Five Figure Writer

The freelance writer, refined.

Get Better at Business With These 4 Psychological Shifts

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Get Better At Business With These 4 Psychological Shifts - Five Figure Writer - Sarah Greesonbach

Everyone reading this post has benefited from experiencing a psychological shift in the past. Think back to the time you realized you really could float in water, ride a bike, or do math homework by yourself. One minute, you didn’t believe it was possible… the next minute, you were doing it, and couldn’t imagine your life without it!

The longer I freelance, the more deeply I understand that your psychological and emotional state has more to do with your success in business than pretty much anything else.

How you talk about yourself, your work, and your clients will determine how much you can charge, who will work with you, and who you will want to work for. It’s all inter-connected, and — the best news of all — it’s all malleable according to the information you consume and the habits you practice.

So, today I’d like to share my favorite four (actionable) attitude adjustments that can help you be more efficient in the psychological and emotional side of freelancing.

“Make your choice the best one.”

This story had me absolutely speechless when I first read it. First, because it was actually a piece of good advice coming from a crappy Self or Women’s Health-style magazine. Second, because I knew right away that it was a powerful lesson for my career and life in general.

The story goes something like this: a woman was a creative director in charge of the cover of a large women’s magazine like Cosmo or Vanity Fair. Every month she’d have to choose two final covers from a set of several covers, and eventually choose one cover out of the two final options.

When the time came to choose between two covers — let’s say a green one and a gray one — it’s not like she could make a bad choice. Both covers had a lot of work go into them from the finest photographers and stylists in the industry. Both had pros, both had cons. It was almost certainly a 50-50 split.

So, what she did next was genius: she picked one. And then she made it the best one by the way she talked about it.

The cover could have been green or grey. But she chose green. And you know why? Because the timing of the magazine was spring and green is a very spring color. Green also plays up the color of the magazine font, making it easier to read. Green was also the color of one of the featured outfits inside the article, and hey, five years ago we also did a green cover so it would be a nice throwback.

We all make choices every. Single. Day. Decide that the choice you’ve made is indeed the best one, even if you could have chosen differently. Then, magically, it will actually become the better choice!

All of these reasons for picking a green cover are true — but they are also not true; they could easily have been reasons for the grey cover to be the chosen one. It’s all in how you present it and carry out your decision.

Use This In Your Business

We make choices in our businesses every. Single. Day. But sometimes we also get caught up in worrying about whether or not a choice was a good one, or, if something bad happens, we think back to that choice and start doubting ourselves.

Forget all that. When you make a choice, decide that the choice you’ve made is indeed the best one, even if you could have chosen differently. Then, magically, it will actually become the better choice!

Own it. Don’t dally with the decision and wring your hands after you make it. Once you’ve decided (assuming there’s no threat to your business or you don’t receive new information and need to make a new decision) make your decision the best one by the way you talk and think about it after the fact.

“Level the playing field.”

Another psychological minefield in business is the art of competitive advantage. For many of us, we read a writer’s bio and get intimidated at their degree, their school, their experience, or their press photo. We think through all our weaknesses — being sick, being new at this, coming from a completely different career background — and we talk ourselves out of being confident because there’s so many other people out there doing this freelance thing.

The things you think are downsides can actually be positives if you position them correctly.

Well, there’s good news: it’s all in your mind! The things you think are downsides can actually be positives if you position them correctly. It’s just a matter of deciding to level the playing field in your mind and turn your perceived negatives into obvious positives.

Use This In Your Business

Whatever you’ve got, own it. Position it as an advantage, because once you do so, it is an advantage.

Do you have children at home? You’ll be an especially attractive option for clients who also have children at home. You can identify with them and be extra flexible when scheduling meetings (or having meetings with screaming babies in the background). Don’t apologize for that or try to downplay that fact — embrace it and your clients will follow your lead.

Do you have experience outside of writing, such as teaching or account management? Then you have a diversified background and can help your clients educate their audience or give their clients a better experience on the corporate side. Don’t harp on your lack of applicable experience — explain how you’ll use that experience to deliver the highest quality project now.

We’re all unique little snowflakes, and that uniqueness can be translated into a competitive advantage if you only choose to position it that way.

I could easily scare clients off by talking about being a teacher, an editor, and a writer in my past life. Or I could weave it into an About Me page that brings all of those careers into the context of being a seasoned writer with agency and government contracting experience. We’re all unique little snowflakes, and that uniqueness can be translated into a competitive advantage if you only choose to position it that way.

