How I Stopped Listening To Experts And Started Making Money
By Christine OKelly | January 14, 2008
Hi, it seems you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed, this way, you'll stay up to date. Thanks for visiting!
When I first started in business for myself, I was utterly depressed when reading all of the “how to” information out there about what it takes to start a business. The common knowledge about what it would take to become successful seemed like it would take much more time and money than I had.
I needed money NOW and virtually had no time or money to spend on implementing the things that the “experts” said that I “should” be doing.
What bothers me so deeply about this is that there are people out there right now who desire to go into business for themselves or start a completely new type of venture that are feeling the same way. They may be reading articles and blog posts like I was about how to build and grow their businesses and feeling as if profitability is something that exists at the end of a very long tunnel that can be reached only after jumping through a series of prescribed hoops.
3 Common “Must Haves” For Starting a Business that I Don’t Buy Into
Though all of the things in this list are helpful when growing a business, they don’t have to get in the way of progress. I don’t like to think that there is a stay at home parent with great potential or a someone who has a great idea that is not putting their ideas into action out of fear that they do not have all of the pieces in place to pull the trigger. I started my freelance business with virtually nothing and then over time added more to it after things were already in motion.
Myth #1: You Must Have a Fancy Website
When I started my freelance business, I had no website - not even a blog. Nothing. That’s because in the beginning, I didn’t even intend to start a freelance writing business. I was just trying to get some paying gigs while working on a completely different idea. If I would have known that I was trying to start a full-on business, I probably would have been held back by building a website and working on all of the steps to promote it and less time getting profitable.
You may have a killer idea right now that you are not moving forward with because of fears about a website - fears like:
- I’ll never catch up to my competitors
- I don’t have the money to hire a designer/developer
- It will take months for me to build a site with all of the features others in my industry have
- I won’t have any page rank or search engine rank so what’s the point
A colleague I work with just hired a freelance writer last week that does not have any website whatsoever, but had the skills we were looking for. One of the writers that I hired for my team has no website. Another has a very basic blog and a very basic website. Nothing fancy about either - but he gets the job done and that’s what I care about. I actually like to work with up and coming writers that haven’t yet built up a corporate presence because then I can mentor them in my style of SEO copywriting and they often are hungry to work harder. There are people who will appreciate a newcomer.
If you have some technical skills when it comes to design or websites, you are lucky but in the minority. Many people are intimidated by the thought of building a website. There are plenty of tools out there that you can use to build a basic website, ecommerce site or blog with almost no technical expertise and have it up and running in a day or two.
Myth #2: You Must Have First Page Visibility on the Search Engines
I do SEO for a living, so saying that you don’t NEED search engine visibility is counterproductive to my profession. But you don’t absolutely have to have search engine visibility in order to get attract tons of business! Of course search engine visibility is going to have an impact on your business, but you can substitute creativity and networking for search engine visibility.
So far, I haven’t hired or referred a freelancer because I found them by Googling the search engine results. One of them I found through a link on a blog. A few replied to Craigslist ads. Some emailed and introduced their services. Many are referrals. Other people that I’ve hired to do jobs were people that commented on my blog. There are many, many, many ways to connect with the right people other than search engines!
Of the 14,588 visitors that have stopped by Self Made Chick this month, only a tiny fraction of them came from search engines. The rest came from referring sites and from RSS readers. Here is a snapshot from my Google Analytics account as it looks today:
Myth #3: You Must Have a Business Plan
If I could trade all of the time I have spent writing business plans in my life for something that actually generated income, I’d probably be a lot further ahead. I have been working on starting businesses part time for most of my life and most of those ideas never got out of the idea stage because I spent too much time planning and not enough time pulling the freakin’ trigger!
The last company that I worked for before going out on my own was an internet start up that generated five figures a day. The CEO was adamantly opposed to having a business plan because he said it limited the company and did not give them the freedom to be as agile as they needed to be. Creating one would have been a waste of time because as soon as it would have been completed, many things would have changed.
