One Victory
Recently, I was talking to a few guys who wanted to get started as writers or other types of freelancers. All of them had some big questions. I remember that when I was a younger man, I used to be full of the big questions.
There are a lot of people who get into entrepreneurship because they love strategy and big ideas. I was one of them. I still am.
However, big questions rarely give good answers.
There’s no point in thinking about the tax implications of being a millionaire when you’ve yet to make a dollar. There’s no point in worrying about what you’re going to do when you run out of customers before you’ve even found your first one.
There’s no point in worrying about your legacy or people defining you by a success or a failure. If you fail at the first hurdle, nobody is going to notice. Trust me on this.
So what is my advice to guys who – like me – are big picture guys who have to drill down to the small questions and give them answers?
Well, that’s what I’m going to answer in this article. But first, a caveat.
The Caveat
This is something I’m constantly working on. I’m not a guru, and when it comes to psychology, I’d be wary of anyone who is a guru.
As such, take this advice and actually test it out while working out how you work as well.
Side note: I’ve found that for understanding your cognitive functioning, the MBTI is the best place to start.
Getting To The Small Questions
Remember the guys I was talking to about their freelance work?
Their big questions and ideas were not so great, and the reason isn’t that the guys were in the wrong to offer their services. The reason is that entrepreneurship and freelance work is about asking small questions and solving small problems.
One of the guys I spoke to wanted advice on how to pitch to clients. He gave me an example of his pitch.
It was quite clever. It was sarcastic, funny and it was a real meta-pitch that poked fun at itself, the freelancer himself and copywriting itself.
It was never going to work.
I’ve said elsewhere on this site that a good freelance service does three things:
- It provides a high quality service
- It provides a relative service
- It does it to specification, on time and without fuss
When you’re cold approaching a potential client, those are the things you need to concentrate on. Nothing else. When you have a ton of clients, then maybe you can try with quirky stuff, but until then, concentrate on solving the real, small problem.
You don’t have any clients. A potential client has a problem to solve. Can you do that? How?
Side Note: a lot of people try the “meta” thing. Unless you’re a gifted satirist and you’re trying to sell satire, don’t. Starting a sales letter with, “I bet you’re thinking, “Not another sales letter!” aren’t you?” sounds clever in your head. In practice, it’s terrible. It’s like a 14 year old girl saying, “I’m so, so crazy, aren’t I?”
What’s the Best Goal For Any New Endeavour?
One victory.
There are countless things that you can try as a business person. There are countless services you can offer or products you can make.
There are tons of things that you’ll have to remember, take into account and keep an account of.
There are going to be days when you have no customers. There are going to be days when you have bad customers. There are going to be days when you have so much work to do, you’re going to feel like you want to explode.
Thinking about the limitless possibilities that exist in front of you is great when you’re listening to one of those self-help CDs, but when it comes to starting a business it’s a trap.
Concentrate on achieving a simple and single victory. It might be something small like a $10 writing job. It might be getting your website up and running. It might be learning a new skill or solving a quick problem.
Whatever it is, get that little victory out of the way.
The Effect Of Winning A Single Victory
We’ve haphazardly come back around to the point. The effect of a single victory is huge, and just a small thing will stick in your head and propel you forwards.
I remember with crystal-clarity the first affiliate sale I made. I made $0.44.
I remember my first freelance writing article gig. I made $4.
I remember the first time I made a profitable website.
I also remember a ton of failures, but they’re less clear in my mind because they aren’t as important. That’s why you need to seek small victories. They cloud out the insecurities and failures.
Of course, big victories are great. However, they are few and far between, especially when you start. If you start small, then you can create daily victories.
A victory a day keeps more than the doctor away. It creates an incredible amount of positive feedback and literally rewires your brain.
Seek small victories to start with.
Also: Gamification. It’s important. Turn everything into a game, and you can win at things that aren’t winnable.