer those to people who’ve already gone through it? And and I would I would really challenge those of you who are immediately dismissing what I’m saying to take a step back because I do this a lot of clients and they go, Oh, well, somebody already went through the program. They don’t wanna go through it again. Are you sure, or are you making that decision for them? Have you asked? Have you put an offer in front of them?

12:11 Nikki– And I had a client who has a group, like a group program that she puts on, and it’s pretty intensive. It’s a 3 month program for people. We were having conversations about growing her business, and I was like, how many people are doing a repeat of your 3 months? And she’s like, what do you mean repeat? And I was like, well, you know, you’re offering them to come back through. She’s like, I’ve never offered anybody to come back through. I’m like, why not? She’s like, well, they already got the information. Well, did they absorb it 100%? Are you sure that they wouldn’t find value in going back through the program? And she was like It was like a light bulb came on. She was like, I never thought about that.

17:17 Nikki– Has anything changed? Do you have a new offer? Has something in your bio changed? Do you need a new bio? Like, there’s all these things. And, you know, even speaking to case studies, I just had this conversation with a client who I was actually reviewing her case study for, an offer, right, that’s attached to an offer that she’s putting out. And I had made a comment about that one of the kinds of pieces of the case study that I thought needed to be a little bit stronger. And she was like, that’s so interesting you said that because things have changed with this client. They actually have had some updated results come in, and I can go back to them now and get these updated results, which will put a much stronger, like, more compelling, example of a case study to her offer. So maybe the case studies need to be updated too. Right? Like, again, don’t make these assumptions about what a client needs or doesn’t need, make the assumption that they’ll be happy to hear from you. And all you’re doing is just offering to be a resource, offering your and if they don’t need it, okay.

21:28 Nikki– It comes down to okay. So I’ll give you a little analogy and you… I may have even given this on the podcast before. It’s this idea of imagining that you go out and you have a really satisfying meal. And, the wait staff, you know, your waiter comes by and just drops the bill on your table. And you kinda think to yourself like, okay. I guess I’m not gonna even be offered dessert. Now whether you want dessert or not, it feels a little bit like a slight. Like, I feel a little slighted a little bit by or slightly slighted by the fact that they didn’t offer me dessert. Now on the flip side, though, the waiter comes by and they offer you dessert. And you say, oh, thank you so much, but I couldn’t possibly. I’m so satisfied. I’m so full. I’m gonna pass tonight. You know? The waiter doesn’t go back in the kitchen and be like, oh my gosh. You know, this person rejected me. They declined dessert. But from the perspective, you feel good that they at least offered it to you because there’s a little bit of an expectation that, of course, they’re gonna offer you dessert. That’s part of their job, frankly. And your job is to earn somebody’s business. So it is part of your job to touch base and reach back and put a new offer in front of somebody from time to time. And they can decide whether or not they wanna stay on your email list, Whether or not they wanna respond to your reach out, like, they’re adults. They get to decide.

24:49 Ed- I think the important thing here is to think, okay. I’m gonna put myself in their shoes. If I were the marketing director, it’s been 8 months since we did those case studies, and I know that they do quite a bit of business. I bet they’ve had some successes over the past 8 months, but they maybe wanna document. So you reach out and say, that’s the justification. I know it’s been about 8 months or so, and I figured you may have some new stories that you wanna document. Would it make sense for us to reconnect to discuss something like that. I mean, that’s better than not asking, I guess. But it does. What I’m saying is it doesn’t take much to provide a little bit of justification. Justification goes a long way, even if it’s very basic and simple.

Nikki– And it should be basic and simple. You know, I learned this lesson years ago. When I was in my corporate sales job, I had this one account. And the VP of the company, he had this thing. Like, if he saw you in their office, like so I was going out and, you know, working with his salespeople. So a lot of times I was in his office, you know, getting ready to do a ride day with 1 of his sales or whatever. And he would come around and he’d be like, why are you here? And you always had to have a legitimate reason because he didn’t want vendors you know, the manufacturer, which I came from, is the manufacturer side. He didn’t want manufacturer reps just hanging out in their office.

28:29 Nikki– There’s a reason that this is a common phrase when it comes to sales. Repeat business is the easiest business to earn. Like, that gets said all the time in the sales world. Repeat business is the easiest business to earn. And so I often find that sometimes we just not not we, not you and me, but, like, because we know this. But a lot of times people just dismiss This idea of, like, well, they already bought from me.

29:49 Ed– I’m a big proponent. I call it lead nurturing, but it’s really not just lead nurturing. It’s really nurturing all your relationships, especially your… relationships. Right? Past and dormant clients, peers, partners or potential partners, referral sources, anybody. Get them to stay in touch. I’m gonna use the word sequence, but it doesn’t mean you automate it. It just means that you make sure that you’re staying in touch every so many months With just a quick note of, hey, my preferred way is don’t ask something of them every time.I like the 2 to 1 ratio. Two notes of I came across this thought of you. Hope you’re well. 2 of those about 8 weeks apart and then a third one, which is, hey. You know, we did these case studies a few months ago. I’m sure you’ve had some new ones, right? Would you be open to a discussion about doing a couple more? Right. But you’ve made…I love that analogy of the deposits because that’s exactly what you’re doing. You’re making deposits into that rapporte bank account.

34:13 Ed– I wanna shift a little bit here, Nikki, to a related topic, and that is mistakes that you’re seeing solo professionals make In the selling process, let’s just call it, during times that are more challenging than normal, Like, what we’ve been facing over the past year or so. Right? So what are some things you’re noticing that people tend to start doing that are not serving them when the pressure’s on, and what can they do about it?

Nikki– We’ll see if I you know, the first one that came to mind just when you asked me this question. I’m just gonna say it. And if you’re like, that’s not what I wanna talk about, I’m okay with that. But here’s one of them is that when the pressure’s on, the mistake I think people make is they go, Well, I’m just gonna launch a high ticket group program and because that’ll solve all of my problems. And in some cases, it might. But oftentimes, the people that come to me and they’re like, I just want you to help me kinda outline this group program. And I go, Okay. Do you have an audience for the group program? Do you have people that you are pretty sure are gonna wanna sign up for this? Well, no. I’ve never offered a group program before. Well, how’s your email list? What email list? How often do you sell to your email list? What? I don’t. It’s like, You’re gonna have a really hard time filling a group program if you don’t have an audience. Like, that’s not the solution. Often, it’s not the solution.

37:14 Nikki- Test an offer. As a solo offer And see if 1 person will buy it to validate the offer. Because if you put out an offer and it just doesn’t matter when they sign up for it. You can start immediately. You don’t have to wait to fill the program and all these things that go along with it. And you don’t have to update your website and, you know, Make all these changes and put all this money behind a big launch. You can test an offer first and foremost and see, is this a valid offer? Does anybody wanna buy it?

40:00 Nikki– And will they pay for it? Because that’s the other thing. Like, maybe, you know, like, oh, everybody loves this offer because you’ve been giving it away for free. Now you wanna charge for it. We don’t actually know if it’s a viable offer yet. Because if you gave it away for free to a bunch of people and everybody signed up, we need to know will people actually pay money for it and you need to test it before you build a bunch of strategies around it. So, yeah, I love this idea of, like, just test and see what, what’s the response?

42:58 Ed– Is there anything else you’re seeing out there from a selling perspective that when the pressure’s on, people continue to make, you know, the or or making these mistakes. What else comes to mind?

Nikki– A lot of it kinda comes back to they start making assumptions. Oh, people aren’t buying it because they think it’s too expensive. Has anybody said that? And when they say too expensive, what does that mean? Right? Like, there’s a lot of ways to make assumptions. And it’s kind of it’s human nature a little bit to and especially when it comes to sales. As I always say, like, we do 2 things In sales, we assume what the other person thinks about our offer, and then we hallucinate and decide for them whether or not they’ll pay for it. But in actuality, we don’t actually know until we ask questions. So I know I had a client where I had one of the things I advise is to put some pricing on your website. I’m a big proponent of this.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Get my Business-Building Toolkit.

3. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

4. Work with me privately.

The post #339: How to Identify the Best Services to Offer Your Market in 2024 appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#338: 4 Ways to Earn More in Less Time

Ed Gandia — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 04:59:04 +0000

Freelancing is both a blessing and a curse.

It’s a blessing because you’re in charge. You call the shots — not some overpaid and incompetent boss who has no business managing people.

But freelancing is also a curse … because you’re on your own. Which means that you have to wear all the hats. And when you’re pulled in so many directions, your income can suffer.

Fortunately, there are things you can do to help offset this. And one of the most important is to lower your cost of project acquisition.

When you lower the cost and effort required to land that next project, you can spend more time on billable activities and less time wearing all those other hats I mentioned earlier.

Or less time doing client work and more with your family or working on interesting personal projects—without negatively impacting your income.

How can you do that? That’s the topic of this week’s short podcast episode, where I walk you through 4 specific and practical ideas for earning more in less time.

Enjoy!

Key Topics and Bullets:

Freelancing as both a blessing and a curse
Importance of lowering the time, effort, and cost required to land a new project
Spending more time on billable activities by reducing the cost of project acquisition
Look for larger clients with bigger and recurring needs
Actively seek referrals from good clients, partners, friends, colleagues, and potential referral sources
Entrench yourself in the client’s organization and become more than an order taker
Implement a formal lead nurturing process for prospects who are not ready to hire now
Onboarding a client takes time and effort
Larger clients with more recurring needs help amortize fixed onboarding costs
Prospects who are referred are 10 times easier to convert to clients
Becoming someone who regularly brings ideas to the table
The importance of staying in touch with qualified leads over 18 to 24 months

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Get my Business-Building Toolkit.

3. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

4. Work with me privately.

The post #338: 4 Ways to Earn More in Less Time appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#337: Austin L. Church on Money Mindset, Living Well and Using Pricing as a Key Lever for Financial Prosperity as a Freelance Professional

Ed Gandia — Wed, 17 Jan 2024 15:45:04 +0000

We truly don’t talk enough about money and prosperity in the freelancing community. And that’s too bad, because the more we talk about this issue in positive and productive ways, the greater the chances our businesses will succeed.

I mean… imagine companies like Microsoft, Apple, Walmart or Ford Motor Company ignoring money discussions and decisions. It would spell disaster!

Many solo professionals avoid the topic because they were raised to believe that money is a taboo topic. Or because of other long-held beliefs about money that no longer serve them (and perhaps never have).

Or because they’re overwhelmed and not sure where or how to even start to address the issue of earning more (and more consistently), keeping more of what they earn, and giving more to causes they care about.

In this week’s episode, I’m joined by my good friend Austin L. Church, founder of FreelanceCake.com, a freelance marketing strategist and copywriter, and author of the brand new book, Free Money: 9 Counterintuitive Moves for Life-changing Freelance Income.

We dive deep into the topic of financial prosperity and how to achieve it. Among other things, we discuss:

Where our beliefs about money come from

Why most of them don’t serve us

How we can achieve real and lasting financial success as self-employed professionals

Why our pricing is a key lever to getting there

Why reaching financial prosperity is about much more than just making more money

Austin’s thoughts about the future of freelancing

The episode is packed with useful ideas and powerful reframing. I think you’ll really enjoy it.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Austin Church’s career background and emphasis on the need for financial literacy and strategic pricing
Personal experiences of blindly setting prices and facing tax issues
Discussion on the negative reinforcement faced by artists aiming to make money from their talent
Emphasis on pricing and understanding survival and dream rates in freelance work
Recommendations for accounting for potential setbacks with a 20% buffer in pricing
References to relevant books as resources for freelancers
Societal silence and shame surrounding open discussions about money
Influence of cultural attitudes and axioms on beliefs about money
Role of AI tools like chat GPT in ideation
The value of human interaction and discernment
The future of freelance creative services and the importance of mastering tools
Impact of negative feedback loops around pricing
Embracing conversations about price changes as part of the negotiation process
Required skill sets for managing money and the importance of acquiring these skills
Reevaluating the mindset of working hard for what is deserved and misconceptions about money

Timestamp Overview:

06:38 Austin– So we live in a modern society where money is required to live, we cannot barter. And most of us make it to adulthood with very little education in financial literacy. And then when you become an entrepreneur, whether you meant to or not, because you’re a freelancer or consultant, well, by default, you’re a small business owner, and you may also be very entrepreneurial. Well, you suddenly find yourself with this business model, but not necessarily having this core competency with pricing. Like, none of us Ever has a class on how to make money as a writer. Right? You may take creative writing courses, or you may take a class in, Like, African literature or Shakespeare or whatever. But where is the class on well, here’s how you price A creative project that involves writing.

12:55 Ed– It’s like being a really good CFO, chief financial officer for your business is, is one of the most important things you could ever do. But I find that a lot of creatives, especially writers, don’t, like, they’re not really…they’re not really interested. Everyone wants to know, okay, how to do okay. Great. How do I land more clients? You know? Do you find the same thing?

Austin- Oh, 100%. Yeah. And I like, there’s a whole chapter in the book devoted to how Oh, we form beliefs about money, and it just makes a simple observation that we can’t outperform our beliefs. And, also, I delve into why is there this sort of gag order around talking openly about money? A lot of us grew up in households where money wasn’t talked about openly. And when it is, those conversations are charged with fear, anxiety or embarrassment. So a lot of us come into adulthood with these backpacks full of heavy beliefs, And we don’t even understand that other people are telling themselves an entirely different story that empowers them to go make whatever money they want to make. And here’s the thing, a lot of us Would love to give away more money. We would love to be more generous.

19:11 Ed– You’re shining a spotlight on this. Do you have a practical tool or tactic that could help people Kind of unpack the way they were brought up to think about money. Just so it’s, you know, So it’s not kind of this ugly thing, and now I recognize it. But because I feel like if you don’t address it, Austin, it will keep coming up. You know what I’m saying? Like, recognizing it is one thing, which is good. That’s positive momentum. But, how do you find a tool, a tactic, you know, some kind of journal prompt to start unpacking it that could help someone kinda start recognizing how they thought about this for a long time.

Austin– Great question. So you mentioned journaling. One of the journaling prompts is, what do I believe about money? The next one is, What experiences and moments produced those beliefs? Can I trace them back? Right? So I’ll tell one very quick story. I won’t push any one of my family under the bus, But I was listening to a couple of members of my family, discuss family, friends, and say, quote, what they waste each year, we could live on, End quote. And that shaped me. I mean, maybe I was 8. Maybe I was 9. I did not even realize that I was through osmosis taking this in.

25:53 Ed– And this is why people who win, you know, the lotto, I think only 11% Still have wealth after 20 or 30 years. 89% lose it. And that’s because these are people who didn’t. They, you know, hadn’t grown inside to match that level of financial wealth.

Austin– And then meanwhile I go into this quite a bit in the book where I just kind of break down the 3 different skills. Like we have 3 different skill sets, I should say. You have the set of skills that help you make money. You have the set of skills that helps you manage and keep money. And then there’s a set of skills required to grow money. So they make, keep, grow, all 3 of those distinct skill sets. If you’re one of those people who wants more money and yet you aren’t able to quite admit that to yourself or to other people, Well, you’re not gonna go acquire any of those 3 skill sets. Meanwhile, you have people out there who make less money than you do, who are growing the money they do have because they gained some financial literacy.

31:56 Austin– I came out of a master’s program in creative writing, thinking that I was, like, bastardizing my talent if I used it to make money. That, like, I needed to be, Like, committed to pure artistic expression, and that I was gonna compromise my artistic integrity if I use my writing skills in service of mammon. You know? To, like, oh, perish the thought that I would actually go into the business world. I dismantle that whole idea of art versus, like, the dichotomy of art versus commerce in the book, because it’s, first of all, totally bogus. But second of all, if you were to unpeel A lot of that stuff that, you know, other people have put on you, do you truly, truly believe that if something makes money, Then that makes it less artistic. Anyway, we can move on, but I’m just like, this is complex. It’s emotional. It’s highly personal.

34:31 Ed– Maybe get you know, maybe you can share a couple of tactics or ideas with us, from a pricing standpoint just so folks can understand how you can positively impact your income just by focusing on pricing.

Austin– So I love that you chose this word lever because I 100% think that pricing is a lever that you can pull and it’s like it’s a force multiplier. It gives you better results with relatively little effort. So I mentioned earlier that I think people should start in terms of tactics with knowing what they need to make across the year, that survival number. Also think you need to have a realistic Idea of how many weeks in the year you expect to work, how many hours in a week you expect to work, And how many of those hours you can realistically expect to bill to clients? Because we’re not all gonna bill 50 hours every single week or even 40 or even 30. And I just don’t think it’s realistic to base your prices on A 40 hour work week with, like, 90% of those hours going like, you’re passing that cost onto the client. Right? You’re billing clients for those hours. You have to start with honest numbers. And for me, those honest numbers are like In an average week, I might be able to bill a client for between, like, 18 and 28.

39:45 Austin– If you don’t know what your dream rate is, then you can’t use your dream rate to calculate your prices. But a couple more tactics. And then Ed, I’m sure you’ve got some ideas. I call it pessimistic pricing. Don’t ever set a price that assumes the client will be on their best behavior during the project. I mentioned how financially, like, nothing is more predictable than curve balls. Well, like, how many of your projects have ever gone exactly as planned? Like and yet, when it comes time to see… 1 out of 100. Right? It’s like 0.001%. So Pessimistic pricing is like, okay. Fine. My prices will assume that my clients will be on their worst behavior, not because they’re bad people, but because life happens, and the client goes dark mid project, then 3 weeks later, they come back, and it takes you an hour to refamiliarize yourself with the project. You wouldn’t have lost that hour If they had just given you feedback when you first asked for it, like, this stuff happens. So build a buffer of at least 20% extra into your price.

46:34 Ed– It’s like we sold a deal, and then the delivery team implements the software. It’s up to them. You deal with that, you know? And it wasn’t that way, but of course I cared, But future Ed has now gotta do the work. Charge a fee or or run your number you’re thinking about quoting through the lens of future Ed, what would future Ed be grateful you charged? Okay? Or maybe another way to think about it is, In a week, when you’re neck deep in the project, will future Ed curse your name, Or will feature Ed wanna take you out for a beer?

Austin– One thing that I’ll throw in, like, a price that you quote is meant to start the conversation and not end it or continue the conversation and not end it. I think so many of us are so averse to negotiation that we will quote a lower price just to avoid pushback. Right? Because we’re so uncomfortable with it. It causes so much cognitive dissonance. One of my coaching clients, and he’s a writer, and I was coaching him through the process of putting together a content strategy proposal that was, I think, 3 x bigger than anything he had ever done before. And It was for an agency, and the agency came back. And the president of the agency was like, hey, I wanna hop on a call with you and talk to you about the price. And he was so nervous. And I said to my client, like, don’t be nervous. You’re already telling yourself a story about a conversation that hasn’t happened. This is an opportunity to learn. And how cool is it that if your price is way off, the president of an agency, like, treat this as a mentoring opportunity, whatever. Anyway, they hop on the call. It turns out their client had changed the budget. They had no issue with his price. They just needed him to find a different price because they didn’t have the budget they thought they were gonna get.

51:29 Ed– And the other thing I was gonna say is, because you’ve thrown some great imagery out there that I think will help people remember these things. I was taught years ago, never sell with your wallet. Something that sounds big to you. You know, if you were the buyer may sound,not just normal and reasonable to somebody else. In some cases, it even sounds too low. And it could even create doubt and fear. So don’t sell with your wallet. You know, don’t ask yourself, if I were in their shoes, what sounds too big? You’re not the one in their shoes.

Austin– If I forgot. I’m screwing up the quote, but it’s like, your price needs to make you laugh or crack a smile because it all, it seems borderline absurd. But it’s just such wise advice to say, don’t think you know what other people can afford.

56:13 Austin– You and I are both very gung ho about having an initial strategy, planning, or diagnostic offer. I also think there’s something to be said for learning about your other competencies, aptitudes, personality, and character traits. When people hire you, they are not buying your skills. They are not buying a whole person, but they are renting an entire mind and life with these diverse experiences. So, like, when people hire me, you know, they’re not paying x number of dollars an hour for my writing skills. Right? Because I can’t actually decouple those skills from all the unusual connections I’m able to make in my sense of humor, And my ability to break down complex ideas and make them easy to understand. Right? So I think the final thing is the writers who are gonna be not only competitive, but the writers who are gonna thrive are gonna be the ones who look beyond their skills and beyond high quality work and say, what are my other differentiators? I need to bake those into my positioning. And when people hire me, it’s because they want to hire Austin.

01:02:11 Austin– You can use ChatGPT for ideation, But it also makes sense to get really, really good as a facilitator in pulling stuff out of other people. If only so that you can then turn around and use the tools at your disposal to sharpen, improve, iterate them. You know? And you and I have had some, like, offline exchanges where we’re like, hey, check out this cool thing I just did with ChatGPT. So Maybe there’s something to be said for humility. Because if you have the humility, you’ll go use the tools to the best that they can be used. Again, I don’t think that you’ll use the tools effectively. But, and, you’ll do better work for your clients, and you won’t be threatened that you’re about to lose your job, so to speak, because you’re focused on the things that really only you can do.

Ed– I think And, you know, this is maybe not the best. Yeah. I think we are. This may not be the best analogy, but just, I hope everyone bears with me with this because I know this could be a sensitive issue. It’s almost like, you know, you can do a lot of self therapy by journaling and asking yourself some great questions, Just like you can get some great ideas by going to ChatGPT and giving it some good prompts, but you cannot do as good a job with therapy as you would with a good therapist. Yeah. It’s that interchange. Right? That dynamic experience.

01:05:44 Austin– Like, what is the money even for? Like, what do you want your life to look like? It gets into the money mindset. How do you make the unconscious conscious? Which limiting beliefs about money are most common to freelancers? And What are some alternate beliefs that may serve you better? Then I get into what I call vitamins, but it’s just how do you, like, what are the principles and best practices? How do you, like, negotiate and advocate effectively for your needs? Like, some people are just better at Winning bigger projects than others, let me give you some of those insights. And then the final chapter Is, actually, there’s an FAQ section where I’m like, I think people just need to get some questions answered in a very matter of fact way. So I did that. And then the final chapter I call it victory lap. It’s the pricing process again, but distilled way down because guess what? Over the course of your freelance career, you’re gonna change your prices multiple times. You don’t have to reread the whole book.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Get my Business-Building Toolkit.

3. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

4. Work with me privately.

The post #337: Austin L. Church on Money Mindset, Living Well and Using Pricing as a Key Lever for Financial Prosperity as a Freelance Professional appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

Running a Different Kind of Writing Business

Ed Gandia — Sun, 07 Jan 2024 15:58:05 +0000

There’s a story I’ve come across a few times, most recently in the excellent book Essentialism by Greg McKeown.

When Steve Jobs was looking for a logo for his company NeXT, he turned to renowned graphic designer Paul Rand—known for his work on the logos of IBM, UPS, Westinghouse and other famous brands.

The story goes that Jobs asked Rand to come up with a few options. But little did he know that Rand didn’t work that way. He told Jobs, “I’m not going to do that. I will solve your problem for you. And you will pay me. And you don’t have to use the solution. If you want options, go talk to other people. But I will solve the problem the best way I know how. And you use it or not. That’s up to you.”

Jobs ended up hiring Rand, who did indeed solve the problem by creating the perfect logo for NeXT.

There’s a very powerful lesson in this story.

When you know how and why you can help your clients solve their problems—when you know why you do what you do so well and why you want to do more of that (and less of the stuff that doesn’t allow you to leverage your true genius)—you need to stand your ground.

You need to have a set of standards and you need to communicate those standards, even when doing so puts you at risk of losing a prospect or a client.

Because every time you bend and every time you let a client cross a boundary that’s important to you, you lose something. You lose the respect of good clients. You start feeling like you’re not making the biggest contribution you could be making.

And little by little your confidence starts wearing down. Which impacts your performance. Which impacts your income. Which creates a vicious cycle of negative performance.

The lesson here is not necessarily to do or say exactly what Rand did in this situation. It’s not about that. It’s not about copying that script, because this is not a “technique.”

It’s a philosophy. A mindset. A way of making decisions based on a core set of values that you’ve chosen to live by.

The idea is to have a strong beacon to guide your decision-making—a model of how you need to think and act in order to grow and be happy in your business.

For example, say you no longer want to do one-off projects for new clients because you’re only interested in working with clients who are looking for a longer-term solution. If and when you come across someone who only wants help with one marketing piece and isn’t interested in more, that’s the time to stand your ground.

You can explain that you work a little differently from most other writers. You focus on clients that are looking for more of a longer-term content partner. That way you can help them get a significant return on their content marketing efforts.

Here’s another example. My friend and colleague Jennifer Goforth Gregory says something really powerful when she talks with a new prospect for the first time. Here she is describing what she does in her own words:

At the beginning of every potential client call, after the pleasantries and small talk, I say the following: ‘I’m at the point in my career where I can pick my clients so this meeting is really important to me to make sure that we are the right fit for each other.’

The whole tone of the meeting immediately shifts. The single sentence turns me from a freelancer looking for work to a successful business owner. And instead of the client interviewing me, we were now equals. And now I instantly raise my value to the client. Not only am I successful enough to be able to pick and choose, but I’m also confident enough in my abilities to take charge of the meeting.

It’s now a meeting, two professionals deciding if they are a fit to work together. It’s no longer an interview, but a conversation.

These are examples to get you thinking. You have to decide what’s right or wrong for you. And you need a way to think about and communicate this with clients … with confidence.

I love this story of Steve Jobs and Paul Rand (and Jennifer’s example!) because it’s a reminder that we ALL have the choice to work the way we want to work, at least to a greater extent than we are now. But we’re usually telling ourselves a different story.

A story of “can’t” and “shouldn’t.” A story that’s probably not serving us … or the client.

When you start thinking the way Paul Rand did, you start seeing possibilities for your business. You start getting clarity about where you need to go—where you need to start shifting.

And that will begin to drive your daily decisions and behavior. Which will generate better and better results for you.

By the way … whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.
It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Get my Business-Building Toolkit.
Too many freelancers lack a critical set of business skills that would enable them to earn more in less time doing work they love for better clients. I’ve taught these skills to my coaching clients for years. And now I’ve packaged it in a way that will enable you to start getting results FAST. — Learn More

3. Join my implementation program and be a case study.
I’m putting together a new implementation group this month. If you’re earning $5k+/month (or the part-time equivalent) from your freelance business … and you’d like to grow your income quickly with better clients … just hit reply and put “Case Study” in the subject line.

4. Work with me privately.
If you’re a 6-figure writer who’s trying to earn more in less time, with less stress, I might be able to help you get there faster than you think. Just hit reply, put “Breakthrough” in the subject line, and I’ll get back to you with more details.

The post Running a Different Kind of Writing Business appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#336: A Four-Phase Framework for Onboarding a Writer or Virtual Assistant

Ed Gandia — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 04:59:59 +0000

How do you feel about outsourcing some of your work?

Most writers I talk with are either completely against this idea. Or they tell me that they’ve tried it and it didn’t work out. Or that they like the concept, but it just wouldn’t work for them.

I get it. I used to feel the same way.

But there’s a big problem with that kind of thinking: it’s one-dimensional. It’s a “yes or no” thing. Purely binary.

I’ve seen enough successful outsourcing examples in the world of freelancing to know that there are many different ways of solving the problem.

And in this week’s short podcast episode, I walk through a four-phase framework for making it work.

Enjoy!

Key Topics and Bullets:

Challenges and resistance faced by writers when considering outsourcing
Benefits of keeping an open mind about outsourcing
The potential for earning more in less time through outsourcing
The benefits of a phased approach to outsourcing
Introduction to the 4-phase framework for onboarding a writer or virtual assistant
Giving context, instructions, and background information
Observing the writer in action through phone conversations, in-person meetings, or screencast videos
Starting to perform the task with guidance and feedback from the writer
Performing the task or function with minimal supervision or random quality checks
The time and commitment required for the entire onboarding process
Emphasizing the importance of patience and a long-term commitment from both parties
The realistic expectation of using 2 or 3 people before finding the right long-term resource

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Get my Business-Building Toolkit.

3. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

4. Work with me privately.

The post #336: A Four-Phase Framework for Onboarding a Writer or Virtual Assistant appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#335: Marjorie Turner Hollman’s Journey from Memoir Writer to Book Coach to Author of a Nonfiction Book Series

Ed Gandia — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 15:00:50 +0000

One of the most important capabilities you can develop as a self-employed professional is the ability to pivot and adapt as your business grows and your life situation evolves.

Not only is life full of surprises, but what worked for you 5 years ago may not be as palatable today. Whether it’s the types?of clients you work with, the type of work you, pursue or the side projects you take on.

Marjorie Turner Hollman is an excellent example of this. A long-time writer, Marjorie has faced a number of challenges in her life—including some physical disabilities—that have forced her to reinvent herself and what she offers.

Her work has evolved from freelance writer to personal historian to book coach for struggling authors to the author of a nonfiction book series.

There are many things I love about Marjorie’s story, but I find her resilience, resourcefulness and adaptability inspiring. And I think you will too.

The topic of accessibility and how we all use adaptive aids in everyday life is a concept Marjorie learned from Kam Redlawsk. She is a remarkable, articulate advocate for those with disabilities.

I hope you enjoy this conversation.

Marjorie’s website.

Marjorie’s Amazon author page.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Collaboration and impact on the writing community
Managing editing clients and coordinating projects
Specialization in memoirs and book coaching
Transition from personal historian to editor
Early challenges and adaptations in writing business
Financial challenges and pandemic complications
Adapting work to focus on online projects
Tips for finding potential clients and always having a backup digital recorder
Marketing to existing readers and collaboration with genealogists
Advocacy for disability normalization and spiritual aspects of her work
Marjorie’s website, private Facebook group, and community building around Easy Walk books

Timestamp Overview:

06:23 Marjorie– You had this audio webinar about writing opportunities out of the box. And so I just said, sure. You know, what have I got to lose but an hour to hear what you have to say? And one of those was talking about Jennifer Campbell. She has a book, How to Start Your Own Personal History book. And you put that out. And as it got described, it just hit me like a brick of, oh my goodness. This is what I’ve been needing to know about. I’d never heard of it. Within 2 weeks, I was at a personal history conference in Boston. I live south of Boston. Meeting people that I’m still friends with all these years later, is just right. The right time, I went into Boston, which was a big deal, and just started. It was really very life-changing. It taught me the whole realm of self-publishing, that whole world that I had never known. And it also got me connecting with other people, sharpening my skills for longer narratives. I’ve done 1,000, 2,000-word profiles. This was now 30,000 words that I was helping draw people out. And the basis of it is an interview. It’s as opposed to genealogy where you’re looking at all the dead facts of what people have done, it’s the stories of people who are still alive now before they’re lost, getting them documented, getting them readable, making them shareable.

Ed– So you find yourself at this conference. You realize that this is really what you were meant to do. You had kind of been going in that direction already.

09:29 Marjorie -Memoir has a lot of potholes in the road. When you start bringing other people into your story, they may not like to be brought in. And you have to be very mindful in how you do that. And I came across several where it became very problematic and kinda took the fun out of it for me. I found myself moving towards basically, people came to me who wanted to write their own book and needed support. And so just kind of by happenstance, they started coming to me and I said I really like this a lot more. It’s their book. I don’t have the headaches of it.

12:05 Ed– You said you live in a rural area, so I’m curious as to how much you felt that physical presence mattered because, I assume that a lot of these interviews are conducted over the phone anywhere, or do you find that, no, you have to be physically present there?

Marjorie– The pandemic has changed that. But for the most part, a lot of your clients as a personal historian are going to be older. And so even just handling what we’re doing now by Zoom is problematic. And so for a lot of potential clients, you really do have to be physically there in person. The pandemic made that much more difficult, and so people adapted some. But for me and my health challenges, I don’t travel easily. And so I really had confined myself to about an hour away from my home. So there are a number of clients that I turned down because I physically wasn’t able to get to them.

16:40 Ed– So would you say If you had you found something that works really well for where you are in life right now, limitations that you have and preferences. But if somebody were really intrigued by this idea of being a memoir writer or personal historian, what 2 or 3 things would you tell them that they really need to focus on in order to be successful?

Marjorie– One of the first things is, like I said, write a sample, find somebody who’s willing to get practiced on, get a very simple digital recorder. I was a newspaper reporter, so I wrote everything down. And this introduced me to recording a person’s voice. It’s different. You get a different quality. You also don’t miss things that you wish you’d gotten before. So just, relatively inexpensive.

19:18 Marjorie– So that’s I’m doing the, you know, doing the practice project, having something in hand, finding colleagues, getting some you know, don’t go and buy a whole recording studio. Start simple because you don’t know which direction you’re gonna end up. Most people have some specialties. And then just talk to people and find out what’s missing. People are, you know, what are you gonna be sorry for when it comes to by the time you’re at a funeral, it’s too late to get that person’s stories. So you look for the pain point and start practicing conversations with people, finding out what they do have, finding out what they wish they had, and what are they going to do to make that happen? It’s really a hard sell sometimes because for most of us, we don’t think about it until it’s too late. And so that’s, emphasizing that possibility of loss is a you know, from a marketing standpoint is really important, but people don’t like to think about loss. Sort of have to kinda push the engine a little bit and say, you know, you don’t wanna wait till the funeral to say, oh, I guess I wish.

22:31 Ed– So let’s now move into the area that you’ve transitioned to a little bit more because I’d like to learn a little bit more about what you’re doing. What do you call yourself today? Like, how do you refer to yourself?

Marjorie– Several different things. I call myself an editor now, which I never would have done when I was a reluctant writer. I’m not a I’m not a copy editor, meaning that editing level of of getting things so that they’re ready for a a proofreader. I know there’s copyediting that’s more commercial writing. They’re they’re kind of mixed terms. So I call myself a book coach, a a developmental editor which is looking at a story and saying, how are you gonna make this the most compelling that you can be? That’s where my storytelling skills kick in that that training in telling stories. I have a a strong sense of beginning, middle, and end, and how do you make things flow from 1 to the next to the next? So, so I’ve got a couple of different hats. They they all complement each other.

27:06 Ed– It could be, I have the idea, but, you know, I need some help Getting it out of me or they think they have it down. You just named an example where well, yeah, but they’re not very focused. It’s kind of all over the place. Or I have, you know, something workable, but it’s got issues. Right? So that’s where the developmental editing really comes into play.

Marjorie-I can’t think of an instance when somebody came to me just with a germ of an idea and said help me write this. I’m I’m trying to remember. I feel like I might have, but can’t think of it right now. Most of the people I can think of have written something but know that they need some help. Okay. They just you know, they they understand, but they’re not even sure, what to do. And so I basically will do a manuscript review and then go back and say, here’s what I’ve seen. Here’s what we can do if you’d like to work with me.

29:47 Ed– Why don’t you tell us about the Easy Walkbooks? Because I think it’s a fascinating story And, and really want to know where it’s taking you. Not just the books themselves, but the community that you’ve been able to build.

Marjorie– I was writing for a newspaper even as I was doing this personal history work, and I just get bored after a while. I’m an instigator. I’m not a sustainer. I like to get things started. And so I said to the editor, how about if I just talk, write about local trails that people might want to visit? We can just make it a series. And so I went out with my photographer and visited local trails that I knew of. And after about a year, so about 12, I finished that and said, you know, I’m ready to do something else.

31:18 Marjorie– And, you know, they kept finding my article. After about the 500th time somebody had asked, where’s Joe’s rock? I said, you know, I think there’s a need there. I don’t think people know where to go to get outside. And I mentioned this to my editor, and she said, do you really think there’s enough places to make a book? I said, well, why don’t I see if I can? This was not pre Internet, but very little was on the Internet. This was 2012. And so I’d already been learning about publishing and I had to go out and do fieldwork walking into conservation offices and saying, do you have any trails that might be enough for me to walk on there with my hiking poles? I don’t have real obvious paralysis, but I can only take easy walks. So I went out and did the field work. Some were one and done and didn’t get into the book.

38:04 Ed– I’m curious about how you balance your coaching business now with this other self publishing arm that you now have. Right? Because there are things to do there. It sounds like you don’t like to sit still, which is wonderful. But how do you find, how can you balance all of this when you’re excited about both of them?

Marjorie– For one thing, the collaboration has really freed me from the fieldwork, which is, yes, I enjoy doing it, but physically, it’s hard for me. So, it’s a burst of effort in discrete time. In my Milwaukee Book, they had a deadline that they wanted to get for a book launch. And so the week before, as we were going back and forth with edits, was pretty intense. And I I did spend quite a bit of time, but I was sort of between clients for the editing job. So that worked out. Right now, I have 3 different editing clients.

41:10 Marjorie– I would welcome more collaborators with the EasyWalks projects. It’s just fun. It isn’t tremendously lucrative for me at this point, because the people that do the field work deserve to get paid for their time. I’m basically writing contracts that make it so on I keep the online sales. And since they’re local, any marketing efforts are to their benefit for the physical books. So you know, I gave the copyright away for 1 nonprofit organization I worked with, and I’m really sorry I did because I no longer have the control to be able to order books when I do make local presentations. So for these others, even though they’re a long way from where I live, I wanna keep the copyright because it makes it a growing body of work that I have. I’m happy for them to get rewarded for their work, and I would welcome more of those, like I said, I’m negotiating with somebody in Detroit right now. Never been to Detroit either.

44:28 Ed– So, Marjorie, as we wrap up, I have a couple of questions for you. 1 is a bigger question and then an easy question for you. But I’m wondering as you reflect on the journey that you’ve taken, what impact do you hope you will have on the writing community and beyond that, particularly those with disabilities?

Marjorie– I did write a book specifically targeting those who live with a changed life. And that’s the more spiritual side of things. It’s my liturgy of easy walks. It’s a series of meditations about the process and the experience of dealing with loss, dealing with change, finding a way to create a new life that you never planned on. I have been told that that book has made a difference to some people.That means that means a lot. It’s not just that it’s my story, but people are able to see those core, life lessons in what I’m writing about. It’s not just me, me, me. Here’s my story. Here’s life lessons learned. Take what you can from them and leave the rest. So for that, I I feel very strongly I’ve become much more of a disability advocate. When I first started writing the easy walks books, I didn’t really acknowledge the disability. It was just a trail guide.

48:05 Ed– Marjorie, thank you for coming on today, for sharing your story, sharing your insights with us. I, I do want to just commend you for one thing, beyond everything that I’ve already said. You took action, took in what I like to call inspired action. You know? What is it? 12 years ago, you heard, read something I put out there. And, and that was a spark that took you on a very different path. And that might not seem like a big deal, but I can’t tell you how many people just hear something, get that nudge, they don’t act on it, And, things don’t get better. So I think you’re a beautiful example of someone who went ahead and they felt inspired. They didn’t wait.

Marjorie– You know, a lot of us, I don’t wanna keep you, but a lot of us have that inspiration to give people. And if we ever hear that somebody is inspired, we say, oh, wow. That was really something. And I say, well, it doesn’t take a lot, but it takes something.

49:30 Marjorie– And for those of you, those of us who offer that something, to see somebody take it and run with it really means a lot. So I have felt grateful that I could tell you that you did something. And that was what it took. So do something. You never know what’s gonna happen. I bet you didn’t have any idea that that was gonna happen.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

Grab a free copy of my book.
It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here
Join my implementation program and be a case study.
I’m putting together a new implementation group this month. If you’re earning $5k+/month (or the part-time equivalent) from your freelance business … and you’d like to grow your income quickly with better clients … just email me at ed@b2blauncher.com
Work with me privately.
If you’re a 6-figure writer who’s trying to earn more in less time, with less stress, I might be able to help you get there faster than you think. Just email me at ed@b2blauncher.com and put “Breakthrough” in the subject line, and I’ll get back to you with more details.

The post #335: Marjorie Turner Hollman’s Journey from Memoir Writer to Book Coach to Author of a Nonfiction Book Series appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#334: Is the Grass Actually Greener on the Other Side?

Ed Gandia — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 04:59:31 +0000

When your business gets really challenging, it’s very common to feel like you need to make a drastic move.

Like pivoting to a different target market. Or offering a totally different set of services. Or moving out of freelancing and into a traditional job.

