I have tried both in my life – marathons and sprints. Given, the sprint was forced on me by my 8 th grade track coach and the marathon was a half marathon. But still, I understand the difference between the two. One takes force and the other takes stamina. Yet when it came time to launch my freelance writing business, I forgot all the lessons I had learned. I charged at breakneck speed into freelancing as if it were a sprint. This was unsustainable, both for my business and my life. A mixture of excitement and fear of failure led me to sit down at my computer at 8:30 p.m. (after already closing up shop) to finish my portfolio page. At 11:00 p.m. that night, my eyes were bloodshot and my dog was whining from loneliness. Another day, my husband and I made plans to rent a movie, but I pulled out my computer to tweak one little thing – and before I knew it, it was 2 hours later and too late to start a movie. I was running on adrenaline. But, like I expected, this didn’t last. It couldn’t, not for the marathon required to run a freelance business. It was unsustainable, both for my business and my life. Especially when first starting as a freelancer, I felt like I had to do everything all at once. Website, pitching, figuring out what SEO meant. I dashed from one task to the next without any method or plan of action. I know I’m not alone. So I’m sharing five helpful tips that I have learned that will help you maintain marathon-style thinking (and your sanity) in this crazy little thing called freelancing. 1. Create a Morning Ritual Like a runner’s warm-up prior to a jog, a morning ritual helps to ease into your day. It also helps you to remain present, to focus on the small joys of the day, rather than rushing to your desk first thing to send that client email. Before sitting down to write, I recommend you: Get ready. This includes showering, brushing your teeth, putting on makeup—whatever your normal routine of going to an office job would be. Wear normal clothes. Try not to fall into the trap of wearing sweatpants all the time because after a while, your work and your home life will become inseparable. Eat a good breakfast. Sit down at the table and eat something, even if it’s just a banana. Savor that cup of coffee. Do yoga or stretch. I like to spend a few mornings a week using Headspace, the meditation app. Or I pet my dog and she brings me lots of joy to start the day. 2. Don’t Work From the Couch Just like you wouldn’t run a race in sandals, don’t do your work from the couch. Or the bed. Or the floor. And definitely don’t have the TV on in the background. At a recent writing workshop I attended, run by Melanie Figg […]
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Jun 20 Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash Some people say ‘cold email doesn’t work anymore’ . I say ‘you’re just not doing them right’ . In fact, I believe cold emails are one of the best methods for getting new leads, providing you’re prepared to do the work. And work it takes. If you haven’t cold emailed before, you need to know that it could take 100 or more cold emails before you receive even one reply. Sounds like it’s a whole lotta work for next to no return, right? Work? Yeah! You see, cold emailing is a numbers game. A percentage of the people you email won’t be interested in your services. A percentage won’t find your services even remotely relevant. Some of the emails you send will end up in the junk box or bounce. Many more will be simply ignored. These emails will poke and prod at your self-esteem. You’ll be worried you’re annoying people, stressed about being labelled a spammer, confused that you’re working your hands to the bone without getting a return for your hard work. If you have so much as a smidgen of self-doubt, these emails will seek out your inner-monologue of ‘I’m not good enough’ and do their best to play it on repeat. Yes, my friend, cold emailing is tough. But if you can keep your cool through all of that, there’s a flip side to cold email that’ll make it worth your while. You see, there’s a select few people who’ll read your tantalising tales and be compelled to hit reply. They’ll love your swagger and style, and they’ll want you to inject your personality into their business too. They’ll be chomping at the bit to get on a call and put gold bars in your bank. While you have to accept that many of your emails will go unread and/or unanswered, there are a few tips and tricks you can implement to increase your chances of receiving positive replies. 1. Be the rainbow on a cloudy, grey day. Being boring is the cardinal sin of email. In short, don’t do it. You’re not speaking to the school principal. And even when you’re speaking to a CEO, they have a sense of humour too. If you can make ’em laugh, or paint a beautiful image in their mind, you’ve got ’em hooked. Then it’s up to you to reel ’em in. The easiest way to inject some personality into your writing is to draft your email saying exactly what you want to say; boring is totally acceptable at this stage. Now walk away for at least 24-hours. Then when you return to edit, do so with one goal in mind — to make your email more interesting. E.g. The title of this section was originally ‘don’t be boring’. Boring, huh? When I edited this piece, I switched it to ‘be the rainbow on a cloudy, […]