“‘Busy’ = Wasting Time.”

Let’s just drop the mic with this quote from UC Berkeley’s Christine Carter:

“Busyness is not a marker of intelligence, importance, or success. Taken to an extreme, it is much more likely a marker of conformity or powerlessness or fear.”

This is a message we all need to get over and over again: busy means you’re spinning your wheels and you don’t actually know what you’re doing. It’s not a sign of progress or growth or success. It’s just plain time mismanagement mixed with bad boundaries (AKA I can’t say no to anything, so I don’t feel like I am making progress on my real priorities).

Instead of viewing busyness as a sign of significance, top performers interpret busyness as an indication of wasted energy and they’re doing everything they can to stop it. But the trick is actively making this psychological shift from “busy” to “priorities and non-priorities.”

Use This In Your Business

The next time you write, think, or say “I’m sorry, I’ve been so busy lately…” stop. Think about what’s really happening and what you’re actually doing with your time. Use language that matches what you’ve really been doing and stop using busy as a bucket of paint that white washes you from responsibilities. If you stop using busyness as an excuse, you’ll start evaluating why you feel so busy… and hopefully take some steps to eliminate that sense of frenzy from your everyday.

If you stop using busyness as an excuse, you’ll start evaluating why you feel so busy… and hopefully take some steps to eliminate that sense of frenzy from your everyday.

Get Better At Business With These 4 Psychological Shifts - Five Figure Writer - Sarah Greesonbach

“Decide you will.”

You know that really big issue you’ve been struggling with for the past 6 months? The one that, in a movie version of your life, would be the hero’s great “Will She Or Won’t She” plot point? Let me blow your mind (courtesy, I think, of Steve Slaunwhite, Pete Savage, and Ed Gandia’s book The Wealthy Freelancer):

Decide you will.

Yes, that’s right. Decide right now that you will make it through this plot point, achieve that big goal, whip this problem into shape. That the conflict is over. The battle has been won. You’re on the path for victory, you just need to keep following it.

(And by the way, Christians have an extra easy time of it with this one — not just our business, but life itself has been won for us already. We just need to get to a place where we feel that way and act accordingly!)

Use This In Your Business

This concept has been incredibly effective with helping me handle stress, particularly the religious side of it. That huge tax bill that already came in? I definitely got a whiff of “Will I or won’t I be able to pay this off!” when in reality, of course! I am already paying it off, it will be paid off, it is done. Next problem, please?

More often than not, it’s not the problem itself that holds us back — it’s the tension of wondering whether or not we’ll make it through.

But so often it’s not the problem itself that holds us back — it’s the tension of wondering whether or not we’ll make it through. Answer this question for yourself today: you will. And then go get some work done!

Sharing Is Caring

I can’t be the only one out here learning the tough lessons. If you have a psychological shift that’s helped you work through some business challenges, be a pal and share it in the comments below!

P.S. Heavy promotions for the Make $150 an Hour Writing course start soon, which means the $100 off coupons are going to be snapped up faster than you can say “gone fishin’.” If you’re tired of the grind and want to position your business to work on your terms, download the course summary today to see how I used simple, solid writing skills to boost my income from $35 to $150+ an hour.

Everything B2B Writing (Q&A)

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Last month, Andrea Emerson and I regaled you with 30 minutes of tech errors valuable information about B2B writing. Clearly 30 minutes isn’t enough time, so here’s the follow up post to catch all the excellent questions that didn’t make it onto the webinar.

If you didn’t catch the webinar, you can see the replay (and get the homework) if you sign up for the B2B content writing list.

Your journey starts with my post on The Write Life detailing exactly why B2B writing is a good opportunity and what traits you’ll want to have in order to be a good B2B writer. Then you can tie up loose ends with the following questions and answers:

Everything B2B Writing - Five Figure Writer

“How do you calculate ROI on writing? How can you convince businesses they’ll get a return on what they spend?”

ROI is difficult to identify from the outside of an organization, especially if you tend to be a piece-by-piece writer or if the organization isn’t good at tracking ROI, either. This may be an annoying answer, but I tend to avoid this question entirely by targeting organizations and departments who already know the ROI is good and already know they need writers (like companies with marketing and lead generation departments).

If you have to spend your time convincing a business they need a content writer, it’s a red flag.