These are very common feelings. And let me tell you … I feel this way at least two or three times a year.

Yes, I really do.

In today’s short episode I share my thoughts and reflections on this dilemma. Whether you’re happy where you are or you feel like a big change is in order, I think you’ll find it useful.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Feeling the urge to make a big change in your business
Considering leaving freelancing and getting a traditional job
Common and natural feelings experienced by many
The grass is greener where you water it
Believing that a full pivot is the answer is a cognitive trap
Making a big move takes more effort, time, and resources than anticipated
Greater risk and unknowns in starting from scratch somewhere else
Clear advantages of a new venture may not be as advantageous as thought
Making minor adjustments and refinements throughout the year is important
Building on current momentum is more beneficial than starting from scratch
Appreciating the current progress and results achieved
Gaining perspective after making a drastic change

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

Grab a free copy of my book.
It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here
Join my implementation program and be a case study.
I’m putting together a new implementation group this month. If you’re earning $5k+/month (or the part-time equivalent) from your freelance business … and you’d like to grow your income quickly with better clients … just email me at ed@b2blauncher.com
Work with me privately.
If you’re a 6-figure writer who’s trying to earn more in less time, with less stress, I might be able to help you get there faster than you think. Just email me at ed@b2blauncher.com and put “Breakthrough” in the subject line, and I’ll get back to you with more details.

The post #334: Is the Grass Actually Greener on the Other Side? appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#333: The 5 Biggest Mistakes Writers Make When They Edit

Ed Gandia — Wed, 22 Nov 2023 15:00:22 +0000

Earning more in less time is not just about getting higher fees for your work. It’s also about being more productive and approaching client projects more efficiently.

And a key part of writing productivity is effective editing.

Editing is one of the key phases of any writing assignment. Yet I find that most of us don’t have a step-by-step process for the editing phase. We tend to approach editing in a somewhat haphazard manner. And don’t always know when we’re truly done making the piece as good as it can be.

My guest today is writing coach Daphne Gray-Grant, author of Your Happy First Draft: A Practical and Painless Guide to Obliterating Writer’s Block. Daphne is no stranger to this podcast. She was one of my first guests on the show over 10 years ago, and she came on again in 2019 to discuss strategies for banishing writer’s block.

In this episode, Daphne shares the 5 biggest editing mistakes she sees writers make—and why avoiding them is so important. She shares some really practical strategies and tips for avoiding those mistakes and making your editing much stronger and effective.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Daphne Gray-Grant’s advice to shift focus from the content being edited by going for a walk or doing something different
Putting oneself in the shoes of the intended audience
Debating both sides of an argument to foster critical thinking
Daphne’s agreement with hiring an editor and suggestion of using software for editing
Common editing mistakes and the importance of having a checklist and standardized operating procedure (SOP)
Daphne’s course, Masterful Editing, teaching the steps of the editing process
Utilizing beta readers for valuable feedback on writing quality
The importance of establishing agreements and expectations with beta readers
Beta readers focusing on identifying problems rather than suggesting solutions
Using video apps like Loom for more efficient and effective feedback
Understanding the difference between developmental editing and copyediting
The most common mistake writers make by editing while they write
The importance of giving writing time to incubate before editing

Timestamped Overview:

[01:54] Ed– I think everyone that I talk to just kinda makes it up. They want to pretend they have a system Or some method, but they don’t. And I see the frustration. I know I see it in me. I guess before we get into the material, why don’t you give us a little bit of background, a little bit of the Daphne story just so people who don’t know you, know a little bit about Who you are, what you do, how you got here.

Daphne– Sure. Sure. So my background is from journalism. My parents had a struggling weekly newspaper, and I started working there at a very young age and gained all sorts of experience in writing and editing and managing. And from there, I went on to work for a large Metropolitan Daily Newspaper, And I was a senior editor there for 6 or 7 years, and then I went into management on the business side of the business And worked there for another 4 or 5 years or so, and then I left to have my children. I’m the mother of triplets, and so that was a big deal. And, I didn’t really want to go back to regular work after that, but I was Anxious to have something to do with my brain aside from, you know, holding crying babies, so I started my own business. And I started off by mainly writing and editing for clients, but one of the things I found was that I was one of those people who I was a born editor.

[06:44] Daphne– You’ve done the writing, for goodness sakes. What makes you think that you’re going to be able to put yourself in the mind’s eye of your readers. It’s very, very difficult. You know too much. You don’t know the questions that are gonna pop up in their mind’s eyes because you’re too close to the material. That proximity to what you’re writing about makes it a very, very difficult call for you to be a good editor. And then, of course, the other thing is that when you are editing, you’re really evaluating the quality of what you’ve done. And once you get into the game of judging your quality, that just shuts down the creative centers inside of our brain.

[08:53] Ed– Yes. And it needs incubation time, doesn’t it?

Daphne– It does need incubation time. So, as a kind of a minimum incubation period, I suggest 24 hours because if you edit sooner than that, you can probably recite some of your text back to yourself. That’s so top of mind. If you’re able to start reciting a text back to yourself, one of the things that’ll happen is you’ll miss some really obvious typos because our brains have this kind of autocorrect function in them, and they’re as annoying as our cell phones. They figure out what it is, we want to read, and that’s what we see. We don’t see the mistakes. So, I say 24 hours a minimum time. And for someone who’s working on a long form project like a dissertation or a book, I suggest 6 weeks. Now that usually makes people gasp or think I’m joking, but I’m not joking.

[10:53] Ed– Don’t even go back, you know, move on to chapter 2, etcetera, and then not, and I know we’re gonna talk about the process, but you’re suggesting don’t start editing at that point?

Daphne– What I would say, some people are all fired…eager to start editing. I’m not worried that way. I’m quite content to wait until I finish the book, then I’ll start editing it. But if you’ve got someone who’s really eager to start editing then I would say date your work when you’re writing it, and you can start editing once the material’s 6 weeks old. Now it may take some people more than 6 weeks to write a first chapter. And if that’s the case, then they can go back and start editing the beginning of the 1st chapter as soon as 6 weeks are up. So it’s a little more complicated in terms of managing your time if you do it that way.

[14:09] Ed– Right. Which is the biggest killer. Yeah. Okay. So, and I know I don’t wanna get in the weeds because this is what you teach, and the whole intention wasn’t for you to, you know, walk us down every single part of the process. But at a high level, what does a good process look like?

Daphne– Well, I’d say at a high level, the most important thing that I see people neglecting to pay enough Attention to is that there are fundamentally 2 primary, very different forms of editing. There is what’s called copyediting, sometimes called line editing, and that’s what people tend to think editing is. They don’t think it’s anything else. So copyediting or line editing is all about things like spelling and grammar and word choice, all these kinds of important but small, picky issues. They’re issues generally relating to rules, or to style, but they’re not relating to the content of what you’ve read. And what I found over the years is that many people, when they edit, neglect to address the content issues. They don’t ask themselves questions like, is this what my audience really needs to know? Have I made this interesting enough for my audience? Is everything in the right order? Have I left out any points that would be even more persuasive to my readers? Have I put in too many points? Is everything in the right order? So those content oriented questions, that’s called substantive or developmental editing. And many people just let that go by the boards, particularly the type of people who have left their writing to the last minute.

[16:56] Daphne– Another part of the reason for doing the substantive editing first is not just time management. It’s also that If you are able to take a break after writing, before editing, that is the time where you get the biggest benefit of that break, if you address the content right away because you don’t need to have taken a break to fix spelling mistakes or grammar mistakes or change words. You don’t need a break to deal with that stuff. But to direct the question, is this interesting enough? Have I hit all the main points? Is there anything I’ve left out here? You need some distance from the story, from the writing you’ve done to be able to address those questions. So what happens is once you start editing, you become really familiar with the story again. So that break you take, it has a limited shelf life because once you start reading and rereading the story again, you’re gonna become extra familiar with it right away. So you wanna take the full benefit you can from having taken that break to really address The substance, the content of what you’ve written, and to make sure that you’re presenting the information in a way that’s going to be interesting and useful enough to your readers.

[23:12] Daphne– Well, one of the things I found in, you know, more than 20 years of working with thousands of writers is that many people allow themselves to feel daunted by the task of editing? So it scares them. They think I don’t know how to do this. I don’t know how to make it better. I don’t know when it’s good enough. And I think the point I wanna make to anyone who feels that way Is that you need to understand that every professional writer feels that way all the time. No one is capable of saying whether their writing is any good ever. Even if you’ve taken 6 weeks, you’re still too close to it. The only way you can tell if your writing is good is to get feedback from an outside third party.

[25:08] Daphne– So don’t hold yourself up to some sort of impossible standard. Now one thing that gets some people, when I talk about professional editors, is to say, well, that’s great, but I can’t afford that. Well, if you can’t afford that, that’s fine. You can use beta readers. So these are people, colleagues, friends, coworkers who will read your work for you and respond to it not in the same way an editor would, but they can give you a sense about the quality. They can say, yes. I found this interesting, or, no, I didn’t, or I would have liked it if you told me a little bit more about x y zed rather than a b c. You know, you can get some outside feedback from them, but don’t expect that outside feedback to come from yourself because that’s an impossibility.

[29:10] Daphne– Then the other thing I’d say about beta readers is give them a test before you make any sort of permanent or long standing relationship with them. I have used 12 to 15 beta readers with both of my books, way more than I think was necessary, and I wouldn’t recommend anyone else use that many. But one of the things I found was that people fall into certain categories and not the categories you expect. So some people who I thought would give me really thoughtful and intelligent, substantive feedback gave me none of that, But they caught every freaking typo. It was like, woah. I wouldn’t have expected that from that person. So it is hard to predict what the nature of the comments are going to be from beta readers. So maybe try someone on a one off basis..

[31:25] Ed– I think that’s wonderful advice because if you’re gonna take the time and make commitments to them as well. Yes. Everyone should feel really good about it. I wanted to offer 1 little tip about how you can provide effective and efficient feedback. I love to use Loom, and I know that’s something, you know, you and I have used. So the Loom video app is a great way To, you know, basically, you share the document on the screen, you hit record, and you could walk through the areas where, you know, you see possibilities for improvement, things where you got stumped, etcetera. And it’s kinda like the comments feature, yes. But depending on how you process information and give prefer to give feedback, it’s very efficient way of giving it a 1st pass and talking about 1st impressions.

[35:39] Ed– It takes so much that that’s energy you can expend somewhere else. That takes up more energy than we realize, doesn’t it? You know? I call it tier 1 and tier 2. Right. It’s like support, customer support. They always have tier 1 and tier 2. That’s the least expensive. You know, it’s usually, unfortunately, online or the chat feature, you know, when you’re calling somewhere. But I love that idea because, if I can take that, that’s many times 50% of what I need to fix.

Daphne– Yes. Yes. It is. And, you know, most people find it kind of fun to be responding to software. It’s not as embarrassing as responding to a real live person who might be inclined to say something like, don’t you know you shouldn’t be using so much passive voice? I mean, most editors probably are foolish enough to say something like that, but you you end up feeling self criticized. But if it’s just from a computer, how can you feel criticized by a computer? So the computer tells you this, and you decide what you’re going to do about it. It’s a very easy way to dramatically improve the quality of your writing.

[38:09] Ed– Your brain’s kinda ready for a break. So you have a course on editing that recently came out. Tell us a little bit about that.

Daphne– So I have an online course called Masterful Editing, and it’s a 21 day program designed to teach people the individual steps that they need to go through as part of their own editing process. It’s, it’s taught in a very, what’s the word I want? I guess, controlled and slow, easy to digest way so that you can really learn the various steps you need to take. I don’t use 21 days to suggest, it should take a minimum of 21 days at anything. That’s not true. But I teach each step separately and so that people can really learn how to do it and feel confident in having those skills.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

Grab a free copy of my book.
It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. ? — Click Here
Join my implementation program and be a case study.
I’m putting together a new implementation group this month. If you’re earning $5k+/month (or the part-time equivalent) from your freelance business … and you’d like to grow your income quickly with better clients … just email me at ed@b2blauncher.com
Work with me privately.
If you’re a 6-figure writer who’s trying to earn more in less time, with less stress, I might be able to help you get there faster than you think. Just email me at ed@b2blauncher.com and put “Breakthrough” in the subject line, and I’ll get back to you with more details.

The post #333: The 5 Biggest Mistakes Writers Make When They Edit appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#332: Yes, You Should Raise Your Fees (Even in this Economy)

Ed Gandia — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 04:59:56 +0000

When we’re in a challenging economy, most of us operate from a place of fear.

And fear causes us to either keep our fees the same or to lower them.

But I have a different recommendation for you today. I’m going to challenge you to RAISE your fees—starting today!

Now, before you start thinking I’m crazy and out of touch, hear me out. Because there are many ways to do this wrong … and only a few ways to do it right.

The way most writers attempt to raise their fees is by going to existing clients and telling them that their fees are about to go up across the board.

And yes, if you do it that way, you probably won’t get very far. I’m not suggesting you completely avoid this approach. But I’m suggesting that this method has the most risk and the most limited upside.

You may get a few clients to agree to the increase. But it’s a very stressful process to go through. And frankly, there are much better ways.

What do I recommend instead? I’ll share my specific recommendations in today’s short episode below.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Alternative approaches with less risk and more upside
Challenge to raise fees by 10% to prospective clients
Consider increasing fees by 20%
Success rate of raising fees with prospects
Think of ancillary or related deliverables to offer clients
Offer bundled pricing instead of itemized list of deliverables
Increase fees by offering valuable add-ons
Profitability of bundled pricing
Offer advisory or strategy sessions to clients
Example: Brainstorming or project road mapping session
Charge for separate engagement or include in a bundle
Highlight the value of clarity provided to clients
Set a high internal hourly rate for advisory projects
These are three indirect approaches to raising fees in any environment.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

Grab a free copy of my book.
It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. ? — Click Here
Join my implementation program and be a case study.
I’m putting together a new implementation group this month. If you’re earning $5k+/month (or the part-time equivalent) from your freelance business … and you’d like to grow your income quickly with better clients … just email me at ed@b2blauncher.com
Work with me privately.
If you’re a 6-figure writer who’s trying to earn more in less time, with less stress, I might be able to help you get there faster than you think. Just email me at ed@b2blauncher.com and put “Breakthrough” in the subject line, and I’ll get back to you with more details.

The post #332: Yes, You Should Raise Your Fees (Even in this Economy) appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#331: Marketing Strategies of a Digital Nomad Ghostwriter Earning $750 per Hour

Ed Gandia — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 10:30:41 +0000

The real test of the strength of your own positioning, messaging and marketing is when the economy is challenging.

Not when clients are flush with cash and enjoying overinflated marketing budgets — as they were over the past three years.

That’s why it’s so important to continually improve your own marketing skills and habits. And that’s why the topic of marketing your business will be a recurring theme in this podcast and in my newsletter for the next few months.

Because, frankly, the past few years have made us soft. It was too easy to land work.

My guest in this week’s episode is Amy Suto, a freelance memoir ghostwriter and Amazon KDP publishing expert. What I find impressive about Amy’s business is that over the course of a few short years she’s been able to go from earning $30 an hour as a freelance writer to earning a whopping $750 an hour.

Not only that, but she’s continually booked solid at that rate. And she does this while spending a big part of the year traveling and working from beautiful locations all around the world.

It almost sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?

In this episode Amy explains where she started, how she got to her current level of success, what she does to continually attract her ideal clients, and how she can command these ultra-high-end rates.

(Hint: narrowing down your focus is a big part of her secret!)

We talk a lot about strategy, but we also get tactical. It’s a great conversation for any writer, regardless of where you are in your journey.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Starting the freelance journey during the pandemic
Benefits of being a digital nomad for writing and understanding clients
Choosing a niche to attract clients and position oneself as an expert
Building a blog with SEO to attract clients
Utilizing platforms like Upwork for exposure and client acquisition
Considering alternative platforms like Contra for fee-free options
Positioning oneself as a high-value expert
Capitalizing on the advantages freelancers have in providing attention to detail and care
Understanding where ideal clients spend their time digitally and physically
Importance of niche keywords for driving traffic and generating business
Demonstrating value and track record to justify higher rates
Dealing with backlash and proving worth over time
Enhancing understanding and discussing complex subjects face-to-face
Competitive advantage as a digital nomad in engaging with clients from different cultures
Range of project rates depending on scope and requirements

Timestamp Overview:

[00:01:22] Ed– And, you know, I see so many people who took their foot off the gas over the past years. Now they don’t have the the skills, the chops, and the muscle tissue to really, you know, be able to deal with the current reality. I mean, what’s your take on that?

Amy– Yeah. I think that that insight is so accurate in terms of it just felt like there was such a boost, especially when everyone was stuck At home and investing in their businesses and getting COVID stimulus packages, and everybody was just kind of ready to, you know, throw all this money at freelancers. And then when that started to wane and we started to kind of get into the times that we’re in, it’s definitely been, a a shift in the marketplace, but that doesn’t mean that there’s not A ton of great opportunities to really kind of find the clients that are your ideal clients, that are really excited to work with you and really excited to to kind of, like, engage with your services in but you just have to find them and then also speak their language and then also have them find you through different ways in terms of, like, SEO and And kind of creating these magnets to pull clients to you in a way that they’re just, like, really excited to work with you when they find you through these different channels.

[00:05:37] Ed– You said you know, you started a few years ago, and like many of us, You started really low, bargain basement level. So give us a little bit of context and a little bit of history.

Amy– Yeah. So I started freelancing around 7 years ago, and I was doing it just part-time on the side. I was actually trying to be a writer in Hollywood, and I was working minimum wage assisted jobs, working my way up the ladder, and I started moonlighting as a freelancer. And I started to see that my skills as a freelancer, were getting more in demand than my skills as a TV writer in Hollywood. And so I started ghostwriting memoirs and doing copy for different businesses and just really kind of Growing that slowly. And when the pandemic hit in 2020 and everything shut down, I was just like, you know what? I don’t think Hollywood is going to give me the kind of life that I want. Wanna travel. I wanna see the world. Quit Hollywood, full-time freelance, traveled, digital nomad, ghostwriting.

[00:09:57] Ed– Okay. So let me play devil’s advocate. Amy, that sounds great, but I don’t want to limit myself. Like, I’ve had other clients that I like too. And what if I narrow it down to a point where now nobody’s going to, You know, I’m gonna miss out on all these other opportunities. What would you say to that?

Amy– I think that if you if you had the choice to hire somebody to, let’s say, Pair your car. Do you wanna hire somebody who let’s say it’s a vintage car? Do you wanna hire somebody who’s, like, a pretty good mechanic at working on a lit a lot of different cars, Or do you wanna hire somebody who is specific to that type of car that you have and they’re an expert and they have had their 10 hours and fixing cars like yours and so you know you’re gonna be in good hands. It’s like you could hire the generalist, but if you have an expert in front of you who maybe charge a little bit more, but they have the experience where you know you’re gonna get a good experience and you know that your car is gonna be fixed properly, you’re gonna probably go with the expert. Hiring an expert for specialized car repairs.

[00:13:23] Ed– I have the saying that when you really dial it in and you really narrow it down, What it does is it, forces you to focus on whom you pursue, but it doesn’t limit whom you accept, Which is a Definite. Very important distinction. Right? It’s like if somebody could come out of the blue through a referral or whatever and listen, I need help and it’s outside of what you’re saying on your website you focus on. But let’s just say that it sounds like an amazing opportunity. You can accept that opportunity if it makes sense for you. Right? It doesn’t really limit that. Have you have you seen that?

Amy– Yeah. Definitely. I think that’s a great way that you put it. Because I think that when you’re trying to attract those ideal clients that are looking for that expert, you wanna make sure that everything, You know, really screams you’re an expert, but if you’re too general and too vague, you’re gonna miss those people as well as people who are just, You know, come across you and think you’re great and want you to work on a project that might not be exactly related to your niche. Attract ideal clients, and avoid being too vague.

[00:15:23] Ed– Well, let’s talk about where these ideal clients hang out. Right? Let’s say I’ve made some decisions, and I’m nervous about it, but I’m doubling down And I’m taking Amy’s word for it. Where are these people?

Amy– So when you’re kind of getting started as a freelancer, you have to do a lot of groundwork of going out and finding these ideal clients. And so, earlier on in my freelancing career, I would go to conferences and I would make my way to becoming a speaker at conferences, and, I did a lot of traveling. And so trying to under…identify, like, where do they spend time physically in the real world, where do they Spend time online, what social media platforms are they on? And if they’re on if all of your ideal clients are hanging out on LinkedIn every day, then you should be on LinkedIn. If they are all on, you know, x or Twitter, then you should be there.

[00:19:04] Ed– I don’t I don’t wanna get in the weeds with these next Two follow-up questions, but I do want to address them, about platforms like Upwork and blogging. Let’s start with Upwork because you mentioned that one. If if I’m in there I use it as a way for people to find me because it is a very powerful Search engine. And I’m also using it because I’m so narrowly niched. Are you saying that the Real benefit there is that people will find your name and then maybe go to your website, or are you stuck now working with clients Through these platforms which, you know, take a big chunk of your fee?

Amy– I think it kinda depends from freelancer to freelancer. Personally, I don’t mind working on platforms like Upwork because, you know, the fee that I would pay to Upwork is something that I’ve you know, I consider it a finder’s fee for clients that wouldn’t have found Me elsewhere. And there’s you know, when I’m when I’m doing a big project on Upwork, it’s not that big of a deal to, like, give a percentage to the platform that is feeding me these leads and and sending me clients. But if you’re a freelancer who really is against those platforms, it’s kind of up to you because, like, there are platforms like Contra, for example, that don’t take a percentage of any of your projects. And just having a platform on there, you can work on the platform, you off the platform. So understanding just being on the platform is really helpful, and you can decide from there how you’re gonna operate with the platform in regards to their terms of Service and all that jazz, but I think that just existing on the Internet and as many places as possible is always the good thing. Opinions on freelancing platforms vary among freelancers. Some don’t mind paying fees for clients, while others prefer fee-free platforms like Contra.

[00:24:16] Ed– Let’s talk a little bit then about, I wanna come back to what you said at your hourly rate, you know, and I know you don’t charge by the hour, but, you know, you have gotten your earnings a point where you’re averaging 7.50 an hour. That’s huge. So can you maybe share a little bit about What’s enabled you to net that for every hour you put into your business?

Amy– Recently, I have started charging by the hour for ghostwriting and for book editing. And I think that but no matter if you charge by the hour or not, I think it’s really important to understand that as freelancers, the ideal number of hours that you wanna work in a week or a year and also considering all of the expenses that come with running your own business, like, your hourly rate is naturally gonna be a lot higher than Somebody who’s working for a company. Because if you’re an employee, your health insurance is usually covered, you have benefits, you have all these things. And if you’re a freelancer and you’re running your own business, you pay for your own health insurance. You pay for your own subscriptions. And so making sure that you have a high hourly rate and getting to At least $100 an hour as quickly as you can when from the moment you start freelancing is really important. And when you kind of start to surpass $100 an hour as a freelancer, You’re able to do even better work for clients.

[00:28:34] Ed– If you’re gonna be at that level, you have to support it. You have to build all this credibility and value Context around it. No doubt. So how do you even even then, Do you sometimes find some prospects who, when you get to that discussion, are completely Shocked by by the number? And how do you handle that?

Amy– I’ve gotten and this happened when I changed my rate. I went from 2:50 an hour to 3.50 an hour. Well, that was like my 1st jump last year. And when I changed my rate to that, initially, when I first moved my rate to that first number, I just got a huge backlash from potential clients who were in and people being like, how do you charge that much? Does this seem real? And then slowly when I started getting clients and building up that social Proof that number completely disappeared. You can get a little bit of backlash when you’re charging more than some people’s lawyers, and I understand that.

[00:29:27] Amy– And so but then when I started Landing projects at 7:50 an hour because people saw the value, and I was able to show that track record on Upwork and be like, hey. Look. This is, I’m charging and people are paying, You know what I’m charging and they’re happy with the work and they’re really, you know, excited about what I’m providing for them and the value makes sense.

[00:32:31] Ed– Well, how much do you figure this whole project is going to cost? Because with hourly, that’s always the question, Which I find hilarious. People want an hourly rate, but then they’re also gonna wanna know how much it’s going to cost. So, what is your average book project Be by the time it’s all said and done.

Amy– Yeah. It really just depends because sometimes clients like me, I’ll fly out to meet them. Sometimes they’ll also want my help with publishing, and so projects can be anywhere from, like, 60 to 100 k depending on what’s included and what they want up with, and then how they wanna work with me in the different styles of working with me, whether that’s me being there in person or us doing things virtually and things like that. So it really just kinda depends, and not those rates are not too far away from a lot of the standard book ghostwriter rates. Variable rates for projects depending on the client’s preferences and requirements.

[00:36:19] Ed– You have basically a white glove luxury experience here, and you’re able to charge a premium for that. In fact, I would even say that if you were too low with a lot of these clients, they would be concerned.

Amy– Definitely. And I think that that’s something that is really surprising, and I’ve seen other freelancers talk about this too, where sometimes they’ll have, like, a mid-tier offering and then Premium tier offering, and their premium tier offering at the higher price point will sell so much better than their mid-tier offering.

[00:40:42] Amy– But, yeah, it was really it’s been really neat to be able to go and meet my clients in different places. I’m in New York several times a year to meet up with some of my clients there. And so it’s really nice to be able to, like, have this ability to go to people in person because even though I think you can get a lot done on Zoom, asynchronous work is An incredible way to work through things creatively and collaboratively if you know how to use it right.

[00:44:29] Ed-You know, you don’t know who’s got a rodent problem, You know, in their house or an ant problem. So I think it’s really smart that you’ve really, emphasized And focus so much on attraction marketing because, for you, it’s a must. There’s no way around it.

Amy– Definitely. And I think that different types of freelancing require different types of marketing just like you were you were saying. When I was more in tech copywriting and web three copywriting, I could send out cold emails, and, like, 8 out of 10 of them would turn into clients. But when it comes to book ghostwriting, you can’t People aren’t if they’re not thinking about writing a book, they’re not gonna be writing a book.

[00:45:22] Ed– Tell us about your book and where people can learn more about you, what you do, and connect with you.

Amy– So earlier this year, I released a book called The 6 Figure Freelance Writer, and it’s basically part travel memoir, but also mostly, a guide on how to build a holistic career as a freelance writer.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

Grab a free copy of my book.
It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. ? — Click Here
Join my implementation program and be a case study.
I’m putting together a new implementation group this month. If you’re earning $5k+/month (or the part-time equivalent) from your freelance business … and you’d like to grow your income quickly with better clients … just email me at ed@b2blauncher.com
Work with me privately.
If you’re a 6-figure writer who’s trying to earn more in less time, with less stress, I might be able to help you get there faster than you think. Just email me at ed@b2blauncher.com and put “Breakthrough” in the subject line, and I’ll get back to you with more details.

The post #331: Marketing Strategies of a Digital Nomad Ghostwriter Earning $750 per Hour appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#330: Big Takeaways from The Content Byte Summit, with Jennifer Goforth Gregory

Ed Gandia — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 14:10:50 +0000

Last month I had the pleasure and honor to keynote The Content Byte Summit in Sydney, Australia, along with my friend and colleague Jennifer Goforth Gregory.

The conference was top-notch. And by the end of the first day of the two-day event, Jennifer and I knew we had to record a joint episode of this podcast to share our biggest takeaways from all the information-packed sessions.

In this episode, Jennifer and I discuss some of the many highlights from the conference. We get into:

The importance of defining your ideal client
Why charging for your insights and ideas is so critical today
New perspectives on AI and its role in our work as writers and marketers
Why you must get clear on your business non-negotiables
The importance of asking clients and prospects tough questions

And much more!

It was a lot of fun to compare notes with Jennifer and see what resonated most with each of us (hint: we had very little overlap!).

I think you’ll walk away with some useful ideas and perspectives from this conversation. Enjoy!

P.S. Make sure to check out Jennifer’s blog, The Content Marketing Writer.

And for another set of insights and takeaways from the conference, check out this recent episode from Melanie Padgett Powers.

There’s a lot more detail in the audio version. You can listen to the show using the audio player below. Or you can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music or wherever you listen to podcasts.

The post #330: Big Takeaways from The Content Byte Summit, with Jennifer Goforth Gregory appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#329: Why Pricing is (Mostly) Arbitrary + How to Arrive at Your Optimal Fee

Ed Gandia — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 03:59:36 +0000

How do you know if you’re pricing yourself beyond what the overall market can bear?

Here’s what I often recommend you do to find out. Start with a project you’re very comfortable with. And with your next new prospect, quote 10-20% higher than you have been. If you start getting more “yeses” than “nos,” you still have room.

It’s important to understand that there’s really no such thing as “what the overall market can bear.” The range is very wide. Frankly, much of it is arbitrary. And you can generally keep going up with the right clients, the right positioning, and the right set of offerings.

This is more challenging when your services are very much run-of-the-mill. Which is why blog posts are so challenging from a pricing perspective. Because, to a large degree, they’ve been commoditized. And one of the few ways you can make them profitable is if you can write them really, really fast!

But that’s a losing model. Because in the long run, for many clients, it’s difficult to distinguish how your higher fee will make a difference when they have access to other writers who can do it for much less.

When we’re talking about higher-value custom work, however — projects that are either higher profile, more strategic, and/or the client understands that there’s a lot riding on getting it right — it becomes much more difficult to price-shop.

Your ability to keep pushing up your fees little by little is based on these 3 core factors:

What kind of solution you’re willing to create. Again how complex and comprehensive an offering are you willing to put together.
How profitable you want the project to be for YOU. Because you might feel as if you’re entering a very high fee range and that’s making you apprehensive. But when you look at the sheer effort involved in doing the work and the toll it takes to do it right, you realize that you HAVE to push up the fee. Otherwise it’s just not worth it.
And finally, your confidence that clients are going to get value based on previous projects that were similar. So if you’ve done a few of these for two or three clients and they were all thrilled with the outcome, that can help you feel more confident to continue raising your fee gradually.

And that last point is key. Because at the end of the day, your ability to get the fees you ask for has a lot more to do with confidence than with what the market can bear.

Confidence will always be a bottleneck limiting your growth. That’s not a bad thing. It’s just a “thing” thing.

Bottom line: don’t worry too much about what the market can bear. Again, the range is very wide. Frankly, much of it is arbitrary. And you can generally keep going up with the right clients, the right positioning, and the right set of offerings.

The post #329: Why Pricing is (Mostly) Arbitrary + How to Arrive at Your Optimal Fee appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#328: Can You Be Your Own Business Coach?

Ed Gandia — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 17:13:13 +0000

Working with a business coach is not for everyone.

But that begs the question: can you (or should you) coach yourself? And if so how could you benefit from going at it on your own?

Spoiler alert: Yes, I believe you can coach yourself to a certain extent. And depending on how you approach it, you could get valuable benefits from doing so.

In this episode, I explore this idea further and offer advice for how to be a more effective coach to yourself. And I include examples of what I do in between engagements with my own coach.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Benefits of Working with a Coach
Benefits of Journaling as a Tool for Productive Internal Conversation
Scheduling journaling everyday
Expressing gratitude
Having conversations with one’s higher self
Brainstorming
Role-playing
Identifying gaps, connections, and patterns
Confronting fears and anxieties
Gaining divinely inspired insights
Insight 1: Trusting oneself and recognizing resourcefulness
Insight 2: Acknowledging the need to ask for help and being more vulnerable
Insight 3: Waiting for intuition and being patient to recognize the right path
Insight 4: Acknowledging own capability to get things done and recognizing it as a gift
Final Insight: Recognizing the importance of relationships and asking for help when needed

Timestamp Overview:

00:00 So this is an interesting podcast episode title, one that I usually don’t go with, but It’s a question. Can you be your own business coach? And I wanna give you the spoiler right out of the gate. The answer is yes. You can to a certain extent. And I wanna tell you that right away because I didn’t want you to think that this episode is about me trying to sell anyone into working with me, as a coach.

03:55 I look to see what kinda attitude that person is bringing to the table, the mindset they have, belief in themselves. So do they believe in themselves? Now they may be at a low point, and that’s okay. We’ve all been there. But is there, at the core, a sense of belief in themselves and their abilities? And very important, do they believe in me? Do they believe that I can work with them to help get them to a better place? That’s important. And the reason I say that might sound kind of a no-brainer, but I’ve had people contact me in the past who want help, and everything is checked out. But I could tell that they didn’t quite believe in me. They didn’t or they didn’t know. Maybe they were very new to my world, and they just didn’t quite believe that I may be able to help them.

08:08 Another thing would be accountability. So working with someone can provide some much needed accountability. Different coaches offer different levels or types of accountability that they work on, but that accountability would definitely be a factor. Another benefit would be, getting ideas, strategies, systems, things that you don’t have to figure out on your own. You know? So if somebody has already created something that works in a certain area, No reason for you to reinvent the wheel there. You know, it’s nice when a coach can bring in some tools and systems, strategies, ideas, and insights that you can apply right away and get your results faster. Another one would be a conversation. Just the fact that you have someone you can have open and honest and thoughtful conversations with and have some Socratic dialogue, for example, which I love to do.

09:54 That’s really, really powerful. You start as you talk, you see the ideas emerging and surfacing, and that’s a really powerful process. Along with that, you get clarity. Clarity is a really important benefit. I think one of The biggest things we’re missing and that we yearn for is better clarity. We have so many inputs these days that And, you know, especially if you’re the kind of person who lives in their head or, you know, who works alone like many of us do, and it’s just you know, that internal conversation can really muddy the waters. So getting that clarity is important. And finally, and this is not the last one, but this is the last one I thought of that’s definitely big is confidence.

15:20 Again, I’m sticking with the idea of conversation, the ability to have this conversation with yourself. I think another important element to having a productive conversation is, gratitude, expressing gratitude. And I do it in a couple of different ways. And when I’m journaling, I end my session with a list of things that I’m grateful for, and I just write it out. I am grateful for x. I am grateful for y. I might even add a sentence that explains or details why I’m grateful for that. Sometimes, it’ll be some of the same things.

18:37 How can you get clarity if you’re, you know, quote, unquote, coaching yourself. Well, just the act of putting it all on the page, you know, with journaling is extremely powerful. Again, it gets it out of your head, helps you see gaps, holes, connections, patterns, even when I’m resisting in a big way because I don’t think it’s going to help. Like, I’ve already thought this through. In my head, I’ve had this conversation multiple times. So what’s the point? I still force myself to get it on the page, and I get that clarity every time, which is why I force myself to do it because I just trust that even if it’s just a little nugget or even if it’s just a confirmation that I’m on the right track, then that’s that that’s great. That’s still a huge benefit. So seeing those gaps, those patterns, those connections, sometimes it helps me see how ridiculous a certain fear that I have might be.

19:40 I need to see that it’s my inner critic, in many cases, just doing his thing and just trying to keep me safe. It’s my ego using the inner critic to keep me in line because I’m about to do something that I’m uncomfortable with but could lead to personal growth. And my ego wants to keep me safe and in line, doesn’t want me growing. That’s risky. And when I can see that. When I can see what’s going on, I can detach from the situation. Again, clarity. I think just this whole process of just having that conversation with myself, especially in writing, helps me see that I’m not alone.

22:52 It can be helpful. And just that shared experience, you know, that feeling of that shared experience that it’s not just me. That’s pretty much everybody. Whether they admit it or not, that makes me feel so much better. So, again, all that under the umbrella of clarity. And then the last area I think you can really gain some benefits from is confidence, improved confidence. Now this is maybe the hardest one to do or to get on your own, but I think you can still boost your confidence if you are taking the time to coach yourself a little bit every day and to work on yourself. And by confidence, I mean, confidence that that you’re not alone.

27:21 I had been journaling about this for a few days, but 1 morning, it just kind of all came together doing one of my journaling sessions. And it did so in a way that frankly felt like exactly what I needed to to hear, and it just kinda came out of nowhere. So I wanted to just summarize the highlights of the guidance that I receive, which personally, I feel that this was divinely inspired. You can take that as you wish, but I really feel that it came from somewhere else. Because when I read it later, I realized that I don’t. I don’t know if that really came from me, or entirely from me. The reason I wanna share it with you is just to give you a glimpse into what I have experienced can be the kind of insights you can get from this process. It’s gonna be a little awkward for me to share this with you because this was never meant to be published. This is really a private conversation that I’m having with myself in my journal.

31:49 I’m better at this than almost anyone I know, meaning getting done. I have incredible stamina and determination. And even though that can be a liability sometimes, I need to see it for the gift it is. And finally, the final insight was, I know people. By that, I mean that I have a great reputation within my network and in my market. And there are people out there I know who can help me, people I can tap into. And I recognize that I know more people than I think. And at the end of the day, relationships will save the day.

33:50 And, you might not be tapping into anywhere near as much as you have access to. So I hope this monologue has been helpful for you. I I hope it’s inspired you to maybe try some new things, and I Appreciate you being a listener of the show. I appreciate your loyalty, and the fact that you Listen to to these episodes and share some of the ones that resonate with you. And in fact, I have a request for you, Just a small ask. If this episode is, it’s something that’s resonating with you, has resonated with you, and you think there are others who could benefit from it. I would really appreciate your sharing it with that person or those people you think would get something out of it. That’s how the show has grown over the past 10 years, and it’s all been word-of-mouth.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

Grab a free copy of my book.
It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here
Join my implementation program and be a case study.
I’m putting together a new implementation group this month. If you’re earning $5k+/month (or the part-time equivalent) from your freelance business … and you’d like to grow your income quickly with better clients … just email me at ed@b2blauncher.com
Work with me privately.
If you’re a 6-figure writer who’s trying to earn more in less time, with less stress, I might be able to help you get there faster than you think. Just email me at ed@b2blauncher.com and put “Breakthrough” in the subject line, and I’ll get back to you with more details.

The post #328: Can You Be Your Own Business Coach? appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#327: Raising Your Fees In a Recession

Ed Gandia — Tue, 29 Aug 2023 19:01:50 +0000

When we’re in a challenging economy, most of us operate from a place of fear.

And fear causes us to either keep our fees the same or to lower them.

But I have a different recommendation for you today. I’m going to challenge you to RAISE your fees—starting today!

Now, before you start thinking I’m crazy and out of touch, hear me out. Because there are many ways to do this wrong … and only a few ways to do it right.

In this week’s short podcast episode I detail 3 ways to raise your fees effectively … even in a difficult economy.

It’s all about thinking of the challenge differently and in a more creative way.

Give this one a listen. I think you’ll walk away with some good ideas.

[00:01:06] Ed Gandia – I challenge you to raise your fees by 10% to your next prospect, not client, prospect, prospective client. Prospects don’t know what you charge. you’re new to them. So once you scope out the project, ask yourself what you think you need to charge.

[00:02:03] Ed Gandia – The second thing I recommend you do to raise your fees is to start thinking in terms of bundles. So think through the top 2 or 3 projects that you typically work on. then what I want you to do is take some time to brainstorm ancillary or related deliverables you could offer your client.

[00:03:42] Ed Gandia – So here’s my final idea. Offer an advisory or strategy engagement to clients if and when it makes sense. There are lots of possibilities here, but here’s one quick example. Let’s say the the clients or the prospects challenges is they’re not sure exactly what they need. They know they have a problem, but they’re not sure how to solve it with content or copy.

Key topics and bullets

Primary Topic: Three Strategies to Raise Fees

1. Strategy 1: Increase fees for prospective clients

Recommending raising fees by 10% to 20% for new prospects
High success rate in getting the prospective clients to accept the higher fee

2. Strategy 2: Bundle services

Brainstorming additional deliverables to complement the main project
Offering bundled packages with a range of involvement and deliverables
Increasing the perceived and actual value of the bundle, allowing for higher fees

3. Strategy 3: Offer advisory or strategy engagements

Providing advisory or strategy sessions to clients who are unsure of their needs
Charging for in-depth consultations and recommendations
Highlighting the value of clarity and actionable plans for clients

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

Grab a free copy of my book.
It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. ? — Click Here
Join my implementation program and be a case study.
I’m putting together a new implementation group this month. If you’re earning $5k+/month (or the part-time equivalent) from your freelance business … and you’d like to grow your income quickly with better clients … just email me at ed@b2blauncher.com
Work with me privately.
If you’re a 6-figure writer who’s trying to earn more in less time, with less stress, I might be able to help you get there faster than you think. Just email me at ed@b2blauncher.com and put “Breakthrough” in the subject line, and I’ll get back to you with more details.

