I’ve been doing this freelance thing for about 8 months now and only a month ago did I realize something was broken…
The thing that I thought I loved so much (aka blogging) was sucking the life out of me – and I couldn’t pinpoint what it was that hacked me down. I knew I hadn’t created the business I wanted because I was essentially doing what anyone in a normal job does: working a J.O.B., except I WFA (worked from anywhere) and it was worse!
Now imagine this…waking up at 6 am on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day to get work done in the AM so you can do festive things in the PM. Fashion week looks fun right? What if your hours of sleep ranged between 2-5 hours every night for two weeks? And vacations – don’t even get me started. I was distraught! Financially things were fine but operationally, it was a shit show. Was it even worth it anymore? Were my dreams of self-employment shattered?
This is where oneness with your subconscious becomes so critical – so that you recognize misalignment with the self and take action to realign it. Fortunately, I was saved by books (can’t wait to share my fav game changers next week!)… Within hours, I realized I’d been focusing on ALL the wrong things for the last 6 months. WTF. And I think it’s so easy for any blogger or new entrepreneur to wallow around in this plight because you get so caught up in the production piece of your business that you completely lose the foresight. Truth is, amazing work simply isn’t enough. In fact, it’s only 20% of the formula!
I’m super excited to explore this subject over the next several weeks, but first, wanted to share the 3 biggest challenges in blogging and business, so that you can tackle them now and set yourself up for success.
1. Getting over yourself.
Getting clients is hard. Putting yourself out there is harder. But your greatest challenge will be yourself. When you’re an entrepreneur or a WIP (work in progress), you’ll spend most of your time in your head. The fear of being judged or not good enough will consume you. You’ll entertain the thoughts that harm you. But learn to control it, and you’ll get out of your own way. Most people don’t care as much as you think they do.
2. Getting over self-promotion.
I don’t know what I loathe more: self-promotion or sales. I have this hate-only relationship with self-promotion. Growing up, “bragging” was abhorred – and only those who aren’t good enough talk about how good they are. I personally feel like there are too many self-promoters who overvalue themselves. I refused to be one of those. But I learned quick that if you don’t self-promote, you don’t exist. If you don’t show up, you’re dead. No self-promotion equals no exposure to your audience which translates into no business.
My advice? Get over it. If you have bragging rights, own up to them.
3. Getting over your fear of sales.
– Sales is the exchange of a product/service for money
– A business without sales is not a business
– If you don’t sell yourself, no one will
Until you understand this, you’ll never run a successful blog or business. I hate sales… I hate being sold to. I hate selling to people. But I somehow got myself into the business of selling myself (fml). Know that your expertise is not enough. Your experience is not enough. Pretty pictures aren’t enough. You need to be able to articulate what you do, promote it, and then sell it. I’m not telling you to go out there and sell to everyone because before you do that, you need social proof… Work on your credentials first but prepare to sell – it’s imminent.
Would love to hear your experience with this! Let me know below 🙂 xx
