#070: The 'Rock Star' Myth + Why You Should NOT Diversify

Welcome to the High Income Business Writing Podcast, helping you propel your writing business to a whole new level. And now, here's your host, Ed Gandia. Hey there. Thank you for joining me for episode 70 of the High Income Business Writing Podcast. My name is Ed Gandia and this is the podcast for business writers and copywriters who want to take their writing businesses to the six figure level or the part time equivalent. As a quick reminder, you can find detailed show notes to this episode by going to b2b launcher.com forward/episode70. So today I have a slightly different show for you guys that have a few topics that I've been meaning to talk about for a long time, but I didn't have enough material for a full show. So what I've done is I've kind of combined all these topics and created, or want to create here today, a mishmash of topics and ideas that just don't warrant their own episode. And to kind of give you an idea of where I'm going to go with this when I'm going to be talking about today, we're going to start by talking about what I call the rock star myth and why it's dangerous and why it's something you need to be aware of. Then we're going to talk about another trend I've been seeing a lot of lately, actually, really for the past two or three years, which is dabbling. It is the danger of dabbling. We're going to be talking about that or diversifying too much. As a freelancer, I also want to introduce you to someone who's become somewhat of a hidden co host on this show. It's somebody I've never really introduced to you guys formally. And then I'm going to be making an announcement for calls for, for topics, topic ideas, potential guests, and an invitation to pitch me to be a guest on the show and to, to send me ideas for future episodes that you think that you'd be interested in hearing. So anyway, we'll be an interesting show. Again, a little bit different from what I typically do, but let's go with it and see where it takes us. So let's start with this first idea, what I like to call the rock star myth. And to the to set this up, let's talk about some successful entrepreneurs out there, right? I'm talking about like when you think of successful entrepreneurs, who do you think of? You know, is it maybe Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, Richard Branson, Arianna Huffington, people like Oprah. And Oprah is of course a celebrity, but she's also an entrepreneur. And then there's probably some others, right? So just kind of think about who. Who comes to mind when I ask you to think of some successful entrepreneurs. Now, the next question is, what do these people have in common? And at least with my list, right? And that. That list I gave you was kind of a brainstorm that I did preparing for the show. And when I look at the pattern here, it's very obvious to me. To me, these are all extreme examples. These people are not just successful or were successful in their day, but they also achieved uncommon success. So we're not talking about the top 5%. We're not even talking about the top 1%. I'm talking. These people represent the top 0.1% in their respective fields, right? We're talking about serious outliers here. And, you know, this is important to know because if the people you think about in terms of success in any field, any endeavor, are people who are in the top 0.1%, then there's a series of questions that you really need to ask yourself if you're trying to achieve any level of success in that respective field. And I'm seeing a lot of this. I'm seeing a lot of people. And let's just kind of bring it down to freelance writing and freelance copywriting. So let's bring it down a few notches into our world. I'm seeing a lot of people who are looking at the extremes, right? The extreme examples of success in this business and automatically assuming that this is the only opportunity out there, that this is the only goal. You know, you might look at people like Bob Lai or Dan Kennedy or Clayton Makepeace or John Carlton, you know, some of the greats like that. And this is all relative, right? Some. Some of you guys might look at someone like me. You know, I don't think of myself as an extreme, but, you know, this is. Depends on where you are. You might look at me and you might look at some of my colleagues and say, wow, these guys have achieved tremendous success. And what's happened is that there's a danger in doing that. Let me explain what I mean. So I've often believed that extreme people in any field often make the best examples. And they make the best examples because what they've accomplished is so great or the ideas have implemented are so extreme that they have no problem establishing authority, right? It's just kind of a given. You don't need to really justify it. If you think of, you know, Richard Branson, you just know he's an authority right in business. And so that's great because we use these examples and doesn't have to be just in our world. What got me thinking about this was in Atlanta, there's a syndicated radio show host at talk radio and he's syndicated all over the country I believe these days. His name is Clark Howard and he is a personal finance expert. I believe that's what he considers himself to be. But really it's about kind of managing your money and saving and spending more earning, spending less, earning more, that kind of thing. But it's kind of mainstream advice. So this is nothing crazy, but the guy is extreme, you know, and gosh, I haven't listened to Clark in years, but I used to listen to him sometimes when I was on the road, when I was in my car a lot would listen to quite a bit of talk radio and Clark would come on in the afternoon and some of the examples I remember this is like late 90s, he, he