The post #327: Raising Your Fees In a Recession appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#326: The Real Nature of Breakthroughs in Your Business and Your Work

Ed Gandia — Tue, 15 Aug 2023 19:14:44 +0000

Picture this…

A creative professional is struggling with a client project. She’s trying to find the big idea. Or the words just aren’t coming out. Or the logic is flawed.

And then, in an instant, a flash of insight appears out of nowhere and everything starts coming together beautifully.

Yay!

This is a very common Hollywood story archetype. The struggling creative who is instantly blessed with the perfect answer when she’s hit rock bottom.

It makes for a great story. And we want to believe it.

But is this reality?

Maybe. But that’s not how it happens most of the time. Our breakthroughs tend to happen slowly. The insights come incrementally. And none of it would make for a great movie (at least not in my case!).

In this week’s short podcast episode I share some powerful insights from a world-renowned music producer on how to have more breakthroughs in your business and personal life.

Even if they happen slowly and without fanfare.

[00:01:42] Ed Gandia – Most often, the hints of inspiration and direction from source are small. They appear as tiny signals traveling through the void of space. quiet and subtle like a whisper.

[00:01:54] Ed Gandia – He then suggests that to get more and better ideas, we need to let go more. We need to stop demanding they come. And he says, and I quote, one way is through letting go of control.

[00:01:54] Ed Gandia – Approach the process with humility, and the unexpected will visit more often. Many of us are taught to create through sheer will.

[00:02:12] Ed Gandia – Approach the process with humility, and the unexpected will visit more often. Many of us are taught to create through sheer will.

[00:02:31] Ed Gandia – We do well to stop trying so hard and instead put ourselves in a receptive mode and just let the universe god or source do its thing. Trust that we will get the answers we need.

Key topics and bullets

Best ideas don’t always come like in movies
Inspiration often comes in small and subtle signals, like whispers.
Rick Rubin’s book, The Creative Act, discusses this
Letting go and releasing expectations can lead to more and better ideas.
Surrendering and not blocking ideas can lead to desired results.
Many people are taught to create through sheer will.
Breakthroughs in Hollywood vs. real life
Archetype of sudden flash of insight
In reality, breakthroughs often happen slowly and in a boring way
Valuable ideas often result from mulling over a problem for a while.
Put ourselves in a receptive mode and trust that we will receive answers or solutions.
Taking a break from our problems can often lead to “the magic” happening.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. ? — Click Here
Join my implementation program and be a case study.

Work with me privately.

The post #326: The Real Nature of Breakthroughs in Your Business and Your Work appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#325: Rob Marsh on Leveraging AI to Grow Your Freelance Business

Ed Gandia — Wed, 02 Aug 2023 02:53:00 +0000

There’s no doubt about it. We’re still very much in the “messy middle” when it comes to AI and its impact on writers, copywriters and solo marketers.

This messy middle creates a ton of fear and anxiety. The AI story is changing weekly. The speculation about where this is going is rampant.

And many of us are just trying to figure out where we’ll stand when the dust settles.

That’s why I want to continue to bring you useful and thoughtful conversations on this topic. Because that’s what this issue deserves—thoughtful conversation.

In this week’s podcast I’m talking with Rob Marsh. Rob is a very successful direct response copywriter, founder of The Copywriter Club and co-host (with the amazing Kira Hug) of the popular podcast by the same name: The Copywriter Club.

I wanted to bring Rob on the show because he’s someone who’s spent a lot of time experimenting with and using AI in his work as a copywriter. And I wanted him to share some of his valuable insights and practical applications of AI with us.

We get into a quick review of where things stand right now with AI and the impact to writers. Then we get into the various opportunities this technology provides us with. We also dive into the topic of how to prepare for the looming recession. And how to change your positioning, messaging and offers to survive and thrive in the months and year ahead.

I thought this was an excellent discussion, and I hope you find it as valuable as I did.

[00:03:28] Ed – What makes you what factors make you the most optimistic about this?

Rob – For me, as I’ve played around with the tools, there’s this opportunity to use AI to increase not just our production, the amount of work that we can get done, but to improve the kind of thinking and strategizing that we do.

[00:10:10] Ed – Let’s move into some uses that you’re really excited about right now. Maybe we can touch on 3 or 4 of them.

Rob – Prospecting is hard as a copywriter, and you’ve talked about this with your podcast for years. It’s a bit of a numbers game to do it right and obviously you don’t want to be sending out junk to make those numbers. You don’t send out 100 pitches that you’re just typing together as quick as you can, you’ve got to put some thought into it. So, one of the things that that we’ve taught people in our group, is a process for setting up what we would call an MVP pitch.

[00:17:24] Ed – So that’s a great one. What would be another one that you’re really excited about right now?

Rob – You might take one of your frameworks and again we’re talking to a tool like ChatGPT, or you might use Bard or Claude or one of the other generative AI tools and you basically say, I’d love to have 25 captions ideas that I can share on Twitter or on Instagram or on LinkedIn on this topic and you’re not just saying it’s not a one-line prompt, you’re giving it your framework. You’re telling it a little bit about what you think. and then it will churn the audience.

[00:20:30] Ed – Have you tried to see what it could do if you’re sitting on a gold mine of content that could be repurposed in many different ways.

Rob – So that this is the next big thing that Kira and I are going to be doing at The Copywriter Club is there are tools like wisdomai.com, which is basically a coach in the box kind of a tool where you can take all of your podcast transcripts, or you can take course transcripts, or anything that you’ve written and you can upload that into a tool Wisdom AI, and basically, it creates a coach type chatbot.

[00:25:11] Ed – Can you give us a couple of other examples of how writers and copywriters can start repositioning themselves to provide different kinds of value with AI?

Rob – The number one thing we teach is you are not just that order taker, that writer who just shows up. If somebody asks you, I need a website. Can you help me write on a website? Your first answer should not be yes, I can help you write a website. First you should be asking questions about what do we need the website for? What is the problem we’re trying to solve? Because copywriters are problem solvers, and sometimes the problem is solvable with copy.

[00:28:40] Ed – What happens when you finally muster the courage to show up that way and start thinking that way and repositioning that way?

Rob – That’s a that’s a great question and this is the same challenge that we have as a copywriter is “well, I have this research process”, and clients push back and say, “ah, we’ve already done our own research”, or “we don’t need the research. We know who our customer is.” It’s really the same problem and you have a decision, you can say, “okay I’m willing to work within those constraints that the client has” or “no. I need to work with a higher-level client, somebody who understands the value that I bring” and in that case, you need to find better clients.

[0032:16] Ed – So what can we do to better prepare is writers, copywriters, and strategists to not only do well, but come out of whatever that is and when it is, stronger than we were going into it.

Rob – This is actually a foundational question because the economy is always going to be out there. Sometimes it’s going to be good and sometimes it’s going to be bad, but we all have the same economy. I’ve talked to copywriters in the last 2 weeks who have literally in the last 4 months built gone from 0 in income to more than 10 k a month and then other copywriters who’ve gotten the exact opposite and had all of their clients disappear, and you have to say, okay “What’s the difference here?” Now it’s not always the copywriter’s fault, client decides to stop spending or whatever, those are realities that we have to learn how to deal with and this isn’t even really AI related, this is business related, and it doesn’t matter what the economy is, we are 100 percent responsible for whatever we do to sell ourselves, to grow our business, to find clients. So, if for some reason, our business is suddenly not doing as well, it’s not because we’ve become bad at what we’ve done, but it’s because we need to change something in order to react to whatever it is.

[0043:57] Ed – How do you filter out the stuff that’s just not really going to be relevant and helpful today?

Rob – So find somebody to follow, you know, a couple of names that I would follow, outside what we’re doing with our AI podcast or whatever, Sam Woods – great guy, super smart thinker around AI and copywriting. Rob Lennon – is a content guy who’s been experimenting with a lot of AI’s. In fact, he’s created an artificial intelligence personality that he has a podcast with where he’s talking to the AI, and it’s responding back. But find a few people just to follow and watch and then the other thing is I would just play around with some of the tools. So, if you’re a content creator and now the problem is finding the right tools. Let’s start with CHATGPT, Bard, if you can get access to Claude. These are the big ones and just play with them. Ask them questions and test them out.

[00:48:10] Ed – Where can I send people to learn more about what you’re doing. I know you’re talking a lot about this stuff. You got a new podcast on AI for writers and copywriters. So tell us about that first.

Rob – So, Kira and I have put together a podcast all about this stuff. We’ve interviewed several people who are creating AI’s, copywriters who are using them, even other experts outside of copywriting and the ways that they’re using AI, it’s called AI for Creative Entrepreneurs. You can find it at AI for Creative Entrepreneurs or on YouTube.

For those who want to learn more about what you guys are doing, just in general, and your excellent newsletter, where can we send them?

The Copywriter Club
Facebook
LinkedIn
Rob and Kira’s new AI course for writers and copywriters

Key topics and bullets

Subscribing to AI newsletters
Following experts in AI and copywriting
Experimenting and getting comfortable with AI tools
Participating in challenges to explore AI capabilities
Supporting paid tools and trying out new ones
Overcoming challenges with clients and economic realities
Option to work within constraints or find better clients
Adjusting offers and finding new clients to navigate economic challenges
Taking responsibility for own success and adapting to changes
Offering value and problem-solving for clients
Adapting and succeeding as a freelancer
Adjusting offers, finding new clients, and switching niches
Adapting to difficult economic times
Taking responsibility for own success
Importance of adjusting and adapting in business
Effective pitching strategies for copywriters
Avoiding the mistake of pitching “I can do anything”
Figuring out clients’ problems and adjusting offers accordingly
Taking tasks off clients’ plates and offering value
Tailoring offers to specific client needs
Using smaller or easy-to-say-yes asks to sell services
Utilizing AI tools to share content and knowledge
Wisdom AI tool for creating chatbots
Uploading transcripts and creating “edbot”
Linking to supporting documents
Coaches creating similar tools for access to wisdom and expertise
Big opportunity for copywriters’ businesses

Quotes, hooks, and timestamps

The Impact of AI on Copywriting: “I actually think that good copywriters who learn how to harness the power of AI, of tools, even even the ability just to talk about them and using them with their clients are gonna succeed.”— Rob Marsh 00:02:56 – 00:02:56

The Power of AI in Writing: “For me, as I’ve played around with the tools, there’s this opportunity to use AI to increase not just our production, but to improve the kind of thinking and strategizing that we do.”— Rob Marsh 00:03:33 – 00:03:42

Prospecting with ChatGPT: “I can basically say, here’s the template for my pitch… and in less than 2 minutes, it will piece together how, you know, 40, 50, a 100 pitches that are built to my template that are are really good. Literally would have taken me days to do that myself, and ChatGPT can do it in minutes.”— Rob Marsh 00:13:42 – 00:13:59

Creating Social Media Content Made Easy: “If anybody listening is like me, I hate creating content for social media. Pain in the butt to do. I’m not a designer and so, you know, putting it into cool designs or whatever is again, another it’s just it’s something that I would hire a VA to do if I even get around to doing that.”— Rob Marsh 00:17:44 – 00:17:52

Viral Topic: The Future of Coach Chatbots
Quote: “You may be able to pay $30 and just have all access to, you know, to their wisdom.”— Rob Marsh 00:22:46 – 00:22:53

The Power of Copywriters as Problem Solvers: “Your first thing should be asking questions about, well, what what do we need the website for? Like, what is the problem we’re trying to solve? Right? Because copywriters are problem solvers, and sometimes the problem is solvable with copy. But sometimes it’s not.”— Rob Marsh 00:25:38 – 00:25:51

The Value of Following Your Process: “And you have a decision, you can say, okay. I’m willing to work within those constraints that the client has. Or, actually, no. I need to work with a higher level client, somebody who understands the value that I bring.”— Rob Marsh 00:29:41 – 00:29:53

Adjusting to Economic Challenges: “It doesn’t matter what the economy is. We are 100 1 100 percent responsible for whatever we do to sell ourselves, to grow our business, to find clients. And so if for some reason, our business is suddenly not doing as well… it’s because we need to change something in order to react to whatever it is.”— Rob Marsh 00:32:310-0:35:09

How to Tailor Your Offer to Your Client’s Needs: “You need to find something that they need help with. And if if you find a thing that is a problem for them or a challenge…anything you can take off of your client’s plate to make life easy for them is something and they have to be willing to pay.”— Rob Marsh 00:36:32 – 00:36:40

Exploring AI Tools and Finding Reliable Voices: “So it’s just a matter of exploring playing and finding a couple voices that are kinda doing the same thing that you can listen to?”— Rob Marsh 00:46:51 – 00:46:58

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here
Join my implementation program and be a case study.

Work with me privately.

The post #325: Rob Marsh on Leveraging AI to Grow Your Freelance Business appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#324: How to Show Up When Your Work Pipeline Is Dry

Ed Gandia — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 19:01:19 +0000

Too often, I’ve found myself in a tough spot in my business … waiting for the skies to part and for new business to fall out of the sky.

Can you relate?

Your pipeline is almost completely dry. You’re down to just a couple of small projects. And yet you still can’t bring yourself to take action.

Mostly because you’re feeling angry, frustrated, sad, depressed or despondent.

In this week’s episode, I discuss this all-too-common scenario. And I share some ideas for how to turn things around… starting with your mindset.

0:01:45 – Showing up:
You have to show up and put in the work even when you don’t feel like it. That’s when you really start to grow as an artist.

0:01:53 – Creativity:
Sting’s approach to creativity is grounded in the idea that it’s a process that can be
cultivated and developed over time.

“Sting believes that creativity is not just a matter of inspiration, but also of hard work and dedication.”

0:02:26 – Discipline and Consistency:
Will give you the creative energy to find smart solutions, better ideas, the right copy, the right messages, the right language in your marketing efforts that will get you out of that hole..

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here
Join my implementation program and be a case study.

Work with me privately.

The post #324: How to Show Up When Your Work Pipeline Is Dry appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#323: Gordon Graham on Writing a White Paper with ChatGPT, Predictions for AI’s Impact on Writers, and How to Pivot as the Technology Improves

Ed Gandia — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 19:01:59 +0000

A couple of months ago I promised you that I was committing to addressing the topic of AI on this show on a regular basis this year.

This week’s episode is the next installment in this series on AI and the impact of this technology is having (and will have) on the business of content marketing and copywriting.

With me today is my old friend and colleague Gordon Graham. I’ve known Gordon now for nearly 20 years. He’s one of the sharpest writers I know and is perhaps the most prolific white paper writer in the world.

I wanted to bring Gordon on the show because he’s someone who’s taken a deep dive into the world of AI. He’s thought a ton about where we are now and where we’re heading. And he has some really interesting perspectives to share—both positive and negative.

This is a topic we simply cannot ignore, my dear listener. It’s here to stay. And wishing it wouldn’t disrupt our profession is not a productive use of time and energy.

Instead, we need to embrace this technology, learn how to leverage it ethically, think of ways we can move up the value ladder in our respective markets, and start making moves in that direction.

That’s precisely what this discussion is all about. It’s much longer than my usual episode, but Gordon and I had way too much important stuff to address. And I’m confident you’ll find lots of valuable ideas and perspectives inside.

Oh, and here’s the link to the AI survey Gordon mentions in the conversation. It’s a great way to see whether you’re an AI Enthusiast, AI Resister, or AI Pragmatist. The survey takes less than 2 minutes and then based on your type, you get several pages of career advice on how to flourish as a writer in the age of AI.

Make sure to take that survey. I think you’ll find the insights useful.

Enjoy!

[00:04:59] Chat GPT’s initial response to writing a white paper was negative, but after several inquiries, it agreed to write one. The AI came up with solid reasons why it couldn’t write a white paper and generated a 3500-word draft. However, the quality of the writing was initially subpar, requiring numerous prompts and revisions to improve readability. The final draft achieved a B-minus grade but fell short in meeting the desired readability level.

[00:10:16] Machine-generated text with unreliable sources, limitations of AI.

[00:19:23] Massive AI research, open source is crucial. Flood of AI will impact content providers.

[00:22:45] Agencies shift to value-based pricing, AI impacts.

[00:29:00] AI allows for strategic use in writing.

[00:38:57] Window for prompt engineers may close soon.

[00:41:45] Craft and background knowledge elevate AI writing.

[00:48:55] White papers provide valuable information for businesses.

[00:57:37] AI cannot replace the uniqueness of individuals.

[01:05:44] AI lacks creativity, cultural context, and metaphors.

[01:08:36] Use rhetoric and timeless devices for memorable content.

[01:15:07] Search, download, white paper, humanize content, flood

Learn more about Gordon here:
LinkedIn
thatwhitepaperguy.com

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here
Join my implementation program and be a case study.

Work with me privately.

The post #323: Gordon Graham on Writing a White Paper with ChatGPT, Predictions for AI’s Impact on Writers, and How to Pivot as the Technology Improves appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#322: A Realistic Way to Develop Passive Income Streams as a Writer (with Shane Sams)

Ed Gandia — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 19:01:05 +0000

One of the biggest advantages of being a self-employed creative professional is that you generally have much more freedom and flexibility than you do when working for someone else as an employee.

You can choose whom you want to work with, what projects you take on, when you work and how much of a workload you take on at any given time.

Of course, it doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes we have to take on less-than-ideal projects and clients to keep the lights on. Sometimes clients we thought were going to be wonderful to work with end up being terrible.

There are many things you can do to minimize these situations. We discuss many of them in this podcast and in my newsletter.

But there’s one other strategy that can help, and it’s one that most writers and copywriters don’t pursue.

I’m talking about developing passive income streams that complement your core freelance business.

I started developing multiple income streams in early 2008, about two years after quitting my day job and going completely on my own. It started as a way to diversify my income, and in my case it involved selling digital products. And over the next nine years those passive income streams turned into my core business.

So as you can imagine, I’m a big believer in developing passive income. Not necessarily because it could turn into your main thing … but because of how it can add diversity to your income and reduce your overall business risk. Having steady revenue outside of my client work coming in the door every month was very reassuring.

Think about this: how would your decisions about what clients or opportunities to accept be different if you had a steady stream of passive income coming in every month?

I bet they’d be very different!

That’s what we’re talking about today. My guest is Shane Sams, a former high school teacher and football coach who, along with his wife, has created a passive income empire that enabled them both to quit their day jobs many years ago.

In this conversation, Shane talks about how he and his wife were able to build and grow a very reliable income stream in the span of a couple of years. He talks about all the mistakes they made and how they learned from them. And he details the best model for building a reliable income stream.

I found this to be a fascinating discussion, and I urge you to give it a listen, even if you’re very skeptical about this subject.

In fact, on that note I have one quick comment. When Shane’s team approached me about coming on the show, I was very skeptical myself. There’s a lot of nonsense going on in the “make money online” industry. Lots of get-rich-quick claims. Tons of scams. Too many bad people who don’t really do what they’re teaching.

I made it abundantly clear that I wanted to portray a very accurate and realistic picture of what passive income is about, what it takes to succeed, and the hard work required to get it off the ground.

Shane really came through. As you’ll see, he’s very open about all his mistakes and failures. And he’ll be the first one to tell you that this takes a lot of work. The income may be passive down the line, but there’s nothing passive about the work you have to put in up front for months.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Shane discusses three categories of ideas: harnessed, learned, and lived through.
Examples of each category, emphasizing the importance of choosing one resonating idea and trusting the process.
Examples of successful niche businesses and the importance of targeting specific audiences for increased sales.
Shane’s experience in creating successful membership communities and the key components for their success.
Various examples of profitable membership communities, emphasizing the willingness of people to pay for various topics.
Emphasis on brainstorming passions and hobbies to identify potential membership community topics.
Shane’s success story of creating online lesson plans and quitting his teaching job.
Establishment of Flip Lifestyle to teach others how to start successful memberships.
The importance of starting with the product, understanding the audience, and nurturing and converting viewers into subscribers.
Examples of attracting an audience through platforms like podcasts, blogs, and YouTube channels.
Advice on prioritizing goals, mindset, and creating multiple streams of income with limited time.
Insight into Shane’s personal journey, including various entrepreneurial attempts.

Timestamp Overview:

05:33 Shane– And then I started another website. I was like, well, what did Pat do? Pat took something he already knew about. He didn’t just try to make up something from scratch. So I had this other website. It was called US history worksheets.com, and it was this spammy 1990’s-looking website. This was about 2012, and, like, I had a well, I was trying to give away free worksheets to history teachers or social studies teachers, but I surrounded it with all those little, like, ads that would say, like, “download”,” look at this”, and they’re like flashing. I was hoping that someone would click the wrong link and I would get some commissions off of it.

08:27 Shane– It’s called US History Teachers .com, and then I also launched a website selling playbooks to football coaches. So we were testing our methods in multiple domains. And then, in September, actually, 2013, we were able to quit our jobs because we were making more in a month than we were making in a year as teachers, so we said, we’re out of here. And what got me to where I am now with Flip Lifestyle, which is my brand where I teach other people how to start memberships like this, is a friend of ours just asked us, hey. What are you doing? That looks amazing. Like, do you think I could do that? Do you think I could have a second stream of income or maybe even quit my job? And we’re like, sure. Her name was Lindsey, and we just showed her how to make money online. And, wouldn’t you know it? A few months later, she quit her job, just using the stuff we had taught her.

11:41 Shane– They’re looking for a solution to a problem. So if you’ve got a solution to any problem that you’ve solved for yourself, you can help somebody else who’s in that situation get out of it. So they’re gonna look for that. But when they find that, they’re gonna be able to either consume that or they’re gonna get bored and not consume it, and then they’re gonna quit your membership. So what we do is we give them access to each other through these group calls. So now you have this synergy built where you’ve got hundreds, dozens of people doing things together in these group environments, and that’s really what keeps on paying in the membership month after month and year after year is access to their friends, access to their community, access to the leader or the leaders’ lieutenants so that they can get the answers that they need. So it’s that human connection that really sets a membership apart from other, like, digital products or even a coaching product. And I really believe this.

13:30 Shane– But all these writers that were buying Scrivener had a problem. They were missing their deadlines, they weren’t hitting their word counts, they were doing and he I was like, why did they miss their word counts? And he said, well, because they’re all alone. They’re just sitting around by themselves on Saturday night trying to finish up some writing, and they’re bored and they’re procrastinating and they’re just not doing it. And I said, well, why don’t we put them together? We’ll do writing times. You can get on Zoom every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday at 12 o’clock noon, we’re all gonna meet and we’re gonna write together. And then I had Joe order a, like, a giant hourglass and when he got there, he was like, “Hey, everybody. Welcome to the Unchained Writer community. Here’s what I want you to do…”

18:51 Ed– Are there topics because you mentioned 50 as a kind of a price point. I know it’s arbitrary. But are there topics that, you know, nobody’s gonna pay 50 a month for, versus some that…?

Shane- I have not seen many that people won’t pay $50 a month for unless it was specific to the business model. Like, we have a friend named Erin Chase, who built a membership about, it’s called $5 dinners and what she tells you for. So for $5 a month, you get, like, it’s like a grocery list and recipes to make a $5 dinner for a family of 5. Right. So she has this gimmick that she’s kind of going with, you know, but she’s got like, she’s making $25,000 a month on that. Like she’s got like the hundreds and hundreds of people paying her $5. Right. So we’re looking at the scale.

22:50 Shane- So once you see all your ideas on the table, it is just deciding which 1 you wanna do and then following the process to see if it works.

Ed– So just pick 1. Basically, one that is just really calling to you.

Shane– Because you don’t know. Because you don’t, there’s no way that you can. We have some research tools. We have a method that we use to research things where we can kinda see if it’s making money for other people, which is a good thing. You want there to be competition because if there’s a market already, you can just go get your piece of the pie, but you really never know, like, like what’s going to work.

23:30 Shane– Let’s see what happens. And she goes out and, man, she built this into she has over 400 people paying her $50 a month. She’s making $20,000 a month just on that side of her business. It got so big that not everybody wanted to raise the sheep themselves and share them, so she actually started providing the wool in a subscription box on top of the membership for her students. She would send them kits. She got so many clients. She ran out of sheep to share, so she had to go to her neighbor and get another sheep farmer to help her fulfill all of this subscription box. And this thing got so big, right, this sheep shearing business that she and her partner bought a school, like an old elementary school, and they turned it into, like, the cafeteria and stuff into an event center, and they turned all the little rooms into bed and breakfast.

29:30 Ed– So let’s talk a little bit about building an audience, right? So we’ve kind of skirted the issue a little bit, but you talked about a podcast, you talked about other ways of finding do you build an audience first And then you create the membership and the products. Do you do that along the way? What is the model? Because we know that we have the idea, but how do we attract an audience who can then be viable customers for us.

Shane– A So we wanna know what the product is first. We wanna make that, keep it simple, and then we start building an audience specifically targeted for that exact product that is going to emerge from what we’ve already planned. Because if you do it the other way, if you build a big audience. I’ve seen people do this. Like, we’ve got a student. Her name’s Nicole, and she wanted to help nurses pass nursing school. So she wanted to start a membership for nursing students. Right? Well, she went out and created an audience. She’s on TikTok. She’s doing dances. She’s all the nurses are following her, and, you know, she built this big email list of a bunch of nurses. Here’s the problem though. Her product was much it was in her product was for people who were going back to school as a 2nd career nurse, like a nontraditional type of student. Right? It was someone who could go out and get the job, and they’re trying to change their family’s future with a new career and all this other stuff. It wasn’t for the freaked-out 22-year-old who was just trying to get an a. Right? That’s not what it was for.

31:25 Ed– What are some, you know, I’m gonna teach guitar lessons and I know my avatar is people in their 50’s, men in their 50s and 60s who always put this off. How do I find these people and what kind of content do I create on a regular basis for free to make sure I keep attracting that audience?

Shane– I really believe there’s only, like, 3 ways to build an audience, and that’s either with a podcast, a blog, or a YouTube channel right now. I mean, I think you’ve got to either create audio video or text. I’m not sure about blogging as much anymore. I think that’s becoming harder. Podcasting and YouTube is really a great place to build your audience and go out and build some content and make it happen because you can truly like, right now, we’re having a conversation, like, you can see expertise on both of us, we’re talking, we’re doing the different things, it’s, it’s intimate, like, we’re probably in the car with somebody right now. We might be in the bathroom with somebody right now listening to this.

33:47 Shane– Kevin teaches whole songs on YouTube. Like, he’ll say, hey, you know, come learn. I don’t know if this isn’t one of, like Guns N’ Roses, I’ll put Guns N’ Roses, patience, and he’ll teach you how to play that, right? But then he might say, I’ll teach you how to do the whole album inside my membership, you know? I would do it with US history teachers, I would always, my content was giving away, like, the 1st day of a unit because it takes about 2 weeks to teach, like, the Civil War. And then I know they’re gonna take that, and they’re gonna have such a good time that 1st day. They’re gonna be like, oh, more of this, and then I’ll have more inside. I don’t get too caught up on what content to give away for free mainly because anything you could ever give away content for free is out there already. Any content on the Internet somewhere.

38:58 Ed– Let’s talk a little bit about one of the challenges that many people in my audience face, which is time constraints, right? They’re running a business, they have 4 or 5 clients, many of them are book solid from, you know, a big chunk of the month. And you know, I get it. I wanna do this, but you know, my guaranteed income stream has to take precedence and priority. How do I turn this into a real priority? How do I build this thing? How do I get this thing off the ground? And then we can talk a little bit about some of the technicalities later, but that’s a big obstacle.

Shane– I would call people out because I do this all the time. I I’ve a, I teach, live workshops and I have this little activity where I make people, like we give them this grid and it has 168 squares on it. Right? So we have 168 squares to represent 168 hours in a week. And then we go through and we put, like, the nonnegotiables on it. Right? We put, like, sleep, Work with boundaries. I have them look at their screen time on their phone to see how much they’ve been scrolling on TikTok. Right? And we go through this and we look at all the non-negotiables, family time, stuff like that. Nothing entertainment, nothing fun like that, and we always find a couple white squares at the end of it. We’re shading them in, and by the end of it, there’s like 5 white squares that aren’t taken. Like, what are you doing with that 5 hours? That is plenty of time a week, hour a day, or maybe blocking off 5 hours on a Saturday morning to go out and build, you know, some kind of online business.

41:33 Shane– So getting smart with your time, using the technology to batch things and really being really efficient with those few hours you got. That’s the only way to do it. There’s only 2 ways to be a successful online entrepreneur. You roll up your sleeves and you open your wallet. That’s it.

43:50 Ed– I’m assuming that you could start with a very low budget, scrappy. You don’t need it when you’re starting out and you have a zero audience. You don’t need to do Facebook ads. You don’t need to do paid ads in order to kinda feed the funnel initially. You could just start with free content, YouTube, a podcast, for example, and just trust that the right people will find you.

Shane– I would definitely say you need a home base. Like we use Kajabi for our website. That’s what the software we use. It can host your products. They can do all these things. Like I do think you need to host your own little place. So something you’re gonna spend, I don’t know, 150 to $250 a month on different software, that you need to kinda do things efficiently, and then you wanna then you wanna take that stuff and also also put it on YouTube to pull back to that website or back to that sales funnel.

46:31Ed– So what would you suggest if you net it out? Somebody wants to start. What would you tell them to do?

Shane– You always start with yourself, and that means you’ve gotta find your god given gifts and ideas. You gotta get that out there and into the world. So a You gotta figure out what do you have to offer the world? What problems can you solve? So we do have a special training that, little activity I told you about earlier. I’ve got a full Anning where I teach it in my workshops. If you go, let’s see. I think it’s flippedlifestyle.com/ed, ed, not e d d.

Learn more about Shane here:
Flipped Lifestyle
LinkedIn

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here
Join my implementation program and be a case study.

Work with me privately.

The post #322: A Realistic Way to Develop Passive Income Streams as a Writer (with Shane Sams) appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#321: Easing In and Easing Out

Ed Gandia — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 19:01:21 +0000

One of the things I vowed to change when I went out on my own in 2006 was to structure my workweek in a way that better matched my own personal rhythm.

I’ve never enjoyed jumping right into my work on Monday mornings. I did that for 6 years in one of my sales jobs and I hated it.

I need to ease into my week, not dive right in.

Same with the middle of the week. I preferred a certain flow and intensity. And I also had preferences for how I capped off the week on Fridays.

Have you given thought to what weekly and daily rhythm works best for YOU?

That’s what we’re discussing in this week’s podcast episode. I’ll share how I structure my week and how you cand find your own natural flow.

[00:01:01] Buffer day for planning and preparation.

[00:03:28] Align work structure with personal rhythm.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here
Join my implementation program and be a case study.

Work with me privately.

The post #321: Easing In and Easing Out appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#320: The Resilient Mindset—What It Takes to Thrive in the Face of AI and Economic Uncertainty

Ed Gandia — Wed, 24 May 2023 05:33:38 +0000

“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”

–Maya Angelou

Worried about the threat of AI on your writing business? Anxious about a possible recession and its impact on your income?

You’re not alone. There’s enough happening in the world to keep everyone up at night. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my 30-year career is that how you respond to the current and potential challenges will determine how well you come out on the other end.

In this episode, I discuss the four different scenarios you might be in right now, and what each of them asks of you. I then lay out three high-level strategies for shoring up your business and becoming stronger, better and more resilient.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Planning and taking action now to make our business different in the next 12-18 months.
Creating a four quadrant matrix to map out goals and actions.
Maximizing opportunities for growth even when things are going well.
Managing fear and uncertainty during recessions to avoid trouble.
The importance of mindset, thinking strategies, and adopting tactics over the next year.
Adaptations to make in the current environment, including lower-priced offerings and fixed-fee services.
Utilizing extra time and resources to invest in projects you didn’t have time for previously.
Building connections and visibility through podcast appearances and attending conferences.
Pivoting and reframing messaging to match the current environment.
Targeting valuable markets such as higher education and tech companies.
Overcoming fear and anxiety through creativity and resourcefulness.
The importance of continuous improvement and not neglecting your business.
Building authority through content creation, social media, and writing a book.
Shifting from a freelancer’s mindset to a consultant’s mindset.
Embracing the concept of the “future self” and seeking advice from our future selves.

Timestamp Overview:

04:18 Ed– The next twelve to 18 months are going to force you to think creatively, think critically, be more resourceful, keep fear from overwhelming you, keep fear from making you do stupid things, make stupid decisions, and take action even when you don’t feel like it, even when you feel unfocused. We have to keep moving forward. We all have to remember that challenging times, at least at this level of magnitude, won’t last forever. Business always has its challenges. Being self-employed is always risky. That never changes. But the situation we’re facing now, these specific sets of challenges, they’re going to evolve, and you need to evolve with them. At the end of the day, we can’t control what happens out there.

06:46 Ed– We can only control ourselves, and more specifically, how we respond to every challenge and every situation in front of us. I think the big question really right now is how do you want your business to be different in twelve to 18 months? And what can you start doing right now to not only survive what’s ahead of you but come out of this thing stronger? So you may be in a couple of different places right now. If you’re currently struggling, the key right now is to respond and not react. If you’re doing fairly well or very well. I talked to a lot of people who are doing better than ever right now. So not everyone is struggling. The key, if you’re doing well, is to maximize a situation and not neglect your business, because it’s very, very easy to stay really busy and not work on the things that are going to ensure that your business remains strong and is better positioned than ever before. So I want you to imagine, and if you’re somewhere where you can actually draw this out on a sheet of paper, I want you to draw a four quadrant matrix.

14:47 Ed– And this wasn’t this is not my term. I forget where I heard this, but I love the term. It’s called texting roulette. Okay? The idea is if you have people in your contact lists on your phone, people you’ve worked with in the past or colleagues, sources of referrals, et cetera, when you’re sitting around or you’re standing in line somewhere rather than going to social media or doing something mindless, go to your texting app and then just type some random letter and let’s say it’s R. And the first person that comes up who would fit these descriptions, meaning a professional contact let’s say it’s Robert Smith. So, Robert, go ahead and send them a quick text. Robert, been a while, how the heck are you? Hope all is well. Check in with people randomly.

17:17 Ed– Don’t be afraid to make more contact attempts than you normally would. That’s another key thing that I want to remind you of. Maybe in the past when things were going well, you had time to really think about that, and maybe you shied away from following up. This is not the time to be shy about following up. If there was ever a time to follow up more than you feel comfortably or comfortably doing, this is the time to do it. Identify adjacent markets. Okay? So what do I mean by that? If you work with, let’s say, higher ed, adjacent markets, are other markets related to that particular market. In our example, higher ed that are close enough to it that you could actually approach.

22:36 Ed– If you haven’t invoiced somebody in a while, now is the time to get caught up there. Now is also the time to figure out what you can do to ensure this doesn’t keep happening. Why is it that you’ve gone two months without invoicing? Client A? Might sound like a no-brainer, but if you’ve been busy, if you’ve just been kind of freaking out about what’s going on out there, you might be in that situation. And it’s okay. Don’t beat yourself up, but let’s get all that stuff straight. Lower costs at home in your business, but you want to maintain investments. Okay? So I’m talking about lowering costs with things that maybe you’re not using, tools you’re not using, services you’re not really getting value out of, but make sure not to cut out investments that are serving the business. One example, I actually invest in my business every year. I have a budget for that. Just three months ago, three or four months ago, I invested in coaching. A lot of money in coaching. And I’m constantly looking for opportunities to invest in my mind, my heart, my soul. I’m constantly investing in new ideas, information, books, courses, things that make sense. I’m strategic about it, but I make sure that I’m always investing in myself. That is my biggest asset, is my mind. It’s my heart, it’s my soul.

30:36 Ed– So just because something is hot doesn’t mean that this is where you should go. This is really more about pivoting as needed and carefully and strategically and reframing and clarifying your message and how you add value in this environment. One example is when COVID hit, I think it was like a month in like April 2020, I realized that my messaging was really geared toward kind of regular times, and some people were maybe struggling a little bit, but many people had momentum. But they had momentum and they were just focused on working in the business. So my messaging was all about, okay, let’s take a step back. Let’s work on your business and make it stronger, better, give you a business that enables you to earn more and less time. And this is all well and good, but it doesn’t work as well. That kind of messaging when everyone is freaking out, when everyone’s losing sleep every single night.

35:04 Ed– You may want to start going a little bit upstream to maybe VP level, maybe even C level, depending on the organization. And you want to do that with a different value message. You want to frame your value. And what you do is the fiscally smart thing to do to continue marketing, but doing it with less. Okay, maybe you present yourself as someone who helps clients get much more value out of the content marketing dollars they’re already spending. And you don’t have to use those exact words, but I’m just kind of giving you the sentiment and the people who respond really well to that are going to be higher up the organization and not so much at the manager level. So again, this is not for everybody and not in every situation, not in every market. But you may want to consider moving upstream at the executive level.

38:25 Ed– Or maybe you create a workshop that’s well suited for this environment and the fear levels that you’re seeing. And for those clients and prospects who are cautious, maybe you ask yourself, okay, how could I help them with lower priced offerings that are still high margin for me? Meaning content calendars, content repurposing, which I mentioned a minute ago, things that, hey, this is not a $5,000 engagement, maybe it’s 1000 or 1500, but it gets me in the door. It’s something that I find enjoyable, it adds tremendous value to them and it could lead into other things. So pick something. Pick a few things you do really well that maybe you’re not currently charging for from an advisory standpoint where you’re providing ideas, advice, insights and package that somehow promote it. Create a productized service around it. Productized meaning that it’s a fixed scope and has a fixed fee. Now, one last word about financial runway because I’ve mentioned that term a few times.

43:09 Ed– I love this concept of the future self. So my future self is someone who is much better, stronger, and smarter than my present self. And the cool thing about the future self is that that pattern keeps repeating. So right now, I’m better, stronger, and smarter than I was ten years ago. So my past self was not as good as my current self. And if you look back at your life, I’m sure you can find the same things. I mean, it’s not a straight line, but certainly if you look back long enough, you have definitely, in any ten year period, probably gotten better, stronger, smarter. So if that pattern keeps repeating, what makes you think that in ten years you’re not going to be better, stronger, smarter? So if ten years ago you were not as good as you are today, why wouldn’t that pattern continue? Okay, so with that in mind, I want you to ask yourself, what would your future self tell your present self? What advice would he or she give you about what’s going on right now and what you need to do? And I want you to write this in a journal as a letter from your future self to your present self.

50:16 Ed– I’m sharing this with you because sometimes it’s during our darkest moments, during our moments with the biggest fear and anxiety that we can muster all the resources we need to actually turn our business around. So I urge you not to give up hope. This is not going to last forever. So if you’re in a difficult spot, just trust that you are where you’re meant to be and that you’re going to come out of this stronger than you have before. If you put forth the work, if you show up every single day and just do your best and if you are actually doing really well right now, this message is still very relevant because I don’t want you to forget that. I don’t just want you working in your business.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here
Join my implementation program and be a case study.

Work with me privately.

The post #320: The Resilient Mindset—What It Takes to Thrive in the Face of AI and Economic Uncertainty appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#319: How to work ON the business

Ed Gandia — Wed, 10 May 2023 13:23:10 +0000

One of the challenges of being self-employed is that we’re continually getting sucked into working exclusively IN the business.

And that often comes at the expense of working ON the business.

Working in the business is mainly about doing client work and serving clients. But it also includes admin work such as email management, invoicing and so on.

Working on the business is about anything related to improving the business. It includes everything from thinking about the vision and direction of your business to brainstorming, strategizing, professional development, implementing new strategies, working on new initiatives that will improve the business (e.g., an info product, a new productized service or a new offer), and even marketing yourself.

Here’s the challenge. When you’re not sure how to split and budget these two functions (working IN vs. working ON the business), the “ON the business” part gets left out. Especially when you’re busy.

