Day 5: What’s Your Story?

photo credit: jaaron

This is Day 5 of 31 Days to Start a Freelancing Business (or Make Yours a Better One). Click here to read Day 1.

Yesterday’s task was a bit heavy, I’ll have to admit. So today, we’ll lighten up things a bit. It’s going to be very interesting, and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts about it!

Why Tell Your Story

Stories are powerful. We’ve been trained from childhood to listen to stories. We find them relaxing and engaging. When somebody starts to tell a story, we almost fall into a trance and in the mood to listen.

When I was working in children’s television, we often used stories to teach children important concepts – without them knowing they were learning something!

Finally, personal stories are crucial for bonding. What do you do on a date? You tell each other stories!

Same thing with attracting clients. You want your prospective clients to get to know you, so that they’ll learn to like you and trust you enough to hire you. Believe me, we’re only humans. We always choose to work with people we like and are familiar with.

What’s Your Story?

Today you’re going to write down your story. Don’t have a story, you think? Start by answering these questions:

• What were you doing before you started freelancing? (Or what are you doing now while you’re freelancing at the same time?)
• Why did you think of freelancing? What motivated you?
• How did you get started freelancing?
• How did you get good at what you’re doing now?
• What are your goals? What drives you to work so hard?
• What does success look like to you?

When you first write your story, do so without editing. Don’t worry about it getting too long, or that you’re putting too many details and revealing too much about yourself. As in previous tasks, write until you’ve exhausted every thought you have that’s related to the activity.  You can edit and pare down everything later.

If you’re not a writer and find this too difficult, try saying your story out loud. You can record audio with this free software.

If you like, you can take a break for a few minutes (or do some freelancing work in between) and go back to your story with a fresh eye.

Now re-read your story. Watch out for key themes that stand out at you. Which details do you think will resonate well with your target clients? Keep those details in. Don’t disclose more than you’re comfortable with. This is your story and you’re in complete control.

But whatever you do, don’t lie.

When you’re happy with what you’ve written, take another break and reward yourself with a latte or a slice of apple pie

You’ve been working hard and you deserve it!

But wait – we’re not done yet…

How to Use Your Story

If you already have a blog or website, publish your story in your “About” page. You can also use a 5-sentence version of your story for author bios, if you guest blog or write for other sites.

If not, just keep your story on file for now. You’ll definitely be using it a lot later on.

I Know What You’re Thinking

Didn’t write your story? Think your life is too boring? Or worried you’ll actually turn your prospective clients off instead of attracting them to hire you?

Don’t worry, I get this a lot – even from my clients who already have successful online businesses.

Let me reassure you. Your story will only sound boring to you and to clients who aren’t your ideal clients anyway.

Oh, and I think you should know: you’ll be telling your story so often that you’ll get pretty sick of it. Expect it and don’t be surprised or stressed out when it happens.

And, another thing: you can always tweak and revise and improve your story as you go along. It isn’t set in stone.

So, why are you still sitting there reading? Go and write your story! And then come back and post your comments below. Include a link, if you want feedback.

PS: In case you’re curious, you can read my story here. I wrote it many months ago, and I’ll be revising it soon.

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