I’ve written 3 business plans for businesses that when absolutely nowhere. In the back of my mind, I knew that this busywork disguised as necessary work was really just a way to procrastinate from actually taking action. A plan of action is a good thing - but do you really need to spend hundreds of dollars on business plan software and days, months or years to complete a full on business plan?
What Works: Not Procrastinating and Pulling the Trigger
Even if you are in business for yourself, there is probably something that you want to take action on right now but are not moving forward with. Why? Planning is great, but over planning and over analyzing can be a mask for fear and procrastination.
Just start! This might go against the grain a bit, but I really thing it is better to get something out there - even if it is not perfect - and then build upon it. If you are always striving for something better, than in theory, your business will never be exactly where you want it to be. There is always time to improve, but the harder part is taking that first step to start.
When I started this blog, it wasn’t exactly how I wanted it but I wanted to get it going. I was 5 weeks into it and had 144 subscribers before I brought Jonathan on board to put in some of the social plugins I wanted.
Though lots of people poke fun of free templates (love ya Naomi!), I used one and it may be a a while before I get a custom design in place. If I would have waited, I still may not have this blog up and going because there would have been no momentum to build on. There are plenty of blogs and websites out there with expensive custom designs that aren’t producing crap and lots of ugly ones that are serving their purpose just fine.
It would be great to have all the money and resources in the world to do whatever you wanted to best possible extreme - but what if this is not within your current means? What if you just got laid off and now is your chance to start a business that you’ve been thinking about for years? What if you just want to test out a market with a blog or a website or an idea before you sink a bunch of cash into it? You don’t NEED to wait until everything is perfect to take some form of action that is beyond planning and analyzing.
By just taking little actions every single day with the resources you have, you can build something substantial.
What Does It REALLY Mean To Pull The Trigger?
Put yourself to this challenge - no matter where you are in the game, imagine that you launched your online business tomorrow and you got an order. What would you need to deliver on that order? THAT is what you need to work on to pull the trigger. Everything else is just busywork that can be filled in later. Instead of spending time doing tasks that solve HOW you are going to get the business (that will come) spend time doing tasks that solve WHAT you need to do to deliver.
I’ll bet there were times in your life where you had a ridiculously short deadline to get something finished - but you got it done anyway. That’s because when our a** is really to the fire, it is amazing what we can accomplish!
Pulling the trigger is supposed to feel terrifying! I think that anyone that says otherwise is either not being completely honest or hasn’t challenged themselves enough. These people that accomplish big things don’t get to the point where they feel comfortable pulling the trigger - they just have become ok with feeling uncomfortable.
Let’s say you had 24 hours to deliver on your obligation that you now have a request for. What would you do? Then call in from work, tell all your clients that you are taking the day off, put on a pot of coffee and get it done. You will quickly discover all of your fears but then work through them. The process will be challenging and liberating and get you further ahead than you may have ever believed possible!
Topics: Business Development, Freelancer Tips, Uncategorized |
59 Comments »
« The One Word That Helped My Blog Grow To 800+ Subscribers in 17 Weeks | Home | How I Ditched My Job and Never Had To Come Crawling Back »
This is a great post. I have recently started to get the ball rolling for a few business ideas - I have been sitting, waiting, trying to get things “just perfect”. Procrastinating…
Yesterday, I met an old business associate and he handed me his business card. He is very well connected.
At that moment, I wished I had been able to hand him my business card - or anything - for my new business, rather than having the “perfect design”. So yesterday afternoon I set about “just doing it”. I sketched out a business card and will print them tonight.
This, I think, is a good example of why ACTION is so important.
Thanks again for the words - Brett
Wow! You nailed me. I’ve been thinking about getting some business cards printed and I guess I need to just follow your example. GO GET IT DONE!
Ron
Right on! I know that what I have now is not “the best” but it is better than what I didn’t have, when I needed it. I hope that it works as well for you.
