#082: Your Biggest Challenge As a New Freelance Writer or Copywriter and What to Do About It

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 82 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 episode 82. You know, over the past three years or so, I've worked with hundreds of new freelance writers and copywriters and I enjoy mentoring and coaching these new ambitious freelance professionals. I enjoy helping them build and grow their businesses. But through this process, I've uncovered a disturbing trend. And this trend became even more obvious to me very recently when I offered to do some free 45 minute strategy sessions with 20 freelancers who were just starting their businesses, their, their freelance writing businesses, or had already launched them, but were not getting any anywhere near the traction and results they were expecting. They were still trying to break through that $1,000 to $1,500 a month income ceiling. And I'd like to talk about this trend today. And frankly, I don't enjoy talking about this. But I, after going through these strategy sessions especially, I've realized that it's time to shine a light on this painful truth and not just shine a light on it. I want to show you what you can actually do about this. Because you know, this is too important to continue to ignore. It's too important for me to continue to dance around it and just kind of play nice guy. I just need to be blunt. I need to get this out there, put it out there, and then let you decide which path you want to take. I would be doing you a disservice if I didn't address this very important issue. In order to introduce the issue, I want to first give you some context. So think about your typical brick and mortar business. You know, the local Italian restaurant, the specialty retail store, a family owned manufacturing facility or company, the supplier of industrial equipment, whatever, just any traditional brick and mortar business. It's not service based necessarily and it's certainly not a solo business. So the founders of these businesses didn't go about their launch haphazardly, did they? More than likely, these entrepreneurs made a huge financial investment to bring their dreams to life. They may have also had some investors, maybe, maybe a business loan. And because there is so much at stake no entrepreneur can afford to wing it. So these folks did not and are not winging it. They're still in the process of kind of getting their business off the ground and growing it. He or she probably has a very detailed business plan and they follow that plan closely. They're likely taking a lot of smart strategic actions on a daily basis. And they're continually making mid course corrections based on what's working and not working for them. Now, even with all that smart planning and execution, here's the sad truth. Half of those businesses will fail. In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor statistics, only 50% of small businesses survive five years or more. That's right. So at the five year mark, half those businesses are gone. It might not sound like a huge number, but I want you to think about this. We're talking about five years of incredible hard work and sacrifice. Seven day work weeks, 14 hour days, no vacations, possibly a failed marriage, self doubt, worry, fear, high stress, decreased personal health. Right? All these things, all these negative outcomes or byproducts of trying to get this business off the ground, profitable and growing. And at the five year mark, it basically boils down to a coin toss. A coin toss. All that in five years. It's basically flip a coin. Half fail, half succeed. Now let's look at the freelance business model. So in my experience, 9 out of 10 freelance writers and copywriters don't have a viable action plan. Instead what they do is they hang their shingle and they try a haphazard mix of ideas to drum up business. There's little rhyme or reason to their launch efforts. It's a scattered approach and too many of them are relying on their writing abilities to get them through. Unfortunately, good writing skills are not enough. Knowledge is not enough. Taking a bunch of writing courses is not enough. Putting your work out there and hoping that prospects will be wowed by your writing ability, that's not enough either. And you know what? Neither is hope. Hope is a very good thing. It's a very healthy thing. But hope is not a strategy. So here's the question. If half of all carefully deployed and well planned businesses fail within their first five years, what do you think happens to most new freelance writers and copywriters? That's right. It's not a pretty picture. You can enjoy great success as a freelancer. Don't get me wrong, it's a very real possibility. But to get there, you cannot wing it. You cannot rely on hope alone. You cannot rely on knowledge, skill, ability. Those things are not enough. So if you're in the spot right now, you're either just starting out as a freelance writer or copywriter, or you haven't been able to break out of that, let's say $1,500 per month income level. That seems to be a point where people who can start earning an income, they get stuck there. If you're there, here's what you need to do to dramatically increase your chances of success. Let's talk about how you can get out of this rut. The first thing is you have to wake up. Getting a freelance business off the ground requires a tremendous amount of effort. And what I find is that many freelancers haven't accepted that fact. Here's my theory as to why that happens. First of all, I think the low barriers to entry in this business are deceiving. So when people see that all they need to get started is a laptop, a phone line, Internet service and some software, they automatically assume that they can hang their shingle and clients will come. And that's rarely the case. This may have worked for Kevin Costner in the movie A Field of Dreams, right? If you build it, they will come. But that idea is a fantasy in the freelance world. It just is. Folks don't, you know. Well, maybe I'm an exception. You're not an exception. No one's an exception. You cannot rely on. If you build it, they will come. Second, I found that freelancing is brimming with information