The trouble with being consistent (or: How I learned to reluctantly self-promote)
Sooo…yeah, it’s been a while since I posted anything here. (Basically since I launched this new site and name for myself.)
To put it simply, things have been going well. I’ve had a nice steady stream of work rolling in (including some as a direct result of this site’s TOV, who’d have thunk it!). Those inbound leads have meant less pressure on doing practically any self-promotion, essentially by virtue of the fact I haven’t had the capacity to take on extra stuff.
It’s been that way since I went freelance really.
I came out of redundancy along with 60+ others, all looking for work. Some landed clientside. Others in new agencies. And a handful decided to strike out into the freelance wilderness. Keeping in touch with that network (along with a few old colleagues who I’m quite fond of) led to a number of opportunities coming my way.
This I attributed to luck, feeling like I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. But the more that time has gone on, the less it feels like luck and more like people genuinely like working with me (at least I hope so…).
That isn’t to say I’m the best copywriter out here at all. Given the calibre of wordy individuals in Leeds alone, I’m still surprised when clients come to me rather than them since they’re shouting and waving across socials. And I admire a bunch of them (despite never speaking a word to them) because they’re doing what I can’t really bring myself to do.
Self-promotion usually requires some degree of social media activity. (LinkedIn, I’m looking at you.)
There’s nothing that makes me cringe inwardly more than having to post on my personal socials. Chalk it up to a terrible experience back when social media was in its infancy during my high school days. Hint: teenagers are not kind to each other, especially when you put yourself out there.
Whenever I go to post something, my thirteen year old self puts a hand on my shoulder and shakes his head at me.
So really, he’s to blame for these extended bouts of radio silence - not me! (Yes, I am aware he is also me, inner child work is hard.)
But given that this business is in my hands, I’m trying to take responsibility for being not just the words that get the job done, but also the face and voice people associate with them.
As I said at the start, I’ve been coasting by on the inbound leads from my lovely network. That can’t really last forever though, and it’s pretty much out of my hands. So here I am, trying to be a little more consistent with doing something for my business.
I can’t vouch for the quality of everything I might post. But someone reminded me the other day that we really are our own harshest critics. And posting something every so often is better than posting nothing, then occasionally putting my head above the parapet to nervously remind people that I’m available for work.
I’m giving thirteen year old me a reassuring pat on the back for posting this - because at least it’s something.
My “getting over social media” anxiety is long overdue. However, it certainly won’t disappear overnight. Rambling this out as a blog does feel safer, mainly because I doubt many people will read it (even if this is content I’ll be pushing out to say ‘hey, I’m still here!’), so we’ll see if anything here comes back to bite me.
Who’s to say when my next one of these will be. But if it’s over 6 months from now, I owe you a pint*.
(*If anyone takes me up on this, I’m choosing the pint)