If you really want to convince a client to hire you for B2B writing, you can get current statistics from HubSpot and the Content Marketing Institute and prepare a presentation or pitch reel for a new client.

However, I want to caution you: if you have to spend your time convincing a business they need a B2B content writer, it’s a red flag that the project will take more of your time and energy than it’s worth and that you’ll be held responsible for more than your share of the work.

“I have all those skills except the SEO skills, where I am at the intermediate level.”

Intermediate SEO is great! Even beginner SEO skills can get you through, and you can get those for free by reading this guide from MOZ or Googling “SEO Basics” and reading for exactly twenty minutes.

Personally, I got started just by understanding keyword saturation (tracking the number of times the word shows up in the post) and paying attention to how most people google things.

For example, an article titled “SEO for Fishing Companies” will likely perform better in search than an article titles “Your Fishing Company Should Learn About the Topic of SEO,” even if the latter is more interesting to the reader. SEO is the science of studying these kinds of scenarios.

“What do B2B clients expect to see on a portfolio to convince them to hire a writer?”

The most attractive portfolio is a well-organized one with clear examples that pertain to a prospective client’s business. That is, the person reading can easily see what kinds of writing you’ve done, where it’s been used, and who you’ve worked with.

You can get there by writing pieces “on spec” and setting aside an hour or two to make up examples of B2B writing as Andrea and I outlined in the homework.

“I’ve done plenty of B2B writing for appreciative repeat clients, but I’ve never found any who would pay $1 a word! Where are these clients hiding?”

Honestly, they’re probably hiding from you. Companies that pay well for B2B writing can be selective about the people they hire. They want professionals who don’t holler about their rate and who know the value of the writing they’re doing, so the first step is going to be to adjust your attitude about writing and sell yourself on the value of what you do (more on that in the closing below).

Here’s more insight from a Write Life commenter, Michael:

I’ve been freelancing for the past six years, following a career in public relations and marketing writing. It is possible to earn $1/word if you follow some guiding principles.

One, follow the money. Look for successful B2B companies in economically vibrant industries, like B2B software and other technology developers. Those firms typically provide fairly generous budgets to their marketing departments for external resources, part of which is to fund content development.

Two, like anything, experience and knowledge matters. Working in-house for many years, I was able to learn about a particular type of technology, as well as the industries that the technology serves. If you don’t have experience and want to work for a certain type of business with a certain type of B2B product or service, I guess research, blogging, and winning smaller projects could eventually help a writer demonstrate his or her ability to work on larger projects.

And three, I wouldn’t bid on a job as “I charge $1/word.” Instead, ascertain the scope of the project–how much research might be involved, the level of difficulty, how many review cycles may be required, and its general word count–then provide an overall figure as a bid if it justifiably warrants and equals $1/word. (And realize, too, that you must offer to work on some rounds of editing, and not just write a first draft and be done with it. That $1/word always requires changing, rearranging, polishing and additional work to those words. But hey, that’s writing, right?).

Michael’s best point is not to lead with a per word rate; I charge only by the project and never by the word, but the rate just works out to an hourly or per-word rate in hindsight.

Finding organizations that already know the value of content is also key, such as organizations that are already investing in content and have a great content marketing strategy in place (look for lots of white papers on their site and an updated blog).

Everything B2B Writing - Five Figure Writer

“How do you get clips on Forbes and things like that?”

I’m very proud of the high-level clips I have on my website from sites like Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Entrepreneur, and more. How did I get there? With a mix of skill, luck, and partnership. For me, this was a perk of writing for an agency that places posts for its clients. For you, you might place your posts the old fashioned way by networking with editors, Googling “how to get published on [site],” or writing for an agency, too.

No matter how you decide to go about it, keep strategy in mind. Your name on The Huffington Post might make you feel good, but if it doesn’t help your business (by getting clients who want to be on The Huffington Post or by reaching new clients who read The Huffington Post) it’s a futile exercise in time-wasting. Zero in on what you sense your customers want and spend your energy accordingly.

If You Want to Write B2B for the Money….

Some people are born for B2B writing because they love the audience and the writing comes easily to them… The rest of the writing community is just looking for a steady paycheck doing work they love as a writer.

“I just want to make a decent living writing for people and businesses, and I’m tired of this $20 and $30 per hour nonsense,” so to speak.

If that sounds like you, I am beyond excited to announce that I’ll be launching a course on just that in May called “Make $150 an Hour Writing.”