BTW Ron, I’ve just been looking at your site, very nice work. I like your post on “How to Develop Discipline”. I guess this is pretty much what I do but I’ve written this in my journal as a reminder. I especially like the “don’t break the chain” part, I do this with a wall calendar and it really works.
Hi Brett! Your comment has inspired me so much that I went back in and added another section to this post.
It’s funny… getting business cards was one of the things that I was going to add to this post - but then I took it out and now I wish I hadn’t!
Almost every ‘how to’ list about starting a business will tell you to get business cards. When I was 20, I spent $300 on some amazing business cards - they were beautiful! I guess I thought that having business cards would make the business more “real”
Then, after I gave out about 10 of them, I realized that I really wasn’t into the business. I’ve never bought business cards since.
I know one person that has about 15 sets of business cards for businesses that he is not even pursuing! That’s because every time he had an idea, the first thing he did was get business cards rather than building the business.
I’m not saying that business cards are not important or that we don’t need them. It can be a good way to solidify the idea. The rest of my comment is in the last part of this post.
Thank you so much for sharing - I wish you the very best with this venture - keep us posted on the outcome!!
Hi Christine - you are very welcome! I couldn’t help but comment here, as this post really encouraged me - it let me know I’m on the right track.
I have a plan - I’m sticking to it, but also moving NOW rather than planning planning planning all the time. I will definitely be hanging around here and a few other places (Hi Naomi!) to keep you all posted - with some hard work, it will come together.
One other post you made back in September 2007 that really got to me - replacing “can’t” with “won’t”.
That was so powerful. I have heard my young children say they “can’t” do something - but usually it is because they “won’t” - often because they are afraid to try, to fail. And then I’ve heard myself say it. I used to say “I can’t because I’m not ready”. Really I was saying “I won’t” - well, why not?
No good reason I have been able to find. Just do it now, and adjust as necessary.
Right on. There’s that lovely phrase again: Pull the trigger. Love it. This reminds me of Anthony Robbins’ speech at TED (you can easily find it online) and he talked about the difference between resources (which is what most people think they need and make excuses about) and resourcefulness (the real success factor).
Thanks for letting me know about this speech Michael - I’m definitely going to go find that one online.
@ Michael - I just checked back at your blog now, and thanks for the encouragement!
2008 will be the year to break free for me. Robbins is right. People already have all the resources they need, or they can get them.
thanks christine, i now feel like a loser. i have that pull the fucking trigger phobia, but i have started a blog (free template) because i like to write, unfortunately i try and make my living as a graphic designer.
oh and i am also lazy which isn’t good when you are a freelancer.
Lol - Micheal Brito you’re awesome. I love your blog (all - check out the about page on this blog - it’s great!)
Believe me, I understand pull the trigger phobia. I thought about something for 13 freakin’ years before I finally decided to pull the trigger. I procrastinated by writing business plans and making Excel spreadsheets and contacting vendors for glossy product catalogs. Then once I got it in my mind that I was going to take action, I completed the entire thing in a week and now it is in motion.
This is the “ready, fire, aim” approach. Or more accurately, “ready, fire, aim, fire, aim, fire…”
What most people do is “ready, aim, aim, aim…” and never pull the darn trigger! It’s OK to get started before you’re perfect–Christine gave you permission
As Tom Peters says: “FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!”
Great point about the search engine thing…I do SEO and copywriting for it as well, and I’ve had people say “Well, you don’t show up for your keywords.”
Well yeah, because it was never my site’s function to attract new prospects via search. If they find me somehow, that’s an added bonus, but it’s certainly not the intent.
PERFECT example Susan! I know MANY very effective SEO’s that are so busy making progress for their clients that they haven’t even spent much time optimizing their own websites - they don’t need to! Sure, they could and want to, but that’s not the point. The point is that even if you are offering SEO, you don’t need a first page search engine ranking.
Think about it… there are 10 spots on the first page of Google and millions of businesses making money. Obviously, you do not absolutely need to have a high search engine ranking in order to become profitable. It certainly helps - but that’s something you can work on later!