would do things like he, he would travel with his family and in order to save, you know, $100, $200. Now mind you, this guy is a millionaire, right? So in order to save a couple hundred bucks, he would pick some of the worst flight times possible. You know, like he'd fly out of town at like 11 o' clock at night with span, with his family, with young kids. He split the family up in order to save money. I remember one time he suggested that, you know, McDonald's has their cheeseburgers are, you know, they got a deal with their 49 cents or 99 cents, I don't know. But a double cheeseburger was $3. So you know, he was suggesting that you buy a couple of cheeseburgers and you throw away a couple of the buns and make yourself a double cheeseburger for half the price. I mean, things like that. And the guy is serious, you know, the guy is serious, but the reason, one of the reasons he's so successful is he is an extreme example, right? You don't want somebody giving advice. It's just kind of mainstream and doesn't do anything radical. I think people want to see radical ideas, they want to see radical examples and they want to see radical success. You know. Another example would be Tim Ferriss, the author of the Four Hour Workweek. I think he's a really a prime example of what I'm talking about here, right? So his whole, the premise of his book is, look, forget this 40 hour, 50 hour work week. That's so, you know, 20th century. The future belongs to those who are willing to structure their lives and their businesses in a way that they could work just a handful of hours every week, and instead of, you know, working your tail off to save till retirement, just kind of have many retirements all along the way, right? You can hack your life, you can hack business, you can have hack travel and all these different things. So you can work the minimum amount of time possible, put the minimum amount of effort into generating income, have for the most amount of impact, right? So generate a ton of income and a little bit of time, and then spend that time traveling, having fun and all that in a. You know, we can get into an argument about, well, what's he really saying? And that's not really it, but that's. That's the gist of it, you know, and, you know, in his books, he. He has a bunch of examples. So it's not just him. It started with him. You know, his examples of, you know, Grant, Tim's a single guy and got no family, got no kids. I don't think he has any pets. I'm not sure. I don't really follow him. But. So his examples were very extreme for somebody like me who's, you know, I'm. I'm married, I got two kids, and I can't just take off now. To his credit, he has amended his book, the most recent edition. I think there's another one coming out next year with examples of families who have done this. So that's great. And listen, I'm not knocking any of this, but you have to realize that these are extreme examples. You have to recognize them for what they are. You have. You could look at any field. It's the same thing, right? In the health and fitness arena, maybe people like Jillian Michaels, Mark Sisson of Mark Staley Apple, you know, these people. Mark Sisson, I just went to his website today, hadn't been there in a while. This guy's got pictures all over his website of him doing really what I would consider kind of extreme stuff. So it's like almost like he doesn't really have a job, and he's out all day just climbing, hiking, surfing, doing all this really cool stuff. And so here's where I'm going with this, right? And Mark's an excellent example. He's painting a picture of kind of this dream scenario because it is an extreme situation, right? A dream scenario where you're basically not really working. You're out in California enjoying gorgeous weather while the rest of the country is buried in snow, and you're out There, no shirt. You're running, you're climbing, you're surfing, you're biking, you're having all kinds of fun, and that's what you do all day, you know, And I'm not saying that's what he's saying, but visually, that's what's being communicated, you know, Tim Ferriss, same thing. He's communicating this mythical lifestyle where you can work four hours a week and just travel the world and have, you know, be completely spontaneous and have no restrictions, no constraint. And again, you know, I'm exaggerating here, but again, these are extreme examples. This is the concept he's selling. This is the idea he's selling. Clark Howard, same thing, you know, just extreme examples of saving money, you know, and you can do things that maybe you didn't think were possible before because you have just squeezed every dime you can out of every situation. So going back to the copywriting world, the freelance world, it's the same thing. You look at these guys and gals who have achieved tremendous success, and it almost seems like it's either where you are right now or that. And the challenge with all this is you start thinking, well, it's either where I am or where they are. And you start telling yourself, well, if I don't achieve that, then I haven't really arrived. If I haven't achieved what Bob Lai has achieved, or Tim Ferriss has achieved, or Ed Gandia has achieved, then I haven't really arrived. I need to keep working, and I think it's really dangerous. Who's to say that if you're not making half a million dollars a year, you haven't made it? I mean, heck, I'm not making half a million dollars a year, but it's. You know, some of the top freelancers in the world are doing that. Who's to say that if you haven't figured out how to work four hours a week and travel the world and be financially independent, you haven't made it. Or if you can't get $8,000 for a white paper, you can't get that amount of money yet that you haven't arrived, that