Invitation to A Paradigm Shift

Stop Worrying About Starving and Start Focusing on Being Well-Fed!

By Peter Bowerman

You’re invited to a paradigm shift. Not a huge one or one that will force you to change your religion or anything. I want you to start thinking about the commercial writing business from a very different perspective than you might be. I came to this idea after getting a fairly steady stream of e-mails (during the dark economic days…) from people asking, 1) if I thought this was a good or bad time to build the business (HINT: whichever you think it is, you’re right), 2) whether businesses, large and small, were doing more or less outsourcing of writing, or 3) whether “someone like me with (X) skills and experience” can make a go of this or not, etc.

Whether you’re brand new to the biz or a seasoned pro struggling with some slower times, I invite you to stop focusing on these issues (sure, if you have no or virtually no portfolio, you WILL need to build one). I know. We all want some reassurance that we’re headed in the right direction and that things will work out. I understand, better than most, that it’s only human to want to quantify new or challenging scenarios as much as possible. And I’m also here to tell you newer folks (and the veterans will agree) that you can’t know everything you’d like to know about how it’s all going to turn out. Much of the knowledge you seek, by definition, will come in time, with experience. As for the experienced crowd, you also know that it never hurts to be reminded of the basics.

So, whichever camp you’re in, I invite you to shift your focus away from the usual concerns about the economy, or “business trends” in general, and instead, rely on,
1) what you know your strengths to be, and, 2) a powerful and immutable fact about this business: There will ALWAYS be a demand for good writing. All businesses will ALWAYS be in the market for a service that can improve, clarify, enhance, focus, and simplify the messages they put out to their marketplace through the VAST volume and range of written materials they create on a daily basis. The day they don’t need that anymore will never come. IF they want to stay in business, that is.

Sure, some won’t recognize that need (that’s our job). But many will and then it’s simply a question of “how.” Some will do it in-house. Some will hire an agency. And some (a growing number) will hire a freelancer. But not if they don’t know you exist. As hockey legend Wayne Gretzky famously observed, “I miss 100% of the shots I never take.”

Don’t take your cues from someone else’s opinion, spin, or worldview. Find out for yourself. I can’t believe how many notes I get from people asking if there’s business in THEIR town. I have no idea. Why don’t you make some calls and find out? Why would you trust me to say yes or no?

Control the things you can control: What your portfolio looks like (get it up to snuff if it’s not). What you say to someone when you call. How you react to setbacks. The number of calls you make every day. The amount of hours you devote to building the business. The speed at which you build the business.

By the same token, forget the things you can’t control: The number of people with whom you’ll actually have conversations if you make X# of calls. What that person on the other end of the line says when you call. Whether or not they decide that your current portfolio is strong enough to hire you. It either will be or it won’t. If it is, great. If it isn’t, move on. Make “Next!” your mantra.

And, most importantly, know these two inescapable truths: 1) What you can control is more than enough to make you successful, and 2) what you’re offering will always be in demand. Knowing this, might the business-building process become a bit more joyful?

Copyright 2005 Peter Bowerman. All rights reserved.

Peter Bowerman is the author of The Well-Fed Writer (2000), an award-winning Book-of-the-Month Club selection, and its companion volume, The Well-Fed Writer: Back For Seconds. A commercial freelancer, business coach and seminar leader in Atlanta, Georgia, his client list includes Coca-Cola, BellSouth, IBM, UPS, Cingular Wireless, American Express, Mercedes-Benz, Junior Achievement and others. Visit www.wellfedwriter.com for more info and to subscribe to his critically acclaimed free monthly ezine on commercial writing, THE WELL-FED E-PUB.