So what’s the solution? That’s what this week’s podcast episode is all about.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here
Join my implementation program and be a case study.

Work with me privately.

The post #319: How to work ON the business appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#318: Five Powerful Ways ChatGPT and Other AI Can Help You Become a More Productive Writer

Ed Gandia — Tue, 25 Apr 2023 19:01:03 +0000

Everyone in the writing and copywriting space is talking nonstop about AI. And that’s not going to slow down anytime soon.

The hype is real. But the issue is complex and demands nuanced discussion.

So while you might be starting to get sick of all the AI talk out there, here’s my promise to you: I vow to bring balanced, practical and nuanced discussions to you on this topic every time I address it on this show or in my newsletter.

I have several episodes in 2023 already bookmarked for AI discussions. In fact, I’ve already booked a handful of interesting guests who will be joining me to take a deeper dive into this fascinating topic.

We kicked off that effort with Sarah Greesonbach nearly two months ago, where we explored the higher-level implications of AI in the writing profession. And in today’s episode we’re revisiting AI—this time we’re getting more tactical.

My guest is my good friend and colleague Jennifer Gregory. Many of you know her as a very successful and accomplished freelance writer and the author of the excellent book The Freelance Content Marketing Writer: Find Your Perfect Clients, Make Tons of Money and Build a Business You Love.

Jennifer is also the author of The Content Marketing Writer blog and the newly published course Improve Your Productivity with AI Writing Tools, which I encourage you to check out. (Listeners of this show get a special discount with code “GANDIA” at checkout!)

In today’s discussion, Jennifer lays out five specific areas where writers and copywriters can use AI to become more productive, get unstuck, generate better ideas and produce better writing.

Again, we get real tactical here. I think you’re going to find lots of great ideas and insights in this episode.

audio player

(08:43): Idea Generation –
When it comes to AI tools right now accuracy is a big thing and that’s hopefully quickly improving. But anything you do that has factual in nature, that’s going to especially apply when we talk to research.

(14:52): Social Media –
Every time I’m doing social media posts for myself and also for some of my clients that have me write social media posts to go with the story that they share, and they expect hashtags, but it’s a complete pain to try to find the hashtags.

(20:04): Headlines –
Maybe I’m alone, but I suck at writing headlines. I write stupid headlines and it’s hard when a client wants like five headline examples.

(25:57): Outlines –
If you have a new topic, it can help you create a basic outline.

(31:12): Research –
This is the one that I had the most hopes for and have been disappointed.

Now as we wrap up, I want to make sure you tell us about your course. You’ve created a whole course on very practical ways to use these tools. Tell us about and where people can learn more about it.

Jennifer Gregory Writer

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here
Join my implementation program and be a case study.

Work with me privately.

The post #318: Five Powerful Ways ChatGPT and Other AI Can Help You Become a More Productive Writer appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#317: Landing Marquee Clients

Ed Gandia — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 21:21:11 +0000

A coaching client recently asked me about how to start pursuing and landing well-known clients, such as Fortune 500 companies and big organizations, to enhance their client roster and portfolio. What intrigued me the most about her question was not the intention, but her assumptions about what it would take. She specifically asked about what skills training she would need to qualify for these big clients, or in other words, what knowledge or skillset would make her worthy of even approaching these organizations. It’s important to note that this client is not a newbie and is fairly established. So, I summarized my advice to her as follows:

First, she doesn’t need more skills training. While it’s possible that she might need additional skills, it’s highly likely that it’s not the only thing missing. What’s truly missing are two things:

Giving herself permission to go after these clients without seeking external validation. She doesn’t need permission from anyone else, such as a certification board or any other group, to pursue the clients she wants.
Developing a strategy that stretches her current confidence level and moves her in the direction she wants to go.

Let me elaborate on these points. The first one is straightforward. She doesn’t need external permission to pursue big clients. She can go after them whenever she wants, and she may already be qualified to do so, even if she feels less experienced, less skilled, or less qualified compared to others who are pursuing these clients. In fact, many less qualified writers still go after bigger clients and sometimes even land them.

Women, in particular, often struggle with this due to a tendency to feel like they need to check all the boxes before pursuing something. On the other hand, men are more likely to pursue big opportunities even if they only meet some of the requirements. I’m not getting into the science or theories behind this, and I want to emphasize that I’m not saying men are better than women. This is just sharing the evidence. Being aware of this tendency is the first step towards making a change. So, women should understand that hesitation is normal but should still move forward in pursuing their goals.

Now, let’s talk about the second point, which is using her current confidence level to work towards a better place. Experience, ability, skill, and confidence are all relative. I explained this using the analogy of a staircase with different steps representing different levels of business and confidence. If she’s currently on step five out of ten, representing her current confidence level, and she aspires to land clients at the nine and ten level, she might feel terrified and unready. In that case, she can start by working with her current level of confidence to pursue clients at the six and seven level, which are a bit outside her comfort zone but not too far from where she currently is. Once she lands a few clients at that level, it becomes her new baseline or new normal. She can then push herself to go after clients at the eight and nine level, which are further outside her comfort zone but not impossible to achieve. With time and effort, she will soon find herself at a level where pursuing clients at the ten level feels achievable and within her reach.

Lastly, I emphasized that wherever she is on the staircase, there are people below looking up to her, admiring her, and wondering how they can reach her level. What may not seem like a big deal to her is a significant accomplishment for someone else, just as it was for her at some point. It’s all relative, and her current position is proof of her capability to achieve even more. Onward.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #317: Landing Marquee Clients appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#316: How Jaclyn Schiff Scaled Her Solo Writing Business Into a Successful Content-Repurposing Agency

Ed Gandia — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 19:01:36 +0000

Most of us became self-employed because we wanted a higher level of freedom in our work and our personal lives.

We wanted to have more control over the kind of work we did. Whom we worked with. When we worked. How we worked. And how we balanced work and personal responsibilities.

But after growing their business for a number of years, some writers start wondering if they should take their business in a different direction and start scaling their operation.

Their motivation varies. Some choose to go in this direction because they see an opportunity to create a business that doesn’t depend entirely on themselves. Or they want to create an asset that could be sold off for a hefty profit in the future. Or they love the creative challenge of building a business that leverages the talents of other people.

Or perhaps it’s simply because they had really good clients they could no longer fully serve on their own. So they chose to grow their operation to serve those clients rather than risk losing those clients to an agency.

We’ve talked a lot about scaling up your business a number of times on this show and in my newsletter. You’ll find some of those discussions and articles here, here, here and here. We’ve also interviewed others who’ve chosen this path.

Today, I’m talking with someone who’s doing this right now. Her name is Jaclyn Schiff, and she’s the founder of PodReacher — a content agency that’s exclusively focused on helping B2B tech companies repurpose recorded content into articles, blog posts, white papers, ebooks, case studies, lead magnets and other powerful content formats.

One of the many things I love about PodReacher is their nuanced focus. This is a very tightly niched agency focused on a very specific set of solutions for a very specific audience. And that right there is a recipe for success, when executed well.

In this candid conversation, Jaclyn explains how she came up with the idea for PodReacher. How she transitioned from solo writer to an agency model. Her motivations for doing so. How and why she’s pivoted and evolved her company a number of times in a few short years. Her biggest challenges. And the biggest misconceptions writers have about scaling up.

(00:36): Why don’t you describe for us what it is you do today

I run PodReacher, which is essentially these days I describe it as a niche content agency. We work with mostly B2B companies, and we repurpose content, or what we like to call content transformation.

(03:19): When did you launch PodReacher and how did you come up with the idea that for the business?

I started it towards the end of 2018. Um, so it’s been just over four years now. At that point I’d been a freelancer for about two years. So, I’d been working for myself for two years and I had always had a bit of the entrepreneurial itch, like I’d previously started another company that I didn’t quite have the drive to persevere with, but it was a good way to sort of get my feet wet and understand the right business and what’s required to really launch and bring something into the world and then make it a little bit sustainable.

(09:14): What’s been the focus more recently?

So, the focus is more on a type of client rather than the medium that they’re using, and the client is a B2B tech company.

(14:19): How much do you get involved in terms of content strategy and offering that as part of your solution?

Great question, not very involved and that is an area of evolution I see for the agency. My focus has been I would like PodReacher to be the service provider that creates the best writing based on repurposed content.

(20:16): What is the biggest source of clients for you today?

So, the last few years I think it is because I had some initial success with that cold outreach and I’ve leaned on that a lot.

(24:57): In terms of number of projects you’re delivering, per month. For somebody listening in who doesn’t know, are we talking about you got two or three clients you do this for? Or are we talking about two, 300 or somewhere in between?

It’s probably over the last three years we’ve worked with about 50 clients. I would say that at any given time, we’re probably actively working with 15 to 20 clients.

(27:18): What kind of team are we talking about then behind the scenes?

It is all contractors. Um, I’m technically the only full-time employee in the business. I’d say we have a writing team of about 20 to 25 writers.

(36:31): Where have you had luck finding good people? Has there been a particular source, or has it been word of mouth or has it all over the place?

I think the hardest thing in the world is, is hiring writers because anyone can say they are a writer or decide to market themselves and position themselves as a writer, write, and we can all type words on a keyboard but there’s so much more that goes into being a professional writer.

(38:59): What do you think you guys do well in terms of managing the team and expectations?

I have to give a lot of credit here to the managing editor.

(40:13): I’m curious about where you’re looking to take the business. What, what’s your vision right now? Early 2023?

I’m working through quite a bit, um, at the moment, in part, again, you know, the introduction of, um, Chat GPT last year really gave me pause and just made me consider what is the vision and how do we differentiate and leverage AI. What does that all look like? So, I think that’s something I’m still wrapping my head around.

(43:57): What would you tell to somebody who’s looking to scale up their operation?

If your main goal is increasing your income that’s going to happen a lot more quickly and probably easily and with a lot fewer headaches if you just do it yourself. Maybe you bring in a virtual assistant or a writing assistant.

(47:47): Where can I send people who want to check you out, want to connect with you?

LinkedIn
PodReacher.com

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #316: How Jaclyn Schiff Scaled Her Solo Writing Business Into a Successful Content-Repurposing Agency appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#315: Jonathan Stark on Getting Higher Fees with Greater Confidence

Ed Gandia — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 19:01:00 +0000

Few topics bring about as much doubt, fear and insecurity as pricing. In fact, pricing is the second topic I get the most questions about — the first being how to land more and better clients.

What should I charge for X?

What should I include in the scope of work? How should I present my pricing? How should I think about my offers or options? How can I maximize what I charge and still land the deal?

And how do I create the conditions that will make it easier for me to command premium prices?

These are just some of the most common questions I hear. And they’re a sampling of what we cover in this episode.

Joining me today is my colleague Jonathan Stark, a sought-after coach and consultant in the software development space. And in this episode we’re doing something a little different. We’re actually interviewing each other. And we’re running the same material in each of our podcasts: High-Income Business Writing and Jonathan’s Ditching Hourly podcast.

Jonathan has had a big influence in the way I price and think about my work. And I can’t recommend his material enough. So make sure to check out his podcast and website, including his 5-page proposal template.

This was a really fun and in-depth conversation that will get you thinking a little differently about pricing. I love the ideas Jonathan brings into the discussion from the world of software development, because as writers and marketers I feel we have a lot to learn from the most successful software consultants. At the same time, you’ll notice that there are also a lot of similarities between our professions.

Anyway, this episode will be well worth your time, regardless of where you are in your business journey or how long you’ve been on your own.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Importance of finding a small percentage of a large market as good clients
Not needing many clients to succeed
Valuable content available on jonathanstark.com
Additional resources at b2blauncher.com for pricing and related information
Initial Contact and Conversation with Potential Clients
Identifying client needs and objectives
Asking the right questions to align interventions with client goals
Articulating oneself as the go-to person in high-stakes situations
Dealing with Prospects and Transitioning to New Services
Asking better questions and guiding the conversation based on the prospect’s awareness
Focusing on a specific target market for a smoother sales process and better work
Differentiating and specializing in a specific niche

Timestamp Overview:

07:09 Jonathan– Somehow they make a buying decision based on, like, oh, this hourly rate seems reasonable, and they make this huge assumption about how long it’s gonna take. But when they jumped on the phone and I was as guilty of this as anyone back in the days when I was doing software projects where in that phone call, I knew that the outcome of the phone call was going to be me writing up an estimate for how many hours I thought it was gonna take to build the thing that told me they want it built. And I spent the entire time in what should have been a sales meeting, really trying to uncover as much scope as humanly possible. You know? Like, yeah, I know it’s gonna have a login, but is it gonna have this software product gonna be multitenant, or is this software product does it have, like, an unusually high need for privacy, or are there any regulations involved with this or whatever? Like I was always looking for, you know, like, can there ever be 2 companies on an invoice, or is it always to 1 company? I was trying to figure out the object model sort of, like, for the database. And then I had a calculation where I could, you know, if the database model was gonna look like this, I kind of uncovered all the business objects, Then I could roughly say, well, I’m gonna need at least 2 screens for every single one of these. There’s gonna be a list view and a detailed view, and each one of those are gonna take me about this long, And come back and be like, oh, it’ll be $75,000 for this. And I spent the entire time in the sales interview uncovering scope to come back with an estimate that was probably without exception, ultimately too low.

14:37 Ed– Now I see why you’re thinking about it this way. Is that an appropriate intervention? Is it an appropriate intervention? Great. In my mind, I’m thinking, how are you thinking about going about it? How are you thinking about it? Because many times, they have the right intervention, but the wrong approach, the wrong plan, the wrong strategy, that’s another potential entry point to add value and to change the conversation. So there’s a few different pivot points there that you need to be aware of to guide them in the right path.

Jonathan– What’s a for software developers who probably never hired a copywriter or a content marketer or anything like that, what’s the conversation? What’s the initial contact feel like? Not with a client who would end up probably being not a great fit. But with some clients, it probably could end up being a good fit. So a qualified lead kinda reaches out to maybe someone you’re coaching, what does that outreach look like? Are they sort of self-diagnosing and self-prescribing? Like, oh, I know we need to do something about what? Do we need a lead magnet, or do we need more blogging, we need a combination of things, we need a sales funnel, and we need better SEO. Like, what is the thing that a good potential like, someone you would get on the phone with, be like, yeah. This might be a good fit. What’s their initial ask look like?

18:28 Ed– You know, so you can end up with a short-term win, but a long-term loss if you just take their lead and don’t ask questions.

Jonathan– Yeah. Exactly. So this oh, we needed 10 pages about this, and you’re like, great. Off to the races, you go and do it. And then you give it to them, and they never even put it on their website. Or it or they do put it on their website, and it doesn’t drive any sign-ups. It doesn’t change the conversation. So, like, in a scenario like you just if someone if I was a, you know, copy if I was a writer and someone came to me and was like, oh, we need a white paper.

23:29 Ed– So the art of this is figuring out how much to push and how to do that masterfully. And that takes time. Know, that takes time to learn, and then you gotta practice. So I would ask, how would we know? And it’s like, well, this well, Where did this stem from? Like, where is this, where did this start? I might find out that it came from the sales team. Sales team is having a really hard time converting people from the initial conversation to the proposal stage. Like, they’re losing people. That gives me something very tangible to hold on to.

31:31 Ed– And then to your point about how to ask it. My favorite question is a Dan Sullivan question, by the way, which is 6 months from today, what would have needed to have happened for you to be really happy with the results, with the white paper? And that really kinda shifts their thinking because now they’re fast-forwarding to, you know, June or July or whatever. It’s like they’re looking back. They’re not here now. They’re looking back from the future. So that’s a really powerful way to get them to, I found, to give you that answer.

Jonathan- That’s my version of the home run question. What would it look like if this is a home run? What would this look like for the business if this project is a home run? And they’ll say stuff that you’re like, woah. Like, that’s impossible? Right? Like, you just disagree with the intervention. You’re just, like, that’s not gonna happen. I’m not willing to take that risk. It could happen maybe, you know, like, you know, what for this to be a home run in the software world, something unrealistic could be like, you know, we’re competing with Facebook, you know, toe to toe with Facebook after 6 months.

37:07 Ed– But, you know, depending on what you have. I don’t want anyone listening to go, well, I definitely don’t have that. So everything they just said doesn’t apply to me. No. The whole idea is we’re just giving you kind of a full spectrum here, and you decide where you add value, where you fit, and come up with your options. So you’re suggesting, hey, in the case of 3 options in a proposal, they build on each other.

Jonathan– Yeah. So let’s actually flip it a different way. Right? So if you wanted to and you just mentioned the word specialize, that is what made me think of it. I’ve worked with a couple of copywriters that that increased their altitude of involvement with a client, which by which I mean, they, more exclusively, over time, would just sell strategic level stuff, like that first option that we just so the the first option we just described is kind of, like, strategy, implementation, and then support, which is one way to slice things. Another way to slice things would be to have, like, to to just specialize in something like, or, like, your initial offering. I’m trying well, maybe it’s not that different. But just operating at the level of that first option and just doing positioning.

37:59 Jonathan– So, like, just for the copywriter like, so may let’s say you’re a copywriter, and you keep on meeting these people. These clients you are attracting who don’t have a white paper problem. They have a positioning problem. Like, they don’t, or a messaging problem. Like, they don’t know how to tell people what they are in a way that clicks. Like, they can’t you know, they the with symptoms of which look like, you know, oh, you you’ve got a sales team, And they it takes, like, 45 minutes a 45-minute presentation with a prospect for the prospect to even start asking the right questions or comparing you to the right alternatives or competitors. Like, they Yeah. Like, they just don’t get it.

45:40 Ed– We spent I mean, that’s 90% of the time, that’s where I start. When we start working together, That’s where we start the discussions. Because 90% of the time, it’s either not specific enough, or it’s very confusing. There’s just a problem with it. The hardest thing is I don’t know if you see this with developers. But writers, you know, this is more on the kind of creative side of things. They came to you. They know you don’t focus on their industry or their sector. But they’re convinced because they came referred or whatever that you’re the one who can help them. But writers have a hard time understanding. And listen, I get it. I felt the same way for years. Is that if you narrow it down, you’re not narrowing down your options. You’re making it easier for people to say yes. And I would rather have a smoother sales process with fewer people but end up with higher quality than to cast a wider net and just go through that mess.

Jonathan– I’m so glad you said wider net because I know that that is the metaphor that’s in people’s minds. But I wanna talk through that metaphor for people who are in that, like, that fear of leaving money on the table, leaving opportunity on the table. When you say, like, why would I cast, why would I just fish with this single hook when I could cast a wide net? And I’m like, no. That’s not right the metaphor’s wrong. The metaphor, you’re the you don’t what am I say, by being a generalist and appealing to everyone, that’s not the net. It’s the water. So if you’re not… Nike has a big net.

53:34 Jonathan– I always think of it as, like, you’re the go-to person for this particular thing, but you are the safe option. You’re the smart choice. Lowest risk. So people who have really high risk are the exact same people who are willing to spend pay a premium. Right? You’re buying insurance. It’s like insurance. It’s called a premium for a reason. You’re paying an insurance premium. So you’re gonna get a premium from people who are sensing this risk. And you’re automatically gonna attract those people because you’re like a magnet. So, like, if you’re the safe option, you’re gonna magnetically attract people who are the most scared. And if you then there’s another dial you can turn here. If you have successfully started to do that, then you can dial up The buying power on the kinds of clients you’re trying to attract. So the more money they have, probably the more risk they’re experiencing.

56:06 Ed– I would say there are 2 great opportunities that are often missed where you can help plant these seeds. One is in your discovery call. I would urge everyone to start developing and practicing some key messages around that. And I like to start it or I like to verbalize it this way. When you work with me, Here’s what you can expect. When you work with me, you don’t have to worry about x, y, z. Say it just like that. I mean, say it in a way that feels natural to you. That should be planting seeds in the discovery call. Your proposal should also emphasize these things. Don’t assume that the prospect’s gonna connect the dots. Is there not a NLP that can come into play here in the conversation? Sure. But go ahead and say it outright and say it confidently. And going back to niching when you do that, it makes it so much easier. The second point and this is what reminds me of this, I have to remind myself of this stuff all the time. I heard an interview years ago with Tony Robbins talking about his coaching. At the time, I’m not I’m sure he still does some of this. He did some 1 on 1 coaching for very select I mean, we’re talking CEOs, top-level athletes. And he said something, and I’m gonna totally paraphrase it here because this is my interpretation of it, that really has stuck with me all those years. He said, I’m the guy that CEO calls when there’s a board meeting the next day and he feels that his job is on the line. I’m the guy that that top-level athlete calls the night before the tournament because they’re having some serious anxiety, I’m the guy that that executive, high net worth individual, thinks that his kid Is at risk of committing suicide, and they need to have that conversation. They need to reach that person, that kid. So he described all these really high-stakes situations and presented himself. He wasn’t bragging. Like, I’m the guy. What is that worth? You know? I think that’s a useful exercise. I’m the guy who or I’m the gal who people call when…fill in the blank. And we all have that. You know, you don’t have to be Tony Robbins, but you need to be able to answer those questions for yourself or fill in those blanks.

01:04:09 Jonathan– So what’s the key? What’s the key next step that the listener takes the very first thing they should do?

Ed–You know, we kinda ended up here, but I think that’s really the starting point. I think it’s really taking a hard look at your positioning, which, by the way, to simplify because it could be a confusing word in my world. It’s about the perception you create in the marketplace. That’s all positioning is. I think of it as 4 elements, what you do, for whom, what makes you different and why those differences matter to that audience, the for whom? Just a very simple way. You need to be able to answer those questions. I would say then distill that into I’m the person you call when, you know, like something simple or your exercise. And then I would say from there, turn it into some updated copy for your website because that’s really the out-market-facing version of that thinking. And number 3 would be to ask better questions.

01:06:15 Jonathan– I agree with all that stuff so much so that I’m just gonna tack a little tail on the end of it about pricing where you just left it, which is that without a good well, whatever. If without being well positioned as the go-to person for something, The safe choice, let’s say, the 1 and only. Without that, value pricing, which a lot of people look at as a silver bullet for increasing their fees, It’s not gonna do anything meaningful for your fees. If you give them a proposal that’s twice as much as the next person and they see no meaningful difference between you and them. You’re not gonna magically make twice as much as you did yesterday. So so value pricing is magical for people who are already the safe choice, the one and only.

Learn more about Jonathan:
https://jonathanstark.com

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #315: Jonathan Stark on Getting Higher Fees with Greater Confidence appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#314: ChatGPT — the Threat and Opportunities for Writers in the Age of Powerful AI, With Sarah Greesonbach

Ed Gandia — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 20:01:34 +0000

By now you’ve probably heard of (and played with) ChatGPT. And, boy, has it (rightly so!) created a stir in the writing community.

ChatGPT is a natural language processing tool driven by AI technology that allows you to, among other things, have human-like conversations with a chatbot. It was created by OpenAI, an AI and research company.

The AI in ChatGPT can answer all kinds of questions. And it can write emails, essays, computer code, screenplays … you name it.

In fact, after playing with it for about 30 minutes, it seems like there’s little it can’t do.

As of this recording, ChatGPT is free to use. So millions of people have flocked to the tool to play around with it and test its capabilities. If you’ve done this, you already know how amazing it is.

In fact, you’ve probably wondered how long it will be before this tool (or some other similar AI) will replace us as writers.

It’s a fair question. And it’s precisely what we’re discussing in today’s episode. Joining me is my good friend, colleague and coaching client Sarah Greesonbach. Sarah is the founder of the B2B Writing Institute, which trains and coaches individuals on the writing skills, marketing strategies and project efficiency techniques that will help you build a stable, exciting career in B2B writing.

In this conversation we dive right into the ChatGPT controversy. Sarah brings in analysis and opinions from a wide range of industry experts on the issue. And we then share our own thoughts and predictions for where this is all going … how it could hurt your business … how it could actually help you further … and what you need to do to prepare.

This is a great discussion, and I hope you enjoy it!

(04:59): ChatGPT what it is and what it does?

It’s a language model, a computer program that’s designed to process and analyze language data.

(05:49): Why are people freaking out about this? For those who haven’t tried it, haven’t played around with it, give us a sense as to why it’s creating so much fear?

I think because especially if you’re intermediate or senior in writing, especially B2B and marketing, when you read it, it really does seem like just your first year in your career, um, you’re just reading something that you could have written

(08:38): What did you think of the output?

I thought it was interesting. I wonder if it’ll show us how formulaic our writing has become, because what it delivers is pretty decent, but none of it felt real

(09:44): Where could we go with this? I know you’ve been digging a lot into this, where should we take this conversation?

I think the first thing I wanted to talk about that was interesting is just that how much this reveals about people’s mindsets in general about business, because I feel like we all have this gut response to it that’s either really positive or really negative.

(10:36): What are, what are you seeing?

Mainly it inspires in me this desire to help people soothe their fear and just tell when to calm down a little bit.

(20:12): Is it really about finding the right application and coming up with better, more creative approaches? Or do you really need to have the fundamental knowledge?

The sense that we’re learning everything in theory, and like you said, we might not know the fundamentals to really know if we’ve done it correctly.

(31:58): How do we move up that value chain or that value pyramid?

I imagine there could be some exceptions for SEO and product descriptions and stuff where this does become how the job gets done, because that is such a structured way of doing writing.

(39:15): What about this order taking mindset that a lot of writers get into? How do we shift away from that? Is that something we should start shifting away from?

I think at first your first couple clients, it’s going to be natural that you want to show up and help.

(50:26): So Sarah, as we wrap up, was there anything we didn’t address? Any final thoughts on your end?

I think embracing your own potential becomes the ultimate way to outsmart anything a bot could do to your career where the clients you’re working with.

Learn more about Sarah:

B2B Writing Institute
B2B Content Studio
LinkedIn

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #314: ChatGPT — the Threat and Opportunities for Writers in the Age of Powerful AI, With Sarah Greesonbach appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#313: A Powerful Way to Reframe Your Setbacks

Ed Gandia — Tue, 14 Feb 2023 20:01:55 +0000

Steven Wright is one of the most unique and hilarious comedians to ever hit the standup circuit.

He’s known for his lethargic voice and his slow and deadpan delivery of ironic and philosophical one-liners. And in 2017, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him as the 15^th greatest comedian in its list of the 50 Greatest Standup Comics.

If you haven’t heard any of his comedy, take a few minutes to watch some of his bits on YouTube. They really are great.

I tell you all this because as successful as he became, Steven almost didn’t make it as a standup comedian. In a recent episode of the Joe Rogan podcast, a few of Joe’s guests told the story of how in the late 1970s, right at the start of comedy career, Steven got a shot to perform at a very respected comedy club in Boston.

It was open mic night, and he had 5 minutes to perform. The story goes that the audience laughed hysterically at only half the jokes. The other half generated awkward silence.

When Steven’s 5-minute set was over, he went back stage, collected his things and was on his way out the back door of the club, when the club owner stopped him and said, “Where are you going?”

Steven replied, “I’m outta here. I suck at this. They only laughed at half my jokes.”

The club owner looked at Steven in disbelief and said, “Are you crazy? You have 2-1/2 minutes of excellent material! See you next week!”

And so began the career of one of the best comics of all time.

Turns out that in comedy—as with many other artforms—when 50% of your material is excellent, that’s a great start.

Actually, scratch that. It’s not just a great start … it can land you at the very top of your game if you keep at it.

Being in a business where you sell your creative talent is not easy. You already know that. Some of your work will be very well received. Some will be OK. And some will get very negative feedback—often from what feels like left field.

It’s hard not to take those things personally, both the good and the bad. But how often do we completely distort reality because we focus all of our energy on the bad stuff at the expense of the good things? The great feedback. The great, happy clients.

When that happens, we need to remind ourselves that we have the proverbial 2-1/2 minutes of excellent material … and not focus on the other 2-1/2 minutes that fell flat.

Because in order to produce excellent work, we will invariably produce some material that just doesn’t quite hit the mark.

You can’t have the good stuff without the bad stuff. But the good news is, as we get better and more experienced, the ratio shift. It might be 50/50 early on. But it improves to 60/40, 80/20, 90/10 and beyond.

But look … wherever you are in this journey … whether it’s half of your stuff that doesn’t land well or only 5 or 10% … whatever you do … be fair to yourself. There’s nothing wrong with you. You are producing excellent work. And it’s important that you focus on that fact more than you have been.

Change the conversation you’re having with yourself. And be proud of the fact that you belong to a very exclusive club of brave and courageous souls who put themselves out there every day and share a piece of themselves through their work.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #313: A Powerful Way to Reframe Your Setbacks appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#312: How to Land More of the Right Clients by Rethinking Your Selling Mindset and Process

Ed Gandia — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 20:01:25 +0000

The word “selling” or “sales” has very a negative connotation among writers. So much so that I often avoid using the word in my content.

Many of us associate selling with talking people into doing something they don’t want to do. High-pressure tactics. Used car salesmen. Telemarketers.

But that’s not selling at all. Selling is all about having a conversation. And when you start to really understand what selling is about and how to do it well, with integrity and without an agenda, your business will improve in a big way.

You’ll start landing more and better clients at higher fees. You’ll look forward to prospect conversations. And you’ll feel much more confident about your value and your ability to bring more of the right kind of business in the door.

My guest today will give a very different way to think about sales and selling. Her name is Nikki Rausch. Nikki is a selling coach and the CEO of Sales Maven. She has over 25 years of selling experience. And her specialty is helping entrepreneurs, small business owners and solo professionals sell successfully and authentically.

Nikki has written 3 books, which you can find on Amazon. And she’s the host of the Sales Maven podcast, in which she interviewed me recently to discuss how I break down and approach complex challenges. Check out that episode here. And check out my prior conversation with Nikki about the Selling Staircase.

In this interview, you’ll discover:

Why most of us think about selling the wrong way
A much healthier and authentic way to approach the selling process.
How approach prospect conversations much more effectively and with greater confidence.
And how to frame and pre-frame sales conversations so you can get the information you need faster (no more one-hour conversations!) while presenting yourself as the obvious choice.

Your Sales Maven
Closing the Sale

Key Topics and Bullets:

Strategies to increase likelihood of hiring
Consistency in content to reflect unique message
Showcasing ideas and thought process to engage potential clients
Asking specific questions about a client’s decision-making criteria
Approaching client calls with curiosity
Importance of silence in sales
Utilizing open-ended questions and reframing “why” questions
Scheduling circle back calls to avoid being ghosted
Role of neurolinguistic programming (NLP) in communication and habits/patterns
Reframing the perception of sales as being of service
Importance of real conversations in the sales process
Pre-framing and leading the conversation
Balancing power in sales conversations
Asking direct questions about decision-making process, decision makers, time frame, and budget
Using the effective technique of “shutting up and waiting” for the prospect’s response

Timestamp Overview:

01:42 Ed– We’re gonna talk more about that. I’m curious about for those who are not familiar with, NLP, neuro linguistic programming. How does that factor first of all, what is it, and how does that factor into your work?

Nikki– So it’s really the study of communication. So neuro, is the way we process information in our brain, so that’s the neuro part of it. The linguistics part is language. So the how How do you speak? How do you speak to others? How do they speak to you? Picking up language patterns. And also, it also addresses any of that internal Dialogue that we’ve got going on in our head. Most of us got, you know, a voice or 2 or 3 going on in our head all the time. And then the the programming part is about habits and patterns. And so how I bring this into my work and NLP has been used.

04:02 Ed– So it’s not I think a lot of people I’ve talked to have this impression that it’s some kind of manipulation technique where where it’s really not. What I’m hearing from you, it’s really a better way to to to communicate more effectively.

Nikki– I think so. I mean, I, you know, like, like anything when you’re really, really good at it, you can use, You know, you can use whatever you’re really good at to be used for good or you can use it for bad. Right? So, I laugh because years ago, apparently, there was a book written that was called, how to use NLP to pick up chicks. Now that seems manipulative. But at the same time, you know, there’s guys out there trying to pick up chicks. So if you have a better strategy on how to do it. So, yes, it can be, I think, used in a manipulative way. In some of the techniques when I teach them, I specifically say, please use this with a high level of integrity because there is a power to what you’re doing.

07:39 Nikki– Your job in a sales conversation is to understand. Does this person have some type of a problem, a need, or a want? And do I have a solution that will meet that need or want? And am I interested in being of service to this other person? And if the answer is yes, they have a problem. Yes. I have a solution, and, yes, I’m interested in being of service to this person. Then I think you have an obligation to put that, whatever it is, product service in front of the other person and allow them to decide. Yes. I would like to buy that in this case, or No, that’s not the right fit for me. So that’s how I think about sales. It’s collaborative.

10:48 Nikki– But if somebody shows up in a conversation, they’re ready to have a sales conversation with you. If you preframe the start of that conversation, you kind of put everybody on the same page and you put everybody at ease, and it also shows a real respect for the other person. So an example of a pre frame, if you and I were gonna have a conversation, you’ve expressed some type of interest or you’re you know, you wanna find out a little bit more about what I do or who I serve or whatever, and we agree to have this conversation. The start of my conversation with you is the purpose of our call today, this is I’m gonna state the purpose. So the purpose of our call today is to chat a little bit more about what’s going on for you? And see if I have a solution that would meet whatever it is that you that you’re in need of right now. So that’s not a great way to say it, but that’s that’s a version of it. So state the purpose, say what the purpose is. K? So the purpose of it.

14:18 Ed– In your preamble, right, hey, the purpose of our call today is, do you ever say maybe this is, I think this is implied, but I like to say, and I don’t know if maybe I’ve been doing it the wrong way, is to see if if what your situation is, what your challenge is, and to see if I have a solution that could meet that. Right? But I always take the extra step and say, if It seems like we may have a match, then, you know, I can talk to you about how I can explain how I may be able to help you. And if we don’t, then I’ll let you know that as well. I kinda like to show them that, you know, it’s a or b, and I’m good with either one of them. Like, I don’t have an agenda other than trying to find out if we have a potential match. Do you go to that extent, or do you kinda leave that part out?

Nikki– So I don’t typically go to the extent of doing that, there’s no reason for you to not do it. Okay? So there’s I don’t have a I’m not saying, like, Ed, knock it off. Don’t do that anymore because of this or that. I think the fact that you’re doing it, it’s fine. It’s authentic to you. The one thing that I would be really careful about, and this isn’t specifically to you or how you phrased it. I would be a little, like, I wanna hear the way somebody’s phrasing it because sometimes we phrase things off, like it’s almost like we already start talking people out of hiring us. Like, you know, like, there’s a good chance you might not even need my service.

19:33 Ed– We’re looking for somebody to help us with it. So they have a specific project in mind that they’ve already identified. And then the other could be something one level beneath that, in that we’re we we really need to communicate this idea. We’re not really sure how and what format, You know, so something kind of in that category. They haven’t identified the solution yet, but they’re close to it, and they may even have some ideas. Should we do a, b, or c? But I would say that 80% of the time when you’re dealing with a more sophisticated client, they’ve identified the solution already. They’re looking for the right person, and they’re maybe open to taking a different approach. But so, you know, in those instances, I’m wondering if going with too high level of questions might feel a little bit detached.

Nikki– So here’s the example that you just gave about, we’re looking for a white paper to be written. We know we need it. The question I would ask is, one of my first questions would be, what is your criteria for determining who you’re gonna choose to write that white paper for you? What criteria will you be using? Because you need to know that. Because then when you make back your proposal, you need to use whatever answers they gave you to the criteria that needs to be a part of that proposal, whether it’s formal proposal that’s written that you’re sending back to them or whether it’s just part of the conversation. But I’m looking for key phrases that people are giving, and I’m looking for, like, how do I get to the heart of the matter of what’s the what’s the what’s gonna be the thing that tips them towards me if as long as I have a solution and I wanna work with them. Now the second example of, like, we’re just we know we wanna put this information out there, but we’re not really sure.

20:29 Nikki– I would probably ask some more specific questions. Like, what have you tried in the past to deliver information and what has been well received and what hasn’t from your audience? That kind of information, and maybe they know it and maybe they don’t, but I would ask a question like that. Because here’s the thing, If they don’t know it, if they don’t know the answer to that question, that’s an indicator that you’re paying attention to something they’re not even sure how to track. That also starts to set you apart as being credible, like, oh, here’s somebody who’s asking me a question about something that maybe I should be able to answer, and this person can probably help me determine that information. And I need to know that In order to put out effective con like, content. So you also again, these are those, like, you wanna ask questions that lead people down this path to hiring you.

24:50 Ed– I also like the fact that you’re approaching this call with real curiosity. You’re really trying to find it because it seems like you’re putting yourself at the same level instead of being subservient and treating it as an interview that goes both ways. Right? They’re interviewing you, but you’re interviewing them because you’re really trying to find out if there’s a match. That’s very different from approaching that with an agenda of, I need to close this deal.

Nikki– When you act in sales as if I’m just here to earn your business, I just want your business so bad, you are basically waiting for their parking space. Knock it off because they’ll feel it and they’ll take advantage. Now on the flip side, if you hold all the power in the conversation as the seller, and you treat or act as if the prospect should be subservient to you, they will oftentimes go and hire somebody else because we’re savvy as consumers, and we know that there’s other people out there that do what you do or do what I do, and you can find somebody else who’s a better fit for you. So even if they might buy something from you, they won’t become long term clients because they’ll feel like you’re always taking advantage of you. And so there should always be a balance of power. And the way you can balance power out in that conversation is, yes, you’re asking them the questions, but you give them the opportunity to answer. You don’t, you don’t talk over them.

28:11 Ed– Can you share some more questions in this category? Because I find that if you shy away from these questions, you’re not gonna have a real understanding of how they’re going about this and whether or not they’re gonna be a good fit, whether or not you’re wasting your time, and they seem confrontational, I think, to a lot of people. Right? So, maybe maybe, you know, maybe that’s my perception. But I try, I’m not afraid to ask these questions anymore. I used to be, but what kind of questions could you ask? With the understanding that, you know, we’re gonna link, by the way, to our previous episode where you went step by step through the selling staircase, which is extremely valuable, and I urge everyone to check it out.

Nikki– But there’s a way to frame that question so it lands really softly. So you don’t say so you don’t say, like, so who are the decision makers? And the reason you don’t say this is because if you just happen to be talking to somebody who’s an information gatherer and not a decision maker. They might feel a little pinched by you because they might be like, So you’re assuming that I’m not the decision maker? Or, like, you know, like, you’re talking down to them in some way. So the way you frame that question is you say, Now whom besides yourself is involved in the decision making? Because you assume, you presuppose that, of course they have influence in the decision. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be on a call with you. So they might say, oh, I don’t, I’m not involved in the decision. That’s okay.

32:50 Ed– Another one that I like to ask, I’m curious if you do this, and I usually do this in the prequalification typically in the, you know, in a form of, yeah. Is why did you reach out to me, or why did you decide to reach out to me specifically? Because I want to know what caught their eye and that’s just so powerful.

Nikki– So this comes from my background in NLP, so I’ll see if you like this or not, NLP is one of the one of the my favorite things I learned there was to rarely use why questions. Because and the reason I’m gonna share it is why it elicits a story and sometimes blame. So while can it be a time suck for people because they’ll need to tell you all the feeds and speeds and details as to why this happened this way. So it’s up to you. If you’re getting good answers, Keep asking that question. If you’re getting information on your intake form that fits for that, like, Ed, you know, you’re a master, so I’m not telling you to change. If it’s not getting you what you want, ask it as a what question instead of a why question. So what prompted you to reach out? You probably still get a lot of the same information, but you might not get as much.

35:45 Ed– And but it’s I never thought about reframing that question with a what. What made you reach out to me specifically? I wanna know, not your need, but why me? Because I will use their answer. It’s like, well, we love the fact you had the sales background, and then you came from, you know, the software industry and specifically construction software. Man, that is gold because then I know there are not too many others. Right? When I was, you know, writing for clients, there are not too many others who can fit the criteria they just mentioned.

Nikki– Yes. I love that. I mean, you should know what prompted somebody to be in touch with you. I’ll tell you the way that I, a lot of times, frame the question. I’m not saying it’s better. I’m just saying this is my version, I’ll say, How did we get connected? Because I like to imply we’re now connected. So how did we get connected? And so then people will know, they will still wanna share a little story like, oh, I’m a podcast listener. You know, my favorite is, I heard you on Ed’s podcast because I know you know this, but I love working with you like, you attract the best people.

