When I bought my first house, I went to one afternoon of showings before putting in an offer on the first one I had seen. Needless to say, patience isn’t one of my strong points (although to be fair, this was in 2020 when houses were flying off the market and I didn’t want to lose my opportunity).
Patience, however, has been one of the biggest lessons I’ve had to learn in my business. Furthermore, what I’ve learned is that when all my efforts start to feel like they’ve been in vain, then the payoff is just around the corner.
In fact, some of the efforts that I put into business development last summer are starting to come to fruition now. The list of examples just keeps going. When I started my business, I wrote my blog for 9 months before I started to see any income from it, and it wasn’t even how I expected to make money from my blog. The same thing happened when I introduced my ghostwriting services. I spent a few months trying to get my first client. I had a lot of great conversations but felt like maybe I wasn’t meant to be doing ghostwriting. When I released the pressure I was putting on myself, I got two clients within the week.
Every time I feel like I’m about to stop, the payoff is just on the other side of the resistance. So if you feel like you’ve been grinding with no success, here are some reminders to…
Stay the Course
It’s tempting to feel like maybe we aren’t meant to be doing what we’ve set out to do when it feels like nothing we are doing is working to gain traction. Frequently, new ventures are not overnight successes, and even if they are, many times there’s still an early plateau to work through.
The effort to get traction early on is normal. There’s a process in building trust and building your network. It’s tempting to think that if what we’re doing isn’t working, we need to be doing more, like being on more social media platforms. But the truth is, while it’s okay to play around and see what feels good, it’s usually most effective to hone in on one or two business development strategies and get good at those. Being spread too thin is a quick way to burn out and be less effective in your efforts.
And actually, speaking from my own experience, when I give myself the space to breathe and stop putting so much pressure on myself, I’m actually able to attract more clients. I drop the undertones of nerves and neediness and am more able to authentically go about my days.
Good things often take time. Stay the course of your dreams.
See Behind the Curtain
So often when I tell the story of how I started my copywriting business (which has now turned into my ghostwriting business), people think that it was an overnight success and that I hit a stroke of luck. Yes, when I did get my first few copywriting clients, it looked like immediate success because they rolled in quickly, but that was only the appearance on the surface.
I’d been putting in the work for several months before that. I had hired a coach, started my blog which helped me practice my writing (and putting my writing in public), practiced my mindset techniques, and learned and practiced client creation techniques. It is true that the clients rolled in quickly when I made the decision to do copywriting (although I did hit that brief plateau that I mentioned earlier), but that’s a small part of the picture. I’d been putting in the work for a long time before that.
It’s important to see behind the curtain of what we see on social media and hear on podcasts. Often what looks like a big overnight success on the surface really isn’t. That person often put in a lot of development work ahead of time, even if it was on other ventures or projects.
Be Open to the Unexpected
I’ve learned that one of the keys to the entrepreneurial journey is to focus on the “what” without being attached to the “how”.
When I first started my blog, I thought I’d make income from it with affiliate marketing. While my blog eventually became a huge source of income for me, I haven’t had any income from affiliate marketing. Instead, my blog has created revenue by being my biggest lead generator. The income comes from the new clients that I bring in who have seen my blog.
When I first decided I wanted to be a full-time writer, I thought I would author my own books and supplement that income with affiliate marketing on my blog. Today, I make money off my blog from lead generation and writing books for other authors. It turns out my vision was partially there but came to life in a different way. And the path from Point A to Point B was long and winding by trying many different options in between (coaching and copywriting).
So just know that if you’re at the point where you feel like it won’t happen, you’re probably almost there. If you’d love to chat more, feel free to book a free strategy session!
Disclaimer: This blog should not be construed as providing, or intending to provide professional financial, legal, psychological, or other professional advice. It is simply meant to share my experiences with those who may find them relatable and helpful.