Thanks for sharing!
Once again another great post. “Not Procrastinating and Pulling the Trigger” is truly a great outlook. I believe that I must have a bias for action, to do something every single day to move me in the direction of my goals, and to never skip a day.
Thanks for another inspirational post Christine!
This is a great post! I started my own business a few months ago and still do not have a website (of course a lot of that is mere procrastination). I use my blog to promote myself, as well as word of mouth and referrals from influential individuals around my local area. Thanks for the post!
Hi Christine,
I swear, I don’t want to look like I’m making excuses but your sites really are different.
The problem is that most of them aren’t. I’ve had a lot of people email me or comment or whatever saying, “Oh yeah? Well look at this free template! It’s not ugly! So there!” I’m not going to disagree. Unfortunately, though, I’m not really able to prove the point from that post without taking some poor blogger and showing all of my readers their site and saying, “See? Look how ugly this poor schmuck’s site is!!! Haha!” It’s not fair, and that’s not what I’m trying to do. The problem is, people want proof and I’m not comfortable giving it to them. Yes, I talk a lot of shit on my site but I try not to talk it about innocent individuals who don’t deserve it.
The reality is that the overwhelming majority of sites I see have MAJOR flaws, ones that cannot be explained away by “Oops, I’m new.” The kind of flaws that would make most web savvy readers leave without reading or buying. You, along with everyone else who’s called me out on this, are right. Sometimes it works. I didn’t say it didn’t, and neither did the web designers who came to comment. It’s just that usually it doesn’t work and it’s tragic to see that happen.
And while I’m rambling in your comments, I agree with the lack of website thing. I got a lot of freelance work before I ever had a website, as have many people. It’s a shame that in their zeal to “have a web presence”, many business owners are shooting themselves in the foot in a way they would never consider with offline media. When a perfectly competent businessperson orders brochures and they’re ugly, they send them back. When they “order” a website and it’s ugly, they throw up their hands and say, “we can’t afford anything better”. I think that’s really sad.
What I tell people is “it looks great on 5,000 other bogs, too.”
I completely see your point Michael and Naomi. But I think there are a lot of really great free templates out there that aren’t run of the mill if you really dig for them. I think it’s ok to start with (or even keep) a free one - especially because most blogs don’t last! A lot of people want to try it out and see if it sticks before investing a bunch of money into a template.
Now that I’ve had this one for a while… it has kind of grown on me! There are things about it that I’d like to change… but it’s kind of become “home.”
I think of it this way… a lot of stores have the same basic look on the outside… but the signage and what’s inside makes it completely different from the guy next door.
You guys rock and I appreciate your perspective 100%. My thing is that I don’t want to see someone holding back from pursuing their ideas or goals because of some template - just go for it!
Oh, I don’t want to see that either. In fact, I still do this myself! But I know that in the future, I will put the work into a custom design.
I have hardly seen anyone using your template, Christine. I now identify it with you, and on the rare instance I see someone else using it I think “hey, that’s Christine’s template!”
I know many people stuck in figuring out how to do things they never get them done. They spend more time on tracking how they spend their time, then wonder why they aren’t getting business. They live in a world of “what if”. I was once that person who thought things had to be perfect before starting. Then I started taking action and realized the only way for me to learn and improve is to do. I once was afraid of action and now it energizes me.
I love this quote, too, by Thomas Edison:
“The value of an idea lies in the using of it.”
That is a great quote Stacey! Once you get into the swing of taking action, it really becomes addictive and exciting - everyone has great ideas. Acting on them takes guts and will set you apart from 99% of the rest of the people. It’s so easy when you look at it that way!
Great to meet you and I’m glad I found your blog. Just by reading your intro, I can tell that I will learn a lot from you ~
Thank you and glad to meet you, too. I recently found your blog and it’s been very helfpul. I passed it on to some fellow bloggers I think will enjoy it, too.
Great stuff, C.