39:09 Ed– But as we wrap up since we’ve been really talking about framing. We’ve been talking about framing the conversation you have with yourself, framing the conversation you have with prospects. How can we preframe so that when prospects do reach out to us, they’re way more likely to hire us? And I like to say, look, when people reach out to me, I want them to be about 70% sold on hiring me, not 30% sold. So what can we do ahead of time, proactively to get more people who reach out to us to be more on that side of the balance sheet more likely to hire us versus not knowing a thing?

Nikki– Well, some of that is, like, making sure that you’re putting content out into the market, that there’s a way for people to consume it, that you’re being that you are out there. So, you know, guesting on a podcast. Now not just guesting on a podcast, but make sure that your message, the things that make you unique, the things that make you stand out are the things that you’re talking about. You know, I could go on a lot, and I do guest on a lot of podcasts, and I can talk about a lot of things. But when somebody asked me to come on a podcast and talk about something other than sales, unless they’re a good friend and I’m just doing it to support them, the answer is no. Because, you know, make sure that the message that you’re putting out there is about what it is that you do so that when people do show up, they already feel like I mean, that’s why I love podcast because most of the time when people show up to have a, like, a discovery call with me, and if they’ve heard me on a podcast, they already get like, they get me. So they show up and they’re like, gosh, you sound just like how you sound on a podcast. You do the things that you talked about on the podcast.

41:45 Ed– So that when people find you, they’re gonna check you out first. I don’t care who you are, most people will check you out first. They’re gonna read your LinkedIn profile. They’re gonna go to your website. And the way I like to think of it, Nikki, is I want them to see how I think before they reach out. Because if I can show them how I think, it’s either gonna resonate with them and if they agree with my thinking and my thought process and the way I share ideas and ideas, then that’s a step in the right direction. You know? So because I’ve and if not, that’s fine too. I want my content to turn them off If it’s not a good prospect.

Nikki– Yeah. I’m so about I wanna attract my ideal clients. And, frankly, I wanna repel, like, seriously repel people who are not a good fit for my business. So somebody who doesn’t believe in the art of a sales conversation or somebody who doesn’t believe in building rapport, somebody who just wants to, like, talk at people, you know, and it’s all about convincing people. I want them to be so turned off by my message. Like, frankly, I want them to hate the sound of my voice because I don’t wanna spend any time having conversations with people who are like, I can’t stand you, or I don’t like your message. Like, I don’t need that in my mindset either. Right? So I wanna repel people as fast as possible and attract and so because I can repel people, and I do repel people.

47:09 Ed– I’m always learning and I’m learning from you. I got about 8 notes here, just from today’s conversation. So thank you

Nikki– Thank you for having me. I wanna reciprocate and say I learned so much from you too. The episode, you did a…you were so gracious and came on my podcast and let me do a mastering excellence episode with you where I got to dig into your philosophy and kind of mindset around, this idea of, like, how do you work through challenges and create a plan? So people are loving that episode, and you were so brilliant, and you shared so candidly. So thank you for that.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #312: How to Land More of the Right Clients by Rethinking Your Selling Mindset and Process appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#311: Why the Best Path to Success Is Often Indirect

Ed Gandia — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 20:01:41 +0000

Will Harris is the fourth-generation owner of White Oak Pastures—a family-owned farm in South Georgia that raises and butchers animals raised in a regenerative manner using humane animal management practices.

This 3,200-acre farm is located in one of the poorest counties in the U.S., and yet Mr. Harris has been one of the biggest innovators in the country when it comes to regenerative agriculture and operating a vertically integrated, zero-waste farm.

So much so that people come from all over the world to Bluffton Georgia to learn what the Harris family is doing and how they do it. It’s quite a remarkable, beautiful place. My family and I have been buying food from White Oak Pastures for about 15 years and have visited the farm a number of times.

I was listening to a podcast interview with Will Harris on the Joe Rogan podcast. I was fascinated to learn more about what they’re doing and WHY they do it. And then he said something that was so wise, I wanted to share it with you.

He said something to the effect of, “There are a lot of young people who are heavily involved in the regenerative farming movement. And most of them are very unhappy.”

The podcast host was surprised by this statement, so he asked Mr. Harris why that was the case. And he responded (and I’m paraphrasing here) … “Most of these young people wake up every day trying to change the world. And because of that, they’re constantly disappointed by the progress they’re making. So they get frustrated and burn out. I wake up every morning trying to save White Oak Pastures. That’s why I’m happy and optimistic.”

I found this idea to be incredibly wise and profound. Too many of us (I know I’ve been super guilty of this) try way too hard to change and improve things that are, frankly, outside our control. When we fail, we try harder. But that doesn’t work, so we get even more disappointed. And so the cycle goes … all the way to burnout.

Mr. Harris knows that if he wakes up every morning 100% committed to making his farm the best it can be … and ensuring that his 180 employees are happy and taken care of … he will produce better food and continue to improve the quality of his land.

That alone will have a ripple effect that includes a cleaner environment, healthier topsoil, a stronger economy in his part of the state, happier families, healthier people, and an example others can follow and travel down to Bluffton, Georgia, to learn about and apply to their own farms.

I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t fight for a cause you truly believe in. And I’m not saying you should give up hope for things outside your control.

Quite the opposite! I’m suggesting that very often, the way to victory is indirect. The best path is not often straight. It’s oblique.

And achieving success is more about being much more strategic than about applying brute force. It’s about playing chess, not checkers.

Or to put it more simply, it’s about working smarter, not harder.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #311: Why the Best Path to Success Is Often Indirect appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#310: Patti DeNucci on How to Enjoy Better Conversations

Ed Gandia — Tue, 03 Jan 2023 20:01:11 +0000

Throughout modern history, conversation has been at the heart of human progress. The art of having good conversation is something most people valued.

Coming from a Hispanic family, conversation was always at the heart of most of what we did growing up. We’re talking deep, lively conversations at every family gathering about anything under the sun, including politics, religion, current events and what’s happening in our lives.

But it seems like over the past 20 years, more and more people aren’t valuing the skill of good conversation like they used to. And that’s too bad, because the ability to engage in and lead good conversations is a critical business and life skill.

My guest today is an expert in this topic. Her name is Patti DeNucci, and she’s the author of the excellent book The Intentional Networker and the upcoming book More Than Just Talk: The Essential Guide for Anyone Who Wants to Enjoy Better Conversations.

I’ve known Patti for over 10 years. As you’ll quickly see she’s an excellent conversationalist and a true pro on this topic. And in our conversation we dive into how you can become better at conversation—regardless of whether you’re introverted, shy, or not really fond of talking to people you don’t know.

This is a skill anyone can develop with the right strategies, techniques and practice. Not only will it help you in your business, but also in your personal life.

So with that, I hope you enjoy our conversation.

PattiDeNucci.com
Intentionalnetworker.com

Key Topics and Bullets:

Societal shifts, technology access, and political polarization impact
Overcoming the Fear of Rejection in Conversations
Post-Pandemic Awkwardness and Shyness
Impact of personalities, introversion, and shyness
Importance of gracefully and assertively shifting conversation topics
Handling Difficult Situations in Client Conversations
Building Trust in Business Relationships
Emphasis on genuine conversations and active listening
Patti’s Book “More Than Just Talk”
Content of the Book and Writing Process
Emphasis on technique and confidence in conversation and writing
Introduction to Patti’s New Book “The Art of Conversation”
Importance of Developing Social Intelligence
Importance of shared enthusiasm and a supportive editor
Purposeful Networking and Genuine Connections

Timestamp Overview:

05:15 Ed– I’m hearing a lot of people use the whole personality thing as a crutch. It’s not me. That’s why I’m not good at that. That’s not who I am. And we’ve all seem to have been given an out for so many things including this. Could you speak to that?

Patti– I learned a lot when I was writing The Intentional Networker, and in speaking, and preparing workshops, and you know, I’ve been doing research, well, very intensively for the last 15 years, probably all my life, really, but I’ve done even more research. I’ve learned even more which has been just fascinating. And, here’s the thing about social personality, there’s the introverts who are energized by solitude, the extroverts who are energized by socializing, being with people, speaking out loud, thinking, you know, the the chatty ones who just love people, And then there’s those of us like me, I’m right in the middle, I am a right down the middle ambivert, many people haven’t heard that term before, ambivert, which means sometimes I really like my alone time when I can work and be creative and just relax, and then I love to be out and about with people doing what we’re doing now, I absolutely I love it and then it’s like, yeah, time to go back and so I vacillate and I have to pay attention to that vacillation. When is it time to go back into the other realm? Now, on top of that, there’s also shyness. Shyness is something I don’t know enough about where shyness comes from, but I will tell you this, once you’re an introvert, you’re always an introvert, whatever your social personality is, and you can find that out by taking the Myers Briggs or there’s some quickie test you can take online to get a glimpse of it.

08:54 Patti– Like, don’t if you’re an introvert, don’t overbook yourself. Don’t go to a conference and try to go from the minute the breakfast networking starts to the very last drink is being served in the bar. I mean, I can’t do that. You pace yourself, and you think, okay, I have to go back to my room, or I need to go home now, or if, you know, I’ll do an hour at this networking event, and then I’m going home and watching Downton Abbey or whatever your favorite series is. You have to take care of yourself and honor How it works, and I will also say extroverts need to be aware that they can go forever. They’re like marathon runners, and not all of us can.

12:57 Ed-We’ve all been in a conversation that it’s just not going all that well, either because you feel you’re I don’t know, it’s just awkward or maybe you feel like they’re being a little aggressive and asking too much of you, completely unexpectedly. So what can, and I know I just gave you 2 or 3 different examples, but what do we do? You know, how do we kind of turn things around in a way that’s gonna make the conversation more productive. Or how do we end the conversation?

Patti– So let’s say you’re at a networking event and, you know, networking, people don’t like the term, I don’t know, any place where you’re gonna be social, because I think networking happens everywhere. It happens at the gym. It happens when you’re out walking the dog. It happens everywhere. But let’s say you’re at a specific professional event and you’re having a conversation with somebody and they’re either just talking too much or that you don’t like the energy, you can’t really get the flow going, you can’t get a good mutually interesting conversation going. You know, you can sit there for a while and be polite, and then at some point, you can say, you know what? Please forgive me, please forgive me, those are the 3 words. Please forgive me. Oh, I see my friend over there.

16:18 Ed– You go into a conversation and you feel it’s not abusive, but you were not expecting this negative conversation, right? Negative feedback or, you know, something happened that you didn’t know about and suddenly, in other words, you’re being unloaded with new information that you weren’t expecting. It’s hard to process. Yeah. And you feel stuck. That’s a difficult situation.

Patti– That is really difficult. Well, you know, I I don’t know if I’m really the expert on the difficult conversation thing, but I’ve certainly had difficulty or when something came up, and I think sometimes we have to just be honest and say, wow, I was not expecting this. You may need to say, tell me more about what you want to say to me, and what I need to know about this, and you may have to say, look, I’m not sure how to process this yet, I need to have some time to think about it. I think you can always ask for time to think about something. Yeah. You know, even in some of these very lively conversations, You know, that that people have about all kinds of topics and policies and, you know, I and And a good friend of mine, in fact, she’s the one my new book is dedicated to, Jen B. King, she said that when anybody backs her into a corner, like, well, what do you think about this? And if she’s not ready to answer, she’ll just say I’m not ready to answer that. I need some time to think about this. How awesome for someone to say that Honestly, and say, I need some time than to spout something, you know, that’s totally unthought through.

19:08 Ed– I think that is huge right there because we have been conditioned somehow to think that we have to provide answers and agreement when we’re not ready to do so.

Patti– And we’re also in a world where people think it’s okay to just attack and to be mean and bully. I’m writing a speech right now for a group of city leaders, and I’m trying to be very Tactful in how I’m telling them that they all need to be more tactful. They’re leaders. They need to, you know, practice civility, practice courteousness, practice listening, practice being curious, find out what’s on people’s minds. We have so many bad examples out there in the media, and they’re not only impacting us. They’re impacting our kids.

22:53 Patti– So it back when I was in college, I had lots of writing classes, and I took a journalism class, I did some writing for the school paper, and I learned how about interviewing, and interviewing is all like asking, coming up with a good story comes from good questions. So if you want a good story from somebody, ask them questions. And I don’t mean being invasive and snoopy and getting in the middle of their business, but, you know, ask people things like, you know, what 3 books are on you have books on your nightstand? What are you reading right now? Or, who was your… who was the teacher that influenced you the most? The one that you think about and are so grateful for at this stage in your life. I mean, when people can come up with, in fact, having a powwow to come up with questions, like what’s your favorite conversation question? That’s a question in itself.

25:49 Patti– I’ve had I don’t know about you, Ed, but I’ve had some really delightful conversations with people that I thought were gonna be the most boring people in the room. That’s my assumption, you know, that was me prejudging. I’ve had boring conversations with people that said, oh my gosh, there’s so and so who’s like the CEO of the company, and it turned out to be a brilliant person, but not a very good conversation. And, I’ve had some surprising conversations, especially talking about tactics. Using the tactic of if you’re going into a social setting and whatever it is, professional or otherwise, there’s always a person that’s standing by themselves, they’re also feeling like I don’t know anybody here. I don’t know what to say, or they just haven’t found right person. Go over and ask them a question. How are you doing? Like, you know, who do you know here? What brought you to this event? You know? Is this the first time you’ve been to one of these? Or do you know that am I the only one that doesn’t know anybody here?

27:09 Patti– It’s a technique. It’s a lot of it’s technique, and then confidence. Again, I think the more you do this, the better it gets. And, honestly, I thought I knew everything about, oh, conversation, writing a book about conversation, which is my new book. How hard can it be? Well, 8 years later, and, you know, we edited it down from I don’t even know how many words we had, but it’s gonna be a 400 some page book. Not a dense 400 some page book, but it’ll be thick, but easy to go through. Short chapters, sections, things you can go tactically, things you can do strategically, and I know we’re gonna get to talking about that in a minute, but, yeah, I think that covers authenticity, ease, and confidence.

31:56 Ed– I love the fact that you said, look, be clear, but then set it aside. One of the things that I hear a lot of people, especially with networking events or industry events, as they set these ridiculous goals of, I’m gonna walk away with 10 leads. It’s like, you have no control over that, number 1. Number 2, that’s way too much pressure. Yeah. How about, look, I’m gonna I wanna meet some interesting people and, you know, maybe start start some relationships. You know, the beginning of some relationships that are good relationships. Yeah. And then just kinda let it go and be out there and be yourself.

Patti-I mean, you the person who wants to have x number of leads and wants to have x number of business cards and do that, you know, they’re gonna become the most obnoxious person in the room, because everyone else is gonna look at them like, dude, chill. Yeah. Let’s just be people here. Let’s just I mean, honestly, and and, you know, I I tell people to to do this, like, when you’re trying to figure out where your best business comes from, go back and analyze, you know, what’s the pedigree of your favorite clients, where did you meet them, where and how did you meet them? One of my favorite clients was somebody on my cycling team when I was cycling a few years ago, and I had no expectation that that was gonna be a networking thing, but she called me at 9 o’clock one night, and just said, oh my gosh, we have some budget money. We have to use it up by the end of the year. You’d be perfect. Can you do a thing for blah blah blah in 3 weeks?

35:10 Ed– Tell me more, you just mentioned listening. I know you’re really big on that, a lot of people feel like you gotta have the gift of gab when really what you have to have is the gift of listening. Can you speak to that a little bit?

Patti-Oh, boy. I think the gift of gab definitely has its merits in that people who are comfortable talking to almost anybody. My dad was that way, some of my best friends are that way. Some people say I’m that way, and I think that’s great to to be comfortable talking to anybody about anything, I think that’s a wonderful trait, but if you’re not in turn doing your share of the listening, then it’s kind of gone out of control, and and there’s actually a rule about if you’re in a 1 on 1, socially or however, you should be listening 60% of the time and talking 40% of the time, And, Chris, the real geeky math people say, well, that’s impossible. Both people can’t be, you know, doing that. It won’t work if both people do that. Well, the point is be the generous one, you be the generous one who is willing to listen more than they talk.

39:54 Patti– People need this info and I’ll also say, I read a lot of other books about conversations, some really fantastic ones out there, but a lot of them are written from an extrovert’s point of view. And that’s not me. There’s a ton of the people that need a lot of people that need this book could be extroverts, you know, how do how do I manage my extroversion, but there will be ambiverts and introverts and shy people too who I think will get a lot out of this and feel, You know, that that, that ease and authenticity and confidence once they start practicing using some of these techniques. You know, I tell a lot of stories too about things that have happened to me and, you know, good and bad, things I did well and things I screwed up, and, you know, I just we tried to have fun with it and and make it amusing because people don’t really like reading huge dense books that are boring.

41:23 Ed– I’m gonna throw an interesting question at you. If you could somehow call your past self 10 years ago and you had some advice about this topic,you only had a few seconds. And you’re not gonna waste time proving to your past self that it’s really you. Let’s just assume that it was a given. What would you tell your past self?

Patti– I would have said that I would have hired the editor of this book is my good friend. We’re both fellow marketing communications writers. We’ve known each other for more than 30 years. Our kids are the same age. I would’ve said hire Susan right off the bat. Susan Pretty, that’s her name. And I worked with 2 or 3 other book coaches and editors, and I didn’t get the same enthusiasm, and I would say this to anybody of your people who are gonna write a book at any time. If you’re gonna bring in any kind of partner or editor or book coach, they need to have the same enthusiasm for the topic and for how you want to try to cover the topic and share the topic as you do.

44:41 Ed– So, tell me more about where listeners can learn about your book. Where can they and I believe you have a free chapter they can download?

Patti– Yes. If they go to, patidienucci.com, and then it’s spelled p a t t i, d as in dog, e, n as in Nancy, ucci.com or intentionalnetworker.com. Thus, they go to the same place. We should have a pop up that will allow you to find and receive a free chapter of the book, and we’ve had a couple we’ve picked out, we might rotate different ones in and out to just get, give people different tastes of what the book’s about. Chapters are short, but they have something in it that you can use, so that would be a great way to stay in touch. It will automatically, I’ll be honest, it’ll automatically put you into my blog description, my blog list, and I’ll be doing a lot more of that. I’ll probably be sharing things from the book for the next, you know, How forever. As long as I can type, I’ll keep putting things out there

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #310: Patti DeNucci on How to Enjoy Better Conversations appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

Our Top Episodes and Articles of 2022

Ed Gandia — Tue, 27 Dec 2022 20:01:57 +0000

This week I’m taking time to reflect on 2022 and all the blessings this year has brought to my business and to my family. And near the top of my list is you, my friend.

Yes, you!

I’m grateful for you and your continued support of what we’re doing here at High-Income Business Writing. For being a loyal reader of my newsletter. For taking my podcast with you on walks, workouts and road trips.

For all your feedback and encouragement. For your great suggestions and success stories. For telling your friends and colleagues of our show and newsletter. And for allowing me into your email inbox. I know that’s a very valuable piece of real estate. So, I’m honored to have the opportunity to share ideas and encouragement with you every week.

Given the number of topics we’ve covered, you’ve likely missed a few podcast episodes or articles along the way.

So, my team and I have compiled a list of our top content from 2022 — the most listened to episodes and most read articles — and we’re sharing them here in case you want to catch up (or review) the highlights of the past year.

Enjoy!

Top 5 Podcast Episodes of 2022

#278: How ‘Original Research’ Projects Create a Wellspring of Profitable Writing Assignments

Not only do original research projects bring a handsome fee, but they also create a wellspring of new writing assignments that can keep you busy for months.

In this episode, Michele Linn talks about how she got into original research, what the work entails, how she finds and lands clients, and how much these projects command in fees.

Best of all, she explains how one original research project can quickly turn into many individual writing assignments that will keep you very busy for a good while.

#283: It’s Time to Get Comfortable Feeling Uncomfortable

It takes courage to prospect for clients, risk rejection and get the ball rolling.

Unfortunately, too many people today are turning their backs on courage and risk-taking and turning to conformity and perfectionism instead. That’s a recipe for a struggling business and a boring life.

In this episode, I share my thoughts on courage, fear, risk, and perfectionism — and encourage everyone to get comfortable being uncomfortable.

#286: Chrissie Zavicar on How to Gain More Exposure and Generate Targeted Leads by Leveraging LinkedIn Newsletters

When Chrissie Zavicar explained the potential of LinkedIn newsletters for writers, consultants, and independent professionals, I saw the light and got really excited!

In this conversation Chrissie details the different ways you can use this and other new LinkedIn features … and why now is the time to give them a try.

#282: Are You Lowering Your Fee to Get in The Door?

Have you ever priced your work low to get in the door with a new client? Maybe you were hoping that once the client sees the quality of your writing and how great you are to work with, you could charge higher fees for future work.

In this episode I explain why this strategy never works, why it only opens the door to a whole new host of problems, and how you can better approach these price-sensitive clients and prospects.

#292: Recurring Revenue — How to Start Earning Steady Paychecks Without Going Back to a Day Job

Most of us love the freedom that comes from working for ourselves. But we also want the predictability of income that a regular, full-time job can give us.

Well, you can’t entirely eliminate variability in your income, but you can reduce it. When you do, you’ll make smarter decisions, which will help you create a truly sustainable business.

In this episode, I walk through five different ways to create recurring revenue, and I reveal what you need to do today to start earning more of it.

#309: You Can’t Carry It All With You

Ed Gandia — Tue, 20 Dec 2022 20:01:24 +0000

I’ve been fascinated by the Appalachian Trail ever since I moved to Georgia in 1997.

The Appalachian Trail is a 2,200-mile hiking trail that spans from North Georgia to Central Maine. It goes through 14 states and takes about six months to complete end to end.

I’ve hiked and backpacked portions of the trail. I have no desire to do the whole thing, but I enjoy reading about those who have. And one of the things I’ve learned is that you can’t start out with everything you’re going to need for the six-month trip. You won’t have enough space in your backpack, and even if you did, the weight would be unbearable.

Instead, you have to plan your trip strategically and arrange to have supplies (such as food, spare socks, batteries and other items) mailed to you along the route.

In this podcast episode, I talk about hiking the Appalachian Trail and what it can teach us about our businesses.

Trust That You’ll Get What You Need

So how do you make sure you’ll have the supplies you need when you need them on the trail? You pack your supplies into boxes and arrange for a friend to ship those boxes to the small-town post offices that are located along the route.

This system for getting supplies popped into my head when I read this meditation from The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie:

“We can trust that all we need on this journey shall come to us. We will not get all we need for the entire journey today. We shall receive today’s supplies today, and tomorrow’s supplies tomorrow. We were never intended to carry supplies for the entire journey. The burden would be too heavy, and the way was intended to be light.

Trust in yourself. We do not have to plan, control, and schedule all things. The schedule and plan have been written. All we need to do is show up.”

I often feel anxious about all the things I need to do. When I think of a goal I want to reach and I see how far away it is from where I am today, I get stressed. And that often leads to discouragement.

But this little meditation is a reminder that you can’t travel the whole Appalachian Trail and carry all the supplies you’ll need. The burden would be unbearable. You can only take what you can carry now and then trust that what you’ll need next month, and the month after that, will come.

The journey isn’t meant to be a burden. It’s meant to be light, fun and fulfilling.

So remember, you don’t need to plan, control and schedule every little thing.

Yes, you need a rough plan. You need to know where you want to go—or at least have a general idea of your next destination.

And then trust that the details of the plan will unfold as you keep moving forward.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #309: You Can’t Carry It All With You appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

Drop Your Retail Store Mentality

Ed Gandia — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 20:01:43 +0000

Do you have a retail store mentality when it comes to your clients?

By this, I mean that you’ll take whatever client walks in the door.

That’s what retail stores do. They just want traffic and paying customers. It doesn’t matter who they are or how they treat you. A dollar is a dollar.

For solo creative professionals, however, that’s a big mistake. Instead of emulating a retail store, you’d do well to act more like a premium winery tour company.

Pretend you offer small group tours of select Bordeaux wineries via your luxury van. You’re not hitting the usual locations (i.e., the ones overflowing with tourists). Instead, you’re taking your clients to the small chateaus that few people know about. The wineries that produce wines that are works of art. The ones that truly care about their product.

Oh, and you purposely keep your operation small. You only have one vehicle, and it has a limited number of seats.

Do you want to fill those seats with clients who complain about the price, the weather, the roads, and even the wine? Or would you rather fill those seats with people who will truly value the journey and enjoy the experience?

When you apply this mindset shift to your business, your thinking changes.

You go from “I’ll take any client I can get” to “I have limited capacity. I can’t accept everyone as a client. So let’s make sure that the clients I choose can see the value of what I do for them.”

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post Drop Your Retail Store Mentality appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#308: Easy and Simple Ways to Develop an Effective Marketing Habit … Without the Pain

Ed Gandia — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 20:01:58 +0000

Let’s face it. Most of us don’t market ourselves as consistently as we should.

We get busy with client work and putting out fires. Or life happens. And before we know it, our work pipeline is completely dry. So we go on a desperate blitz to find work. Which often leads to poor decisions and unnecessary stress.

Fortunately, there is a way out of this treadmill. It’s all about developing a consistent marketing habit.

Sounds good on paper, right? But how do you make it happen in real life?

That’s what my guest today will show you. Austin L. Church is a writer, brand strategist, and business coach. He’s a good friend and a wickedly smart dude who truly understands how we can change our behavior by making simple and easy adjustments to our daily practices.

And in this episode, he’ll show you how you can do the same for your marketing—and how you can finally put an end to the damaging feast-or-famine cycle. We’re talking practical stuff you can apply starting today.

I hope you get a lot out of it. And, here’s a link to Austin’s Morning Marketing Habit program. I encourage you to check it out.

(02:43) How important has solid marketing been over the past 13 years in your business growth?

I’ll flip it a little bit and say the times when I was not marketing consistently and was not seeing the business growth that I wanted, the root problem was inconsistency with marketing.

(06:01) Why do you think marketing is the one area where writers, copywriters, marketing strategists admit they either hate, dislike, or just procrastinate on having to do it?

I think we have a lot of head trash surrounding, “I don’t want to be the type of person who needs attention”. Maybe you grew up in a family where wanting or needing attention was this bad quality or bad trait. But if you’re in business and you rely on getting clients online, then you have to get attention and to get attention, you have to put yourself out there.

(14:43) How can he actually start enjoying or learning to enjoy marketing?

So one of the things is just to make it smaller, it grows into this impossible undertaking in our minds. So, what is your minimum viable marketing? One of the things I recommend right out of the gate is have a little lead tracker. You can think of it as a CRM, in a Google sheet and put all clients in there.

(21:34) I’m here at my desk. I’m supposed to spend 15 minutes on marketing. What now?

If you have some simple tools, a list of past clients, a referral or introduction request, email, and then a day of the week when you’re just going to send a handful of these emails, it really doesn’t take that long.

(23:14) I will add something else. The first two or three Mondays are going to be dedicated to creating that toolkit.

You don’t even have to create your own tools from scratch, find someone whose perspective you trust, steal their tools, hand over your email address, get the tool, customize it, and you should be ready to rock and roll in like 17 minutes. You’re writers, so you can grab their templates, make them your own, and great – you have it every Monday for the next seven and a half years.

(27:06) How do you psych yourself up?

One of the first things I do is I make it easier on myself. And the way that I do that is by making it a habit. I do it the same time every day.

(32:59) What is the hardest part of developing that habit?

I really do think it’s the mindset. It’s worrying that you’re going to get on people’s nerves.

(36:42) I know that you have a wonderful program to help people develop this habit and actually make it happen. Tell us a little bit about that.

It’s 30 really short lessons with an assignment each day and the idea is that if you do a little something each weekday. It’s called Morning Marketing Habit.

Where can I send people to learn more about you?

Freelance Cake
Austin L. Church on LinkedIn

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #308: Easy and Simple Ways to Develop an Effective Marketing Habit … Without the Pain appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#307: Psych Yourself Up to Make Real Changes

Ed Gandia — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 20:01:24 +0000

Let’s say your goal is to grow your income without putting in more hours.

To reach this goal, you implement a number of new strategies, such as raising your fees, re-structuring client engagements, offering new bundles and moving to retainers.

These strategies are new, so they feel a bit weird (or maybe even downright wrong on some level). And so, before you know it, you start backpedaling.

Consequently, you don’t get the results you need. And you’re soon back at square one.

In today’s podcast episode, I describe why resistance often kicks in when you’re implementing new business strategies—and what you can do to overcome it.

When Resistance Rears Its Ugly Head

This sort of self-sabotage is more common than you might think. It’s resistance rearing its ugly head. Your lizard brain is trying to keep you safe.

The good news is that you can beat this resistance and overcome those fears and insecurities. But it starts by seeing that resistance for what it is and making a commitment to push through it, regardless of how uncomfortable it feels.

Leverage Your Anger

If you can’t seem to find a way to get there, try leveraging your anger in a productive way.

Remind yourself that you’ve been selling yourself short for a long, long time. You’ve been undercharging and overdelivering value. You’ve been bending over backwards for your clients and stressing over your work way more than you probably should.

Get mad if you have to. And use that anger as fuel to do what you know you need to do.

Because if you want to create a sustainable business—both personally and financially—you need to level up and create a new normal for yourself.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #307: Psych Yourself Up to Make Real Changes appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

How to Put Limits on Free Advice

Ed Gandia — Tue, 22 Nov 2022 20:01:11 +0000

You could argue that giving free advice to prospects is part of the sales process.

By “kicking the ball around” with prospects (i.e., brainstorming and sharing ideas), you’re allowing them to assess your expertise.

But unfortunately, some prospects will gladly spend hours picking your brain. And then never contact you again.

If this becomes a problem, you’ll need to put limits on your free advice. One way to do it is to combine a qualification form with a time-delimited phone call.

You start by requiring new prospects to complete a qualification form, which you can put on the contact page of your website.

Most of the time, prospects who only want to pick your brain won’t bother to fill it out. They’ll simply move on to the next expert who will answer their questions for free.

When a prospect does complete your qualification form (and they look like a good fit), you can offer them a free 30-minute strategy session over the phone.

You’re still providing them with (some) free advice. You’re giving them the opportunity to test you out while also getting the chance to test them out too.

At the same time, you’re putting limits around what you’re giving away for free.

If the prospect still has questions after that, no problem. Suggest a road mapping engagement to scope out their project.

You’ll get paid for your expertise, and they’ll have a clear path to move forward with the project if they should choose to do so.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post How to Put Limits on Free Advice appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#306: How Alexis Grant Sold Her Two Online Writing Businesses … And How She’s Teaching Others to Do the Same

Ed Gandia — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 20:01:08 +0000

Most freelance writers never consider the possibility of eventually selling their business.

They go out on their own because they want to run their own show. They want to keep writing but they don’t want to be an employee.

But … can a freelance writing business actually be sold?

And if so, what would you need to do to make it sellable? How much could you fetch for it? What would that look like? And who might be interested in buying it?

The answer is yes. But you need to scale up your operation so it’s not fully dependent on you. And you need to be strategic about your business focus and growth.

In this episode, I go into a detailed conversation with Alexis Grant, founder of They Got Acquired. Alexis started out as a journalist, then transitioned into a freelance writer. She sold her writing business about 10 years ago. She then founded an online content business which she grew and sold in 2020 for a hefty sum.

More recently, she launched They Got Acquired, a content website that shares stories of companies that sell for $100,000 to $50 million by NOT following the Silicon Valley narrative. She and her team of researchers and writers dig into these stories and reveal insights that lead to life-changing exits for the founders.

Alexis and I get into two specific opportunities for freelance writers:

The opportunity to scale up your writing or copywriting business into an asset that has real value for a buyer. What that requires, what’s involved and what an exit from that business can look like.
The opportunity to create and grow an online content business. What that’s about. Different ways of monetizing. And growing the business for a profitable acquisition.

As you’ll quickly tell, I was super excited to talk with Alexis. She was very generous with her advice and insights. And if any of this sounds interesting, not only do I encourage you to listen to the episode all the way through … but make sure to subscribe to the newsletter at They Got Acquired.

Enjoy our conversation.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #306: How Alexis Grant Sold Her Two Online Writing Businesses … And How She’s Teaching Others to Do the Same appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

Your Three Most Important Tasks

Ed Gandia — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 20:01:58 +0000

I have a little ritual I do every Monday morning that helps me reach more of my goals.

Here’s what that looks like…

I start the day by reviewing my goals for the next 90 days.

From there, I brainstorm a list of tasks that will help me get closer to those goals. Most of those tasks become my goals for the week. They’re task-based (or “effort”) goals.

Next, I use that list to select the tasks that I’m going to focus on THAT day. And I do the same thing first thing Tuesday morning, Wednesday morning and so on.

Once I have those goal-based tasks on paper, I add additional tasks I need to complete that day.

Then I take things one step further: I highlight the three tasks that I MUST complete that day. I call these my most important tasks (or MITs for short). They’re tasks that are essential to making progress in my business and personal life.

They’re not necessarily urgent. But they’re always important. They’re things I commit to completing that day, no matter what.

In other words, these are tasks that, once completed, will ensure that I have a productive and fulfilling day… even if I don’t complete anything else on my list.

Ever since I started placing this kind of emphasis on my MITs, my productivity has gone to a new level.

More important, I’ve started making much more progress toward my goals. Because I’m not letting all the “fires” rule my day.

By having three clear MITs every day, I keep my eye on the prize and make progress on what matters most.

Of course, this means I don’t always complete every item on my daily to-do list. In fact, I rarely do!

But even so, I end each day knowing that I tackled what’s most important. And if I complete any other tasks … that’s gravy!

Give this method a try tomorrow morning — but be gentle with yourself. It can take a few days to figure out which three MITs you should focus on.

But once you do, you’ll start seeing real, positive changes in your business and personal life.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post Your Three Most Important Tasks appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#305: Finding Your Best Weekly Workflow

Ed Gandia — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 19:01:22 +0000

I hated Mondays in school.

So much so that I’d get depressed every Sunday afternoon as it dawned on me that a new school week was about to start.

My disdain for Mondays was so intense that it carried on into my first 20 years in the workforce.

Then a few years ago, I finally figured out the cause of my Sunday afternoon depression. It wasn’t that I was lazy and dreaded having to go back to work. It was all about how my week STARTED.

In today’s podcast episode, I explain why finding the right workflow is essential to your productivity—and happiness.

Monday Morning Dread

Every Monday morning at school, we dove right into the first class, just as we did every other day of the week.

There was no accommodation for the fact that Monday mornings followed a relaxing weekend. It was the same intensity as every other school day morning.

I had the same experience once I entered the workplace. We were expected to hit the ground running every Monday morning. Often, these mornings were filled with meetings and appointments, and I found it very difficult to deal with those demands so quickly after a relaxing weekend.

It felt like diving into an icy lake after sitting in a hot tub.

Setting Your Own Schedule

Finally, a few years into having my own business, I started to experiment and blocked out my Monday mornings. No client work. No calls. No meetings.

What did I do instead? I looked back at the past week and reflected. I then looked ahead to the week in front of me and thought about what I wanted to accomplish. I used the time for planning, reading and journaling.

Then, after lunch, I felt ready to ease into client work.

The result was transformational! Changing my Monday morning routine made the rest of my week productive and fun. To this day, that’s how I start my week. I ease into it … then hit it hard … and then ease out into the weekend.

My point is this: you have to find the weekly workflow that works best for you. Some people prefer to front-end load their weeks, then ease out starting Thursday afternoon. Others prefer to ease into the week and back-end load their work.

Others, like me, prefer to ease in and out and put most of the work and intensity on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

There’s no right or wrong workflow schedule. The important thing is to experiment and find the flow that’s best aligned with your energy, needs and personality.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #305: Finding Your Best Weekly Workflow appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

Your Next Big Client Might Be Just Around the Corner

Ed Gandia — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 19:01:22 +0000

I know how frustrating and scary it can be when things aren’t going your way in your business.

I’ve been there more than once!

But here’s the good news: In this business, things can turn around very quickly. Unlike big corporations (which might need thousands of new clients to reverse a downward trend), you only need one or two really good ones to go from Hamburger Helper to a steak dinner. In the course of a few days (or even hours), your entire business outlook can change.

Maybe a new client comes through out of the blue. Or a prospect you’ve been nurturing for years is suddenly keen and ready to get going. The stars align!

But then you’re faced with a new problem: You have more work than you can handle!

This kind of thing happens more often than you’d think. I experienced it during the financial crisis of 2008. I lost my biggest client — a client that brought in 50% of my revenue!

I was burning through my savings at an alarming rate. I was really, really worried. Things were looking bad, to say the least.

It took me six months to land the client that (literally) saved my business. And the whole thing came together almost overnight.

My first project with this client was worth $19,000. I vividly remember driving over to pick up the deposit check. It was magical. Especially considering that the week before I was wondering how much longer I could live off our savings.

Of course, I can’t promise that the same thing will happen for you. But these things CAN happen.

Focus on taking the right kinds of action. Double your efforts and keep pushing forward.

Before you know it, you might face the new challenge of having too much work on your plate.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post Your Next Big Client Might Be Just Around the Corner appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#304: The Dangers of Making Safety and Comfort Our End Goals

Ed Gandia — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 19:01:09 +0000

Today I’m going to be talking about the importance of pushing yourself in your business.

Not because of some desire for greater income or some other external reward.

But because of the person it makes you when you push yourself to be better … to take chances … to try new ideas and approaches … and to enjoy every last bit of the process—including falling down and scraping your knees.

The late Neil Peart was the legendary drummer for the progressive rock band Rush. He joined the band in 1975 and continued through his death from cancer in 2020.

Neil is considered one of the best drummers in history, regardless of the genre.

I’ll never forget how blown away I was in 1986 when I really heard their music for the first time…

Huge influence on me (they say that whatever you’re really into at 14 or 15 will stay with you forever…)

After 30 years of playing the drums at a master level—and after 20 years with Rush—Neil was at the very top of his game. Again, one of the very best. No one disputed that.

Yet he did something unimaginable. He decided to take drum lessons from the jazz drummer Freddie Gruber.

Neil wanted to reinvent his technique from the ground up
Complete overhaul

Neil felt that after years of playing with click tracks in the background to keep him and the band right on tempo, his playing had become too “metronomic” in the bad sense. He was starting to feel stiff with his playing … and he knew he had to break out of that for the sake of his art.

I want you to imagine yourself in that situation. You’re more successful than you ever imagined yourself you’d be…

But Neil knew he had to push himself.

He knew that success is not ALL found in your current state
Success is about pursuing progressively more challenging goals
It’s about pushing yourself as an artist; as a professional

And as scary as that might have been, Neil changed everything about his drumming. Something he’d been doing the same way since he was a young teenager.

When asked in an interview why he wanted to overhaul his technique, here’s what he said:

“After 40, 45 years of playing, I wanted to push myself and open up this whole new frontier. I’ve been able to do that as a lyricist and as a prose writer, and now as a drummer. You have to challenge your own limitations and your own expectations of yourself.

Neil felt that success is not an act. It’s not some sort of destination.

Success is a habit.
The pursuit of excellence is a journey, not a destination.

Neil’s reinvention of his art—or let’s just call it his “business”—is not unheard of.

Tiger Woods has changed his swing at least 3 times during his career.

Baseball pitchers have reinvented their pitch midcareer.

So have Olympic swimmers, weightlifters and even Olympic jumpers.

Recently I read about Dick Fosbury, a young college athlete, who did something unfathomable at the 1968 summer Olympics in Mexico City. He jumped over the bar backwards—on his back.
That’s how we all know the jump is made. But from 1890 to 1967 high jumpers went over the bar in a handful of ways, but always with the intent to jump and land on their feet. Everyone thought this was the safest way to do it. So no one tried anything differently.
Until Fosbury in 1968. He reinvented his entire form and technique. And it worked like crazy. He shattered the previous Olympic record by clearing the bar at 7-4¼ and went on to win the 1968 Olympic gold medal.
But it was so controversial, even Fosbury’s coach criticized the technique by claiming that it was ridiculous and would lead to fatal injury.