marketers who are promising quick riches, lazy days on the beach, working maybe an hour or two between rounds of rum punches and Corona beers. And you know what? I've yet to experience that fantasy in my 11 years as a freelancer. This is by far the hardest thing I've ever done professionally. Most of my successful colleagues, when I have asked them, they feel the same way. It didn't come easy. It didn't happen by chance to anyone I know. And you know what I nothing against rum punches and Coronas. I love the beach. I love a well made rum punch. But you know what? My writing is no good if I'm drinking. And I never take my work to the beach anyway. So that idea, sales courses, sales training programs, but it's not reality. It really isn't. Those are all exceptions. And people who have done that, if they're honest, they'll tell you, you know what this is, you know, Yeah, I went to the beach and I had to take some work with me, but it's not the image that I had in my head many years ago when that was the dream the second thing is you need laser focus and you need a heavy dose of commitment and belief. Now, by focus, I'm talking about a concentrated effort on your freelance writing business. You may have other sideline ideas you'd like to pursue. I find that a lot of freelance writers are very interested in a lot of different things. Everything sounds good to them. I'm no exception. I mean, I got a lot of ideas, I want to pursue all of them. But you know what? If you want your freelance venture to succeed, you cannot afford to spread yourself too thin. You simply can't. So that means your money making website idea might have to wait. Or you might have to hit pause on your teaching gig at the local community college. Or put your craft or jewelry business on hold for a while. Or resist the temptation to start that children's book or sci fi novel you've been meaning to start on. It. Just, that's just reality. It's hard, it's hard to say no to those things. But focus is key when you're trying to make serious progress in your freelance business. Your business needs a hundred percent of you in it, plain and simple. You also need full commitment. This business is not something you dabble in. You have to give it your all if you want to achieve any level of success. It's going to be hard. You have to accept that. And you have to commit to pushing past these difficult moments because they will come. And don't say, okay, well, I'll try my best. Instead say, look, I'm going to give this everything I've got. No excuses. And you know what? At the end of the day, if it didn't work out, I can look back and know that I gave it everything I had. And, and I'm okay with that. You don't want to get to a point in a year or two where you didn't succeed. And you have to carry that burden of knowing that you didn't give it everything you had. You'll always wonder what would have happened if I would have given it my all. As Yoda said, do or do not. There is no try now. Focus and commitment are not enough. You also have to believe this is possible for you. And I mean, you have to really believe it. I find that some people can do okay with a focus and commitment can actually do pretty well. But deep down inside, they don't really believe it. So here's what really worked for me during those early years. I mean, you just have to find a way. I can't give you a formula for you to Achieve a certain level of belief. I can only give you some examples, show you what worked for me. This is not something I did purposely. It just happened for me. And basically when I was getting started, during those early years, I met successful freelance writers and copywriters and I talked with them and I listened to their stories about how they made it. And as I did that, one thing became very clear to me. These people weren't any better or any smarter than me. They just weren't. Now don't get me wrong, these were strong writers, they were smart people. And I'm not saying I'm smart. I seriously, I don't even want to take an IQ test because I would probably embarrass myself. I have average intelligence, I know that much, but that's it. But these folks weren't natural born writers. I mean, that was obvious to me. It's not like they had been anointed by some freelance writing God. These are folks who were determined. They were determined to succeed. So they studied their craft more diligently than other people. They did more prospecting even when they didn't feel like it. And they pushed past every obstacle and setback, which is something most people don't do. So as a result, they were enjoying a good living doing what they love. And when I realized that, I knew that I could do the same. I had overcome big obstacles before. That wasn't new to me. And I, frankly, I didn't see any other way out of my current situation. I wanted out of the corporate world. I. I wanted to start my own thing. That, that was very obvious to me that I was not wired to be an employee. I was in a difficult situation. I wanted to be home for my family. I wanted a better life. And all those factors combined enabled me to form and sustain that strong belief. The third thing you need is a roadmap. A roadmap to guide your efforts. So just like a traditional business needs a plan, you to need you as a freelancer, also need a roadmap to success. The days of making it up, making it up as you go day by day. Those days are long gone in this business. Without a solid plan, frankly. Just don't even try. I mean, I hate to be blunt, but don't even try. You'll get nowhere quickly. And you know what? When that happens, you'll be worse off than you did before you even started again. I've been working with freelancers over the past three years. A lot of my focus has been on helping them build and grow their businesses. And that has taught me that there are many ways to go about your launch. And most of these approaches are severely flawed. You know, they sound good on paper, but they don't really work. In fact, there are only a few ways to do this right, A few ways to get your business off the ground quickly and safely. Most of the ways are flawed. They don't work. There are only a few ways that will work. And most of these ways that actually work are counterintuitive, mainly