“Make $150 an Hour Writing” Mastercourse launches May 16th!

This will be a 4-week mastercourse that shows you exactly how I maintain a sweet hourly rate without charging hourly and without working myself to death — just four foundational pillars of writing and running a business I’ve used to maximize income writing about 15-20 hours per week.

I’ll start promoting the course and outlining exactly what will be in it soon, but for now just make sure you’re on the Five Figure Writer mailing list and you’ll get all the information about the course you need.

In the mean time…

If you have any additional B2B writing questions, leave a comment below and I’ll add them to this post!

Epic Networking: How People (Who Aren’t You) Can Transform Your Business

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Epic Networking: How People (Who Aren't You) Can Transform Your Business - Freelance Writing - How to Network

I’m an outgoing introvert. I’ll take a little attention here and there — especially when I get worked up about whatever I’m talking about — but I otherwise focus on getting others to talk and I avoid networking like a sale on plus-size speedos.

So it’s no surprise that like many other freelance writers, I loooooove working from home. I love not having in-person meetings and not being expected to say “Have a good weekend,” to forty people as they leave the office, or re-living the dreaded, “Ew, are you eating sausage and vegetables for breakfast?” as I munch away in the breakroom.

But what I didn’t realize is while I didn’t have the burden of these social engagements, I also haven’t enjoyed the benefits of having a reliable, regular network, like…

  • Practicing communication and empathy 8 hours per day.
  • Learning new things and getting new ideas from others.
  • Enjoying fellowship and friendship based on shared challenges.
  • Inside jokes OK I get that one from Twitter.

The list goes on.

So, yes, you can run a business and opt out of relationships in today’s digital economy. But unless you really mean to do that (and if you do, I recommend counseling instead), you might be missing out on important relationships by accident.

I devote part of The Sweet Spot guide to networking. How to do it, why to do it, and what you get out of it. But here’s a NOW That’s What I Call Networking! greatest hits list of what epic networking can do for you:

Meeting People Makes Life Worth Living (And Businesses Worth Running)

Charlie Jones (who I don’t know much more about) famously said, “Five years from now, you’ll be the same person except for the people you meet and the books you read.”

You have a book list, sure. But the rest of the work we seem to leave up to fate. And then we’re surprised when the only people we meet are flip-phone wielding librarians and history teachers at bible study.

These are wonderful people to know in real life, but if someone doesn’t understand the Internet or GIFs, there’s only so deep your relationship can go, you know? And there’s only so much you can help each other feel connected and respected online.

This relationship is explained in Black Swan yet (recommended by Ross Simmonds). I haven’t finished it yet, but the first few chapters dig into the hard-to-replicate benefits of sporadic and nonlinear connections like the ones that arise when you meet random people via Twitter or at unconferences.

Sporadic and nonlinear connections arise when you meet random people via Twitter or at unconferences and your connection leads to personal growth and development.

If you don’t dip your toe into the pool and take risks to make friends online, you’ll miss out on the partnerships and growing experiences that grow from them and you won’t satisfy your basic human need for connection.

How to do it:

The biggest problem I run into online is that the people I want to meet tend to have followings already and a hefty hourly rate. *Cough Ed Gandia Cough* *Cough Ash Ambirge Cough* But we don’t need to start at the top, and if anything focusing on peer relationships (people at the same stage of the game as you give or take a bit of audience) will lead to deeper connections because you’re both asking the same questions.

For example, I met Andrea Emerson at a conference last year. Based on her awesome blog and her Harvard status I’d say she’s a bit out of my league, but by finding out we share a love of CS Lewis, passive income, and B2B writing, I reached out to see if she was interested in getting into webinars. Result? We’re hosting our first (for both of us) at the end of March to talk about how to break into B2B writing.

Is this something I could have done on my own? Definitely. Is this something I am looking forward to 1,000x more and something I think will be way more productive and helpful (and fun) for the audience? Even more definitely! In this case, building something with someone else gives the thing itself greater depth and larger impact than anything I could do on my own.

Friendships Are Based on Self-Interest (Theirs, Not Yours)

Last month I finally worked through Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, and it’s just as amazing as everyone says.

Of the many important things you’ll learn from that book is that humans are naturally self-interested, and so you can form relationships by becoming truly interested in other people. However, the magic doesn’t stop there.

It’s not that faking interest in other people will get you what you want. It’s that being interested in other people will help you realize that you want to help them.