you haven't made it. Who's to say that, you know, to make it worse, a big part of marketing these lifestyle businesses or these businesses or ideas that these extreme examples are marketing, a lot of it is about creating the illusion that there's a perfect life there. You know, I just got a newsletter from. I won't mention names, but. So it was a newsletter from this kind of small business coach Trainer, that kind of person, right? It's kind of lifestyle. And her staff was actually writing her newsletter because according to her staff, this person was still out in Tibet in the Tibetan mountains, on vacation, traveling, doing who knows what, right? So, you know, that's kind of deliberate in a way, right? So, you know, she is out doing this amazing thing that nobody else gets to do. And you know, I understand why that's happening. I understand why you have to do that. But at the same time, I have nothing against that. But at the same time the danger is you as a listener, as a reader, as someone who's trying to get to the next level, who's trying to grow and achieve something. It can create a feeling of lack. It can create a feeling of you haven't achieved success. And maybe you felt great up until the point where you read an article about this person who's out traveling through the Tibetan mountains or working four hours a week and you felt great up until that point. Now you feel like crap because you feel, well, gosh, I haven't arrived yet. And I think it's natural human behavior, right? I don't think we're, most of us are ever entirely happy, especially in the Western world. I think we've been pre programmed and conditioned to believe that, you know, we got to keep going and we got to keep going, we got to keep going. But, but here's, here's the thing, right? It's, this is dangerous thinking. And for every Steve Jobs out there, for every Tim Ferriss, in other words, the extreme situation in every any one industry, there are thousands of other successful points on that same line. So it's not where you are and where this other person is, and that's it. There are thousands of other successful points on that continuum, if you will. And what you have achieved might feel like an extreme to somebody who's many steps behind you. This is all relative. Now the other thing you have to keep in mind is each of these individuals that you might read about or that you might aspire to become or emulate, they followed a very personal and unique path that cannot be duplicated. Each of these individuals was a kind of a once in a lifetime opportunity. They faced a once in a lifetime opportunity for a very specific thing at that moment in time. And because you're not that person and you were not in that specific place at that particular time, you cannot replicate it. It's gone. You know, what they did is their story. What Tim Ferriss did cannot be replicated. What Bob Bly has done cannot be Replicated, at least not that same thing. It's their story. And it's important that you not forget that. It's important that you realize that, you know, stop thinking that you have to do or achieve what this other person has achieved exactly that way. You have your own story to write. You have your own story to create and live and experience. And your story, I guarantee you, will become somebody else's aspiration. The other point is that there are dozens of great opportunities coming to you every year, each of which could help you achieve amazing success. The problem is we don't see these opportunities, or maybe we ignore them. And if we ignore them, sometimes it's not purposely we just ignore them because we have blind spots. There's several examples of this when you look at the business literature and psychology, the field of psychology I've read and I can't remember where I read this, I think there is some truth to this, but I've been looking for it ever since and I can't find the information. I'd heard that Native Americans were couldn't see Columbus's ships because they had never seen anything like that before. It's like their brains couldn't process the information that their eyes were trying to process. Right? Their eyes were capturing the images, but their brains couldn't process it. So they didn't see it. They could see the ripples in the water, but they couldn't see the ships. Now that's kind of hard to believe. I do think there is some truth to that, whatever that might be. And I'll tell you why I was recently reading. It's a great little book, the Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander. And they cite an example, and there's a third one that I've read, but I can't figure out or remember where it was they were talking about. In fact, I'll read directly from the book. This is on page 11 if you happen to have the book. They cite a famous experiment with the main people in Ethiopia. They were presented for the first time with photographs of people and animals, but they were unable to read the two dimensional image. So in other words, they were shown photographs, but they couldn't see the picture, they couldn't read it. So I'll go back to the book. It says they felt the paper, they sniffed it, they crumpled it and listened to the crackling noise it made. They nipped off little bits and chewed them to taste it. Yet people in our modern world easily equate the photographic image with the object photographed Even though the two resemble each other only in a very abstract sense. The other reference, and again, I can't remember exactly where I read this, is that they were similar people. I think it was from the South Pacific back in the 60s. They were taken to the plains of North America, and they. They could. They were shown buffalo. They were shown many things, but they were shown buffalo. They were kind of out in the horizon, and