As the owner of a freelance business, you *want* to keep growing but it can be hard to know where to go next in a way that stays true to your vision. And most importantly, how do you get there without burning out? As the leader, you’re steering the ship of your business solo, and it can feel lonely without anyone to help you make sense of what’s next.
Instead of following someone else’s roadmap or throwing more shiny objects at the problem, it’s time to craft your own path to success. Meet Jessica Lackey, a strategy and operations advisor who combines her wealth of experience working within a huge range of businesses—from global brands to solopreneurs—with a human-centered approach, to help entrepreneurs grow and scale sustainable businesses. She joins Nicki and Kate to help you think more deeply about your business’s challenges, goals, and how to build a solid foundation from the roots up.
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A Sneak Peek at the Episode
[1:44] Our hosts welcome business and operations strategist Jessica Lackey. After climbing the corporate ladder at Nike, Jessica began to feel the impact of putting profit over people. Now, she combines her expertise in business strategy with a human-centered perspective to help entrepreneurs grow and scale sustainable businesses.
[5:15] One of the biggest mistakes freelancers make when scaling their business is jumping too far beyond the stage of business that they’re in.
[9:52] If you want to move out of the early stages of business, Jessica encourages us to focus on gaining a breadth of experience with client work so you can start to see patterns in who you like to serve. You also need to dedicate time to start building your portfolio.
[14:00] As humans, we want to be where we see the future is and we want to be there right now. Jessica advises focusing on one big system in your business every season and one concrete project every month.
[18:57] What we think is the problem is not always the problem. For example, if a copywriter is thinking, “I’m just I’m not sending out pitches and it’s so hard”, the *real* problem might be that they’re trying to do it at a time of day when they have low energy.
[22:00] Jessica explains how the “five whys” concept can help you go below what seems to be the solution and help you identify the true problem.
[24:07] It’s important to separate your emotions from the objective truth if you want to make effective changes in your business. Grounding exercises can help to make sure you’re in a regulated enough space to notice a truth you may have been ignoring.
[27:56] Instead of dwelling on missed goals, take a look at whether you executed the plan fully. If not, try to pinpoint the gap—safety, skill, or desire—and address it.
[32:05] As James Clear says, “We don’t rise to the level of our goals, we fall to the level of our systems.” So how can you spend some time every month putting the infrastructure in place to make working on your business easier?
[34:26] Systems are not about restrictions, they’re about holistic organization—people, processes, and tools. They provide freedom by preventing chaos and uncertainty. With systems, you are in control, knowing what’s ahead and where everything stands.
Must-Hear Takeaways
As with every episode, we highly encourage you to listen to the entire conversation! But here are a few of the highlights:
“I think one of the problems is we tend to see people take on methods that are meant for businesses scaling that actually take you away from the core methods that you need to tend to seeds and sprouts. And so we’re doing a lot of work, but it’s actually work meant for a business that’s not ours or a business that’s more senior than ours or more experienced than ours, because that’s what we see our teachers doing. So it’s how can we level set and be like, okay, I am where I am in my business and what do I need to focus on at this stage of business?” – Jessica
“Yes, revenue and numbers are important and yes, we want to make money, but I would rather at the seed and sprout stage see you get more reps in and doing client work and getting those patterns versus being as focused on the pricing per project. Again, we never want to be unprofitable, but I think too many times I see people worrying about the right pricing and the right structure for the offer and I’m like, just go do the work, get, you know, 10 to 20 reps and see what types of patterns are emerging in the type of work you’re doing. And then set aside time to do the heavy lifting in our own businesses that we never want to do again. Update that copy, put that portfolio together, make dedicated time to start building that infrastructure. That’s really important.” – Jessica
“Who doesn’t want to go overnight from a seed to a tree with fruits, like a mature tree, even though we know nature says that you grow a ring every single year and it takes some time to build. But I think we’re human. We want to be where we see the future is and we want to be there right now. That’s, I think, why it’s so hard.” – Jessica
Mentioned on this Episode
Related Links
- The Fastest Way to Grow Your Copywriting Business
- Career Resolutions to Make Right Now
- Your Copywriting Business Plan for a Successful Year
- Preventing Burnout as a Copywriter
- 5 Ways to Instantly Improve Your Copywriting Portfolio Site
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About the Build Your Business Podcast
Ready to turn your love of writing into a successful copywriting career?
Join professional copywriters Nicki Krawczyk and Kate Sitarz to get the tips, tools, and training to help you become a copywriter and build a thriving business of your own. Nicki and Kate have 20+ and 10+ years of experience, respectively, writing copy for multi-billion-dollar companies, solopreneurs, and every size business in between.
Whether you want to land an on-staff job, freelance full-time and work from wherever you want, or make extra money with a side hustle, the best place to start learning is right here.
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Last Updated on June 10, 2024