Bottom line: Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
This is a great post and things like this really spoke to me at the end of last year where I found myself being in awe of people blogging about their passions and interest and getting genuine conversations started and meeting people. In October I finally took the plunge in the blogosphere and I wouldn’t trade it for the world - the great people I’ve met and the ideas that have been generated since then have been priceless!
Great advice here! I think another big one is that you have to have funding - I think you can start pretty much any business that doesn’t require a storefront with 1k. Yes you will have to be creative, buy used or find it free, etc.
My rule is to never buy anything for my business until I need it. For example, I still don’t have checks or manilla envelopes! I’ve found that I can pay all my bills online and pay contractors through paypal, so I haven’t needed to buy checks. And so far I’ve never had to send anything in a big manilla envelope. Most people would consider these basics when establishing their office - but all those little things add up and people would be surprised at how many things you don’t actually need.
Yes Laura! I am with you here. I built a website for one startup that could have started on a dime, but instead sunk tens of thousand of dollars into “stuff” they didn’t really need. They got a fancy office, fixed it up, installed a high-tech phone system - and probably all of the other things you mention here plus more.
Less than 2 years after the launch, I got a call from the CEO saying that he had fired everyone and was shutting down the business because the concept just wasn’t working. They could have saved themselves a lot of money if only they would have subscribed to your philosophy of getting only what they needed when they needed it.
I concur about the first page visibility. I do SEO for a living, and I know of several instances in which a business could do well in other areas of internet marketing (and business in general) without a #1 slot. Whether or not you can succeed without a #1 position depends on the kind of business and a bunch of other factors.
Hey Christine! Thanks a lot for the mention in your post! (so when do you want me to start re-designing your blog?
)
I’m sooo with you on #3, I had a project once where I spent probably 4-6 weeks intensively developing a business plan and marketing strategy.. blah blah blah…, only to realize someone else started something very similar to what I was about to launch… about 2 weeks before I was done with my business plan… no need to say I was pissed! Now I’m more like ‘let’s do this, and tweak things later’. I realized all I needed was a basic plan, put things into action, and then re-evaluate. So many things can happen (real fast) when you work online, you have to adjust almost every day. So yeah all this to say this was a great post!
This post really resonated with me, Christine.
After having started, run, and sold a couple of successful businesses, and within the last few years bought BACK a business I’d sold five years prior, I find that your comments ring true.
In my opinion, if you’re not following the ready-fire-aim approach to starting and growing a business, you oughta be working for someone who does.
Overplanning kills just about everything great. Get out there and make some mistakes.
Michael Werner
Great post Christine!
I definitely need to just ‘pull the trigger’ sometimes and get over my perfectionist tendencies. I feel that alot of the time, procrastination has much more to do with insecurities than the actual work itself. This post definitely pinpointed several negative beliefs that I needed to shed.
Great article and keep up the great work! 1000 is right around the corner!
Hi Christine. Great post. I found my way to your blog today, and am so glad I did. Your blog is really enjoyable. This one discovery has made the day worthwhile. Great stuff, truly great stuff. I’ve of course bookmarked you, and certainly plan to return often (and hopefully bring friends)!
Take Care.
Kimberly
Hi Christine,
Thank you for telling it like it is. I totally understand exactly where you are coming form. I have got the hitched for business a little over 4 years now and in that short space of time I have bought so many how tos and I have pulled the trigger on 3 businesses that failed. To make a long story short, I have done all the myth that you have listed and I have done them to such a degree that I am now broke and losing all my assets. In all and all I want to say that I did now better but I keep thinking that if I do it right I would be successful. How wrong I was.
Thanks for the sage advices.
Christine,
I love your blog and I’ve gotten so much out of each post- thank you.
I want to comment on having a nice website because it really depends what business you are in. What I do is very visual and I refused to proceed until I had a nice looking site. A website gives a first impression of you and how you present yourself to the market, and I think that is critical. I know whenever I go to a website that looks “ugly” I instantly wonder how legitimate the business is and why that person would want to give a less-than-professional impression.
