Tuesday, January 02, 2007
New Year Resolutions for Self-Employed Professionals (Who Mostly Hate New Year Resolutions)
Are you getting tired of the same old resolutions: be more organized, work harder, eat healthier? Try these for a change: (1) I will claim my bragging rights. No more needless apologies or excuses. No more “This is probably a dumb question, but...” or, “I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but...” (2) I will step outside my comfort zone with at least one marketing program. I’m considering direct mail, google adwords...and maybe podcasting. Forecast: a wild ride head. (3) I will listen to my intuition more, even when I’m learning from the most brilliant, wealthy, powerful gurus on the planet. Everyone is wrong every so often. Or they’re wrong for your particular situation. Or they’re having a bad day. Here’s an exercise. Review your strategies. What’s worked best to bring clients, money, or success? I bet each one has a touch of serendipity and/or your own intuition. See http://www.cathygoodwin.com/intuitionbook.html (4) I will take at least one piece of business advice that I resist (maybe it seems counter-intuitive) and see what happens. When I first learned about copywriting, I resisted the idea of promoting myself. On a smaller but significant scale, I resisted buying a book of phrases for copywriting and using a headline generator. Now I can’t imagine life without both those tools: tiny steps with huge impact. Of course, if someone suggests you sell all your possessions and move to a tent in Idaho, I would say no. Sometimes you’re resisting for a really, really good reason. (5) I will honor what I need to stay energized and motivated. What do you need for yourself? Music? Exercise? Live performances? Movies? What chunks of time work best? I find if I steal a whole day or a full afternoon, I return energized and ready to take on most any challenge. The dog goes to daycare. She returns ready for a long, long nap, which frees me up to act on those challenges: a true win-win. Some of my colleagues and friends prefer to work non-stop for weeks and even months, then take a complete vacation. Whatever works. Do it. And send me an email if you get inspired (or outraged or anything else). You may reprint this article in an electronic medium IF you make no changes, let me know, and use this resource box: Cathy Goodwin offers copywriting and coaching to service professionals who want to increase the marketing potential of their websites. Visit http://www.copy-cat-copywriting.com Get the 7 best-kept secrets of client-attracting copy: http://www.copy-cat-copywriting.com/subscribe.html |
# posted by Cathy Goodwin @ 9:31 AM 