they refused to believe that they were not ants. They really thought they were ants. These people had never seen wide expanses of land like that. They had never seen open country. They lived in remote islands, or I'm assuming they were jungle, mainly jungle. So they had never seen open space other than the ocean. And they. Their brains couldn't process the fact that those were buffalo. The perspective was such that they, you know, they. They didn't have to have never been trained. Their brains weren't trained to see that kind of perspective and to process that kind of perspective. So they really thought, those are ants and the horizon, even though at the end they were shown, no, look, these are buffalo. Let's get closer and I'll show you. So what's my point with all that? Well, the point is that if this is happening, if our brains many times aren't capable of processing information or seeing things that are directly in front of us and analyzing that information in a way that serves us, who's to say that, you know, this isn't happening every day in our lives? We just don't see opportunities that are right here, right now, maybe because we're too focused on what we don't have because we're too obsessed with this other individual we think is the answer or the only way to be or the only kind of business or level of success to have. Which, again, is twisted because that is a story that they live. That is their story, their specific success. You can't replicate it. So it's something to think about. And then finally, I think wishing and dreaming that we could be someone like a Steve Jobs or some copywriting superstar from the 1980s, again, I think that blinds us further. I think it makes this problem worse because it keeps us from seeing the real opportunities that are in front of us. In other words, the opportunities that we can actually capitalize on today. The ones that were meant for us, the ones that were meant to be part of our story, of our experience. So my advice is, look, define what you want. What is it that you want, you know, out of your business, specifically, since we're now talking about freelancing and Freelancing success and getting to the six figure level or the part time equivalent, what is it that you want? And define it in detail, you know, and in fact, I will take, take this one step further. Don't worry about the how. Don't worry exactly. At least right now, don't worry about how that's going to happen. Or I think most of us just automatically think of that. Right, okay, what do you want? I want this. But okay, right away you start worrying about, well, how, that's, how is that going to happen? Don't worry about that. Focus on the outcome. What kind of outcome do you want to achieve next? Ask yourself why you want that outcome. Be honest with yourself. What's really driving you? I've talked about this before, but make sure it's not just the money. I can't emphasize that enough. I know this business is, you know, a lot of people go into freelancing because it's not just the freedom that over and over again in the surveys that I've conducted is the number one reason, freedom and flexibility. But close to that comes money. A lot of people want to make a really, really good living and I think that's wonderful. However, it shouldn't be your primary driver. There has to be something deeper, There has to be something you're trying to achieve that this business enables you to do better than if you were doing something else. So take some time to think about why you want to do this. I've shared this with you guys before. You know, for me, it's my family. I want to see my kids grow up. I want to be there for them. It's a reason I don't travel very often. I've chosen to create a very specific lifestyle where I'm home pretty much every day. I help out around the house. I spend time with my kids, spend time with my wife. I don't want to be that guy which I saw myself quickly becoming. Had I continued down the path that I was in corporate sales, the guy who's traveling every week. I know a lot of people like that. Listen, I'm not knocking it. It wasn't for me. I knew based on the way I'm wired, had I gone down that path, I would have continued to pursue it and continue to pursue it. I'm an achiever by nature and it's just the way I am. It's my personality. I would have taken it to an extreme. I would have done extremely well financially and I would have lost my family. So you know that that's not a Trade off I'm willing to make. So anyway, I had to be very clear with myself. And that keeps me grounded, that keeps me focused. Next. Don't compare. You know, that thing again, was somebody else's dream, that achievement, that thing that they're living and that's somebody else. You know, you gotta, you gotta live your own story, your own dream. This reminds me over Christmas break, I forget who it was. Somebody on Facebook posted. Listen, I just want you guys to know and to remember that all these pictures of amazing living rooms and kitchens during the holidays, that's not reality. You know, those are photo shoots. Those were staged kitchens. Those are staged living rooms that were created to sell magazines. So don't worry if your kitchen or your living room, if they don't look like that, because they probably don't. Most people don't have the time, the budget or really the kind of the patience to be able to do that. I got kids, my house looks, you know, half the time it looked like a wreck. And, you know, certainly not something that I would take pictures of and post and brag about. But you know what? It's. It is what it is. I mean, it's my life. It's. It's life with, with kids, right? So don't compare, you know, that that thing is somebody else's thing or it was created for a very specific reason. It may not