I have a question for you … Are you still afraid to jump 100 percent into the writer’s life?
Do you feel like you’re a great writer, but something is holding you back? Do you find yourself not taking action to find clients?
If you said yes, you might be missing one of three vital skill sets. According to multimillionaire business coach Dani Johnson, author of First Steps to Wealth, there are three skill sets you must master to succeed:
1. Professional Skills
This is your profession’s basics. For a writer, that might be writing a killer headline … finding the “big idea” for a promotion … or crafting intriguing bullets. Anything that gets results for their clients, whether that’s increased sales, more visits to their website, or whatever.
If your skills are at a high level, you’ll make more money. Skill is what separates the professionals from the amateurs. More clients will hire you. You’ll be paid more per project.
Professional skills are easy to improve. All you have to do is study and practice. The more you learn, the more experience you earn … the better you’ll be.
For example, if you choose to specialize in autoresponders, you’ll be able to focus all your attention in that area – studying, practicing, and increasing your skill in writing autoresponders – and multiplying your pay per project.
If you’re serious about working as a freelancer, don’t delay in working to improve your skills. It’ll have a tremendous effect on your bottom line.
2. Personal and Leadership Development Skills
How often have you thought, “I’m scared to call Client X”?
Those feelings aren’t a reflection of your talent and professional skills. They mean your personal development skills – like confidence, mindset, and attitude – aren’t as strong as they could be.
Johnson says, “If you have a low level of personal development, you are only going to surrender to however you are feeling at a certain moment, such as ‘I feel afraid today’ or ‘I feel worthless today’ or ‘I don’t feel like things are going to work out today.’ Those kinds of feelings do not pay.”
If you’re feeling worried, scared, or discouraged, it’s not time to give up. It just means you need to work on yourself to increase your confidence. You could:
- Work with someone who has already been successful to create a full goal plan to reach your goal of becoming a successful writer. Then just take one step after another. Ignore your fear and just do the next thing on your list.
- Work with your peers to get feedback on your writing. When you hear other people compliment your abilities, you’ll believe it yourself.
- Work on smaller projects for local businesses or offer to do some pro bono work for a charity you care about. This will give you some experience and samples – and you’ll gain confidence when you see businesses and organizations getting results because of your effort.
3. People Skills
Writers who get along with clients, network with fellow writers with ease, and work well with everyone they come in contact with … succeed. Because they are a pleasure to work with, they get referrals and are in demand. As a result, they can increase their rates.
Why?
Because they understand that they are people working with people. Their clients want to be treated nicely and feel like they are more than the next paycheck for the writer.
By learning to communicate with people effectively, you’ll find they want to work with you.
As a copywriter who specializes in the personal development industry, I’m always poring over courses, programs, and books in my niche to increase my skills in various areas that can help my career.
Later, I’ll share some of the techniques and strategies I’ve learned recently to get you moving toward mastering what I consider the three most important skill sets: professional skills, personal and leadership development skills, and people skills.
If you have any techniques for increasing these skills, I’d love to hear about them. Comment below to join the discussion …
