Disclosure: I only recommend products/services I would use myself and feel might benefit you as well. This post contains affiliate links, and I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
At the beginning of this year, I wanted to pursue a career in writing. But where does one start to break into this field of writing as a career with a background in accounting and finance?
Not knowing where else to start, I started a blog to get my writing out into the world, practice, and hopefully start to build a following of people interested in it and hopefully make some affiliate income along the way.
Little did I know all that it would teach me about my new copywriting business. Follow me on my journey from blog to business!
Consistency
Consistency is key to really any aspect of life that you want to make progress in. Whether that’s a fitness journey, climbing the corporate ladder, starting your own business, or practicing mindfulness.
By starting a blog and committing to post it weekly, I signed up to be consistent in this practice. My followers and subscribers expected me to put a blog out every Friday. I didn’t want to let them down, and I didn’t want to be seen as flaky.
Consistency might sound easy, but the longer you try to practice it, the more difficult it gets. There might be times that you’re bored with what you committed to, and you will definitely have times where life gets busy. And, of course, there will be times that life just happens and wrecks the plans that you had.
Committing to be consistent on the blog taught me to always have a back-up plan by having extra blogs available to work with and also taught me to power through when needed. When unforeseen life circumstances or vacations have come up, the extra blogs came in clutch.
However, there’s also just sometimes that you don’t feel like doing the work. By having to be accountable to posting a blog weekly, I was able to practice getting the creative work done even when I felt “blah”.
These lessons are all crucial to starting a new business. Consistency is key in starting a new business so you don’t get distracted by the next shiny object, you get the work done no matter what, and you have back-up plans available, as needed, to keep moving forward.
Process & Structure
What’s the easiest way to be consistent?
To work within a process or structure!
It can be overwhelming to be consistent when you don’t have a process in place because your brain is trying to process both the planning and the execution of the task at hand.
While it can take some time to find out what process works for you, a process and structure will eventually allow your brain to put certain aspects of your work on autopilot.
I have a specific sequence throughout the week for the outlining, drafting, editing, and posting of my blog so that I’m not trying to figure out each day if I have time to do each activity and don’t need to panic the day before posting day. I make the time for this structure so I don’t add complication to my life.
Process and structure are key for so many reasons when starting a new business. Structure sets you up for the best success as it relates to consistency. Structure also allows your clients and co-workers to know what to expect from you. Lastly, the structure allows your brain to focus on the more complicated aspects of your business and not just how you’re going to schedule in certain activities or how you’re going to execute on something routine.
Social Media
Like it or not, social media is a necessary part of getting your talents and products out into the world to build up clients and a following.
By starting a blog, posting it each week, and using social media as a form to announce it, you learn valuable lessons about social media, how to brand, and creative ways to hook people to your content.
For me, this then led into actually putting my face on camera and creating reels around the same topics as my blog. This was helping to build my brand for my blog but also helped my followers to get to know me better.
When starting a business, it is important to allow followers and potential clients to get to know you, to broadcast your brand in a consumable way, and to educate and add value through your social media channels. Starting my blog has allowed me to easily feel more confident in these skills as I build my business and add services.
All of these are keys to any business, but especially a new business. When I gained paying clients as part of my copywriting business, I was so grateful for all the time and effort I’d put into my blog because it paid off in my copywriting work. While it’s easy to see how a blog is transferable to copywriting services, it’s really the deeper soft skills that paid off for me.
If you’d love some more consistency and structure around your content and copy, let’s chat! Feel free to message me or set up a discovery session using the button below.
Disclosure: I only recommend products/services I would use myself and feel might benefit you as well. This post contains affiliate links, and I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
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 for those that may find them relatable and helpful.