Going Nowhere Fast

If you’re at all familiar with Money Twitter or any of its siblings, particularly the (Canadian, American, but mostly Canadian for some reason) creator spaces I’ve recently found myself in, then the following rhetoric will be familiar to you, too:

I’m an ardent disciple of this idea.

A few weeks ago, fresh from scrolling through Money Twitter, I wrote this piece encouraging readers to abandon perfectionism (procrastination’s twin) and just start.

Guess what?

Today, I come bearing the exact opposite message.

#InMyJudasEra

Starting is great and all, but stopping is arguably just as critical.

The compounding effect applies as much in the green as in the red.

If your strategies are sound, and you keep at them, you get sound results.

But if your strategies…

(You know what? I won’t infantilize you by writing opposites like this is a primary school English test; you know what’s up.)

But how do I know when I’m consistently driving myself off a cliff?

YOUR RESULTS, that’s how.

And I’m not talking subjective opinions about your progress.

I’m talking numbers that, much like your sneaky link, have no feelings for you.

☆How many of your proposals are getting viewed?

☆How many of your cold DMs are getting responses?

☆How many clients are clamoring to hand you their projects?

Then…

You’ll notice that these success markers build upon each other.

I don’t expect a beginner to have random clients on the WWW banging on their door.

Set realistic goals for your business.

Realistic and highly custom.

Even if you started job hunting with your friend (and submitted the same responses to that test 👀👀), your outcomes may differ.

That’s totally normal.

Just compare yourself to previous versions of yourself; it saves you from a ton of anxiety and hopelessness.

Armed with this important data, you’re in the best position to evaluate the efficacy of your strategies.

Ideally, you’ll have A/B tested certain aspects of your process, such as putting slightly more effort into some proposals than others.

Contrary to your expectations, the less wordy ones may have converted better, all other factors held constant.

✨DATA✨

Double down on what works; ditch what doesn’t.

I’ve encountered way too many freelancers who drive new Maseratis down dead-end streets.

A little investigation (read in Mkuru’s voice for best results) has revealed the issue:

They don’t even know they’re doing anything wrong; if they do, they don’t know what it is.

They’re focused, hardworking folks, traits the 8-4-4 system assured us were the keys to success…

But they’re also oblivious.

Digging a grave, jumping in, then recovering the earth is hard, focused work, too.

(Possibly the last work you’ll do, but still.)

If nothing else, being aware of, analyzing, and following the numbers injects some fun into failing.

You see each L as an opportunity to expand your data set and, thus, your odds of notching a win next time.

But…

Knowing what value different data points hold over others is a skill honed with time and experience.

“Was it too many words or not including any proof of relevant experience that sent this DM to limbo land?”

An upcoming module will teach my cohort members about the considerations I use to figure that out, and they’ll receive personalized reviews of their data sets.

Ulikosa; unachekwa. 😉

Time to reorient yourself with MS Excel,

Hope. :)