be. Might not tell the full story. Also, I encourage you to recognize that there's always a trade off, you know, and I'm sorry, but it is true. I know that a lot of people out there say, no, you can have it all, you know, you can have this like crazy income and, you know, travel the world and, you know, and you don't have to worry about, you know, relationships and like, everything can be in perfect harmony, you know, you guys might disagree with me, but I wish it were true. It's not. Especially when it comes to business versus health or business versus relationships. It's just not. It's a struggle. It's always been a struggle for me and I've talked about this before, but it is a trade off. It's not normal to always be in balance. I'm a realist when it comes to that. I think sometimes you have to be off balance, you know, especially if you're making changes, if you're transitioning, if you're building something, you know, you have to, you will be off balance. There's just no other way to accomplish something amazing without being slightly off balance. The key thing is to recognize that there's going to be a trade off to know why you're making it and to make sure that that trade off doesn't become your permanent state. I also encourage you to, because I know it sounds like I've been knocking these extreme examples, but I'm really not. I'm just trying to shed some light on what's really going on here. And I think it's important to use these extreme examples in whatever field or topic you're reading about or you're considering to better see the core lesson behind the example. So I think there is something really important, there is something meaningful and useful when it comes to looking at these extreme examples. So they do serve a purpose. And I think it's great because you can see what's possible first of all. And it's very inspiring to see what these extreme people have done. You can read about how they got there, what they learned along the way, what mistakes they made, that sort of thing. So I do think there's tremendous value of looking at them. It's just as I've mentioned, you gotta be careful not to fall into this trap of thinking that that's a binary kind of thinking, that it's either where I am right now or where these people are. There's nothing in between. So I'm either a success or a failure based on that scale, if you will. I think it's also important to recognize your progress by looking back every once in a while, especially if you're very driven. If you are a real achiever, you'll tend to forget that you've accomplished so much because you're never looking back. You tend to be forward thinking, always looking ahead, always looking at what's next. I know I suffer from that greatly. But it's important to recognize your progress and to see how far you've come and everything you've learned. And ask yourself, where were you in your business one year ago? I like to do that. Not just at the end of the year. I like to do that a couple of times a year and just really take some time to think about that and journal on that a bit. Where was I a year ago? In business and in all these aspects of my life. I think it's important. It really adds a lot of perspective to your story and really to your thinking. And then finally try to be more mindful of what's in front of you today. Realize and accept the fact that there are amazing opportunities all around you. I don't care where you are, who you are, what, what your situation is. Not that I don't care, but you know what I mean? There's always something. And again, it's important and it's going to be valuable if you measure it based on your litmus test, based on your scale, not somebody else's scale, not on somebody else's litmus test. So realize and accept the fact that there are amazing opportunities all around you. You don't really have to try to replicate somebody else's success again. That was their thing. Find your own. And when you think of an idea or a possibility, try not to judge it too quickly. Some of the best ideas that I've had in business. Let's just talk about business. I mean, revolutionary ideas didn't come to me in a flash of insight. It wasn't like in the movies, right? It's like, oh my gosh. And you stop the car, you get out of the car and you feel dizzy because this idea is so profound. I mean, I don't think it's ever been like that. It's kind of like a little seed that just grows and kind of bruise for a while, and then it just kind of develops from there. So, you know, that's not very sexy. It. It won't make for, for a great movie, but that, that's how it is. So try not to judge things too, too easily. Be open to the fact and aware of the fact that they lot of opportunities and a lot of ideas out there right now that you're not seeing. And to expand on this point a bit, I will tell you that this has happened not just really in my life. Everyone I know who's successful, they're successful because they paid attention. You know, looking back, it's easy to connect those dots right after the fact. I look back at my last two jobs and you know what? I hated many aspects of them. I really did. Especially the fact that I was thrown to the wolves. I wasn't giving any real opportunities. Nothing came easy. I had to make it on my own entirely. And I was judged and measured every quarter. I mean, I had to make numbers. It was brutal. It was a very intense environment. And at the time, I thought, you know, this is hopeless. What am I doing here? But looking back, those were exactly the platforms I needed to achieve future success. You know, if it wasn't for my last two jobs, I would have never studied the art of copywriting, which meant I would have never become a freelancer and I would probably still be in corporate sales. So, you know, thank God for, for these