I do agree that not having a site shouldn’t stop anyone from starting. But I would say no site at all is better than having an “ugly” one that doesn’t serve its purpose.
Torrie - your point makes perfect sense. If visual design and creativity is what you are selling, then it makes sense to spend time/money on this good design. Great point!
Christine - thank you so much for your post. It helped inspire the writing of my last post yesterday, “Reminders” and I put a link to your post on it. I took a little different approach but to me the main message was to put it out there - take action. You never know what’s possible if you don’t take the first step and then the steps get easier after that.
I don’t know if my site is ugly or not - I took action by starting with a free one. I can see in the not too distant future I’ll be looking into something different - maybe Wordpress instead of Blogger.
Wishing you much, much more success and look forward to more information coming our way.
As always, enjoy your information and the comments.
Pat - your site is certainly not ugly. It is definitely one thing that mine is not (yet) - it is out there, and that is important. So many - like me - have probably thought about doing this, and then not.
You are an inspiration, because you are doing it. You are an inspiration, to people like me. I will put my words out there - soon - very soon.
Pat - I second Brett’s opinion! I don’t think your blog is ugly at all. The really important thing is that you like it and are out there sharing your story.
Brett and Christine - thank you for your comments. I am happy with my site and believe it’s serving others. As I go along, I’ll learn more about web presence and how to eliminate the flaws that web savvy readers pick out right away.
Keep doing what you’re doing Christine. It’s great and you’re a testimony on “how to do it” and “getting it done”.
Another great and informative post. It kind of reminded me of some thoughts I have had about goals lately.
I’ve noticed that when it comes to life changing goals people often mistakenly create hard, fact based goals instead of concentrating on the more abstract change they are aiming for. A classic example is weight lose. People usually want to lose weight so they can be healthier, but often people get bogged down because they create goals like “I must lose 50 pounds in 3 months” or “I must go to the gym 5 times a week.” These goals are usually very hard to keep up with and, in reality, aren’t what is needed to achieve the real overall goal. These people should, instead, focus on making general life changes that will positively impact them. Starting a business is similar, as demonstrated by your list of “must haves”
In some situations, I’m trigger-happy before I’m plan ready!
This leaves me doing clean up occasionally. I’m learning to slow down a bit and think things through.
Last fall, I was in a situation where I had to make a decision about going forth with an event in a short amount of time. I pulled the trigger on that one (eyes closed and heart in my hands) and my non-profit organization ended up producing one of our best events ever.
By current business developed from the work that I was doing in my own websites. When I decided to go this route, I was immediately presented with the brilliant ideas and operations of others.
Honestly, I get more enjoyment out of working on others projects/businesses than I do my own. I have finally reached the place where I love what I do and I do what I love.
[…] listening to so called “experts” and start doing what you know to do from the heart. It is good to learn from people who are […]
Great post! Most people rally do have fears about “pulling the trigger” and just sit there worrying that their attempt won’t be good enough, rather than trying and seeing what happens.
I was pretty much forced into “pulling the trigger” with my own business; I was so stone-broke in college that I had to just slap it together and run with it. While I wish I’d done some things differently in those early days, it’s been years and I’m still going strong. If I had waiting until things were just right, I never would be where I am today.
While I agree that you certainly don’t need a “fancy” website by any means, I do think that you should have a nice website, especially if your website if the first “face” of your business that customers will see. If your business website is hosted on Geocities, and looks like MySpace puked on it, it’s less likely to be the big break you’re hoping for, because potential customers can think that you’re not willing to put any time/money/effort into your own site, so how much time/money/effort would you be willing to put into the product that you want them to trade their hard-earned money for?
You certainly can’t wait until things are “perfect” or else you’ll be waiting around forever, but it’s worth it to spend at least 3 seconds planning and aim a little higher than “at least it’s a website”. As you said, there’s plenty of resources out there so people can get started quickly. ^_^
[…] first Blogger, from SelfMadeChick.com, Christine O’ Kelly, had wrote a Blog Post about how we need to stop listening to Experts and start making some money. She made a very good […]
What a great post! I agree with you completely. While having a website and a business plan will help you longer terms - it’s more important to just get started!
