Posted on Monday, 22nd June 2009 by CopywritingCat
When you seek advice about your business, you need useful encouragement and solid information. In my experience, most coaches and consultants have integrity. They deliver what they believe to be good advice and they maintain confidentiality.
But coaches and consultants, like everyone else, have value systems. Their beliefs may work for them and for many of their clients. But when you follow this advice, you are diving into danger.
For example:
“Just dive in and don’t think too much about the outcome.”
Every so often a client hires me for a copywriting project that’s half-formulated. They often say, “Frankly, I am a little scared. How do I know there’s a market for what I offer?”
Good question. Before throwing time, money and energy at a project, make a calculated assessment of the payoff. Don’t be guided by enthusiasm of a friend or mentor who says, “I bet there’s a market for…” Do your own research and due diligence.
“If other people can have a successful business, you can too.”
You may be smarter, more creative and more energetic than your friend James, but James may have that special spark that makes him a successful entrepreneur. James may have a truly supportive friend or family, a trust fund that gives him ten years to get the business going, or a charismatic personality that draws people to him.
I once had a colleague who would get calls about consulting whenever he gave a talk to a group or even a college class. He had a unique combination of confidence and charm. To be honest, I don’t know why he was so successful. But I do know that, unless those “other people” strongly resemble you, they are irrelevant.
If you feel energized about your goal, you will be successful.
This one is half right. You need lots of energy to be successful. But you may be spinning your wheels energetically, expending effort on activities that will not lead to clients and income.
Richard was determined to do something entrepreneurial so he got his fingers in half a dozen pieces. He purchased an assessment tool to measure job stress, he kept books for a few companies, and he wrote marketing plans.
Richard loved his work. He just wasn’t very good at what he did. Nobody was interested the job stress scale, CPAs were flown in to save clients from his creative accounting, and his marketing plans read like undergraduate term projects. Richard never lost energy, hope or (sadly) his dream.
Discover how to choose a mentor who leads you to success, not to the brink of disaster::
<a href=”http://www.copy-cat-copywriting.com/mentorbook.html”> Choose Your Mentor </a>
Comments (0)
Posted in mentors, website marketing