opportunities. They. They seem like massive challenges at the time, it felt very much unfair. It's interesting because this is not the only time in my life where I felt that way. Yet. Looking back, it's. It was a true blessing. Is the, the perfect thing I needed at the time to take the next step and to kind of journey on from there. But notice, and this is the scary part, that I paid attention to it. Somehow I noticed that there were the seeds of something there in the middle of those storms. And it makes me wonder, gosh, how many similar things are happening to me right now where I think something is just a massive challenge and very unfair. Why is this happening to me? And I'm not seeing the bigger picture. I'm not saying that this is really a blessing, that this is something I need right now to, if I, if I listen and if I take action on it, if I pay attention, it could take me to the next level of whatever it might be. Health, fitness, relationships, my business, you know, finances, whatever. Okay, so enough of that. But anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts on that topic in the comments section because I think this is something that we really need to talk a little bit more about. So. So the next topic, this will be a little bit shorter. And this is the, the idea that I'm seeing a lot of people dabbling in a lot of things. I'm seeing a lot of freelancers trying to diversify and especially freelance writers and copywriters. I'm seeing a trend where they feel, you know, I'm offering one thing, I should probably offer more things because that's better, right? So, for instance, I'm mainly doing websites, but I'd like to become a video sales letter specialist as well, and maybe even start an autoresponder service or add social media strategy consulting to that as well. Or I'd like to go after small local businesses as well as the education market and maybe also natural health companies, because I'm also interested in that. Oh, and I also want to offer white paper writing services for high tech companies and medical device companies, just. Just in case. Right. And I think that that is exactly what's going on. A lot of freelancers believe that, you know, the reason I'm not doing as well as I'd like to right now is because I'm only offering one or two things. And if I offered many things like a traditional business does, right. Most businesses, brick and mortar businesses, don't have one product. Look at a grocery store, the average grocery store sells 50,000 products, then the higher the chances that someone will buy Something that somebody will hire you. And I got a couple of thoughts about that. Number one, when it comes to adding a new service or a specialty or going into a different target market, this needs to be a combination of theory and practice. And by that I mean a combination of things that interest you from a conceptual standpoint and where you're getting some sort of traction or interest. So I'll give you an example. In my early days, I was just offering copywriting services, but then I started getting a little interested in SEO, search engine optimization, and I started looking into it. At the same time I had a couple of clients who were asking me about it. They had hired me to, to write their websites and they wanted to, they had heard of SEO, they wanted to make sure that, you know, I was doing something in that area because they wanted to make sure that people were going to find them in Google. So, you know, it started with kind of an interest there, but I was also getting asked about this. So what I did is I studied everything I could about SEO and I started offering it as a service. So notice the combination, right? It interested me. I was thinking about it. But I also tempered that with, well, what does the market want? What are people asking me for? And I used a combination to make the right decision. And even though I didn't offer SEO for a long time as a specific service, it did pay off. So I'm glad I did it. Another example from my own business was I initially positioned myself as a direct response copywriter in the B2B arena. And so this is going to be direct response copy, so lead generating copy for B2B companies. But what started happening, and many of you guys know the story, is that my clients and prospects are saying, ed, that's great that you do that. Listen, I don't have a need for that right now. What I really have that I could use your help with is a white paper. Do you write white papers? So, you know, this happened like five or six times and I started thinking, well, wait a minute, maybe because I wasn't getting hired for these direct response projects, but I was taking anything I could because I just wanted to get some traction somewhere. Finally I started paying attention and realized, you know what, the markets that I'm going after, these corporate markets, they're doing the direct response stuff in house or they're having their agency do it. I can't seem to really get traction there. But they can't get enough of content. And by that I mean white papers, case studies, articles, and that kind of thing. So Let me just pursue that. So now, that was a different level of example because I didn't necessarily have an interest. I didn't know there was this whole world of content marketing, but I paid attention to what my clients and prospects were asking of me. Okay. So again, I think if you're gonna make that decision, you need to factor in theory and practice, you know, in factor your interests as well. What do you like, what seems right? And then temper that with, well, what is the market asking for? Related to this last point, it's usually best to let these things find you than you finding or declaring them. So notice with the second example I gave you where I