What I would add though - is a network of mentors, especially those who work in the field you’re trying to get into, or that have at least started their own businesses. While they can help you start the businesss they will also be able to send you referals too.
The way you presented the topic is very much attractive.After reading your blog I have set my goal.
Thanks a lot for educating.
I just discovered your blog yesterday and love what you have here. This is a great post. Up until three months ago, I had no web presence at all…and I’ve freelanced for over 10 years! In my niche (animation) it’s all about relationships and who you know.
Now that I’m looking in other directions (my brain is still full of ideas) I decided to just do something and start a blog. Yes, the free template kind…but it works for now and with low cost. Just the start of a bigger plan (I hope).
Here’s a little tip about business cards: (I also have a background in graphic design, so keep that in mind). I create some cards in photoshop on a 4 X 6 hi-rez document. Two cards on the space with crop marks right there. Then I get them printed at my neighborhood photo place for 29 cents a print. I only print maybe 10-20 at a time. Then I cut them out with an x-acto knife and ruler by hand!
They look great…full color, glossy and oh-so-cheap for a short run. Then if I change anything, not a lot is wasted and just print some more as needed. Great for starting out. Hope this helps someone else.
Thanks for sharing your story Karen! More proof that you don’t NEED to have a website in order to have a successful and profitable freelancing business! Of course it’s good to have one, but as you say, relationships are everything. I would take a few solid relationships over a great website any day.
Excellent idea about the cards! My problem is that when I try to design them, they don’t always turn out looking so nice… What are the measurements for a business card anyway? Where are you supposed to put the crop lines?
Thanks again for sharing your story and great ideas!
Hi again. I whipped up a sample like I’ve used for one of my cards and put it up here: http://www.karenjlloyd.com/card/KJLBusCard.jpg
(if that link show’s up) It’s low rez…but just an example. The photo is 4×6″. A business card is 2″x3.5″…so that’s where you line up the crop marks to.
Since I’m using a photo, I extend the image past the crop marks so when I cut it, you don’t get white lines if you don’t cut perfect. (That’s called a bleed).
Hope this helps a bit. Maybe I should create a little tutorial and put it up on my site one of these days!
Wow - Thank you for these tips Karen! I agree - a tutorial like this would be great - even as an ebook! (see the current post on 1/22). You could include templates and some design advice - there are opportunities everywhere!
Hi Christine,
Just discovered your blog through Gratitude-Magic and am loving the wisdom here. Thank you for busting these myths which hold many back from going for it.
Kristen - I’m so glad you’re finding insight here to help you! That is my goal with this blog so hearing this makes my day! There is so much rhetoric out there that it can be discouraging to find ideas that really work. I think keeping your eyes and ears open, but ultimately searching for solutions inside yourself is the the only way to truly grow and thrive.
Great post - you can spend too much time on doing all these things before you start and not get your business off the ground.
I believe a business needs a plan. But it doesn’t need to be complicated - especially if you’re just writing it for yourself. Some of the special software you can get would take weeks to fill out.
Thank you Catherine! I agree - a business does need a plan but it doesn’t have to be as complicated as most of us make it. Sometimes you have to get in there and try things and make mistakes and see the reaction from people before you really know which direction the plan should take.
I’ve had experiences with some of the ’special software’ you talking about that can take weeks to complete - especially business plan software! I found myself making stuff up just to fill in the blanks… how useful is that!?!?
Thanks for sharing!
Christine
Couldn’t agree more. Love your site and I’m bookmarking it. Here’s what I’ve learned as a freelancer:
* If you’re going to be the type that takes too long to decide if you want to do this business, and do research for a year, then you’re not ready for this.
