Freelancing

Why do some freelancers say Yes, while most say No?

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say yes to opportunitiesI was talking with a coaching client earlier this week, and we were discussing an opportunity that was there in plain view, right in front of her. In fact, she had identified the opportunity herself.

When I asked her when and how she was going to grab hold of that opportunity, her immediate response was to start talking about why she couldn’t, wouldn’t or didn’t want to.

In other words, she began to talk herself out of taking action.

As her coach I asked her to stop for a moment. I wanted to explore her reaction. Why was she finding reasons not to jump forward and take action?

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Monday Spark: Find the courage to be imperfect.

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imperfect kid's drawingIt’s odd that we should even think about having to find the courage to be imperfect. Because, of course, we are always imperfect, however hard we try.

According to Brené Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work, we strive for perfection because we feel that to be worthy, and to deserve the admiration and love of others, only our perfect selves will suffice.

Again this is clearly wrong. As she says in the video below, we attract the attention and admiration of others not by being perfect, but by being ourselves – authentic, accessible and vulnerable.

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Why every web page needs rewriting over and over again [VIDEO]

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old web pages new web pagesLook back twenty years and you’ll find that marketing materials had a slightly longer shelf life.

A company could have a brochure written and reasonable expect that brochure to be as relevant in a six months as it was the day it was printed.

Companies came to the web with similar expectations.

Oops.

The thing about the web, particularly today, is that companies are no longer the sole authors of their messages. In fact, their very brands are being formed and changed not by their marketing departments, but by their customers, fans and detractors.

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Monday Spark: Have you lost your song?

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lost your songRobb Braun isn’t famous. At least, I don’t think he is.

What you’ll see in the video below is a talk he gave at Toastmasters. Not at some fancy conference.

But he has a great message. And he’s right. As kids we all had our own song, that sense of who we were, what we felt was special about ourselves, and how we saw ourselves in the world.

But as Robb says, over time most of us learn to quieten that song, because it rarely fits in with what is expected of us…from our families, our schools and our friends. We turn down the volume in order to fit in and not rock the boat.

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As a freelancer, you can make 6 figures a year with just three strong relationships.

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freelance business relationshipsIf you’re a freelancer, you don’t need thousands of friends, followers and connections.

You don’t need to spend hours on Twitter and Facebook, trying to hold the attention of tens of thousands people who are, essentially, complete strangers.

You really don’t need to be connected with that many people.

Just three. Maybe four. Could be five.

When I look back over the last 30 years of freelancing, almost all of my work has come to me as a direct result of the strong business relationships I have had with a very small number of people.

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Monday Spark: Spending 20 minutes a day outside makes you smarter.

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nature lifts your spiritsMost of know this intuitively, especially in the spring. We know that stepping outside for a while seems to lift our spirits and make us smile inside.

And the more of nature we see when we’re outside, the better we feel.

A view of brick walls and concrete does little to make us feel good. But the sound of birds singing, spring flowers pushing up through the ground, or an expansive view over rolling hills to the horizon seems to lift a burden from our shoulders.

It turns out that this is a proven, scientific fact.

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