declared, hey, direct response copy for B2B companies. That's what I declared. But my niche or my specialty kind of found me, which was content marketing content for software companies. You know, it just happened organically. I never forced it. And this is what I've seen with most successful freelancers in all professions, but especially with writers, is the best ones. The most successful ones don't spend months kind of doing this really comprehensive analysis and study of, you know, what would be best and how they should position themselves and what markets they should target. It's almost like they do some of that, but then they get to work very quickly and see what they find, and they let their niche or the specialty or their target market find them instead. Because you know what, it's usually it's going to find them anyway. So if you end up spending three, four months kind of thinking through this and overthinking it, you're going to waste that time in most cases, because it's going to change. You know, as you get out there, it's going to organically evolve in a different way that you probably haven't envisioned yet. So just realize that no matter what, you're going to pivot in your business. By that, I mean you're going to continue to evolve and change and you're going to refine things and often, many times in the course of just one year. So be open to that and be ready for it, because it's going to happen. I'll give you a couple of examples. I gave you the one of me already. My buddy and colleague, Pete Savage. He started in B2B. B2B, copywriting to working with me and Steve Sloan White, teaching and training and coaching to back to the B2B world. But now through his own boutique agency, he does a lot of video work. And he does some things that he didn't really plan for. They just kind of Evolved and he listened to the market and that's what he went with. Casey Demchak, my colleague who writes in Originally the medical device industry, that was his business for a long time. Well, eventually he started doing more and more of what he now calls key message platforms and it just evolved naturally. So a lot of his clients were asking him for help in that area. Hey, listen, we're going to go ahead and redo the website, but we need help with their messaging, you know, because we shouldn't do that if we're going to do a complete overhaul if we don't take the time to revamp our messaging. So he started working with clients to do that and eventually started offering that as an actual service, as a product that he offers A couple of years ago and I don't remember exactly when this happened, he, through a designer or colleague of his, he started writing copy for a book copy for, for authors and speakers who are publishing their books. And at first it started off as, you know, kind of a one off situation, but he got more and more work through that and he was good at it. He is good at it. So he's eventually transformed his business from one of just writing for medical device companies to he writes for medical device companies, but he also does and offers key message platforms for just about any business that would need one. And he's got a niche target market for authors, speakers and coaches writing their marketing materials and their book copy, their back cover copy. So again, great examples of people who they just, you know, they didn't spend too much time kind of thinking through this. Yes, they did. They thought about it. But they, they went to market and they let these target markets, these niches find, find them instead of them kind of declaring them initially before doing any work. All right, so a couple of things, and I had some announcements as well that I wanted before, before we sign off. The first is I'm, I'm going to be speaking at two events over the next few months that I wanted to tell you about. I'm really excited about the Caesar. I'm very picky about where I speak. I get asked to speak a lot, but as I mentioned earlier, I don't really like to travel and I also want to make sure that the event is going to be worthwhile for me and it's going to be worthwhile for the audience that I address. So I'm very particular about where I speak and the two events that I will be speaking in. The first One is the 2015 How Live conference and Creative Business Conference and this is happening May 4th through the 8th in Chicago and I'm going to be there. I'll be speaking on warm email prospecting strategies. So you know, if you're already planning on going, I'd love to meet you there, maybe grab a coffee and if you haven't considered it, you should. This is a is probably the premier conference for freelancers and creative business people and creative entrepreneurs. You'll get a lot of tactical information you could put to use. There's also quite a bit of strategy as well and a lot of inspiration you'll hear from all kinds of people, not just freelancers, but also people on the agency side who are doing some pretty amazing things. You'll find a lot of designers there. So for writers, this is a great place to meet designers who are growing their businesses. I found people who go to conferences are pretty serious about their businesses. So great place to connect with with designers who are doing pretty amazing things who would love to partner with a writer. And you'll find a lot of agencies there. So if you are interested in meeting agencies and maybe looking to see if you can go to work with some of them, this would be a great place to mingle, make those connections. So make sure to check it out. And the website to learn more is howdesignlive.com howdesignlive.com I'll include a link in the show notes and as a listener of smarter freelancing, I want to let you know you can enjoy 10% off your registration if you use the discount code