Here’s the thing. Over the past 3 years or so, I’ve found myself striving for comfort and safety.

I’ve reached a point in my business where I do very well for myself because I’ve gotten very good at what I do … and I add tremendous value to my clients—helping them generate massive breakthroughs in their businesses.

(I’m not ashamed to admit that. And frankly, neither should you, if you’re good at what you do.)

But with that level of performance I’ve also become comfortable.

I think that’s part of being human. We’re wired to conserve energy. To stay safe. And comfort is a part of that. We naturally seek comfort and safety.

And the more of it we get to enjoy, the more of it we want … and the harder it is to let go of it. And that’s what scares me!

Maybe you can relate.

You spend years trying to get to a certain level (examples of life in your 20s)
You get there and enjoy the rewards
Sure, you might still go after bigger goals
But the older you get, the less “dramatic” and risky the goals you go after
And it’s so easy to justify that approach in the name of “I have a family. I have responsibilities…”
But is that true? Or is that you lying to yourself?

We DON’T take big chances because we know the risks are higher. There’s a risk of serious loss in some cases—or at least that’s what we tell ourselves.

Of course, these things are all relative. I have a very good friend who’s absolutely terrified of the idea of self-employment. He would never do it. But I’m out there every day making a living on my own. There’s no Fortune 500 company behind me, supporting me with all kinds of resources. I’m out there taking risks every week, just like you are.

Yet I have my own set of fears about new levels of performance I could be going after… [why rock the boat? Why change what’s working so well?]

But here’s why it matters—because eventually you HAVE to admit to yourself that continually succeeding at your current level of comfort has big risks.

You may not realize it because your bank account looks great.

Your clients are happy.

You might even have more work than you can handle.

But staying comfortable can easily impact your psyche in a negative way. And that alone can have a negative impact on your work performance.

In his new book Be Your Future Self NOW, Dr. Benjamin Hardy explains that for certain mundane skills such as driving your car or tying your shoes, running on autopilot is a good thing. It frees up your mind to do other things.

But when it comes to developing skills, learning, improving your craft and boosting your performance, this kind of “skills automation” causes you to get stuck … and even slowly decline over time.

Hardy cites research showing that doctors who have been in practice for 20 years are usually less skilled than they were fresh out of medical school. Which sounds insane!

Why would this happen? Doctors get stuck in habitual ways of thinking and acting.

They don’t update their models or their approaches for years
Why? Comfort, safety…

Yet as Hardy explains, “Rather than having 20 years of experience, they often have 1 year of experience repeated 20 times…”

That’s such a powerful way of stating the issue here.

This is a big problem for self-employed professionals. And the more successful you become, the bigger the risk you run of ending up in a rut!

A rut that might not seem like a big deal right now because you’re earning great money. So you associate the current state of your pocketbook with your current level of skill.
But the truth is that your skills and income are—to a great degree—out of phase.
Your skills and capabilities are slowly being left behind … but your income hasn’t caught up to that… yet! It’s coming, you just don’t see it right now.
And when it does, it will be time to pay the piper
That’s when you have to scramble like crazy to catch up

Let me be clear about something. When I talk about the dangers of staying too comfortable for too long, I’m not saying you should work HARDER.

Yes, hard work is often part of this. But that’s not the point here. I’m not suggesting that you working harder and longer hours. And I’m not trying to shame anyone (including myself) for wanting to enjoy greater work/life balance.

I want to enjoy a great lifestyle. I don’t want to work crazy hours. I don’t necessarily want to work like I did 20 or 30 years ago when I was hustling like crazy to try and get ahead.

What I’m suggesting here is way more subtle than that. And I hope the message doesn’t get lost or misinterpreted. I’m talking about changing things up. Trying new things. Innovating in your own business.

For example, maybe you haven’t caught up to things such as:

New types of projects that are gaining momentum
New business models such as selling strategy and planning as a standalone service … or offering clients “writing training” for their marketing staff or other departments that need to improve their written communications
New delivery models or business structures—such as scaling up your operation with either support staff and/or other writers
New target markets that align well with your experience and skillset (coaching client [Laura MacPherson] bravely went after healthcare…)
New and different ways to work with your clients.
Charging more for your value and focusing less on time and deliverables when quoting fees
Starting a new side hustle that will challenge you

I’m not saying you have to do all those things. Or even any one of them.

What I’m saying is that staying put where you are because you seem to be doing well will NOT guarantee you success in the future

How can you know if you’re truly pushing yourself to reach a new, worthwhile endeavor?

The “litmus test” comes from Steven Pressfield in his wonderful little book, The War of Art.

Pressfield writes:

Resistance obstructs movement only from a lower sphere to a higher. It kicks in when we seek to pursue a calling in the arts, launch an innovative enterprise, or evolve to a higher station morally, ethically, or spiritually.

So if you’re in Calcutta working with the Mother Theresa Foundation and you’re thinking of bolting to launch a career in telemarketing … relax. Resistance will give you a free pass.

Translation? If you have to fight resistance in pursuit of your goals, every day and every week, you’re on the right track.

The Resistance is a signal that your goals are worthwhile. So keep doing what you’re doing. Take the resistance as a sign that you’re moving in the right direction—you’re growing and improving your business and yourself.

This is hard for me to accept. I’m a pragmatist!

But I have to admit that it’s true
Even if the idea of stretching myself sounds completely uncomfortable

Going back to Benjamin Hardy, In his book he quotes Dr. Anders Ericsson, an expert on the subject of deliberate practice and expert performance who says, “The experts deliberately construct and seek out training situations to attain desired goals that exceed their current level of reliable performance.”

And that’s the key, isn’t it? We each have current levels of reliable performance. We know what we can reasonably expect in terms of income, for example, from that level of performance.

When we’re not happy with the results, we work deliberately to raise our skills and capabilities. But when we’re generally happy with the results … that’s when we risk getting stuck in a rut.

And look … I can understand that concept intellectually. I get it. But in order for me to take meaningful action that will effect change in my business, I need to understand this risk emotionally.

And in one of the chapters, Hardy gave me exactly what I needed when he framed the issue a different way.

He said… “If you want to become your desired Future Self, play at his level as quickly as possible. Commit at the level of your Future Self. Adapt at the level of your Future Self. Your current self is clearly not there yet, and will therefore need serious training, humility and feedback.”

Here’s the thing. We may be happy and comfortable with where we are today. That’s a good thing. But there’s a future version of us who would absolutely LOVE to send us a message from the future.

That Future Self is wiser. They’ve experienced much more of life. And they KNOW things we don’t know.

They’re a very different person than your present self.

So … based on what I’ve shared with you today … what would YOUR Future Self tell you if he or she could call you right now and give you about 5 minutes’ worth of advice?

I bet that, among other things, they would tell you to push yourself. To take bigger risks. To innovate. Try new things. New approaches. New ideas. And see where they go!

Would all these things work? Of course not! In fact, most of them might fail.

But you know what? I’d rather fail at trying and learning things that are beyond my current level of skill and expertise than to ONLY succeed at what I find easy and comfortable.

Or as Hardy puts it, “Failing as your Future Self is better than succeeding as your Current Self.”

So here’s the commitment I know I need to make to myself—and it’s a commitment that, honestly, scares me! à If an idea gets me super excited BUT it sounds outside my reach (even scary or terrifying), that’s exactly what I should go after.

I don’t know how all of this sits with you. But my hope is that it at least inspires you to think about comfort and safety a little differently. Yes, comfort and safety are wonderful. But I don’t believe we should seek them at all costs.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #304: The Dangers of Making Safety and Comfort Our End Goals appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

How much do you charge?

Ed Gandia — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 19:01:15 +0000

Ever have a prospect ask you, “How much do you charge?”

It’s a question many of us dread.

Because unless you’re offering productized services, it’s not a question you can answer immediately. You have to learn more about the project and prospective client before you can give a fixed-fee quote.

The question can also signal that the prospect is “tire-kicking” and surveying the market in search of the lowest price. And none of us want to get pulled into a race to the bottom.

But sometimes, the prospect asks the question because they want to make sure they can afford you before delving into the specifics of the project.

In these situations, you can respond by quoting a range: “My fee for a white paper varies. But most fall within the XY to XYZ range.”

If the prospect seems okay with that range, you can suggest a phone call:

“Hi Bob, my project fees depend on a number of factors, including the type and scope of the project. Would you like to set up a short call to discuss? Once I learn more about your project, I’ll be able to give you a more exact price.”

If the prospect resists getting on the phone with you, you’ll know that they’re price shopping or they can’t afford you. Either way, it’s not a good fit.

So when a prospective client asks, “how much do you charge?” don’t feel pressured to answer immediately or give them an exact number.

Instead, give them a price range based on what they’re looking for to make sure you’re on the same page.

If they’re okay with that, you can schedule a call to discuss it further.

If they’re not, then you know they’re not the right client for you at this time.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post How much do you charge? appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#303: Why You Should Question Your Routines

Ed Gandia — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 19:01:53 +0000

Most independent professionals have some sort of daily or weekly workflow structure they follow.

That workflow is comprised of a number of routines—some of which they’ve followed for years.

Generally speaking, that’s not a bad thing. Habit and routine are important. They conserve cognitive energy that we can use for our most important decisions and core work.

However, it’s very easy to get stuck in routines that no longer serve us. What worked seven years ago may not work now because our business, obligations and personal lives have evolved.

In today’s podcast episode, I explain why we often stay stuck in our routines and what we lose when we don’t question them.

The 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Mindset

My first job out of college had actual working hours: from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. It was a long week. The work ethic it took to keep those hours was praised and reinforced in the company culture.

This reinforcement was so effective that, several years and three jobs later, I still followed those hours. Worse yet, once I quit my day job and went completely on my own … I still had that “rule” in my head: to work from 7:00 to 6:00 every day.

I’ve worked hard to shift that mindset since then. But every once in a while, I find myself drifting back to that old way of thinking.

This is very common. We’re creatures of habit. It takes quite a bit of introspection … and a commitment to regularly question our routines, strategies and methods … to try new and better ideas.

Test Different Ideas Regularly

A few months ago, I was at the gym doing my usual workout. When I was ready to move to the next station, other people were using the machine I needed, and I could tell they were going to be a while.

At first, I was annoyed. I like doing my routine in a specific order. But I didn’t have time to wait for the machine I wanted, so I tried a different machine that worked the same muscle group.

And you know what? I liked the new machine better! Now, I routinely choose it over the old machine. And it all happened because I was forced to try something different.

Yes, I like to stick to what works well for me. But often, there are other methods, approaches, strategies and routines that could work even better for me, if I gave them a try.

So don’t get stuck in old patterns. Test different ideas on a regular basis. Give them a chance.

Not all of them will work better than what you’re doing now. But you won’t know until you try.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #303: Why You Should Question Your Routines appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

What Kind of Info Product Should You Create?

Ed Gandia — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 19:01:02 +0000

Running your own copywriting or content marketing business is a lot more fun when you have more than one income stream.

It can also help reduce your income variability.

And one way to develop a second income stream is to sell one or more “info products.”

An info product is essentially “how to” information on a specific topic you know well. It could be a business topic or a personal topic related to a hobby, skill or other area of interest.

But what kind of info product should you create?

Should it be a PDF guide? An eBook? A printed book or manual? An online course?

In today’s article, I give my recommendation for the best type of info product, based on more than 15 years of successfully creating and selling info products.

Start with an Online Course

The best way to start your info product journey today is with a simple online course.

An online course is typically a multi-media training program consisting of audio and/or video and handouts.

I believe this format has a number of advantages over other info product types. Here are three of them:

#1: Higher perceived value

Everything else being equal, people perceive online courses as more valuable than books, eBooks or other printed materials.

Part of the reason is that you’re including several modalities in your training: audio, video, written summaries, worksheets, diagrams, templates, etc. This range of modalities gives added weight to your offering (and has the added bonus of allowing people to learn in a variety of ways).

#2: Easy to create

Yes, this format often takes longer to create and produce than something like a simple PDF. But creating audio or video content is easier than you think.

You don’t have to get in front of a camera if you don’t want to. It can be audio-only. Or if you want to illustrate some concepts, you could do it in your handouts.

Or you could present it via a PowerPoint screen capture with your voice in the background.

You have lots of options—and lots of software options on the market to help you out with it.

#3: Simple to repurpose

With courses, it’s easy to splinter off and reuse the content in other areas of your business.

For instance, you could use one of your course worksheets or checklists as a lead magnet for attracting new prospects. Or you could use part of one of the modules as fodder for a blog post.

Start Small

Whatever you do, start small. Start by creating just one info product. Use it to learn the ropes and the process. Build your side business on that product.

Then add additional products as you better learn what your target market wants from you.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post What Kind of Info Product Should You Create? appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#302: Eight Shifts You Should Make When You’re Beyond Booked Solid

Ed Gandia — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 19:01:27 +0000

When you first started your business, the idea of being booked solid sounded like a dream come true.

But when you’re there, you realize that being booked solid comes with a whole new set of challenges. It can quickly become very stressful and overwhelming.

However, there’s a positive side to being booked solid: it’s the perfect time to think more critically about your business. It’s the time to look under the hood of your business and establish smart protocols that are based on your values, vision, and goals.

Besides, if you’re in this situation, you’re feeling stressed already. You might as well leverage that emotion to make necessary changes.

In today’s podcast episode, I walk through eight areas of your business that you should evaluate when you’re consistently booked solid.

8 Areas to Evaluate

As we explore these eight areas, I encourage you to jot down any ideas that come to mind that you want to explore further.

You don’t have to make any decisions yet. You’re just brainstorming.

I suggest that you put these ideas in this format:

“When I’m beyond booked solid, here’s how I’m going to view/change/alter this area in order to ensure my business remains fun, profitable and sustainable.”

“When I’m beyond booked solid, I will _____________.”

Marketing

Consider:

How and what types of marketing
When and how frequently
Rules and protocols to ensure it happens

When you’re beyond booked solid, what happens to your marketing? For most writers, it’s non-existent.

But that’s a mistake. Because invariably the work will eventually dry up.

Even worse, once you’re out of the marketing habit, it doesn’t come easily. You feel nervous and anxious. You don’t know what works and what doesn’t.

That said, it’s perfectly fine to scale back. In fact, I don’t really care how much time you spend on it, as long as you keep the habit.

This is also the time to shift your marketing from outreach and attraction to nurturing contacts. Stay in touch with people who weren’t ready to hire you before. Say, “Hey, how are things with you? How’s business?” or “I came across this article the other day, and I thought of you.” You’re not asking for anything. You’re just staying in touch.

If someone comes back with an offer of work, you can let them know you’re interested, but you’re booked for the next three months, without it feeling awkward.

Pricing/Fees

Consider:

Fee structure and pricing model
Raising fees
Low-hanging fruit

This is also a great opportunity to look at your fee structure and pricing model. If you’ve been charging by the hour, this is a great time to shift to project-based fees. If you’ve been charging project-based fees, this is a great opportunity to start thinking about retainers.

It’s also a great time to raise fees with existing clients and new prospects. I encourage my coaching clients to raise their fee by 20% for new clients. They’ve got nothing to lose, so why not try it?

You can also use this as an opportunity to offer services you’ve been too scared to offer before too. Because being booked solid—and beyond—is a huge confidence builder.

Business Model

Consider:

Blend of “head vs. hands” work
Retainer-only or recurring revenue %
What you offer / focus on
Target market

You should also use this time to take a closer look at your business model. Is there anything you want to change, such as the services you offer, how you offer those services, and how you work with clients?

Do you want to start shifting to doing more work with ideas, insights, and strategy? Do you want to move to a retainer-only model?

Do you want to start shifting to a different target market? Maybe one where you’ve had some successes, but haven’t had the courage to really double down it?

Finances / Cash Flow

Consider:

Throttling lifestyle needs
Passive income (real estate, investments, retirement income, side hustle, etc.)
Financial buffers
Other income sources (spouse, side hustle, etc.)

If you haven’t done a good job managing cash flow to this point, now’s the time.

You’re going to have a surplus—and it’s much easier to implement cash flow management systems when you have a surplus than when you’re barely scraping by.

You’ll also be tempted to upgrade your lifestyle, so be mindful of that and deliberate in your choices.

This is also a great time to build some financial buffers. Put away several months’ worth of income because you may not be booked solid forever.

Take a look at other income sources. This could be the time to work on a side hustle. Your time will be a constraint, but maybe now you have the funding to get your idea off the ground.

Internal Boundaries & Standards

Consider:

Your schedule (free days, # hours worked, etc.)
Workflow
Business standards
Giving yourself permission to say no, make bold moves, etc.
Triggers for getting back to introspection
Non-negotiables
Engaging/fulfilling work

What are your non-negotiables? What do you stand for? Where you draw the line for yourself?

For example, what days are you going to take off each week, and how will you hold them sacred? How many hours will you work (and not work) each day?

Give yourself permission to say no to both prospects and existing clients. Make bold moves and hold your ground.

You now have the ability to say no to projects you don’t want and start pursuing more projects you do want. You have that financial flexibility now, so take advantage of it.

Client Boundaries

Consider:

Deadlines
Mutual respect
Fees
Payment timeliness
Partnership

Examine the boundaries you’ve set with clients. How are you upholding and communicating those boundaries? How are you handling deadlines, rush work, fees, payments, timelines?

How do you partner with your clients? Is there a mutual respect? Why or why not? Do you give in too easily? Do they continually push your limits? Be honest with yourself.

Getting Help

Consider:

Admin
Writing
Other (research, design, technical, etc.)
Scaling up

When you’re just starting out, you have to wear every single hat. But if you’re beyond booked solid, this is an opportunity to look at all the hats you’re wearing and ask if somebody could help you with these things.

Administrative and repetitive functions are great places to look. Basic tasks, like transcriptions and proofreading, can be outsourced or replaced by technology. Bookkeeping, accounting, and taxes are all great opportunities for outsourcing.

Could you train a writer to give you a draft that’s 80% there? Can they take some of that grunt work out of your to do list? What about research? Design?

Are you still trying to figure it all your tech stack all on your own? That’s probably not the best use of your time.

This is also a great time to ask yourself some tough questions about the future. Where do you want to take your business? Do you want to scale up? Or do you want to stay a one-person business? When you have more work than you can handle, it’s much easier to get clarity on these questions.

Portfolio/Mix of Clients

Consider:

Client quality mix à client quality matrix
Client multiplier scorecard
Transition plan for existing commitments
Letting go of the bottom 10%

This is a great time to take a closer look at your existing clients. (We talked about this in some detail in Episode 299.) Evaluate and score your client on factors such as hassle, profitability, and strategic value.

Take a close look at each client and see how you feel about them using these and other objective measures.

I’m a big believer in letting go of the bottom 10% of our clients every year. It’s great if you have clients who have been with you for four or five years or longer. But the idea is not to keep everybody forever.

Exercise

Go through your list of ideas in each category.
Add more ideas if you think of any.
Highlight one idea (no more) in each category you absolutely want to explore further over the next eight months. Eight categories in eight months = one per month.

How do we make all these ideas practical?

My suggestion is to go through each of these areas. Ask yourself some tough questions and brainstorm ideas, then consolidate those ideas into some statements and declarations.

Then, go through each of these areas and highlight one category in each. You shouldn’t have more than eight in total.

Next, pick the category that you feel is the highest priority. The idea or change that would also take care of a lot of other problems. It’s the lead domino.

When you’re struggling to make ends meet, it’s difficult to clear on these things and muster the courage to make tough decisions.

But when you’re beyond booked solid, it’s much easier. You just have to carve out the time to do it.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #302: Eight Shifts You Should Make When You’re Beyond Booked Solid appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

Hiring a Junior Writer to Work for You

Ed Gandia — Tue, 13 Sep 2022 19:01:14 +0000

When you’re consistently at full capacity, it can make sense to hire a junior writer to free up some of your time.

This solution is the most common path writers consider when they get crazy-busy.

It’s also one of the most difficult ones to pursue. But when done right, it can pay off in a big way.

Over the years, I’ve hired writers to work on a wide variety of projects. I’ve also worked with many of my coaching clients to expand their teams with junior writers.

In today’s article, I’ll distill what I’ve learned about deploying this strategy.

Tip #1: Start Small. This isn’t something you want to jump into with both feet—at least not at first. It’s better to make mistakes with little things than to make mistakes with a big project for your best client.

A great place to start is by having them write your own stuff, such as articles for your newsletter, a few blog posts for your own blog, a guest article for an industry publication, or some social media posts.

Tip #2: Match the Right Skills to the Right Projects. Don’t assume that every writer can successfully tackle every type of project. Someone with experience in one area may not be the best fit for every assignment in that category.

Learn what a writer’s strengths and weaknesses are and figure out where you can best leverage them.

Tip #3: Pick ONE Client to Focus on. Once your writer is ready to work with a client, have them focus on one client at a time. Pick a client that’s giving you steady work and use them for training your writer. (Meanwhile, you stay involved to make sure you’re still delivering work that’s beyond reproach.)

This will enable them to learn the ropes and become more self-reliant over time. If the client is giving you steady work in multiple areas, assign your writer to just one of those areas at a time.

Tip #4: Document Your Processes. Document your process as you go along through documents, templates and/or videos. These will make onboarding new writers a whole lot easier.

You can also assign this task to your junior writer in some cases! After all, they’re the ones following the processes you’ve developed.

Tip #5: Pick Writers with the Right Motivation. Generally, it’s best to hire writers who aren’t trying to grow their own businesses with their own direct clients.

You want to support their success, of course. But look for writers who define success by other factors, such as time with their family or other priorities. They don’t have the time, motivation, resources or energy to land their own direct clients, so they’re more than happy to help you out with yours.

This “motivation factor” is absolutely key. You don’t want to hire writers who only want to use you as a stepping stone into a different situation.

So make your choice based on skill AND motivation. You’re going to invest a lot of time, energy and money training these folks. You want to make sure they’re going to be with you for the long haul.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post Hiring a Junior Writer to Work for You appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#301: The 3-Question Task Filter

Ed Gandia — Tue, 06 Sep 2022 19:01:51 +0000

One of the benefits of reflecting on the week, month or quarter that has just passed is clarity.

Because once the dust settles, you can see things from a different perspective.

I did this recently and realized I’m not doing a very good job with my to-do list. I’ll work my way down the list, assigning tasks to myself or my team, without really thinking about the importance of each task, the priority of each task, and who should complete each one.

Instead, completing the list becomes the end goal.

I’m good at getting things done. And because of that, I’ll take more pride in completing tasks than in being selective and focusing on what matters most.

I’m trying to become more thoughtful and intentional with my to-do list. So I’ve returned to a simple filter I’ve used on and off over the years. This time, I’m determined to use this approach more consistently . . . because, frankly, I have to.

In today’s podcast episode, I share three sets of questions I ask myself as I go through my to-do list to establish priorities and assign responsibility.

My filter consists of three simple sets of questions.

Set 1: Importance

Is the task important? More specifically, is it tied to one of my key life or business goals for this quarter? Better yet, will it help me get closer to one of those goals?

Set 2: Priorities

I like to think of tasks as A, B or C priority. So, is the task an A or B priority for this week? Can it wait a bit? Or is this something I’m going to keep punting unless I do something about it now?

Set 3: Ownership

Do *I* have to do it? Or can I delegate this to someone else—or even part of it to someone else?

Walk through these questions if you find yourself constantly overbooked and feeling like you NEVER complete your daily list of tasks.

Rather than feeling like you’ve failed yet again, this approach will help you make better decisions and get you on a better track.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #301: The 3-Question Task Filter appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#300: What Copywriters Must Do to Thrive in the Next Few Years, with Kira Hug and Rob Marsh

Ed Gandia — Tue, 30 Aug 2022 19:01:24 +0000

More and more writers and copywriters are entering the market.

Pair this with the current economic uncertainty, and many writers I’ve spoken with are feeling nervous.

In particular, they want to know:

How they can communicate their value effectively in a noisy market?
How they can differentiate themselves in a copycat economy where every copywriter seems to make the same claims about their skills?
Should they shift their business model? Change how they position their services? Frame their services differently?

These are precisely the kinds of questions I posed to my guests in today’s episode. Kira Hug and Rob Marsh are very experienced, successful copywriters and founders of The Copywriter Club.

Rob and Kira recently had me on their podcast to talk about leading discovery calls and improving your sales skills.

Now, in this podcast episode, I’ve invited them to get into the topic of how copywriters can grow and thrive in this competitive and uncertain market.

Tell us about yourself and The Copywriter Club

Kira met Rob in a mastermind group for copywriters and became friends. Rob wanted to start a podcast. He and Kira started talking and eventually created The Copywriter Club.

They launched The Copywriter Club podcast in January 2017 and opened a Facebook group. The group grew quickly: within six months they had about 2,000 members.

What is The Copywriter Club all about today?

The Copywriter Club podcast is still going strong: it has 300 episodes and over one million downloads.

The community has evolved into a membership that helps writers build their businesses through training programs, such as a Think Tank program that helps writers scale their businesses and create new revenue streams.

They’ve also hosted an event for members, The Copywriter Club in Real Life (TCCRL), five times.

Are content writing and copywriting the same thing?

Rob has an agency background. At his agency, the copywriters wrote everything, from brochures to packaging to menus to websites. There was no distinction between content writing and copywriting.

Some people define copywriting as closer to selling than content marketing. But by Rob’s definition, they’re the same thing: they both use words to create a relationship with customers in order to get them to act.

How do you define conversion copywriting?

Conversion copywriting is just a new name for direct response copywriting. It applies direct response principles (i.e. tracking behavior and changing your marketing based on that behavior) to the online world.

Many writers are broadening their focus from writing to talking about the problems they solve. But if they go too broad, their value proposition becomes vague. Where’s the sweet spot?

You need to know the language your clients use to find people like you. Do they talk about the need for a copywriter? Do they talk about the need to find and keep clients? Something else?

To find that sweet spot, you need to ask deeper questions, starting with the prospecting call. The prospect may say they need help with a case study or website. But you need to ask questions to figure out what problem they’re trying to fix with those marketing assets.

Copywriters start to transition from order taker to valued consultant when they ask deeper questions about their customers’ business problems.

What if you don’t have the experience or expertise needed to step into that valued consultant role?

If you’re a good writer and have experience working with clients, you’re probably already skilled at solving their problems. You just have to change how you talk about the value you provide and reframe what you bring to the table.

If you don’t have that experience yet, you can jumpstart the process with some good marketing books, such as Perry Marshall’s 80/20 Sales and Marketing, Being Direct by Lester Wunderman, and Overdeliver by Brian Kurtz.

What business models are copywriters using these days?

Some writers are experimenting with intensive VIP workshops for clients. They’ll dedicate a day or several days to one client to work on one specific problem.

Other copywriters are hiring VAs or scaling into agencies. Others are tired of working with clients and are focusing on selling information products.

Other copywriters are combining these approaches and adjusting the mix over time as their preferences and needs change.

Another trend is to look at your internal processes and see if there’s anything you can splinter off and offer as a separate service. For example, if you brainstorm ideas for clients as part of your problem solving, you might be able to sell this service to clients separately.

How could we frame something, such as a brainstorming session, in a way that makes it attractive to clients?

You need to be clear on the deliverable. If the purpose of the brainstorming session is to come up with names for a new product, for example, the deliverable would be a list of those names.

Niching down is also important. A general brainstorming session may not have much appeal. But a brainstorming session to develop a product suite for financial advisors, for example, might interest clients in that space.

How should writers invest in themselves?

Figure out what you need the most right now. For a lot of writers, it’s confidence. So think about what would build your confidence. If it’s feedback from colleagues, for example, you might join a mastermind group of other copywriters.

It’s also important to learn things outside of the writing space. New areas of expertise will make you more unique and help you solve other types of problems for clients.

When we invest in ourselves, we often invest in the same type of training over and over again (usually copywriting). Think about what’s missing. Maybe you need business skills. Maybe you need to improve your habits. It takes self-awareness to find those gaps—something a coach can help you with.

Ask friends and colleagues who work for good companies how much those companies are investing in their continuing education. It’s probably a lot!

Where can listeners learn more about you and your work?

The Copywriter Club

The Copywriter Club Podcast

The Copywriter Club’s next Copywriter Accelerator program starts this fall.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #300: What Copywriters Must Do to Thrive in the Next Few Years, with Kira Hug and Rob Marsh appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

The Easy Way to Avoid Payment Problems

Ed Gandia — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 18:11:11 +0000

Here’s an easy and simple way to avoid payment problems with clients:

Separate your deliverable from a project’s completion.

Most writers tie their final payment to the project being complete.

So, they only invoice for the work (or for the balance owed) once the client confirms that the project is done. In other words, the client has the final draft and feels no more revisions are needed.

Problem is, that “project completion” date is unpredictable and out of your control.

Your client contact might be away on vacation when you submit your draft. Or the review team might be busy. Or your contact might get pulled into a new project and have to put your project aside for a few weeks.

Meanwhile, you’re sitting around waiting for feedback and revision requests. And because you agreed not to invoice the client until the project is complete, you’re left holding the bag until the client gets their act together.

What if it takes them six weeks to get back to you? Or six months?!

That’s why you need to separate the deliverable from the client’s ability to finalize the project.

Change your contract terms to specify that you’ll invoice the client when you submit the FIRST draft of the deliverable.

Your payment terms could be net 15 or 30. It doesn’t matter. The point is that the clock starts ticking once you submit that first draft.

So if it takes them six weeks (or six months!) to finalize the project, that’s fine … but they have to pay your invoice in the meantime.

And while you’re at it, don’t forget to include terms for revisions in your contract.

Give the client 30 days to submit any requested revisions. Limit them to one round of standard revisions and up to two rounds of minor revisions.

Why 30 days? Because it takes you a lot of mental and creative energy to get back into a project after time has elapsed. There’s a cost associated with that, and you should be compensated.

After 30 days, treat edits as a change order or separate editing project.

Don’t give your clients permission to treat you like a bank. Raise your standards and expectations. When you do, your good clients will follow your lead and respect your terms.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post The Easy Way to Avoid Payment Problems appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#299: How to Make Smarter Decisions About Which Clients to Keep or Let Go

Ed Gandia — Tue, 16 Aug 2022 19:01:27 +0000

What do you do with clients who started with you years ago, when your fees were much lower?

Do you keep them or let them go? And how do you decide?

One of my coaching clients recently faced this dilemma. She was writing blog posts for an acquaintance for almost four years—at about half her current rate.

She hadn’t bothered to increase the rate because the work was infrequent, she felt loyal to the client (they had helped each other out a lot in the beginning), and she didn’t mind the work.

She felt that the time had come to make a change. She wondered if she should offer to continue doing the work—but at her current rate—or simply let them go.

Deciding whether to let go of a client or not is never an easy decision. It’s emotionally charged, because you’ve developed a relationship over the years.

In this podcast episode, I share the decision-making criteria I gave my coaching client to help her make an objective, strategic choice.

The Client Quality Matrix

When the work is easy, and you like the client, keeping a low paying client onboard doesn’t seem like a burden.

But those aren’t great reasons to keep a client. We need to be strategic, which means applying objective criteria.

First, ask yourself where they fit in the Client Quality Matrix:

Low hassle, low pay
Low hassle, high pay
High hassle, low pay
High hassle, high pay

You want most of your clients to fit in the 2nd category: low hassle, high pay.

If they’re currently low hassle, low pay, you can keep them for now but raise your fees.

You could also offer to help with other things (e.g., strategy, planning, brainstorming) that will generate new ideas for them AND lead to more work for you.

Or you can change the way you price your services. For instance, you can move to a bundling model that incorporates other services you’re not currently offering that client.

Consider Strategic Value

Another factor to consider is the strategic value of that client. Their value might lie in things beyond direct revenue, such as:

Quality referrals
Prestige
Name recognition or improved credibility
Ability to learn and practice new types of work

And so on.

Consider the Long-Term Value

It’s also helpful to look at the value of a client over the longer time.

Too often, we value clients by the initial project. But the real value is NOT in that initial project. Almost always, the fixed costs of onboarding, research and getting familiar with the client’s business, customers and competitive landscape eat away at most of your profit on that first project.

The real money is in the next two phases of the relationship lifecycle: additional business and referral business.

Landing a second, fifth and tenth project is what makes that client truly profitable for you. That’s when efficiency and effectiveness skyrockets. It’s when you can not only propel your internal hourly rate but also become an invaluable resource for the client.

Review Your Clients Twice a Year

It’s always a great idea to conduct an internal review of all your clients at least twice a year.

Measure them on different factors:

Profitability vs. hassle
Strategic value (create a scorecard)
Strategic value vs. hassle

Then use the results of these reviews to make smart decisions. For example:

Low hassle, low pay à Raise fees, offer other services, bundling
Low hassle, high pay à Keep + go deeper
High hassle, low pay à Let go
High hassle, high pay à Find ways to improve workflow & boundaries

Look for Value Multipliers

Also, look for clients that can give you a “value multiplier”—meaning their value to you goes beyond the actual income you’re generating from them.

For example:

Valuable projects and experiences
Prestige
Valuable connections
Loyal contacts who move around and take you with them
Work predictability
Easy work or work that lends itself to outsourcing

Here again, I recommend evaluating all clients at least twice a year.

Create a simple scorecard that lists these or other variables and use them to rate your clients.

Develop a baseline and track how each client is doing against that baseline. See which way they’re trending.

When you put all these pieces in place, the decision of how to move forward (or whether to move forward) with each of your clients will become pretty obvious.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #299: How to Make Smarter Decisions About Which Clients to Keep or Let Go appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#298: Two Important Clues of a Good Opportunity

Ed Gandia — Tue, 09 Aug 2022 19:01:34 +0000

We often come across new opportunities that sound really great.

The work looks interesting, or the client sounds exciting to work with.

This excitement can cloud our judgment—and we start to ask ourselves the wrong question: “How can I win this deal?” instead of “Is this deal worth pursuing?”

Over the years, I’ve learned (the hard way!) to approach every opportunity with some level of skepticism. I put the onus on the prospect to convince ME why I should pursue THEM.

In today’s podcast episode, I describe two specific clues I look for to help decide whether a deal is worth pursuing—or not.

Q1: Why did they reach out to me?

The first clue consists of two parts: 1) how they learned about me and 2) why they decided to reach out to me.

If they learned about me through a Google search, closing the deal is going to take a lot more selling on my part. But if they were referred to me by a current or past client, then that’s a different thing.

The same applies to WHY they decided to reach out. What caught their eye in my LinkedIn profile or on my website? The more specific they are about this, the better a prospect they are. The more generic or clueless they sound, the lower the probability that this is a good opportunity for me.

Q2: Are they willing to open up?

The second clue is the number of hoops the prospect expects me to jump through. If they immediately ask about my rates … or want to set up a long meeting to discuss their entire company’s history and “pick my brain” for ideas … or they want me to respond to a formal request for proposal … or they want me to send them a resume or something unusual like this … that’s NOT a good prospect.

Good prospects will know why they are reaching out to you specifically … and they openly share their challenges and objectives.

Good prospects treat the creative professional as just that—a professional. A peer. Not a vendor. Not a worker. Not someone they can order around.

I look for prospects who already have some level of trust in me. Prospects that are willing to open up a bit about their problems and goals so that we can have a productive, grown-up conversation, even if we don’t end up working together.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #298: Two Important Clues of a Good Opportunity appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

Why You Should Question Your Beliefs and Assumptions

Ed Gandia — Tue, 02 Aug 2022 19:01:44 +0000

Back in the days of records, CDs and music stores (remember those?), I’d spend most Saturday afternoons at Tower Records or Camelot Music.

Hanging out at these stores was an event. Something I looked forward to.

I’d spend a couple of hours browsing … checking out new artists … talking shop with the people who worked there.

When I got home, I’d engage in the ritual of unwrapping the record or CD, popping it into the stereo, and listening to each track through a great set of headphones, liner notes in hand.

This was mindful listening. No smartphone. No Facebook or texting. No interruptions. Just my music and me.

Fast-forward about 15 years to the mid-2000s. I’m married with young children and a demanding job. The record stores have gone out of business. And I’m no longer making the time to listen to music.

Sure, we always had music playing in our home or in the car. But listening to music had gradually turned from a deliberate pastime to a background distraction.

I was no longer seeking new artists. I was just setting my iPod to “shuffle” mode. Or letting my eight or ten Pandora stations do their thing.

I barely noticed what was playing. And I kept listening to the same stations, the same bands and the same songs I grew up with.

The Police, U2, Rush, Led Zeppelin …

(Bear with me here, there’s a great lesson for writers, I promise!)

Around that time, I met up with Kevin, an old college buddy who’d introduced me to a ton of great music back in the day.

The topic of new bands came up. I said, “You know, Kevin … I think the golden age of music is over. I’m not seeing that much innovation out there, and that makes me sad.”

Kevin was startled. He replied, “I disagree completely. And I’m surprised to hear you say that, Ed. There’s more great music today than ever before!”

Turns out Kevin was right. We truly ARE living in the golden age of music.

In the excellent book Factfulness: 10 Reasons We’re Wrong About the World—and Why Things Are Better Than You Think, the authors note that the number of new music recordings released each year has skyrocketed, starting around the year 2000.

In fact, Spotify reports that in 2019 close to 40,000 tracks were uploaded to the platform every day!

Today, more artists are pumping out a larger volume (and more diverse array) of music than ever before in history.

Way more, in fact, than when Kevin made his observation back in 2004.

Sure, not all of this music is to my liking. But spend a few minutes browsing Spotify, Apple Music or any other streaming service, and you’ll go down a (fun) rabbit hole.

So why was I so pessimistic about the current state of music?

I didn’t have the time to mindfully explore new music
I was listening to the same artists over and over again

Essentially, I was stuck somewhere in the 1980s. And that impacted my perceptions.

What does this have to do with your copywriting or content marketing business?

If you’re currently stuck, say if your income has plateaued, you may be creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Because when you’re the business owner and have little to no outside input or perspective on your situation, so it’s easy to start believing your income will never go up.

At the other end of the spectrum, some copywriters and content marketers are making a great income, but they’re so crazy busy with client work that they don’t know how to manage it all.

They can’t think of a scenario where they can maintain that income level while freeing up time for themselves. But creating that free time is entirely possible if you know how.

Your perceptions and beliefs shape your reality. Your actions will align (subconsciously) with your perceptions and beliefs, which perpetuates the cycle … just like I believed that no one was making good music anymore.

So question your beliefs and assumptions, no matter where you are in your business. Get outside feedback. Open yourself to the possibility that there are viable solutions to your problems.

Don’t let your perceptions dictate your most important decisions.

And take some time this week to discover some great new music. You might be surprised by what you find.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post Why You Should Question Your Beliefs and Assumptions appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#297: Copying What Your Peers Are Doing

Ed Gandia — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 19:01:40 +0000

Many writers make the mistake of copying the strategies their peers are using … and doing it blindly.

By “blindly” I mean you don’t take into account your peer’s target market, goals, preferences, experience or any other nuanced factor that explains WHY they’re doing what they’re doing.

Take social media or content marketing, as two examples. It’s very easy to look at what some of your peers are doing on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and feel like YOU should be doing the same thing.

Or you see that someone you admire does a lot of blogging. Or they write guest articles for outside blogs. Or they appear as a guest in other podcasts.

And you start to wonder, “Hmmm… am I limiting my success by not doing the same thing?”

In today’s podcast episode, I explain the danger of blindly following what others are doing—and use investing as a way to illustrate.

Asking yourself whether you should copy your peers is a valid question.

But most of the time we conclude the answer is yes without considering WHY they’re doing what they’re doing—or if it’s even working for them! We see the activity … but we know nothing about their results.

Further, what makes sense for Bill, Susan and Melinda may not make sense for us. Bill, Susan and Melinda have their own objectives, preferences and experiences. And those may not apply to you.

You’re Playing Different Games

Morgan Housel makes this point in his outstanding book The Psychology of Money. Specifically, he urges readers NOT to take financial cues from other people, because they’re likely playing a different game than we’re playing.

For example, my good friend Bill spends his weekdays trading stocks. He does very, very well with this. And believe me, it’s very tempting to ask Bill for stock tips.

