Are you serious about building your business?
Are you serious about starting a business?
How much time do you spend thinking about it? How much time do you spend in planning mode?
And compared with how much action you're taking?
I spent about seven years thinking about starting a business. I spent most of this time on my couch, a pillow and a laptop on my lap, wine, and chocolate to my left.
I had spent so much time talking about all my business ideas even I was sick of listening to myself.
It wasn’t until I got serious that things started to change and I started creating momentum and growth.
For me, getting serious about starting my copywriting business meant:
Listening to podcasts about starting a business, then putting them all aside to do the work
Going to a writing workshop to give me the push I needed to start (and finish) my first mini book
Sneaking off to Starbucks on Saturday mornings to work on my book
Blogging all the time—I started by writing a blog post a day to get into the habit. Now, I blog every single week. Some of my old blogs were great, some not-so-great.
Setting a date to quit my corporate job and writing my resignation letter
Committing to never getting laid off after the third time
Telling my kids that I was going to be building my copywriting business and working more than usual—with the goal of working less in the future
Reading dozens of books about copywriting and marketing
Emailing approximately 100 of my friends and family to tell them about my goals and ask for help—be that an intro to someone who needed me, or just a high five (here's how I did that)
Working for a handful of people for free or for strategic trades to get valuable experience and testimonials
Blocking time on my calendar every day to write, and showing up for those appointments
Having in person and virtual coffee (or wine) dates with business owners and just learning more about what people do in their work
Pitching guest blog post ideas to dozens of other bloggers, mostly getting ignored
Canceling events because no one signed up
Telling people, “I’m a writer” instead of, “I wish I could be a writer.”
Once I decided to take my dream seriously—and put in a serious amount of work—a lot of things happened quickly and the momentum (and continual work) keeps it going.
In a little over a year, I was making half of my corporate salary on the side. Within a year and a half of getting serious about my business, I left my corporate job. After 12 months of being a business owner, I came within 75% of my corporate salary—AND I was working about half the time. Considering the dollars per hour, I was making more. Today a little over a year later, I’m on track to exceed my corporate income, still working 20-30 hours per week and loving my life so much more.
It’s all too easy to sit around and wait for a big break to come along. A viral blog post, a sold-out event, perfect client, a million dollars to magically land in your bank account, or some other magical, mystical thing to change the course of their career and life.
It wasn’t until I buckled up, got off the couch, and took action, did the ducks start to line up and everything started to change.
And, it changed everything.
Close the laptop, put on some pants, and get out there and build your thing.
I'll be here cheering you on!
If you still need a kick in the pants, you might like these:
Simple ways to be more productive, so wine thirty can start early
A free daily practice to fill your creative well (that's also like therapy)