Faking interest in other people won’t get you what you want. Being interested in other people will help you realize that what you want is to help them.

The opposite is also true, that when we feel others are interested in us, we have a natural desire to help them, too.

How does this translate into epic networking? By offering you the ultimate networking lesson: chill out on your goals and start thinking about other people.

Carnegie’s book provides hundreds of examples of how this works in conversation, so I recommend you pick up a copy. But you can also practice thinking of other people by asking yourself questions about your basic assumptions and using the answers to spark some conversation starters:

  • Does that person have kids or a pet? (Not the same thing, of course). How does that affect their business, their life, and their travel?
  • Why did that person pick that photo to be their headshot/Twitter pic/LinkedIn pic?
  • What made this person go into this line of work?
  • Is this person still driven in business by finances, or have they unlocked that next level where they care about the meaning of the work?
  • What do I know or do that could help this person achieve a personal or professional goal?
  • Is this person struggling with anything I’m struggling with?
  • Did this person respond to a photo I posted about X or X?

Obviously it’s better if you actually work through these examples, but just considering the answers with your goal network in mind will help you see how quickly you can redirect your “Me, me, me!” thinking to put others first.

How to do it:

Get chatting! I prefer Twitter and email, you might prefer Instagram and Slack. Regardless, movement is the only medium that matters in networking. Get curious and ask (polite) questions that start conversations.

Now, sometimes you just won’t vibe with people, so you need to be sensitive to the feedback you’re receiving about when and how someone wants to interact with you (and avoid sending spammy emails or Skype messages). But there’s nothing stopping you from sending a note or Twitter mention to say:

Hello, how are you? I saw you just launched X and it made me think of X. Is that something you think about, too? No worries if you’re busy, it was just on my mind.

No matter how successful or famous someone is, you never know when they’ll be in a mood to hit REPLY to that email and shake things up a bit, because if they’re successful and famous they know how important those nonlinear connections can be.

If it’s a peer you’re reaching out to, take the same bent. Explicitly detail how much you value their time and how optional it is that they respond or engage with you, and then share the non-promotional thought or message you have to share.

And PS, please don’t ruin it by saying “By the way, could you help me promote X?” in the middle of a cool exchange. That’s like finishing a first date by whipping out your briefcase of pager models and asking if they’ve missed the 90s.

FFW-EpicNetworking-Wordless

What to Do With Your Network When You Have One

As you start to make friends on the Internet, you’ll wonder what you can to do leverage your growing network for your own success. When you get to that point, I want you to come back here and stop it and re-read section two.

Your network doesn’t exist to endlessly promote you and help you meet your goals. When you do awesome things and have an awesome network, that network will naturally amplify your amazingness and help it spread. It is not and will never be a be-all-end-all tool you use to make your dreams come true.

The best example I see of this is the team from DYFConf that put together The Independent Consulting Manual. These people are genuinely good at what they do and they formed genuine friendships. They made product and it blew up because of these two traits, not because they each said, “I want to make $$$$$ from a book, boo yah!” (Correct me if I’m wrong, though, guys!).

Same goes for The Oatmeal. He makes awesome things and they take off. He doesn’t make awesome things and then pester his millions of fans to support him because he’s awesome. They do so because they know he’s awesome and they want to see him succeed.

Your network doesn’t exist to endlessly promote you and help you meet your goals. Your network is here to amplify you when you invest in it and invest your awesomeness into the things you do.

Your network is here to amplify you when you invest in it and invest your awesomeness into the things you do.

When you finally do have a great network, don’t revert to your same old selfish behavior. Use your newfound powers to lift even more people up and support projects and things you believe in. When you’re genuine and intentional about giving back, your network will naturally be there to support you when you do make a move.

How to do it:

As my mom would say, quoting a little duck from one of my favorite kid’s books, “To be a friend with lots of heart, you must begin right at the start. First think of things that you can do so others will be friends with you!” In this case, this is an invitation to ask others how you can support them.

Keep an eye on your network’s releases and buy or re-tweet them. Invite them to guest post on your site or interview you if you’ve had great results with their product. Whatever you want your network to do for you, do it for them first with no expectation of a return.

Tell Me How to Network

The entire point of this post is that we are better when more people are involved. So, get involved! What are your best networking tips, or what do you struggle with most when it comes to networking? Tippy-tappy your way into the comments section below.

PS Copyblogger (of course) wrote about this topic, too, and has some great practical advice here.