But the thing is … Bill is playing a different game than I am. He’s making profits by holding stock positions for just a day or two—sometimes even just a few hours.

I, on the other hand, can’t dedicate 40 hours a week to researching and monitoring my investments. Instead, I want to make investments I can hold for a long, long time.

So I should NOT take investment advice from Bill.

At the same time, Bill should NOT take investment advice from me—because I’m a buy-and-hold type of investor playing a very different game.

In fact, Housel says this is precisely why financial bubbles get created and why they burst. You have way too many people jumping on a bandwagon that’s not right for them. But the FOMO is too hard to resist—so people take action that make no sense for them.

What Bill does works for him because his strategies are aligned with his goals. Meanwhile, what works for me is aligned with my goals.

Use Your Filter

Coming back to the world of freelancing, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ask your peers what’s working well for them. It simply means that you should run everything through your own filter.

Make sure that whatever you’re thinking of implementing is well aligned with YOUR goals, preferences and experiences.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #297: Copying What Your Peers Are Doing appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#296: How Dave Snyder Scaled Up to an 8-Figure Content Writing Business

Ed Gandia — Tue, 19 Jul 2022 19:01:00 +0000

Most writers aren’t interested in growing their business from a one-person operation into a massive agency with thousands of contractors.

They simply want to earn more in less time and maintain a lifestyle business.

Dave Snyder is different. About 12 years ago, he decided to grow his writing business aggressively by going after clients that need marketing content at scale.

The road to Dave’s success wasn’t easy. He faced constant challenges that would have caused most people to give up.

Today, his content agency, CopyPress, is a successful, eight-figure business with dozens of employees and more than 2,700 writers.

In this podcast episode, Dave shares his biggest mistakes and explains how he succeeded in a market overflowing with content agencies.

Even if you have zero interest in scaling your business to anywhere near this level, you’re going to enjoy this conversation.

Tell us about yourself and your business

Dave is the CEO of CopyPress, a content production company. CopyPress doesn’t just connect writers and clients, it also provides quality assurance, editing and platform integration.

The company specializes in creating content at a huge scale. In some cases, it produces 2,000 to 3,000 articles per month for customers.

About half of CopyPress’ business comes from enterprise clients with $1 billion in revenue. The other half comes from agencies that want to scale their content services efficiently.

You struggled to stay profitable for the first few years you were in business. Tell us about those early challenges.

When Dave first started out, Google was just starting to value quality content.

Dave saw the change coming, so he pre-emptively started to pay his writers more, and charge his customers more, for quality content. He struggled to compete and had to wait for the market to move towards him—which took five to six years.

In the meantime, Dave put everything he had into the business to keep it afloat.

The lesson: don’t scale before you’re ready. Focus on maintaining your profitability and meeting your payroll.

What are some of the things you learned along the way?

Dave is loyal by nature, so he did everything possible to keep his people employed, no matter the personal cost. But you need to maintain a balance. Of course, you should treat your employees well, but there are limits.

Sometimes you’ll need to make cuts, and that’s okay. Businesses change and evolve.

Over the years, Dave has employed hundreds of people who have come and gone. He’s satisfied that everyone left with a net positive.

Picking the right investors is also critical. Dave took on some investors very early on. Fortunately, they gave him space to learn and make mistakes. If he had taken on venture capital as a software-backed company, CopyPress probably would have gone out of business.

Tell us about building your platform

Dave knew that scaling content was CopyPress’ core differentiator. To create content at a large scale, you need to onboard writers and pay them, a system that can

load lots of content and build workflows around them and customized templates that have commenting and editing features.

In theory, you could do this all in Google docs, but it would quickly become untenable. So Dave created their own platform.

He puts $500,000 into platform development every year.

What’s your staffing model?

CopyPress has a hybrid model of employees and contractors.

Most contractors also have their own customers. They use CopyPress to fill in gaps in their schedule.

They have about 50 internal writers and 10 internal editors. They’ve also integrated with Proofed, a company that only does editing.

CopyPress also has tech, production, and HR staff.

Tell us about your sales strategy. How are you using it to grow your business consistently?

Dave had a sales team, but he let them go in October and took over the role himself.

He pitches new clients on a three-month proof of concept agreement. He doesn’t want to lock into a long-term contract right away in case the client isn’t a fit or vice versa.

How do you get your leads?

CopyPress gets lots of leads from organic search as well as webinars and newsletters. They also have lots of secondary conversion elements, such as signing up to receive an ebook or case study.

Dave’s network and referrals are also a big source of leads.

What’s your advice to someone wanting to scale up to a small team?

Become an expert in a niche market and build your marketing content around that.

You can’t scale yourself, so you’ll need to building training modules. You’ll also have to invest people to get them up to speed, which is where you have to decide whether to work with a contractor or hire an employee.

Where can listeners learn more about you?

CopyPress.com

dsnyder@copypress.com

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #296: How Dave Snyder Scaled Up to an 8-Figure Content Writing Business appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

How to Stop Annoying Your Network

Ed Gandia — Tue, 12 Jul 2022 19:01:51 +0000

If you’ve ever been “stalked” on social media or by email, you know how annoying it can be.

I’m talking about connections who ask if you, or anyone you know, could use their products or services.

And then they keep asking.

They pester you with follow-up emails, asking the same question again and again. They stalk your social media accounts and plaster them with likes and comments. And then they add you to their newsletter list, without asking.

Whatever you do … don’t be that guy!

Yes, you want to stay in touch with your contacts when you ask for a referral. Your goal is to stay top of mind when opportunities do come up.

But you don’t want to do it in a spammy way. And you don’t have to!

Here’s a better, more moderated approach:

If the person is a personal contact, connect with them on LinkedIn and other social media platforms. Personalize your connection request!

Then, occasionally like and comment on their posts without stalking them. Be cool. Be friendly. Be human!

That alone will keep your name top of mind. And it will increase the probability that they’ll see your own social media updates where you talk about a recent client win or how you help people.

If the person is a professional contact, do the same but use a mix of contact methods to stay in touch, such as emailing a relevant article, commenting on a LinkedIn post, leaving a voicemail, sending a piece of direct mail or subscribing them to your newsletter (with permission).

And you can follow up in this way every three months or so.

But DON’T use this as an opportunity to ask (again!) whether they know of anyone who could use your services.

And whatever you do, keep your communications low-key.

The idea is simply to stay top of mind when an opportunity does come up.

And thankfully, you don’t have to be annoying to do it.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post How to Stop Annoying Your Network appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#295: Beware of These Two Cognitive Biases in Your Business

Ed Gandia — Tue, 05 Jul 2022 19:01:19 +0000

Every one of us falls prey to cognitive biases. Not because we’re stupid; but because we’re human!

We’re programmed by our biology to conserve energy. Thinking takes energy. So our brains develop thinking “shortcuts” (or heuristics) to save energy.

Unfortunately, these shortcuts can introduce biases into our thinking. Sometimes, these biases can help us make good decisions. But very often, they lead us to do the opposite.

In this podcast episode, I describe two cognitive biases that can trick us into doing the wrong thing in our business.

The Recency Bias

The first bias you should know about is recency bias. According to Wikipedia, recency bias is a cognitive bias that favors recent events over historic ones.

It assigns “greater importance to the most recent event,” which is what makes lawyers’ closing arguments so powerful and persuasive, for example.

The Availability Bias

The second bias you should know about is availability bias (also known as the availability heuristic).

The availability bias is a mental shortcut that assigns greater importance to examples that immediately come to mind when making decisions.

The Problem of Cognitive Bias in Your Business

How can these biases negatively impact your decision making? Let’s look at two scenarios:

Scenario One

Say you hit a rough patch in your business. You try a few things to get back on track, and they don’t work. Which makes you worry even more.

As you think about your business, you put your focus on the most recent outcomes,

which all happen to be negative. They take center stage.

If you’re not careful, you’ll quickly forget all the amazing things you’ve done and achieved in your business over the years. Instead, what dominates your thinking is all the bad stuff that’s been happening over the past few days and weeks.

So you conclude that your situation is hopeless—and forget that you have other options you can try and past success that you can build on.

Scenario Two

Let’s say you have the opposite problem. You’re beyond booked solid and don’t even have time to breathe. You’re stressed and burning out.

Because of your recency and availability biases, you can’t find your way out of this stressful situation. You feel trapped. And you forget all the amazing things about your business that you love.

Why? Because your current situation overrides all that past information.

Use Awareness to Negate Cognitive Biases

I could say a lot more about these biases, as well as dozens of other cognitive biases that lead us to make bad decisions or jump to conclusions.

But the important thing is to be aware of these biases—recency and availability in particular—and how they can impact your mood, mindset, and actions.

Unfortunately, you’ll never eliminate these biases entirely. But if you’re aware of them, you can start to negate them—and make more rational decisions.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #295: Beware of These Two Cognitive Biases in Your Business appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#294: How Freelance Writers Can Empower Each Other to Raise Their Fees

Ed Gandia — Tue, 28 Jun 2022 19:01:03 +0000

Freelance writers and strategists talk about pricing all the time.

But as a community, we rarely discuss how we can work together to communicate our long-term value … how to empower each other to charge more … and cheer each other on when we do.

When we can speak about pricing on a higher level in more empowering ways, we create a tide that raises all boats.

My guest for this episode is Mandy Ellis, a business coach and award-winning six-figure freelance content strategist and content marketing writer who’s been freelancing for 10 years.

In this podcast episode, we discuss why we often undervalue our client work, and how we can support each other as we pursue higher fees that align with the value we deliver.

Tell us about yourself and your business

Mandy Ellis works with both B2B and B2C clients in PropTech, real estate, hospitality tech, food, restaurants, travel, SaaS, FinTech, insurance, InsureTech, and health.

She launched her freelance business in 2013. She started by finding clients on the Elance-oDesk platform (now Upwork).

Eventually, she moved off that platform and changed her business model based. Today, she offers a mix of content marketing and content strategy to her clients as well as coaching. She also has a course for writers.

Tell us about the transition from Upwork to your business today

Mandy got scammed on Upwork, which was the final straw.

Mandy let go of all her Upwork clients and started over with warm email prospecting. She changed the premise of what she was doing from “How do I find people that need a writer?” to “How do I find the right clients for me?”

How did your pricing philosophy evolve over the years?

Mandy only charged $50 an hour on Upwork. Even so, people constantly asked if she’d do the work for half, or even a quarter, of that rate. She began to think that rate was the best she could do.

She eventually realized she needed to pitch clients that had sufficient revenue to support her rates. She concluded startups needed at least $3 million in revenue and regular companies needed $5-50 million, depending on the niche.

Mandy also connected with a community of writers that she could use as a sounding board for her rates. This gave her the confidence to charge more and understand that her work had more value than she thought.

Tell us more about your mindset around value

Content lives on beyond the client relationship. Blog articles Mandy wrote more than 10 years ago still generate leads, sales, web traffic, and brand awareness today.

She estimates her value as a mix of what she thinks the work is worth, the experience and knowledge she brings to the project, and the long-term value of the content to the client.

You’ve noted that freelance writers sometimes tear down other writers when it comes to pricing. Tell us your thoughts

Many of us live in fear and scarcity. Money is something we don’t talk about. There’s a fear that if we charge too much, our clients will hate us.

So, we tear people down instead of building them up. But if we worked to empower each other, we could all feel more confident with our rates.

Mandy sees “tearing down” conversations in at least half of the communities she’s in.

But these writers aren’t considering the long-term value of content. They’re thinking transactionally.

Unfortunately, the idea of the starving artist still survives. We’re taught as creatives that we can’t make money—even though lots of writers make over six-figures.

Many writers also have baggage they need to shed, especially if they come from fields like journalism where there are rules and expectations about what they can charge.

So how do we escape this kind of thinking?

The odds that you’re actually overcharging for a project are low. In 10 years, Mandy has only seen one example where a writer was blatantly overcharging.

Therefore, if someone is charging more than you, take it as an indication of what’s possible. Rather than shooting it down, use it as inspiration.

We need to have more conversations about pricing and ask more pricing questions of each other, such as:

What are you charging?
What type of client?
What industry?
What niche?
What type of project?
What was the word count or page length?
How was the work completed?

We can then use this data to inform what we charge and assess what’s possible.

The Ditching Hourly Podcast—Jonathan Stark

Sometimes the question you need to ask is: “What kind of professional do I need to become to charge that?”

What do you think we can do to encourage people and learn from them?

It helps to be around different types of writers, in different fields, doing different work in different places. This gives us perspective and makes it easier for us to encourage people because we understand them better.

Talking to different writers also helps. As writers, we live a lot of our lives alone. Reach out to others! Connecting and talking about these subjects more helps everyone.

Nothing good comes from tearing people down. When you build others up, you build yourself up as well.

Where can listeners learn more about you?

Mandy Ellis

Free pricing guide

Freelance Writer Wealth Lab

Live stream every Friday at noon CT on YouTube

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #294: How Freelance Writers Can Empower Each Other to Raise Their Fees appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

A Two-Part Thought Exercise to Grow Your Confidence

Ed Gandia — Tue, 21 Jun 2022 19:01:49 +0000

Most copywriters and content marketers—even well-established ones—err on the side of over-preparation.

We tend to be overly cautious. And we won’t go after something big unless we feel completely prepared or fully qualified to do so. Our level of confidence is disproportionately low when compared with our level of competence.

So, what can we do to grow our confidence to better align these two? Here’s a two-part thought exercise you can try:

Part 1: Think of a point in your life where you held back on taking action because you were afraid

Maybe you didn’t ask that special someone out on a date, go after that advanced degree, or apply for that job. Maybe you decided not to go after a certain client, or took on a new project without asking for more money.

You held back in all these situations because you were afraid.

Now, ask yourself: “If I knew then what I know now, would I have gone for it?” Sit on that for a bit. Maybe even journal on it. It’s powerful stuff.

Now, here’s the second part of the exercise . . .

Part 2: Think of a situation where you were bold and took a big risk. You stepped outside your comfort zone and went for it—with positive results.

When you think of that situation now, do you regret taking that bold action? Or are you glad you went for it?

In part one of this exercise, you probably felt regret about not going for it. In part two, you probably felt glad that you took a chance.

Interesting, isn’t it? Knowing what you now know, you’re glad you took the chances you did. You also wish you’d taken more chances on important things.

Here’s the lesson: ten years from today, you’re going to look back and wonder why you didn’t take more chances. You’ll be sorry you didn’t go for it, even if you didn’t feel 100% ready at the time.

If you know you’re going to feel that way in 10 years . . . why not change it now? Why not act more boldly today, even when you’re scared? You’ll never be fully ready for everything in this business. And if you wait until you feel 100% ready, you’ll flounder.

Of course, you don’t need to take bold action every single time. But try leaning into your fear occasionally. Take baby steps in that direction.

Your confidence will grow little by little. You’ll get better results. And you’ll have fewer regrets—now, and ten years from now.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post A Two-Part Thought Exercise to Grow Your Confidence appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#293: Your Project’s ‘Gateway Action’

Ed Gandia — Tue, 14 Jun 2022 19:01:12 +0000

Years ago, Reed Hastings had an idea for a new way of consuming entertainment.

He imagined a future where consumers could stream movies and shows through the internet—on demand. It was a powerful, revolutionary idea. One that would have overwhelmed many of us with all of its moving parts.

Hastings knew this was a very complex problem. So rather than trying to map it all out, he broke down the idea into key milestones. He then focused on testing only the first, simple step. A step that took just a few minutes to complete.

That’s how Netflix was born.

In today’s podcast episode, I describe the simple action Hastings took—and what it can teach you about how to approach your own complex problems.

Testing the DVD Model

Hastings was ahead of his time. So he couldn’t dive right into the online streaming model.

Instead, he needed to start with a model where Netflix sent out DVDs in the mail—and then wait for technology and infrastructure to catch up.

So what was the one simple action he needed to take to kickstart his DVD delivery model?

He had to make sure that a DVD could make it from point A to point B without getting damaged or lost in the mail.

To test the idea, he mailed a DVD to himself.

Sure enough, it arrived in his mailbox—undamaged.

That’s when he knew his idea was viable.

Gateway Actions

I tell you this story because it illustrates the importance of breaking complex projects into simple, doable steps—especially those first few.

I call these simple first steps “gateway actions.”

The only rule of a gateway action is that it must take 10 minutes or less to complete.

It’s the easiest way to get into the flow of a big initiative or project.

Because if those first few steps are unclear, difficult, or time-consuming, you probably won’t even get started.

But make your first step easy and simple, and you’ll ease your way in.

It’s your gateway action.

And it’s the very first step in a journey of a thousand miles.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #293: Your Project’s ‘Gateway Action’ appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#292: Recurring Revenue — How to Start Earning Steady Paychecks Without Going Back to a Day Job

Ed Gandia — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 19:01:20 +0000

Most of us love the freedom that comes from working for ourselves.

But we also want the predictability of income that a regular, full-time job can give us.

The stress and anxiety of an unpredictable income lead us to make fear-based decisions, which makes matters even worse—and ultimately leads to burnout.

You can’t entirely eliminate variability in your income, but you can reduce it. When you do, you’ll make smarter decisions—which will help you create a truly sustainable business.

In today’s podcast episode, I walk through five different ways to create recurring revenue—and reveal what you need to do today to start making more of it.

Start by shifting your thinking

The first step is to internalize the idea of recurring revenue. Stop thinking in terms of one-off “made to order” services and start thinking about services you can standardize and offer again and again.

When you change your thinking, you’ll start to notice these opportunities everywhere.

Make a commitment

You have to commit to running a business that’s mostly (or completely) based on recurring revenue. Most professionals want that kind of business, but few have the conviction to make it happen.

5 Ways to Create Recurring Revenue

Think Retainers

If you don’t currently have a retainer, make it your goal to land one—even if it’s small.

Incorporate the retainer mindset into your qualification process. For every prospect, ask yourself: does this prospect have retainer potential?

Think Productized Services

Consider creating a productized service. Look for a service you currently offer that has a recurring component (e.g., a newsletter or social media copy) or a plug-and-play component (e.g., a lead generation package).

Think “X as a Service”

What’s something your clients KNOW they should be doing but fail to execute on consistently? Create a subscription service around this need.

Think Agencies

Agencies don’t always make the best clients, but if you position yourself well AND go after the right ones, they can also act as a recurring source of income. The key is to match your background and experience to the right agency (rather than positioning yourself as a generalist that can help with overflow work).

Think Information Products

Marketing information products is never as easy as it sounds. You’re essentially starting an entirely new side business—especially if your audience is different from your current target market.

As an added bonus, information products can also deliver clients who realize DIY is not for them.

The Next Steps

The next step in this process is to calculate the dollar amount and percentage of your income that’s recurring today. Next, set a goal for the dollar amount and percentage you want a year from now.

Once you’ve set those goals, decide how you’re going to get there. Figure out which two ideas (out of the five discussed) you’re going to look into further—and pursue.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #292: Recurring Revenue — How to Start Earning Steady Paychecks Without Going Back to a Day Job appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

Four Key Ingredients for Growing Your Writing Business Profitably

Ed Gandia — Tue, 31 May 2022 19:01:04 +0000

You need four ingredients to successfully grow your copywriting or writing business:

Solid fundamentals and principles
Proven strategies
Useful tools and tactics
Consistent execution

All four are important. But most people put too much stock in number three: tools and tactics.

Why are we biased towards tools and tactics? Because we all want the magic trick, hack, gimmick or “black box” that will miraculously get us what we need. But in reality, there is no such thing.

Sure, some tools and tactics are useful. But they’ll only make a real difference to your business when you have the right strategy behind them (ingredient #2).

Plus, you need to understand the fundamentals and principles behind that strategy (ingredient #1).

Just as importantly, you need the discipline to execute on your tactic or use your tool consistently (ingredient #4).

You need to build habits and routines to ensure you deploy your tactics properly. Because very few things in business will yield a miracle after just one try.

Let’s look at an example. Say you find a cool piece of software that will help you prospect on LinkedIn at scale. Before you jump in, you need to consider the fundamentals behind it, such as:

How does it work? What elements matter the most (and why)?
How will you apply it?
How does it fit with your overall marketing strategy?
When will you deploy it? How often will you use it?
Which days/times will you dedicate to getting it done? Will you commit to that?

In short, fundamentals and principles aren’t enough. Strategies aren’t enough. Tactics and tools alone won’t cut it, and neither will hard work and discipline.

You need all four of these elements, working in concert, to propel your business forward.

So if you’re trying to grow your business, don’t get obsessed with the latest tools and tactics.

Because unfortunately, there’s no magic pill that will solve all your problems.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post Four Key Ingredients for Growing Your Writing Business Profitably appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#291: Why Perfectionism Is Self-Defeating … and What We Should Focus on Instead

Ed Gandia — Tue, 24 May 2022 19:01:00 +0000

Perfectionism is NOT a virtue. Instead of helping us reach our goals, it often gets in the way of our achieving them.

Even worse, perfectionism is associated with a long list of health problems, including depression and anxiety. That’s why it’s so important that we change the way we think about perfectionism. And, in turn, change the way we think about ourselves.

In today’s podcast episode, I review the problems with perfectionism and suggest a different approach for achieving success, happiness and fulfillment.

The Problem with Perfectionism

The BBC website has an interesting article on perfectionism. It reveals the research on perfectionism—research that shows perfectionism to be dangerous and on the rise.

For example, social psychologists Thomas Curran and Andrew Hill conducted a meta-analysis of rates of perfectionism from 1989 to 2016. They found significant increases in perfectionism among undergraduates in the US, UK and Canada. They even go so far as to call it an epidemic!

Why is perfectionism not just unhealthy but also self-defeating? Here’s what the article says:

“Perfectionism, after all, is an ultimately self-defeating way to move through the world. It is built on an excruciating irony: making, and admitting, mistakes is a necessary part of growing and learning and being human. It also makes you better at your career and relationships and life in general. By avoiding mistakes at any cost, a perfectionist can make it harder to reach their own lofty goals.”

Perfectionism is a Way of Thinking About Yourself

This quote is also revelatory: “Perfectionism isn’t a behavior. It’s a way of thinking about yourself.”

In other words, perfectionism is less about what happens to you and more about how you interpret what happens.

When you interpret events negatively, such as “You suck at this!” or “This is hopeless!” . . . you discourage yourself from trying new things. Which prevents you from getting out of your comfort zone, learning from your mistakes, growing your courage and conquering your fears.

What should you do instead? Seek excellence. Value courage over safety.

Because when you do, you’ll be much better for it.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #291: Why Perfectionism Is Self-Defeating … and What We Should Focus on Instead appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#290: How Engineer Adam Kimmel Launched a Part-Time, Six-Figure Writing Business

Ed Gandia — Tue, 17 May 2022 19:01:00 +0000

Taking a writing business to the six-figure level takes a lot of focus and dedication.

Doing it on a part-time basis takes even more.

Over the past few years, Adam Kimmel has built a six-figure writing business on the side while working full-time as an engineer. And as if that weren’t enough, he also recently created a new income stream by launching a comprehensive writing course for engineers and technical professionals.

How did he do all this? Through focused positioning and strategic thinking—and by continually improving every aspect of his business.

In today’s podcast episode, Adam describes how he took his business to the six-figure level without burning out or sacrificing his day job.

Tell us about yourself and your business

Adam Kimmel provides technical content writing, SEO content writing, and content strategy to B2B technology companies through his company, ASK Consulting Solutions.

He also just launched a nine-week training program that teaches content writing to engineers.

How did you get into technical writing?

Adam is an R&D engineer. He often met blank stares when he had to explain the things he created. He came to realize the importance of tying technology to the problems it solves.

He saw the need for communicators who could explain complicated technical topics to decision-makers and leaders.

Where did you go to learn more about this kind of writing?

First, Adam turned to academia for help but didn’t have much luck.

Next, he looked for agencies that offered this kind of service to high-tech clients. He ended up partnering with these agencies to develop his writing muscle while helping them with the engineering piece.

How do you juggle your full-time job and your part-time writing business?

Adam doesn’t work more than six to 10 hours a week as a writer, so he has to use his time carefully.

He examined his schedule and looked for areas where he could optimize his time, such as making fewer commutes to his office and client sites.

He also onboarded a virtual assistant and researcher to further optimize the time he has available.

What types of projects do you work on?

Adam gets lots of requests for single blog posts from prospective clients. He explains that one blog post isn’t going to do much—and tries to convert them to a package of three blog posts on a single topic.

This will often lead to a discussion about the company’s strategy, value proposition and goals. Adam may then suggest areas where additional content would be useful, such as a white paper for thought leadership or a case study to solidify buying decisions.

How involved is your researcher in those projects?

The researcher is most useful for clients who don’t have a fully-formed idea of what they want. The researcher will look into relevant SEO terms, competitor articles, etc., to find topics that will excite the client and help them reach their goals.

How do you use your virtual assistant?

Adam’s VA is more of a business manager. She not only helps organize Adam’s schedule, but she also helps with his business strategy.

She also analyzes and reports on his business financials, such as where his revenue is coming from. Having this visibility into his finances has been critical to Adam’s success.

The VA also helps with technology, streamlining invoicing and other repetitive tasks.

How do you manage your workload capacity when your client work varies week to week?

Adam sets expectations with his clients from the very beginning. It’s not a client-vendor relationship—it’s a partnership.

He lets them know that his standard turnaround time is two weeks and is very clear about the rules of engagement.

Are you considering scaling the business?

Engineering companies are waking up to the need for this kind of content, so the demand is there.

The problem is finding engineers who can write this kind of content. It’s one of the reasons why he invented the course.

Tell us more about your course

Adam’s technical content writing course is a nine-week course for engineers and technical marketers.

Students will learn how to think like engineers and marketers, as well as how to interview technical subject matter experts. The course covers the digital content writing process from concept to publication, including SEO principles.

You’ll find a link to the course here: https://www.askconsultingsolutions.com/technical-writing-course/

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #290: How Engineer Adam Kimmel Launched a Part-Time, Six-Figure Writing Business appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

Push Yourself to a (Better) New Normal

Ed Gandia — Tue, 10 May 2022 19:01:44 +0000

If you want to grow your copywriting or content marketing business, you can do it in one of two ways.

You can take the Nike approach and just do it. You could, for example, go after higher-level clients all at once. Or raise your fees significantly overnight. Or upgrade your standards substantially and plow right through your fears.

Usually, people take this all-in approach when they have no other choice. For whatever reason, they’re in a tight spot, and so they’re willing to put themselves out there like never before.

Sometimes this approach works! It’s amazing what people can accomplish when they feel they have no other choice. They dig deep and rise to the occasion.

But there’s another way you can grow your business that isn’t as dramatic or anxiety-provoking. Yet it’s just as effective. Maybe even more so.

This second approach is all about making incremental improvements to your business. You take things one step at a time, and, as you take each step, that new “level” becomes your new normal. Once you’re comfortable again, you push yourself to take the next little step.

You keep doing this . . . month after month, quarter after quarter, until you’ve got your business where you want it.

For instance, say you charge $2,000 for a package of services. That’s your comfort zone, and you can’t imagine charging anything more.

But what if you took a chance and quoted $2,500 to the next prospect—something beyond what you’ve ever quoted before?

If your existing clients are already paying $2,000 for that package, there’s a good chance your next prospect will be willing to pay $500 more (yes, you’d be surprised how often this works!). And before you know it, $2,500 is your new normal.

Once that happens, it’s time to stretch again. You can try quoting the next prospect $2,700 or even $3,000!

Here’s the point: You don’t need to take crazy, massive leaps to be extremely successful in this business. You can take things in small, reasonable steps and still come out ahead.

That’s the reliable, sensible approach. And it’s the route most highly successful copywriters and content marketers follow to get where they want to be.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post Push Yourself to a (Better) New Normal appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#289: Elaine Pofeldt on Creating a High-Revenue Microbusiness

Ed Gandia — Tue, 03 May 2022 19:01:27 +0000

You can do very well for yourself as a freelance writer, copywriter or marketing consultant.

But as a one-person business, there’s a limit to how much you can earn working for clients.

Consequently, many ambitious and creative professionals eventually have to ask: how they can scale their business to seven figures—without creating a ton of headaches or burning out?

In today’s podcast episode, business journalist Elaine Pofeldt returns to the show to offer her ideas and advice for successfully creating a microbusiness—that is, a business with no more than 20 employees (including yourself) and a handful of independent contractors.

Elaine shares where to find inspiration for your venture, how to test your ideas, and how to make time to launch and grow your microbusiness.

I hope this thought-provoking conversation inspires you to think differently about your current business—and where you can take it.

Tell us a bit about yourself and your business

Elaine Pofeldt is an independent journalist and speaker who specializes in entrepreneurship and careers. She started as a freelance journalist in 2007. She realized she needed to diversify when the recession hit, which got her into content marketing and ghost writing.

Today, she has published two books: Tiny Business, Big Money and The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business.

What’s your definition of a high-revenue microbusiness?

A high-revenue microbusiness is a six-figure business (with $1 million as a aspirational goal).

Some writers earn $200-300K annually by working really, really hard, but they can’t get past that point.

How can writers increase their revenue when they’ve maxed out their capacity?

Start by tracking your time for a few weeks. You’ll be surprised at how much time you put into projects and tasks that don’t advance your goals. Consider which tasks you can outsource or drop.

Think proactively about what you do, and do NOT, want to do. You still have to pay your bills, but you can start to transition to tasks that are more financially and spiritually rewarding.

Paying attention to what resonates with your audience will help you find opportunities to create six-figure businesses without crushing yourself with work.

For examples, look at Brian Dean of Backlinko, Dana Derricks, and Laura Belgray.

Think about productizing your services or creating some kind of higher-ticket experience. You won’t reach the $1 million level if you only do project assignments.

Instead of selling your skill, you need to leverage your expertise in a different way by packaging it and selling it.

We have an advantage in this area because we are writers! We are better prepared that most to create these kinds of products.

Have you come across entrepreneurs who took their businesses in entirely new directions?

Jenna Kutcher was a wedding photographer. She started an Instagram feed about her family life.

She built a huge following and became an influencer. Today, she gets $10,000 per ad.

How many successful founders found their area of interest accidentally by paying attention to what came up, versus taking a more “scientific” approach?

There’s often a blending of the two approaches.

Kathy Goughenour, for example, started in sales, then blogging for realtors, and eventually moved into helping people build their businesses as virtual assistants.

Once you put your intention out there, you’ll start noticing things you hadn’t noticed before, which opens up new possibilities.

If you take an anxiety-ridden approach of trying to find something, it won’t open up your creative flow of ideas.

How can we test the market viability of our business ideas?

You can use traffic figure to see what catches attention. If you’re thinking of writing a book, for example, you could explore your idea via a series of blog posts. If you don’t get any traffic, then that might be a sign to revise your idea.

For example, Jason is an engineer in Toronto. He tests his product ideas by getting a GoDaddy website and putting up the prototype. He advertises it on Facebook ad and sees if anyone expresses interest. If no one does, he doesn’t pursue the product.

With something like an ebook or course, you can promote it and gage the demand by preorders. If only a few people are willing to preorder the book, you can drop the idea and refund the orders.

It’s a way to test the waters before putting lots of time into developing it.

How can we find the cash to fund these ventures?

Preorders is a common way. Crowd funding might also be an option.

Grant funding may also be available. Many grants became available during the pandemic for hard-hit sectors.

Having a good credit score will also help you secure funding at better rates.

How do we make the time to grow our businesses when we’re already maxed out?

A few different strategies are to:

Automate repetitive tasks.
Outsource some of your tasks to contractors, e.g. bookkeeping, social media.
Hire employees.

The right virtual assistant can fulfill a number of roles, from managing your website to bookkeeping to publishing your newsletter.

You may also need to schedule specific periods of time to work on your business idea, otherwise you’ll never get around to it.

Tell us about your new book

Elaine’s new book is Tiny Business, Big Money: Strategies for Creating a High-Revenue Microbusiness. It looks at the steps it takes to scale and how different entrepreneurs have done it.

She interviews almost 60 entrepreneurs, and they share their secrets with her.

Elaine’s website: https://www.elainepofeldt.com

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #289: Elaine Pofeldt on Creating a High-Revenue Microbusiness appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#288: How to Tame Your Inner Critic

Ed Gandia — Tue, 26 Apr 2022 19:01:42 +0000

You might think your biggest obstacle is your demanding clients … a lack of great opportunities … or maybe the global economy.

But none of those are it.

Your biggest obstacle is YOU. Your inner critic. Your negative self-talk and criticism. The way you put yourself down. The way you doubt yourself and your abilities.

In today’s podcast episode, I describe how our desire for safety gets in the way of our progress—and why we should welcome our fears and obstacles instead.

We’re Wired to Stay Safe

Why do we listen to our inner critic? Because we’re wired to stay safe.

Thousands of years ago, that safety instinct kept us alive. It stopped us from doing something that would harm or kill us.

Today, that safety instinct still exists. But it’s less about our physical safety and more about our identity. We fight to preserve how we fit in the world and how we view ourselves. Which is why we avoid doing things we know could improve our business.

In fact, the more something threatens our identity, the more we’ll avoid doing that thing.

Fortunately, you can take steps to counteract that kind of thinking and self-talk. David Goggins outlines them in his excellent book Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds. He writes:

“We are all our own worst haters and doubters because self-doubt is a natural reaction to any bold attempt to change your life for the better. You can’t stop it from blooming in your brain, but you can neutralize it, and all the other external chatter, by asking, What if?

“What if is an exquisite [F.U.] to anyone who has ever doubted your greatness or stood in your way. It silences negativity. It’s a reminder that you don’t really know what you’re capable of until you put everything you’ve got on the line. It makes the impossible feel at least a little more possible.”

So ask yourself . . . what if you let go of some of your clients who are no longer serving you?

What if you upped your fees . . . quoted more confidently . . . offered bigger, bolder ways to add value to your clients . . . and started playing a bigger game?

Give Goggins’ technique a try. Start asking yourself a different set of questions, starting with What if? . . .

Don’t Wish Things Were Easier

Most of us wish our problems would just go away. We desire an easier life and business with fewer problems and obstacles. Our natural inclination is to find the path of least resistance.

But growth requires us to take a leap of faith and try new things. We have to put ourselves out there, including raising our fees and sticking to our values and non-negotiables.

If we’re afraid to do those things, we’ll never accomplish anything worthwhile. Which is why we have to accept the fact that our problems will never go away. We will always face obstacles, problems, challenges. ALWAYS.

So the question is not: How can I eliminate obstacles and problems in my business?

The question is: Which obstacles and problems would I rather have?

As Ryan Holiday writes in his excellent book Courage Is Calling:

“What if there was certainty, if there was a well-lit, well-defined path? If life were like this, no courage would be required. The fear you feel is a sign. If courage is never required in your life, you’re living a boring life. [So] put yourself in a position that demands you leap.”

Don’t fear what will happen when you leap. Fear what you’ll miss if you don’t. Or, as motivational speaker Jim Rohn used to say, “Don’t wish it were easier; wish you were better.”

As much as I would rather avoid obstacles and problems, I know that the obstacle IS the way. It’s what makes us stronger, better, richer, more fulfilled.

But it all starts by understanding our biology—why we do what we do. And why we get in our own way.

Once you understand your MO, you’ll see your problems in a whole new light. And you’ll know what to do next.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #288: How to Tame Your Inner Critic appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

How to Stop Complex Projects From Going Off the Rails

Ed Gandia — Tue, 19 Apr 2022 19:01:14 +0000

Complex projects such as white papers, ebooks, original research reports, web copy, and messaging frameworks often involve multiple reviewers and decision-makers.

These projects can involve a lot of people with a lot of things to say. Often, their feedback is confusing and contradictory. And it doesn’t take long for the whole thing to go off the rails.

Unfortunately, this is something we will all experience. So we need to figure out how to deal with it when it happens and how to keep it from happening in the first place when we can.

Here are two key ways you can prevent—and mitigate—these messy situations.

Insist on a Roadmapping Engagement

The first way to avoid this kind of situation is to insist on a roadmapping engagement for any complex project. If you sense the client doesn’t have 100% internal agreement about the topic, objective, approach, audience or plan for the asset—then a roadmapping engagement is even more essential.

Roadmapping engagements can be fairly simple. For a white paper project, for example, your roadmap might be a simple three- to four-page document. It’s essentially your project’s “constitution” that will guide you and your client through the process of bringing the white paper to life. It’s a bit like a creative brief. But (in this case), it’s specifically tailored for a white paper project.

The benefit of the roadmap goes well beyond the plan it outlines. It also forces the client to agree and buy into all the key elements of the project. By hashing everything out in advance, you get everyone—including all the decision-makers and reviewers—on the same page from the very beginning.

Insist on a Single Point of Contact

The second way you can avoid these messy situations is to insist that your client name a single point of contact for the project who’s responsible for gathering, consolidating, and reconciling all feedback and edits before they go to you. Same goes for any out-of-scope items.

If a reviewer wants to add a new section that wasn’t part of the original plan, the point-of-contact person will kill the idea before you have to deal with it. This means you only have to deal with edits that are approved and aligned with the original plan.

Stop the Mess Before It Starts

Will these two approaches prevent all the messiness that comes with complex projects? Unfortunately, no.

But they can help prevent the worst of it and make the clean-up job easier.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post How to Stop Complex Projects From Going Off the Rails appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#287: The Two-Part Question You MUST Ask Every Prospect During a Discovery Call

Ed Gandia — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 19:01:56 +0000

Years ago, I started asking inbound prospects a simple question at the start of every discovery call:

How did you find out about me?

It’s an excellent ice breaker. And the responses contained valuable clues about them and the opportunity.

Even better, when prospects answered this question, they would sometimes inadvertently disclose another valuable piece of information. This information told me even more about them—and helped me build a case for why they should choose me for their project.

I found this information so helpful that I started asking for it specifically.

In this podcast episode, I reveal the two-part question I now ask during every discovery call to qualify prospects—and land those that are a good fit.

The Two-Part Ice-Breaker Question

Today, I’ve turned my “how did you find out about me” discovery call question into the following two-part ice breaker:

How did you find out about me . . . and what motivated you to reach out to me, specifically?

This double-header question is primed to give you valuable information.

Let’s look at a couple of possible responses as examples.

Response #1: “Well, I started searching on Google for writers, and you were one of about six or seven I decided to contact. You seem to know your stuff.”

Not a great response, right? They found you through a Google search, which means they don’t know anything about you aside from what’s on your website. You have no history or foundation of trust. It sounds like they’re just shopping around.

So the odds of things working out between the two of you are probably low.

Response #2: “I got about three recommendations from colleagues, but what impressed me about you was your experience in logistics and supply chain software.”

This is better! You learn you have a foundation of trust (you’ve been recommended to them). You also learn what’s important to them: your experience in logistics and supply chain software.

With this info, you can build a case for why they should hire you instead of someone else. So the opportunity looks promising.

Response #3: “You reached out to me about two years ago. At the time, I was with a different company, and we were handling everything in-house. However, I held on to your information because I was impressed with how you presented yourself. Now I’m at a new company, and I need to launch a much more aggressive and strategic content marketing program.”

Here again, you’ve uncovered excellent intel. You’ve learned that you have history with the prospect. And you’ve learned that your outbound marketing efforts are paying dividends.

Again, this opportunity has good potential.

It’s About the Relationship

Good writing and copywriting projects are built on good relationships. And this two-part question can reveal a lot about whether this relationship is likely to work or not.

So give this two-part question a try during your next discovery call. Tweak the language until it feels natural.

It will reveal a lot about the prospects that reach out to you. And it will help you land the ones you most want to work with.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #287: The Two-Part Question You MUST Ask Every Prospect During a Discovery Call appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#286: Chrissie Zavicar on How to Gain More Exposure and Generate Targeted Leads by Leveraging LinkedIn Creator Mode

Ed Gandia — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 19:01:10 +0000

LinkedIn remains one of the best social media platforms for connecting with potential clients. And recently, the company rolled out a number of new features that can help you connect even more.

One of these new features is LinkedIn’s Creator mode, which enables you to launch a newsletter inside LinkedIn. When I first heard about this, I rolled my eyes. I mean … newsletters? Really?

