FAREWELL 2018 - NOW BRING ON 2019
The great thing about Christmas – well, one of many great things – is that it comes right at the end of the year.
So a time when you get just a few moments to relax and take a break from the business is also the ideal juncture at which to look backwards and forwards.
What kind of year has it been? It’s been frantic, stressful, challenging, shattering – and also uplifting, exciting and encouraging. Sometimes all on the same day.
But rather than trudge through a list of deadlines met, copy written and clients satisfied, I’d rather focus on what I’ve learned. These are the things that have led met to look at 2018 as an immensely encouraging year – and to look forward to 2019 with genuine relish.
1/ It’s important to plan. I’ve always been fairly good at keeping my day’s work in order, even at knowing what the week ahead holds. But it’s only recently that I looked ahead at a whole year. The simple act of sitting and writing down what I want to happen next year was extremely helpful – and it coalesced a lot of the thoughts I’ve had about things that have gone well in 2018 and want to go even better in 2019.
2/ Honing the proposition. What exactly are you selling? We’re back to the subject of agility, part of the B.R.A.V.E. blog I wrote not so long ago. At the start of 2018, when people asked what I did I was still talking about nebulous concepts like content management; now I introduce myself straight up as a copywriter. Nothing less, nothing more. It’s what people want from me, it’s what I’m proving to be very good at. Finding a niche to specialise in is another matter, but I’ll cross that bridge when I need to.
3/ Networking smarter. I know BNI splits opinions, and at the start of 2018 I would have said that, while I could see how it might work for others, BNI was not for me. But then I was lucky enough to be introduced to the Hammersmith chapter. It was the room I’d been looking for and I’ve since worked for and with plenty of the splendid characters who assemble every Friday. I still attend and support other networking organisations, but this is a place that really works for me.
4/ Presenting better. Possibly because of the demands of getting a message across at least once a week in a networking context, I now feel extremely confident when I stand up and address an audience. To the extent that one of my aims for 2019 is to speak to bigger audiences. The first step may be to make a series of vlogs in the New Year. If I have time…
5/ It’s all about results. As I mentioned in my last blog, I regularly receive fabulously positive feedback from clients. Not merely because they like what I write for them, but because it has produced actual results. It’s one of the areas I focus on when I am writing for clients; how does having you in their life actually benefit your customer? Now that I’ve got my own answers to that question, it’s time to get leveraging!
That’s it from me for this year. As ever, if you want to get in touch to talk copywriting, you know where to find me.