free Academy 15 altogether. So free Academy 15 when you check out I they got different pricing levels, by the way, which is different this year I believe. Before they were only a couple of options. Now there's many different options. I'll tell you that I don't make anything from doing this. They are paying me a small fee for speaking, but I just, you know, if I'm going to speak I have to believe in the venue, I have to believe in the event and if so, then I can gladly recommend it. So check that one out. The other one is the Independent Workforce Summit. This was originally scheduled for March, but they have moved it because there were other conferences they found out in December. There are other key conferences already scheduled for that week that target kind of the staffing industry. So they were having a hard time getting people from those sectors. And I think they did the right thing. They've moved it to July 29th and 30th. That's going to be in San Francisco. Now this one is More for those who are thinking about going solo. This is the first time this group does this conference. By the way, this Carlin group, they've been around for a while so they put a lot of conferences together. This is not a bunch of newbies doing this, but this is the first independent workforce summit. I can't really say a lot because I haven't been. This is our first one, we'll tell you that. Again, I think this is great. For those who are thinking about going solo, I'm going to be moderating a panel on how much you can charge as an independent professional and I'm also a panelist in a session on time management and work life balance strategies. I don't think this is the place or the event for those of you who are experienced, have been out there for a while. Again, if you've been thinking about going out on your own, you'll get to meet potential clients there as well as other people who are in your shoes right now. And from looking at the sessions, very practical, very tactical and directly applicable in terms of making that transition. You can also get a discount. I got a discount code for you. It's 10% and the discount code when you check out and here again there's some several options you can register for. It's not just one option, it's TDIFA 10. So TD as in Tom Delta IFA is an international freelancers academy 10. So I'll include that information in the show notes and check it out. Especially if you're out in the west coast and if you are thinking about going out on your own this year or if you're brand new to freelancing. So one other thing I wanted to introduce you to someone I've been meaning to talk about in the show because she has been on the show before. Many of you, especially if you listen to the show with headphones, have probably heard her and her name is Roxy and she is my, my pet. She's our dog. She is a rescue mutt. She's got a lot of different breeds in her, but she is a barker. And I'm telling you, no matter where I put her in the house when I'm recording she is barking and the mic will pick her up. So if, if you've been wondering what is the story with a dog man, I'm telling you I. I wish I had a soundproof booth but. But it's not going to happen. Just know that that's Roxy. I've included a picture of Roxy in the show notes so you can Check her out. She's her little baby girl. She's a sweetheart. And I think it adds a little bit of color and humor to the show sometimes. And then finally I wanted to put out an invitation to come on the show. And here's the thing, you guys, in a recent survey I did had almost 2,000 people respond. It was very clear you want more information on landing clients, landing better clients, more profitable work, and creating passive income. Those are the three big things. Landing better clients, more profitable work, and creating passive income. I'm going to be publishing more content on those topics this year. But I have an invitation. If you have something interesting to share in one of those areas, I'd love to hear from you. Especially if you have a side business that's doing really well in creating passive income for you. Again, listen, I'm not looking for extreme examples. We talked about that earlier in the show. I'm not looking for four hour work week, you know, world traveling, Tibetan mountain people. If you have something, when I say really well, something that you're proud of, something you think, you know, wow, gosh, a year ago I wasn't really doing much and you know, look, I'm making so much, it's paying for my car, it's paying for part of our mortgage, that kind of thing, that would be awesome. I'd love to hear from you. If you have anything to share, something neat ideas, strategies, campaigns you've developed, anything on the topic of landing better clients, landing more profitable projects, those are also great areas. Feel free to pitch me. And the best way to do that is to send me an email. Edternational freelancersacademy.com or edger.com in fact, the B2B launcher address would probably be better. Send me a note there. Just give me a few sentences on what you're thinking and I will get back to you. Or someone from my staff will get back to you if it's something that we feel would be would make a great show interview. So lastly, I should say, hey, maybe you're not the person, but you can think of somebody who would. Either a colleague or a, you know, an author, a speaker, anyone who you think has the information you're looking for. I'd love ideas, so go ahead and send those to me as well if you can think of someone. So that brings us to the end of the episode. Again, I am your host, Ed Gandia. Thank you so much for listening and I hope you have an awesome day. The High Income Business Writing Podcast is a production of B2B business launcher. Learn more@b2b launcher.com it.