But when my guest today, Chrissie Zavicar, explained the potential of this feature for writers, consultants and independent professionals, I saw the light—and got really excited!

Chrissie is a LinkedIn strategist and consultant. We had her on the show a few years ago to discuss LinkedIn outreach strategies.

I suspect you’ll get as excited as me once you hear Chrissie talk about the different ways you can use this and other new LinkedIn features … and why now is the time to give them a try.

Tell us about yourself and your business

Chrissie started her own business in 2015. She’s good at amplifying voices, and LinkedIn is the perfect platform for that because they reward good content.

She started by working with small businesses and influencers. More recently, she’s been teaching marketing and sales teams of enterprise-level clients how to leverage LinkedIn.

How can we leverage our content on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn has been building out its business pages. Now, you can create a company page and post articles natively there.

It also a good idea to pay attention to LinkedIn wants you to do and build your strategy with that in mind.

For example, LinkedIn recently rolled out a polls feature. If you post a poll, you get a lot of visibility. So if you have genuine questions you’d like to ask, this is a great place to do it.

Recently, LinkedIn released a newsletter feature. Could you describe it for us?

LinkedIn rolled out LinkedIn Creator Mode, which contains the newsletter tool. You have to turn it on to use it. Even then, you may not get access to LinkedIn newsletter and LinkedIn Live right away.

You can create a LinkedIn newsletter that’s associated with your personal profile. When you publish your first newsletter, you can opt to send it to everyone who’s in your network. They are then given the option of opting in to your newsletter and receiving a notification

every time you publish a new newsletter.

With the rollout of LinkedIn newsletters, people are clicking through to articles more, as opposed to engaging with long content that shows up in their feed.

What if we already have an existing newsletter? Do we do both?

You need to look at your overarching strategy.

For example, Chrissie’s LinkedIn newsletter is called “First and Sober.” She specifically wanted to launch it on LinkedIn because she has influence there and her target audience is there.

She also has plans to start an email newsletter. So, she’ll be posting the same content both through her email newsletter and the LinkedIn newsletter.

Another way to look at it: because your LinkedIn newsletter is coming from your personal profile (and not your company page), you have the opportunity to create a newsletter that’s more geared to you as an individual and not you as a business.

For example, she has a client who’s using their LinkedIn newsletter as an influencer piece. It’s more focused on her passions. At the same time, she has a separate consumer email newsletter that focuses on the target audience for her business.

In short, you can push different content to your newsletter and LinkedIn newsletter or the same content. It depends on what you’re trying to do.

Another option is to start your LinkedIn newsletter with older, evergreen content that you’ve already published to your email newsletter.

The most important question to ask yourself is what do you want to accomplish.

If I’ve been meaning to launch an email newsletter but haven’t yet, should I reconsider that approach?

Are you active on LinkedIn right now? If not, you’re better to go the email newsletter route, especially if you already have active website that’s getting visitors.

If you’re already active on LinkedIn, then consider the LinkedIn newsletter option, especially if you’re already getting engagement and your audience is there.

Should we try to divert some of our LinkedIn newsletter subscribers to our websites to opt in—so that the relationship doesn’t just live on LinkedIn?

You have the option of choosing a CTA button for your LinkedIn company pages, such as contact us, register, etc. This button always leads to your external site.

The featured section on your personal profile has also been upgraded so you can link to your external site. (If you don’t already have this section, you can add it.)

Anything else we should now before getting into LinkedIn newsletters?

Think outside the box. Make your LinkedIn newsletter a bit more human. Have a clear plan for your content—and make sure it’s specific to you and what you provide.

Where can listeners learn more about you?

Chrissie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrissiezavicar/

Chrissie’s website: https://e-linkconsulting.com or stackbrands.com

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #286: Chrissie Zavicar on How to Gain More Exposure and Generate Targeted Leads by Leveraging LinkedIn Creator Mode appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

Valuable Metrics for Scaling Your Business

Ed Gandia — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 19:01:39 +0000

When does it make sense to add a junior writer to your team?

How much would you have to charge your clients, so both you and your junior writer are well compensated?

Figuring out how to profitably scale your business with a writing team is complicated. If you get the equation wrong, you can inadvertently lower your internal hourly rate—which undermines the purpose of scaling in the first place.

In today’s article, I’m drilling into some of the most relevant metrics you need to consider before scaling your business with a writing team.

Your Average Internal Hourly Rate Across All Clients

Your average internal hourly rate across all clients is a great way to track how you’re doing today and determine whether or not you’re moving in the right direction. Basically, this rate is how much you’re charging, divided by the hours you’re putting into the work.

For our purposes here, let’s say that your average internal hourly rate across all clients is $150.

Your Internal Hourly Rate for a Particular Project

Let’s say that you’ve brought in a junior writer and have them onboarded and trained.

An opportunity comes up to write an ongoing series of long articles, with each article paying $1,200. The project is new, so you decide to tackle the first few articles yourself.

After the first few articles, you calculate that it takes you about seven hours to write each one, including revisions:

$1,200/7 = $171.43

That means that your internal hourly rate for this particular project is about $171.

As you’ll recall, your average internal hourly rate is $150.

This is good news! This project is providing a higher internal hourly rate than your average. With this information in hand, you can now figure out if it makes financial sense to put your junior writer on the project.

Your Net Profit

The next calculation you need to make is simple: What’s your net profit for the work? In other words, what’s the difference between what you’ll earn and what you’ll pay the writer?

In this case, the client is paying you $1,200 for each article. Let’s say you would pay your writer $500 to do each one for you.

That means your net profit would be $700:

$1,200 — $500 = $700

Your Internal Hourly Profit

You should also consider how much time you’ll still need to spend on this project, even if the junior writer is writing the articles for you. After all, you still need to assign the task, review the deliverables, manage the project, etc.

Let’s say you still have to spend two hours on each article, even when they’re assigned to your writer.

We’ve already calculated that your net profit for each article is $700. If you’re spending two hours on each article, you take the $700 and divide it by two, which comes to $350 per hour:

$700 profit / 2 hours = $350 per hour

Which means you’re making $350 per hour on this project for the time you still need to put into it.

Let’s call the metric the project’s internal hourly profit. This metric is useful because you can compare it with what you would make when you’re doing all the work.

Earlier, we said your average internal hourly rate was $150 an hour. By using a junior writer, you’re netting $350 an hour. So this is good news!

Let’s try a different scenario. Instead of paying your writer $500, you pay $700. This reduces your net profit to $500:

$1200 (payment for each article) — $700 (what you pay the writer) = $500 net profit

Which means your internal hourly rate for this project is now $250 per hour.

$500 profit / 2 hours = $250 per hour

This is still great when compared to your $150 internal hourly rate.

When You’re Not Doing Better Than Your Average Rate

But what if you were only earning $800 for each article, or paying the writer more, or spending more time fixing and managing these projects?

You’d probably find that your hourly rate on this outsourced work is LESS than your average internal hourly rate. When that happens, you either need to adjust some of the variables, find a different opportunity, or look for a different writer.

Better Metrics Leads to Better Decision Making

These basic metrics are important to track and understand if you want to scale your business. You need them to make better decisions so you can earn more in less time—or at least earn more in the same amount of time.

At the end of the day, that’s the key to scaling your business successfully.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post Valuable Metrics for Scaling Your Business appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

EP285: Ready vs. NYR Prospects

Ed Gandia — Tue, 22 Mar 2022 19:01:31 +0000

The vast majority of salespeople are only interested in pursuing “ready now” leads.

These are leads who are ready to buy now or in the next few weeks.

These leads have identified their need, done the research, and allocated the budget. They’re ready to pull the trigger.

As salespeople, it made sense to focus on these prospects. After all, salespeople have quotas to meet and only so many hours in the day to do it—so they need to focus on the best possible prospects.

But I’ve discovered not all the money is with “ready now” leads. Sometimes, the BIG money is with not-yet-ready (NYR) prospects.

In today’s podcast episode, I talk about the value of not-yet-ready prospects and why they’re an important—yet often overlooked—part of any successful marketing program.

The Value of Not-Yet-Ready (NYR) Prospects

“NYR” prospects are prospects who’re well qualified in every way except one: timing.

They’re not in a position to buy now or in the near term.

Yet, when I learned to stay in touch with NYR prospects in an easy and sustainable way, I found that about 30% of them came back to buy once the timing was right for them.

Best of all, most of them bought pretty quickly once they were ready to re-engage.

Most Prospects Aren’t Ready to Buy “Right Now”

My entire coaching business is built on NYR prospects because only a very small percentage of new prospects are ready to immediately hire me to be their coach. Instead, most of my coaching clients spend months (even years!) on my mailing list, consuming my content, and applying my ideas and advice. Only then are they ready to hire me.

Frankly, I prefer it that way. It’s often better when we get the chance to know each other first. That way, we can be more certain we’re a good fit.

You Need Both

This isn’t to say you should ONLY market to NYR prospects.

In fact, you need both: marketing that asks prospects if they’re ready for help now and marketing that captures as many prospects as possible, even they’re not yet ready.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post EP285: Ready vs. NYR Prospects appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#284: Stoneyfield’s Brilliant Strategy

Ed Gandia — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 19:01:21 +0000

Stoneyfield Farm produces organic yogurt and dairy products in the U.S.

About 12 years ago, they were criticized when they started selling their products in Walmart stores.

Many of Stoneyfield’s most loyal consumers were alarmed, even disgusted, by the move. They claimed Stoneyfield was selling out to the big, corporate bad guys.

Stoneyfield’s founder and CEO, Gary Hirshberg, responded brilliantly to the criticism when he described the strategy behind the move—and amplified Stoneyfield’s commitment to its long-held principles.

In today’s podcast episode, I describe Hirshberg’s reasoning behind his decision to partner with Walmart—and what it can teach us about our own business decisions.

Hirshberg’s reason for putting Stoneyfield products into Walmart stores had nothing to do with profits, market share, or stock price. It was all about the company’s Big Why. Its raison d’être.

He explained that while he wasn’t necessarily a huge fan of Walmart, it IS the country’s largest grocer. And if Stoneyfield Farms could move a ton of product through Walmart, that would be a ton more organic food consumed.

Which would mean less demand for conventional products, fewer pesticides and a healthier environment.

All of which is very much in keeping with Stoneyfield’s Big Why.

What’s Your Big Why?

What does this story have to do with you and your business?

Many of you probably started freelancing without a clear vision of your Big Why. You may think it’s about freedom, flexibility, higher income, shorter workweeks and/or greater variety. But that’s not it.

Your Big Why is the core reason you do what you do. And it’s the strategies, tactics, game plans, habits, and processes you deploy to make it happen.

Unfortunately, most of us only think about the last link in that chain. So we end up making decisions about our business that don’t serve us because they’re not tied to (or derived from) our Big Why.

Spend some time thinking about your Big Why. Let these ideas marinate for a while.

When you do, you’ll have better clarity about your purpose—and all your critical decisions will become easier.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #284: Stoneyfield’s Brilliant Strategy appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

The Power of Bundling Your Services

Ed Gandia — Tue, 08 Mar 2022 20:01:09 +0000

When a client needs multiple deliverables, it usually makes sense to bundle those services.

But there’s a right and wrong way to bundle.

What you DON’T want to do is itemize and assign a price to every item in your bundle. That puts the emphasis on price, which distracts from more important factors, such as the client’s objectives, the outcome, and the experience of working with you.

Also, when you put a price to each item in your bundle, the client will inevitably question the price of some of the deliverables. They’ll remove items or alter the project scope to maximize their value. As a result, you’ll end up with an unprofitable project—and an unpleasant experience.

Instead, you should spend time with the client to better understand their objectives, expectations and wants. After that, you can put together a package for what they need and assign a fixed fee for the scope of work.

You itemize what’s included. But you don’t indicate how much each item is worth.

You can also offer two or three bundled packages to give them some options. But still, you price each package as a lump sum and don’t break them down into individually priced deliverables.

A Bundling Example From the Travel Industry

Seeing how bundling is applied in industries outside our own can help us better understand its advantages. So, let’s look at the travel industry.

Last year, I wanted to take my eldest son on a long-planned trip to Alaska. The lodge I wanted to book included accommodations, meals, and excursions. They gave me a long list of activities and excursions to choose from and asked what I wanted to include from that list.

After a few calls and emails, we had a plan in place, including the number of nights we needed.

Next, the lodge provided me a quote with two options:

Option A had everything I asked for, including breakfast and lunch.

Option B included everything in Option A, PLUS transportation every day AND all meals. It was their all-inclusive option.

Having the choices presented to me in this way really simplified things. It boiled down my choice to basic versus all-inclusive. It reduced the probability that I would say “no” to everything and walk away. It kept my focus on creating the best experience rather than cherry-picking based on price.

If the lodge had itemized everything with prices, I KNOW I would have picked the whole thing apart, removing excursions and other options that looked too expensive.

Does that mean I didn’t question the pricing? No, but it did eliminate most of my objections. This better positioned the lodge to deal with the one concern I did have: I was over budget by about $1,000.

Once I told them, they went to work to see what they could do. And guess what? They concede on price and shaved $1,000 off the package!

Bundling Keeps the Focus Where It Belongs

Pricing some of your bigger and more complex projects this way doesn’t mean you won’t get pushback from your clients. However, it will help you keep the focus where it matters: outcomes, results, and the overall experience of working with you. It will also make it easier for you to conceded on a line item without slashing your profit.

For example, let’s say your client wants to cut a line item that you’ve valueda at $2,000 internally. Rather than reducing the price by $2,000, you could reduce it by $1,500. They won’t know that you’re not giving away the full amount for that line item because you never revealed your line-item pricing to them.

If you’re not currently bundling your more complex, multi-deliverable projects, it’s time to start. It’s a great way to grow your income—and have more fun while doing it.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post The Power of Bundling Your Services appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#283: It’s Time to Get Comfortable Feeling Uncomfortable

Ed Gandia — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 20:01:13 +0000

A few years ago, I published an episode on grit.

At the time, I described grit as the ultimate ingredient for success as a self-employed creative professional. I still feel that way.

Since then, however, I’ve come to recognize that courage is a necessary precursor for grit. It takes courage to knock on doors, risk rejection and get the ball rolling.

Unfortunately, people today are turning their backs on courage and risk-taking—and turning to conformity and perfectionism instead. Which is a recipe for a boring life.

In today’s podcast episode, I share my thoughts on courage, fear, risk, and perfectionism—and encourage everyone to get comfortable being uncomfortable.

Growing Your Business is an Act of Courage

Launching, growing, and running a creative business requires a heavy dose of courage— because you risk failure, ridicule, and hits to your self-esteem whenever your work is rejected.

Sure, if your goal is to merely eke out a living, then you won’t need as much courage. But if your goal is to grow your business and make a real difference for your clients, then you need a heavy dose every day of every week.

You need courage to put yourself out there, knock on doors, raise your fees, and try new ideas. You also need it to hold client boundaries and highlight why you’re the best choice.

That’s why owning a business—especially a business where you’re selling your ideas, talents, advice and thinking—is one of the best things you can do for your personal growth.

The Problem With Risk Aversion and Perfectionism

Unfortunately, we’re seeing an overall decline in courage in our society, which is troubling. Today, millions of people are paralyzed by fear. And we’re rapidly becoming a very risk-averse people.

We’re aiming for perfectionism rather than growth. But perfectionism isn’t a virtue. In fact, it’s dangerous—and can lead to a long list of health problems.

An article in BBC Future explores just how bad it is. Perfectionism has been linked to a laundry list of clinical issues: depression and anxiety, self-harm, agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating disorders—and the list goes on.

Interestingly, perfectionism isn’t really about behavior. It’s more about how you think of yourself. It’s the story you tell yourself when you choose to not go after something important . . . or when your white paper draft isn’t coming together . . . or when a prospect says you’re too expensive.

If your self-talk is, “I suck at this!” or “This is hopeless!” . . . you discourage yourself from taking healthy risks in the future.

Welcome the Setback

Nobody enjoys experiencing a setback in their life or business. Whether it’s losing a client, having a project go wrong, or getting a “no” from a prospect you thought was a lock. None of these are fun.

These setbacks can make us question what we’re doing. It might even prompt us to ask ourselves if we should do something else for a living.

But are setbacks really something we should dread? No, because the more we succeed, the more setbacks we’ll experience. They’re a positive sign!

What if we started thinking about setbacks differently? What if, after the initial shock and disappointment, we changed the conversation from “Why is this happening to me? This is so unfair!” to:

How can I extract value from this experience?
What can I learn?
What is God or the Universe trying to teach me?
How can I use this to get better, stronger and smarter?

In a world that rewards conformance, discourages risk, and ridicules those who try “crazy” things—the obstacles in our way are an advantage.

So don’t make safety and comfort your ultimate goal. Learn to get comfortable being uncomfortable. Because that’s what courage demands.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #283: It’s Time to Get Comfortable Feeling Uncomfortable appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#282: Are You Lowering Your Fee to Get in The Door?

Ed Gandia — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 20:01:41 +0000

Have you ever priced your work low to get in the door with a new client?

Maybe the prospect drove a hard bargain.

Or maybe you figured you HAD to go low to land the deal.

At the same time, you hope that once the client sees the quality of your writing and how great you are to work with, you could charge higher fees for future work.

Unfortunately, this strategy never works.

And it only opens the door to a whole new host of problems.

In today’s podcast episode, I outline why you need to stop lowering your fees to get in the door with clients—and how you should approach these clients instead.

You’re Not Walmart

Sure, you might be able to get some clients to accept an occasional price increase over time when you’ve priced yourself low.

But getting your margins back in line is going to be an uphill battle.

Further, when you charge lower fees, you communicate to the marketplace that pricing is your competitive advantage. And that’s always a losing strategy.

It might work for Walmart … but you’re not Walmart.

So don’t fool yourself into thinking that a short-term win (landing the client) will lead to a profitable, long-term relationship. Because it won’t.

Of course, there are other serious problems with using low fees to get in the door. Here are a few of them:

Low Fees Attract Problem Clients

Clients who jump at your low pricing are too often problem clients.

They have unreasonable expectations. They complain when you won’t do more work for them at the same (or lower) rate. They bombard you with questions and requests. They continually push the boundaries.

Overall, they’re a pain to work with.

And to top it all off, they usually delay payment as long as possible!

Low Fees Repel (or Scare Off) High-Quality Clients

For most high-quality clients, low fees are a red flag. It shows a lack of confidence in your work and raises questions about your abilities.

As a result, you scare them off before the conversation even starts.

Low Fees Attract Low-Commitment Clients

Clients who say yes to low fees typically don’t see the value in what you bring to the table.

Instead, they see your services as a necessary evil—and they think any other writer could do the job just as well as you. So they treat you like a commodity.

Which means they have no loyalty. If a better deal comes around, they’ll drop you in a second!

They don’t value quality. They don’t value your skills, experience and expertise.

What they do value is their checkbook.

Low Fees Lock You in a Dangerous Cycle

When you charge low fees, you start a dangerous cycle.

You start to see yourself as a lower-value resource, which negatively impacts your psyche.

It shows up in your conversations with your prospects, which (in turn) keeps you at a lower pricing level.

Low Fees Mean You Have to Work Harder

When you compete on price, you need more projects and more clients to earn a decent income.

You’ll have to spend more time finding them to meet your income goals.

Which puts you on the express train to burnout town.

Does Lowering Your Fees to Get in the Door EVER Make Sense?

Does it EVER make sense to get in the door with low fees?

Yes. But they’re rare exceptions.

This could be a valid strategy if you’re launching a new service and want to test it out with an existing client.

Or, if you’re just starting out, you need to be willing to say yes to EVERYTHING.

What If They Go With Someone Cheaper?

So what if you hold firm on your pricing—and the prospect goes with a cheaper competitor?

You may start to wonder if you’re pricing too high.

Impostor syndrome kicks in, and that nagging voice inside your head starts with the negative thoughts.

But here’s the thing: We ALL question our pricing decisions—and our value. Myself included!

When you start to question yourself, tell yourself this: If a prospect goes elsewhere because they found someone cheaper, that’s not on you. It’s on THEM.

Now, all of this assumes you qualified the prospect well. You understand their objectives and why they’re important to them.

And you showed them what you bring to the table, what makes you different, and why those differences would matter to them.

In other words, you gave context to your fee.

A fee is just a number. Without the right context, clients won’t understand why they should pay you more than the other guy.

So if they understand the context—and they still turn you down because they want to pay less—that’s OK.

Plenty of others will pay your fee based on the context you provide.

So don’t budge. Don’t question your worth. Stick to the plan.

You Can’t Close What’s Not Closeable

The other key point to remember is that you simply can’t close an opportunity that’s not closeable.

You might want it really bad. But if it’s not closeable and you insist on closing it, you’ll almost always regret doing so.

Remember: the goal is not to score every time! The goal is to keep moving the ball downfield.

Critical Pieces of Intel

To help you determine what’s closeable and what’s not, you MUST get the right intel from your discovery calls, such as:

Why did they reach out to you?
What are their goals?
What’s the nature of their challenge?
What’s their budget?

Once you have this intel, you can make a stronger case for why they should choose you if your experience is relevant to their goals and challenges.

You can also highlight the risks of going with someone else.

But if that doesn’t work, winning the deal is going to be an uphill battle.

So don’t spin some fiction that if you’d priced it lower, the deal would have been yours.

Because some opportunities are simply not closeable.

And the sooner you recognize that in the discovery process, the better off you’ll be.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #282: Are You Lowering Your Fee to Get in The Door? appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

Your Intake Form Is Not (Too Much of) a Burden

Ed Gandia — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 20:01:26 +0000

Should you have an intake form on your website?

Or does it put too much of a burden on prospects?

And could it even make you look a bit, well, pretentious?

Intake forms (aka pre-qualification forms) are a special type of contact form.

They require prospective clients to provide a bit of information about themselves and their project.

But should you have one on your website?

After all, haven’t I often preached the importance of removing friction from your client acquisition process—and not adding to it?

In today’s article, I argue that the benefits of intake forms outweigh the risks—for you AND your prospective clients.

Intake Forms Save Everyone Time

The main benefit of having an intake form is that it can save you and your prospect a lot of time.

If you realize the prospect isn’t a good fit based on their answers, you can find out BEFORE arranging and spending time together on a Zoom call.

I mean, is there anything worse than spending an hour with a prospect, only to find out they have little or no budget … or their expectations are completely unrealistic?

They Position You as a Professional

Another reason to have an intake form is that it positions you as a professional.

Remember, the sales process starts with the very first interaction you have with a prospect.

Prospects pay close attention to how you treat them and how you behave during those early interactions.

If you show prospects from the start that you have a clear process to qualify them and their project, it immediately positions you as someone they want to work with.

They Reassure Prospects

We’ve all been on the other end of these forms.

If we’re truly interested in working with the person on the other side of the form, we’re motivated to provide complete answers.

We don’t want to waste our time either. So, we WANT the service provider to ask whatever they need to know (within reason) to determine if it’s worth progressing to a conversation.

In fact, I feel reassured when I see that a service provider has an intake form.

It makes me feel more confident that they’re not going to waste my time and will be honest about what they can and can’t do for me.

Warning: Keep Your Intake Forms Short

These benefits can evaporate if you don’t keep your intake form short and to the point.

It’s tempting to add question after question (“Wouldn’t it be good to know this? And maybe this?”) over time. But there are limits.

And if your intake form is too long—and if you include questions that don’t seem strictly necessary or relevant—you risk turning off good prospects.

Intake Forms Are Helpful to Everyone

So yes, having a smart, well-thought-out intake form on your website is a good idea.

It’s not too much a burden to prospects because it actually helps them.

If the occasional prospect doesn’t want to fill it out—that’s valuable information (and a big red flag).

And it may save you from pursuing someone who’s difficult to work with.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post Your Intake Form Is Not (Too Much of) a Burden appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#281 When You’re Stuck at the Bottom

Ed Gandia — Tue, 08 Feb 2022 20:01:08 +0000

Business is down.

And at first, you’re not worried.

But then it keeps getting worse.

Before you know it, you’re down to almost no work.

And you’re not even sure why it happened.

Everything had been going great for months—even years. But then things went sideways.

Maybe it started when one of your clients left unexpectedly.

Then another went into limbo when your main contact left the company.

And then another client decided to put your projects on hold.

Meanwhile, your best prospects are ghosting you.

At some point, you’ll inevitably start to question everything and draw some ugly conclusions.

“Nothing’s working!” you tell yourself. “It’s like I’m cursed.”

In today’s podcast episode, I discuss what you should (and shouldn’t) do when your business hits bottom.

Watch What You Tell Yourself

Recently, a coaching client had his last 12 prospect opportunities either ghost him, decide to work with someone else, or decide not to move forward with the work.

We’re talking 12 very qualified prospects with well-defined projects and budgets.

I mean … what do you say to that, right?

Yet it’s during these challenging and desperate moments that we have to be most careful about what we tell ourselves.

Because when you tell yourself that you’re doomed, you only create more anxiety and desperation.

Instead, this is the time to disengage for a bit. Get out of your environment. Clear your head. And give the problem up to the Universe to solve.

You’ve done your part. And yes, there will be more to do.

I’m not suggesting that your efforts stop here.

But when you’re stuck at the absolute bottom, solving the problem is above your pay grade.

Take it off your shoulders. Give it to a higher power. Go do something fun and trust that the solutions and the results will come.

Because they always do.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #281 When You’re Stuck at the Bottom appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#280: The Problem With Thinking by the Hour

Ed Gandia — Tue, 01 Feb 2022 20:01:01 +0000

I’m not a fan of hourly billing.

And that’s an understatement.

I actually hate that model!

Hourly billing works against you AND the client.

It creates the wrong expectations and perception of your value.

And it makes it extremely difficult to build a mutually beneficial, long-term relationship with the client.

But the worst aspect of hourly billing is that it devalues your thinking.

Because your writing isn’t the most valuable thing you give to clients.

Nor is your great level of service.

The most valuable thing you bring to the table is your ideas. Your perspective. Your creative solutions to their problems.

In today’s podcast episode, I discuss why you should charge for your creative thinking—and why you most definitely shouldn’t charge for it by the hour.

When you sell your thinking by the hour—either as part of a writing project or consulting engagement—you commoditize your most valuable asset.

It tells clients that you’re selling them an hour of your time. When in reality, you’re selling them 10, 20, 30 or more years of experience.

And that knowledge, creativity and perspective you’ve accumulated are what enables you to connect dots, generate great ideas, offer opinions, provide feedback and make suggestions that will help your client make better decisions.

You don’t learn that skill overnight. You learn it over the course of decades.

Stop Giving Away Your Expertise

Many professions regularly charge for their advice, ideas and guidance:

Lawyers charge for giving you legal advice.
Doctors charge for diagnosing your symptoms.
Landscaping companies charge to create a design you’re going to love.
Interior designers charge to make recommendations for paint color, flooring, furniture and drapes.

So why would you give away your own expertise?

Is it because you think it will prove to the prospect that you know what you’re doing? Is it because you feel it’s a great value-add that will seal the deal?

In most cases, it won’t do either of these things.

Instead, it will only lead clients to devalue your writing and beat you down on fees.

Of course, you should still qualify the prospect.

And yes, it’s OK to do a preliminary assessment and make a general recommendation or two as part of your qualification process.

But you need to charge for your diagnostic work when the prospect or client needs help figuring out what exactly their problem is AND what they need to do to solve it.

And you should do that as a separate discovery session or roadmapping engagement—even if all you charge is a few hundred dollars.

Because when a prospect is willing to pay for this portion of your expertise, you end up with a client that values everything you do downstream.

They’ll take your advice seriously and are more likely to implement it.

And you’ll become the obvious choice to execute on the advice and guidance you give.

At the same time, you’ll feel great about yourself and your expertise.

Which will boost your confidence and help you close more and better opportunities.

And so the cycle goes!

So yes, you need to charge for the value of your thinking.

And whatever you do, don’t sell that value by the hour.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #280: The Problem With Thinking by the Hour appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

How to Be Happy in Business—and Life

Ed Gandia — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 20:01:23 +0000

Happiness may seem like a strange subject for us to cover here.

But it’s a topic that comes up with my coaching clients all the time.

They feel happy when they reach an important goal . . . at least for a while.

But then the thrill fades.

And they keep searching for the elusive state of constant happiness.

Part of the problem is that we all have misconceptions about what happiness is and isn’t.

One of the most thoughtful commentaries I’ve seen on the subject is by Naval Ravikant on his podcast “Naval.”

In one episode, Naval delves deep into the idea of “happiness” and suggests different ways to think about it.

Naval was born into poverty in India before emigrating to the U.S. to become an incredibly successful Silicon Valley investor.

So he draws from his own experience in a very genuine way.

In this article, I reflect on some of the lessons about happiness that we can draw from Naval.

And how we can use those lessons to bring more happiness into our personal and business lives.

Happiness is a Skill

Naval writes that happiness is a skill. It’s something you can develop and improve on, just like nutrition and fitness.

It is not a natural talent or God-given ability.

Because happiness is a skill, you can get better at developing more consistent and longer periods of happiness.

Achieving a perpetual state of happiness is an unrealistic expectation. Being happy doesn’t mean you have to be happy all the time.

It’s more about being at peace.

You Can’t Buy Your Way to Happiness

Money by itself won’t make you happy. Having more material things won’t make you happy.

If our possessions made us happy, cavemen would have been miserable—and we should all be deliriously happy right now.

I found this statement particularly powerful: “Desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want.”

Even with more choices, prosperity and freedom in the world, net happiness per person is not going up. It might even be going down.

I believe that’s because we haven’t evolved as people at the same rate that all this prosperity has entered our world.

This means we have an opportunity to rise to the occasion and become the kind of person who deserves that level of prosperity.

Although you can’t buy happiness, you can buy your way out of common causes of unhappiness.

Getting enough money to meet your basic needs will certainly make you happy.

Which leads to this definition of happiness: “Happiness is returning to the state where nothing is missing in this moment.”

Happiness is Its Own Reward

Being unhappy is inefficient.

Peaceful people don’t have extraneous thoughts going through their heads. But if you’re a driven, unhappy person, your mind is on 24/7.

What are the consequences of this?

You don’t sleep well. You’re more likely to react, become angry and dig yourself into a hole when you’re unhappy.

Natal notes that in the modern age, the quality of the decision you make is everything.

Think about it . . . if Warren Buffett makes the right decision 85% of the time (and his competitors make the right decision 65 or 70% of the time), Buffett is going to win out.

That’s the source of Buffett’s strength: good decision-making. He makes maybe one, two or three deals a year. That’s it!

So that makes you wonder . . . is hard work really the solution?

Sure, at first, you have to work hard to build your business to the point where you have some leverage.

You have to hustle. You have to say yes to a lot of things, even if they’re not great options.

But there comes a point where that formula needs to change.

Once you have enough leverage, good decision-making becomes your most powerful tool for achieving greater and greater success.

Naval asks: do you want to be the best in the world by working the hardest? Or do you want to be the best in the world by working more intelligently?

So, yes . . . happiness is its own reward.

But achieving a fairly consistent level of happiness in your life has side benefits. It helps create positive outcomes that can grow that happiness even further.

Happiness is “Peace From Mind”

Naval explains that when you say you want to be happy, what you’re actually saying is you want peace of mind.

But what we really want is peace from mind. Peace from our non-stop monkey mind that’s on 24/7.

We’re no longer under constant threat from tigers and bears.

Modern society is safer and more peaceful. But our brains still operate as if we’re still surrounded by dangerous animals. Our brains haven’t evolved to match our current reality.

That said, modern life is still hectic, just in different ways.

Today, the sources of our stress are chronic. We have more inputs, experiences, and information coming at us than ever before.

Which means we still have loads of opportunities to react and overreact.

Work Towards Understanding

Finally, Naval suggests that peace isn’t something you can achieve directly. You can’t work toward peace.

But you can work toward understanding.

When we talk about peace, and how to get there, we’re really talking about the search for truth.

He says: “Peace is happiness at rest. Happiness is peace in motion.”

So, yes, Natal’s 27-minute episode is packed with ideas, insights, and wisdom.

I encourage you to take a listen.

For my part, the biggest takeaway is simple and powerful: happiness is a skill we can all develop.

Happiness is a choice. It’s up to us.

Assuming we’re mentally healthy, we can choose to be happy—in business and in life.

And that’s a very empowering thought.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post How to Be Happy in Business—and Life appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

#279: Avoiding Catastrophic Failure

Ed Gandia — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 20:01:27 +0000

Engineers have to consider all possible points of failure.

Whether they’re designing bridges, airplanes, or rockets, if lives are at stake, they have to look at where they might fail.

Which is why they build in redundancies.

What they want to avoid at all costs is a single point of failure—a situation where many systems depend on a single thing working.

Because if that one thing stops working, they have a catastrophic failure on their hands.

Identifying single points of failure, and taking steps to mitigate them, sounds like good, common sense to me.

But then why don’t we apply the same analysis to our businesses?

In today’s podcast episode, I argue that our businesses are as susceptible to single points of failure as any engineering project—unless we take steps to find and mitigate them.

Living With Zero Financial Margin

For many years, I was completely hamstrung by my cash flow.

I had zero breathing room. Every dollar that came in went out just as quickly. And I was constantly playing catch-up.

This situation stressed me out and led me to make a lot of bad decisions in my business.

And God forbid, had I gotten sick or been forced to take any significant amount of time off work, it would have meant financial ruin.

In other words, I had zero financial margin.

It was a glaring, and dangerous, single point of failure in my business.

I eventually turned that situation around.

And it feels amazing to have the financial margin that enables me to sleep well AND to make sound decisions every week.

Your Single Point of Failure

My greatest vulnerability was cash flow.

If you think you might share the same vulnerability, try asking yourself the following questions:

What kind of financial buffers do I have in place?
If I were forced to pause my business temporarily, how long could I afford to take off?
How would my decisions about the clients and projects I take on improve if I had a greater financial margin in place?

These are difficult questions. You may or may not like the answers.

But having freedom and flexibility in your business is the most important asset you can have.

When you have the freedom to choose, you make decisions that are aligned with your goals and values.

You can wait for the right opportunities to materialize.

You can pursue clients, topics and side hustles that truly excite you.

Alternatively, you can choose to slow down your pace if you want to.

Where Can You Take Back Control?

Give some thought to where you’re at in terms of your control over your time and options.

If you like what you see, great! Give yourself a pat on the back, and then ask yourself how you can improve it further.

But if, like me a few years ago, you’re not happy with where you are, maybe it’s time to take some baby steps in a better direction.

By the way… whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your freelance business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book.

It’s called Earn More in Less Time: The Proven Mindset, Strategies and Actions to Prosper as a Freelance Writer. The title says it all. — Click Here

2. Join my implementation program and be a case study.

3. Work with me privately.

The post #279: Avoiding Catastrophic Failure appeared first on High-Income Business Writing.

High-Income Business Writing

#358: How to Handle Client Requests to Pick Your Brain

#357: How Podcast Guesting Can Boost Your Brand and Help Build Your Solo Business

#356: How Erynn LaFlamme Uses Custom GPTs to Transform Her Production Workflow

#355: Why Desperation Can Be a Powerful Source of Breakthroughs in Your Business

#354: Breaking Free from the Feast-or-Famine Trap: What You Need to Change Starting Today

#353: Moving from Order-Taker to Trusted Advisor and Expert, with Amy Posner

#352: How Building a Community of Like-Minded Peers Can Help You Land Business and Create a Valuable Support Network

#351: Useful Shortcut and Cheat Sheet for Pitching an Advisory Engagement

#350: Unlocking Your Full Creative Potential by Unleashing Your Inner Muse

#349: Saying Yes Less Often

#348: Rediscovering Your Core—Finding Clarity and Stability in Your Business Amidst Chaos

#347: On Impostor Syndrome and Feeling Guilty About Your Fees

#346: How Wendy Helfenbaum Takes 4 Months Off Every Year While Maintaining a Healthy 6-Figure Income

#345: How to Be a Generalist AND Specialist at the Same Time

#344: How to Navigate Maternity Leave (or an Extended Break) Without Missing a Beat: Satta Sarmah Hightower’s Success Story

#343: What to Do When a Client Wants You to Work with Their Existing Draft

#342: Futurist Kevin Surace on Why Writers Must Jump on the AI Bandwagon (and Why the Future Is Bright)

#341: Crossing Paths: Lindy Alexander’s Secrets to Succeeding with Journalism and Content Marketing

#340: Ed Gandia and Sarah Greesonbach Get Raw and Real About Their Inner Battles, Fears, Aspirations—and What It’s Like to Be a Coach

#339: How to Identify the Best Services to Offer Your Market in 2024

#338: 4 Ways to Earn More in Less Time

#337: Austin L. Church on Money Mindset, Living Well and Using Pricing as a Key Lever for Financial Prosperity as a Freelance Professional

Running a Different Kind of Writing Business

#336: A Four-Phase Framework for Onboarding a Writer or Virtual Assistant

#335: Marjorie Turner Hollman’s Journey from Memoir Writer to Book Coach to Author of a Nonfiction Book Series

#334: Is the Grass Actually Greener on the Other Side?

#333: The 5 Biggest Mistakes Writers Make When They Edit

#332: Yes, You Should Raise Your Fees (Even in this Economy)

#331: Marketing Strategies of a Digital Nomad Ghostwriter Earning $750 per Hour

#330: Big Takeaways from The Content Byte Summit, with Jennifer Goforth Gregory

#329: Why Pricing is (Mostly) Arbitrary + How to Arrive at Your Optimal Fee

#328: Can You Be Your Own Business Coach?

#327: Raising Your Fees In a Recession

Key topics and bullets

#326: The Real Nature of Breakthroughs in Your Business and Your Work

Key topics and bullets

#325: Rob Marsh on Leveraging AI to Grow Your Freelance Business

Key topics and bullets

Quotes, hooks, and timestamps

#324: How to Show Up When Your Work Pipeline Is Dry

#323: Gordon Graham on Writing a White Paper with ChatGPT, Predictions for AI’s Impact on Writers, and How to Pivot as the Technology Improves

#322: A Realistic Way to Develop Passive Income Streams as a Writer (with Shane Sams)

#321: Easing In and Easing Out

#320: The Resilient Mindset—What It Takes to Thrive in the Face of AI and Economic Uncertainty

#319: How to work ON the business

#318: Five Powerful Ways ChatGPT and Other AI Can Help You Become a More Productive Writer

#317: Landing Marquee Clients

#316: How Jaclyn Schiff Scaled Her Solo Writing Business Into a Successful Content-Repurposing Agency

#315: Jonathan Stark on Getting Higher Fees with Greater Confidence

#314: ChatGPT — the Threat and Opportunities for Writers in the Age of Powerful AI, With Sarah Greesonbach

#313: A Powerful Way to Reframe Your Setbacks

#312: How to Land More of the Right Clients by Rethinking Your Selling Mindset and Process

#311: Why the Best Path to Success Is Often Indirect

#310: Patti DeNucci on How to Enjoy Better Conversations

Our Top Episodes and Articles of 2022

Top 5 Podcast Episodes of 2022

Top 5 Articles of 2022

Here’s to a Great and Successful New Year!

#309: You Can’t Carry It All With You

Drop Your Retail Store Mentality

#308: Easy and Simple Ways to Develop an Effective Marketing Habit … Without the Pain

#307: Psych Yourself Up to Make Real Changes

When Resistance Rears Its Ugly Head

Leverage Your Anger

How to Put Limits on Free Advice

#306: How Alexis Grant Sold Her Two Online Writing Businesses … And How She’s Teaching Others to Do the Same

Your Three Most Important Tasks

#305: Finding Your Best Weekly Workflow

Monday Morning Dread

Setting Your Own Schedule

Your Next Big Client Might Be Just Around the Corner

#304: The Dangers of Making Safety and Comfort Our End Goals

How much do you charge?

#303: Why You Should Question Your Routines

The 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Mindset

Test Different Ideas Regularly

What Kind of Info Product Should You Create?

#302: Eight Shifts You Should Make When You’re Beyond Booked Solid

8 Areas to Evaluate