It came to me one day that changing anything in your freelance business is a bit like going on a diet. Like the health experts say: when you change your eating and exercising habits you need to set manageable and realistic goals, break down your goals into smaller tasks, track your progress and avoid making too many big changes all at once.
I’ve been a freelance writer for a few years now but it was only this January that I started worrying about things like business plans, marketing plans and so on. I’ve been lucky–I’ve had a number of clients who have given me regular work (monthly work, even) that has helped me to pay the bills. But now it’s time to think about getting ahead, not just treading water. The problem is that initially, I ignored all of the rules of dieting that are so applicable to making changes in my business.
So, when I started out, I decided that I was going to make a lot of money this year. Not exactly a manageable goal, since I didn’t even define what “a lot of money” is. Then, I panicked. Why? Because I had no idea how to go about reaching that goal, nor did I have any idea how I would know if I was even getting close to my goal or not. Finally, because of my panic, I tried to make too many big changes all at once, virtually guaranteeing that I wouldn’t be able to maintain those changes.
That’s when I started to think of changing my business as a bit like dieting. First, I have to set realistic goals. This meant coming up with a business plan (which I’m proud to say I did), and including in the business plan both yearly and quarterly goals. It meant taking abstract ideas, such as “market myself” and turning them into a series of short, manageable tasks. Those tasks include contacting clients about repeat business, setting up my website (which is further broken down into a series of smaller tasks) and becoming active on Twitter. I’ve set up calendar dates to review whether or not I’m meeting my goals.
Finally, although I’ve made some changes, I’ve made those changes slowly, over the past three months. As I’ve become used to one change, I’ve added another. For example, I used to waste a lot of time checking Facebook (I don’t want to use the word procrastination, but…). Now, I have time set aside throughout the day when I’m allowed to check it. The rest of the time, I’m focused on work. As I’ve become used to focusing my work, I’ve made changes to how I schedule my daily tasks.
Changing my freelance writing business is a bit like dieting. Now that I feel comfortable with how my business is changing, I just wish my dieting were as successful.
