Let’s take part in a simple thought experiment…
Imagine we have a mutual friend, called Jane, who wants to start a home-based business…baking cakes.
First she goes to evening school and learns some professional-grade baking skills. Once she feels she has the level of skill she needs, she builds a beautiful website and opens her doors for business.
How do you think Jane will do?
Although we both want her business to thrive, in all honesty she probably won’t have much success. Perhaps she could sell enough cakes to call what she does a hobby, but she almost certainly won’t make a decent living.
How come?
Because beyond becoming skilled at baking cakes and building a website, there are other things she needs to consider and plan.
Who is going to buy her cakes? What kind of cakes will sell best? What makes her cakes different and special? How is she going to find and reach out to her best buyers? And as business picks up, how is she going to organize her time and her business so she can make even more cakes and make more money?
The truth is, every business – large or small – needs a business plan and a marketing plan. If you don’t have those in place, your business idea is simple half-baked. (Pun intended!)
Intuitively, Jane probably knows something isn’t quite right. When it comes to marketing her business, she’s not quite sure where to turn, or what she should say. As a result, she doesn’t feel very confident about any of the promotions she has completed. After a little while her self-confidence plummets.
As a copywriter or marketer yourself, you could probably help Jane address the business and marketing side of what she wants to do, and help her do a lot better.
OK, now for the kicker…
The exact same business rules apply to your own freelance business.
It’s not enough simply to learn some copywriting skills and put up a website. As with the cake-baking business, you’ll only feel confident about marketing your services when EVERY aspect of your freelance business is organized and in place. You have to ask and answer the exact same lineup of questions.
Who is going to buy your copywriting services? What kind of freelance writing work will sell best? What makes your skillset or approach different and special? How are you going to find and reach out to your best prospects? And as business picks up, how are you going to organize your time and your business so you can handle even more writing work and make more money?
Do you have answers to all of these questions? If not, your own freelance business probably isn’t fully-baked either.
And when your business isn’t fully baked, you’ll never feel confident about marketing yourself.
As a coach I often see this with my one-on-one clients. I have done hundreds of hours of coaching over the years, and have filled a growing pile of notebooks with my observations.
And here is what I see…
– Freelancers often don’t market their services enough, or with enough clarity and purpose.
– When I ask them why they don’t get out there and market their services more thoroughly, they tell me they don’t feel ready, or good enough, or confident enough.
– And when we dig deeper and find out why they don’t feel confident, it’s often because they don’t have a clear plan.
When I was working one-on-one with my coaching clients, we addressed these issues one at a time, step by step.
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