because it's the opposite of what you would do if you were launching a traditional brick and mortar business, which for many of us is the only model we're familiar with. For instance, you have to become obsessed with getting quick wins. So if you want to succeed as a freelancer and you're in the early stages, you have to be obsessed with getting quick wins. These little wins are usually not that impressive. In fact, they often involve low paying work. Not the best clients in the world, many times really bad clients. But the reason you need these wins is that they provide you with a motivational fuel, if you will, to keep you moving forward. When you get a win, you start feeling like you're making some progress, which gives you the boost and confidence you need to keep prospecting, which will likely yield another small win. And so the cycle goes, so you create that upward momentum. You also need to make prospecting your full time job when you're starting. So whatever time you're dedicating to your business, let's say you're dedicating, hey, 20 hours a week. And by the way, keep in mind, the advice I'm giving you here is, has nothing to do with whether you want this to be a full time venture, part time, halftime, it doesn't really matter. The principles are all the same. So please don't discount these ideas just because. Well, yeah, but I'm a stay at home mom and I want to do this, you know, just a few hours a week. That's fine. I completely respect that. All these ideas, all these ideas apply. Oh yeah. But I want to be able to travel, see my grandkids. That's great, great. But your business and the time you dedicated to your business must be very focused, very deliberate. Okay, so just a quick side note there. So whatever time you're dedicating to your business, again, you decide how much time that's going to be on a weekly basis. You need to use all of that time or nearly all of that time to prospect for clients. You don't have clients yet. You're not working on client Projects. You know what, your full time job is to prospect for clients. Your main objective, your only objective at that point is to get a client in the door. I cannot overemphasize the importance of this idea. You might say, well, yeah, that makes perfect sense, Ed. But you know what? Most people do something completely different, okay? They're out there trying to study another writing course or designing their logo or brainstorming business names. You know, those are not important at this point. Those are all stalling tactics. They're not going to move your business forward. Don't kid yourself. Instead, focus on bringing work in the door that will create the momentum you need to get you closer to your goal. The fourth thing you need are effective tools and strategies. I mean, you don't need to reinvent the wheel. Someone's already created tools, strategies and techniques that work in this business. I'm talking about prospecting tools and techniques, networking techniques, call scripts, prospecting, screening methods, pricing, formula, it's that sort of thing. Learn from the pros, learn from the people who have achieved the success you want to achieve. Do what they do, apply their ideas exactly as taught, and then make them your own as you see what works and doesn't work for you. This might involve buying a training program or a set of swipe files from someone who's achieved success in this business, or investing in a paid workshop or taking a successful freelancer out to lunch. You know, you never know. I used to do that. I don't do it anymore because of time constraints, but I used to sometimes go out to coffee or lunch with folks who are getting started. And you know what, it was enjoyable for me. I mean, honestly, it would still be if I had the time. But you know, there are many people out there and you, it can't hurt to ask sometimes, hey, if that person is local, see if you can take them out to lunch, pick their brain, you know, talk through a challenge you might have. Talk through it with them and see what they, what they say. And then the final thing here is, within this topic of tools and techniques is to start adopting an entrepreneurial mindset by treating these investments, whether they're investments in a program, training course, coaching, whatever, or the time you invest in going out to lunch with someone or coffee with someone. Treat these as investments in your business. Don't treat them as a cost. I hear that too much. People who are treating these things as a cost and a cost just has this feeling of, you know, this is a negative thing. It's taking away from me an investment on the other hand is you are. You're feeding something you're not taking away, you're bringing it back and multiplying something inside of you. The fifth thing you need is some sort of support system. And here's the deal. Most of us can't do this alone. That's hard to accept sometimes, and I know that because I'm a guy, I don't stop to get directions when I'm lost. Call it pride, call it stubbornness, self reliance, whatever. It's not always easy to take direction from someone else, and I know that better than many people. But it's a rare thing for a new freelance writer or copywriter to do this on their own and achieve some level of success. It's not impossible. I've seen some people do it, but it's nowhere near the norm. Most people need a support system, a colleague who's ahead of them and can provide ideas and advice, A peer group of freelancers facing the same set of challenges, an accountability partner who can help keep you on track, a coach or a mentor who can show you a faster path to success and keep you from making costly mistakes. However you decide to do this, the point is that you need some level of support. Don't go at it alone. It's not worth the risk. Number six, you need massive action. Action alone will usually move you in the direction of your goals. You know what? Action alone won't cut it. If you want to virtually guarantee your success, you need to commit to taking serious, focused and massive action. And almost always the intensity and frequency of that action is much greater than you think. And again, to reinforce what I said earlier, this has nothing to do with whether you're doing this part time, full time, halftime, the time that you've committed, or you're committing to this. It's all about, hey, it's got to be full intensity during that time, okay? I learned this idea from Massive Action from world renowned copywriter Bob Bly. Many of you know Bob. And gosh, years ago, I was listening to a training program of his. He said something that's just stuck with me. I don't remember almost anything else about that program. But the one thing that I do remember is when he said that if you want to ensure that you reach a goal, figure out what you'll need to achieve it and then double the estimated effort and go ahead and do that, right? Put forth that new estimated effort, which is double what you originally thought. You probably heard the quote. Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do. In 10 years I've heard the quote attributed to Bill Gates and some other people. Seems like nobody really knows who said it. Probably nobody said it. It's just an idea that's so powerful and so true and I found that it applies here. Most of us are way too optimistic about what we can achieve in a short period of time and we severely underestimate the effort and focus required to achieve that short term goal. So this is why the idea of massive action is so important. So whatever you think you need to do to get your business off the ground, figure on doing two times at work and get to work right away. Don't overthink it, just get to work right away. You know, unless you're freelancing because you enjoy writing for others as a hobby, or you're trying to keep your mind engaged, or you're trying to keep your skills up until you go back to work in a few years, or something along those lines, if you're going to do it, do it right. Get some help, commit to this. Get a guide, a mentor, coach. I know that sounds self serving, but I'm telling you guys, it makes a world of difference. It doesn't have to be me. Find someone, anyone. And you know what? It's not a luxury. It really isn't. I see a lot of people out there who are they see this as a luxury. It's something that only people with money can do. It's not a necessity. But I'll tell you what, as I'm recording this, I'm actually going to take my son whitewater rafting in a couple of days. We've never done this before. He's never done it, I've never done it. And it's nothing extremely intense. For those of you who are familiar with the rankings of some of these rivers, it's going to be twos and threes. There's. There's no fours on this particular river and certainly no fives. There's another river close by we could go. It's a lot of fours and fives. We're avoiding fours and fives. Fives being, I believe is the highest intensity. So we're doing twos and threes, but it's our first time whitewater rafting. Honestly, I have no idea what a two or three is like because I had never experienced it. Here's what I do know. When I went to book the trip, you had several options. You could go at it alone, you could have a guide assisted raft, which I believe the Way they defined it was, you know, look, you'll get a little bit more direction and there'll be some guides along the way and some of the rapids kind of helping you navigate through them. So they'll be there, but they won't be on the raft. They'll just be on the riverbank. And then I forget the exact terminology. But the third option was to have the guide with you on the raft. It wouldn't just be the two of us. I think there'd be six other or four other people. And you have the guide there. Now, it's more expensive to do it that way. But again, I've never been whitewater rafting. I want to do this right. I don't want this to be a terrifying experience for either one of us. I want it to be fun. I want us to enjoy this. I want us to remember this. And I'm not going at it alone. I'm splurging for the guide in my raft. I want to do this right. I don't want to take that kind of risk. If I'm doing it, I'm doing it right. I'm not going at it alone. I'm not, excuse my language. I'm not half passing it. So it's the same thing with freelancing guys. It's important that if you do it, get some sort of help again. It doesn't have to be me. It can be somebody else. It could be another coach, mentor, a friend, a colleague, someone you can barter with, whatever. Get some help. This is not the kind of thing you want to attempt on your own. Now, if you are in that situation, you're trying to get your commercial writing or copywriting business off the ground, or maybe you've already launched but are in that situation I described earlier, you're struggling to get break past that fifteen hundred dollars per month income ceiling. I may be able to help you. My superpower has become very much apparent to me over the past couple of years, and it's basically helping freelancers get their businesses off the ground quickly and with less risk. I will work with you if you decide to work with me. We will work together, one on one and in a small group setting to help you get results faster, land progressively better clients, and gain serious momentum. In other words, I hope you get to a point where your business success is not determined by a coin toss. Okay? I don't make these personalized coaching and training opportunities available very often, but I've just opened a new window. So if you fit this description that I just gave you. This might be something you'll want to explore. You can learn more about it@b2b launcher.com program and again, that's b2b launcher.com program. I'll include that link in the show notes. And let me just tell you right off the bat, this is not for everyone. There's an application process and that involves a phone interview. You have to be hungry. You have to be serious. You have to be focused and determined to make this business work. So if that sounds like you visit the page I just gave you, visit b2b launcher.com program. You can learn more about it there before the availability is taken. So that's it for today's show. I hope you've enjoyed it. I hope I've given you some food for thought. This has been your host, Ed Gambia. Have yourself an awesome day. The High Income Business Writing Podcast is a production of B2B business launcher. Learn more at B2B launcher dot com.