* I had to form two mildly successful one-person startups and have them fail before I could get to the confidence level I have now with my current business. I’m now doing extremely well. Once you get “startup” in your bloodstream, it’s tough to shake it. It infects your ability to do a normal day job ever again. And just think, all these businesses that “sheeple” work for — they all started with a one-person startup, and that person’s goal was to get “sheeple” to make money for him. Which person do you want to be?
* If you haven’t saved up 3 months’ salary, don’t form your own business. If you have no choice, then do it with gusto, sink or swim. Zig Ziglar and other motivational videos on YouTube are a big help.
* Think of fear like a beautiful deer on the road. You love it and don’t want to hurt it. Good. Now run over it and backwards again with your car or SUV in your mind. That’s the attitude you need every week when you go looking for clients or you fear you won’t pay the bills. If you’re going to have to cry or get scared or ask a relative or friend for cash to help make a payment, you’re already losing the battle. You make things happen, not others.
* Some things you just don’t learn until you jump head first into your business model of choice. So, given that, there’s no way possible to prepare for all the obstacles of a home-based business than to just simply do it.
* In daily decisions, your first gut feeling is usually fairly close to the right track. However, take a moment on risky decisions to at least give that decision 24 hours if possible, 6 hours minimum.
* Going to the bookstore and purchasing a few books with titles like “How to start a business in ___ state” are a great idea. They help you understand what you can and cannot do, and are very important so that you understand law and accounting.
* Lawyers and accountants can be scammers, unfortunately. I’ve never met one that gave me advice that didn’t turn around to bill me, even when I had the impression they would not. I even signed up with an accountant once for my business who kept calling me out of the blue, asking me how I was doing, and giving me advice or suggesting I meet with others similar to me in order to market my ideas. Sounds great and all, but then, without me knowing, he slipped me a bill of $400 after two months of this. Not fair!
* The trick is to get ahead of your bills by a few months. The good news, though, is that as a person working from home with clients over the Internet, you can often make 3x any normal day job salary, or, you could just work 6-7 months and take the rest of the year off, or work out any kind of vacation + learning/training plan that you want. Think about how much a day job employer abuses you. You can work in that cubicle or half-cubicle job, being given 3x your normal work, and you have to sit there and take it. But when you are a freelancer, you can do double, triple, and quadruple-book your month with clients and you reap the reward if you can handle the load. In my case, I’m working projects in two-week spans for clients, doing 2 clients a week, and in a given month I’m earning $10-$12K. Now imagine what will happen when I start hedging my bets by getting website projects up for Affiliate Marketing and I’m getting paid in auto-pilot? It will be even better. Some AMers pay off their house in the second year of operation!
* You don’t need to show someone a business plan if you don’t plan on getting any venture capital or loans, and I don’t recommend you do that. Don’t ask for favors, and don’t create a business plan. Instead, let your business plan grow organically, shedding leaves as they die, or nurturing roots that seem to thrive.
* Seek out our competition for mentoring advice. You’ll be surprised how friendly they are and how eager they seem to want to give you advice.
* Got a great website idea that seems to generate a little AM cash? Great, improve it a great deal, make it easy for admins to administer and programmers to install or customize, and syndicate it. I mean, sell it as a “site script” as is with a 30 day money back guarantee, provide a wiki and tweak script upload area so that users provide their own tech support, and sell add-on modules that make it even better. You’ll earn far more reliable cash with this than if you had simply focused on the AM for it. Then, turn around, fork it into another project that’s somewhat different, and resell it again as another sitescript.
Wow Super Mike! Thanks for sharing so much incredible insight about your experience as a freelancer!
I don’t remember who exactly said this quote. “If you want to succeed, look at what others are doing and then do the opposite” though I have a suspicion that its Dan Kennedy’s one of fav sayings.
Most people think and mull over one decision and then some more…
Super Mike’s analysis and pointers are spot on…
I believe If you read NO BS Business by Dan Kennedy You are pretty much ready for jumping into freelancing/business.
I haven’t heard of the book NO BS Business - that is definitely going on my reading list! Thanks Varan