On redefining hardwork, making $$ as a freelancer and the writing process
Edition #051
Hey folks, happy Sunday Monday Tuesday!
Greetings from Porto, Portugal.
I anticipated writing this weeks email at the airport on Sunday afternoon, but the excitement of travelling for the first time in almost 2 years meant I kinda forgot and the weather on Monday was too nice not to enjoy.
This week I have some great pieces to share with you...
Here are this weeks finds:
I.
🤑 On making $$$ as a freelancer / agency
(Book)
📖 Following on from last weeks theme of charging more as a freelancer, Henry recommended a fantastic book to me by Blair Enns.
Win Without Pitching is a book I wish I read as I was starting out because it would have saved me from making so many mistakes.
The book talks about positioning yourself as an expert consultant rather than pitching for work. Instead of trying to compete with other companies you should create your own little corner of expertise.
This book also has some great advice on how to sell effectively without being all salesy:
“selling, when done properly, has nothing to do with persuading. It is not our job to talk people into things.”
II.
🧠 On redefining hard work
(Tweet)
🧐 This idea from James Clear really resonated with me. As a society we're obsessed with productivity, but productivity should be a means to an end, not the end itself.
My issue with idolising productivity is that it makes us feel like we always need to be physically doing something. Whether that is replying to messages in Slack, editing a video or working on a client project. This obsession with productivity is rooted in the traditional way of working where more hours = more output.
While this is still true for manual labour jobs, often thinking is the most valuable thing we can be doing.
The problem is thinking feels well... unproductive.
Scheduling time in the calendar to go for a walk and think isn't a common practice but doing so might be the highest leverage thing you can do.
III.
📝 On the writing process
(Video)
📚 The process of writing a book fascinates me. In this video Ryan Holiday documents the process of going from idea to finished book with his latest release 'Courage is Calling'.
His process focuses on gathering all the information needed on physical notecards, this can be anything from quotes to stories or statistics. Once he has enough information he starts to write the chapters and assemble it into a cohesive story.
What stands out most about successful authors is how they just focus on getting their work done each day, piece by piece, without overwhelming themselves with all the pieces that go into publishing a book.
One interesting idea
"Your customer should be the hero of the story, not your brand. This is the secret every phenomenally successful business understands." - Donald Miller (Building a Story Brand)
End note
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Have a great week!
- Stephen