I had to embrace reality and declare 2023 as Writing Waves’ year of cultivation and visibility. I never expected to be immersed in the marketing industry when I opened Writing Waves in 2020. Nope! Notably good with ideation, I write best with direction as simple as a topic. Give me a topic and goal for that topic, then leave me alone for a few days. I will return with something wonderful to either build on or accept as is. This is how I expected Writing Waves to operate.
WHOA! While my business plan of sorts worked for 2020, as I got my feet wet, it started to shift in 2021. By mid-2022, my business plan needed to be trashed and recreated. Thus, in 2023, as Jennifer Holliday once sang, “I am changing …”
ShiFt Happens
I’ve always been one dancing to the beat of my drum, especially in fashion. Decades later, I describe my fashion style as boho-chic; cute, adaptable, and works with various audiences in different environments. I sort of considered my writing style the same. That worked for me in 2020 and 2021. In 2022, clients’ needs and requests shifted. A shift I couldn’t meet doing the same things I planned to do when we first collaborated. I found myself in a pickle.
One of my favorite phrases is, “Knowledge isn’t power until it’s applied,” and “Knowledge isn’t power. What you do with it is.” I rephrase this in many ways but it still boils down to the same message, knowledge is not where your power lies. Applying the knowledge you gained, using the knowledge you have for elevation is where your power lies. Think about it. How many people do you know that have a wealth of knowledge and do nothing with it? Where are they in life? Do YOU think they should be further along than they are? If they aren’t, it’s because they aren’t withdrawing from their knowledge bank to elevate themselves.
OOPS! Soapbox stance is done. 😀 My apologies. Back to the story.
Priding and marketing myself as an honest businesswoman, I had to make a decision. Do I tell my clients I’m not qualified to meet their needs and requests at this time or do I boss up and get some knowledge to apply later? I bossed the heck up!
School Is Back in Session
After attending LA Trade Tech for accounting, CSUN for journalism, & Arizona State for liberal studies– not to be confused with liberal arts, I swore off education. Don’t get me wrong. Higher learning is awesome if it’s a requirement that fits your future dreams and goals. However, higher learning isn’t for everyone and not for me. Even when I started Writing Waves, I knew I did not want to write or edit in the education space/industry. If you look at my Services page, it says, “excludes academic/technical material.” I needed people to know upfront what not to ask me. 😀 Oops, soapbox again, my bad!
Anyhoo, I needed freebies! I refused to purchase anything, just in case I learned nothing. Of course, it would have been a tax write-off, but my time would have been wasted. Money isn’t always the deciding or driving factor.
I started watching Alex Cattoni’s videos on Youtube and intently following Apryl Beverly aka The Million-Dollar Word Stylist of BAAB Writing and Marketing Services on Instagram. So much of Alex and Apryl’s personas resonated with me, it made it that much easier to learn from both of these awesome, successful ladies in the business. I learned a LOT about copywriting, branding, marketing, and so much more. Because of these two women, I was able to successfully fulfill all clients’ needs and requests in 2022.
However! I also learned that I need to do more and that learning is an ongoing process. That makes 2023 the beginning of Writing Waves’ ongoing cultivation and visibility.
Cultivation and Visibility
Had my clients not voiced their needs and requests, I would not have realized I was stagnating my business. This is another reason why I say, “Working with Writing Waves is a collaborative effort.” I am building business relationships with open and honest communication from the gate. It’s actually one of my core business values, as well as empathy. I care about my clients and I want to help them succeed in the BEST way possible. In order to deliver, I need to know how! So yes, I am quite grateful, appreciative, and much more knowledgeable because of my clients, Apryl, and Alex.
Like Smokey told Craig, “Stimulate your mind!” That’s exactly what I started doing in 2022, though not how Smokey meant it. 😀
Cultivation
In this case, cultivation means improving and refining the skills I already have because don’t get it twisted, there is no imposter syndrome this way, ever! I know that I know how to do my job! 🙂 Yet, I have no problem accepting and confronting what needs to be enhanced or upgraded. Also, I was shocked and pleased to learn cultivation is step three in Alex’s 8-Step Road Map to success. ALIGNMENT much? YES!!!
When I started Writing Waves, I told my friends and family, “I just want to write and get paid for it. I want audiences to read my words on businesses platforms,” that was my business plan. I wasn’t sure how to brand myself, yet I knew “writer” was part of my branding strategy. It didn’t take long for me to learn that calling myself a writer wasn’t enough and I had no branding strategy at all. I lacked specificity big time!
I wasn’t sure if I was a content writer, a copywriter, or something else. What’s the difference? Purpose:
- Content writers write website content and blogs to educate and inform as a way of building trust by sharing knowledge and expertise
- Copywriters write copy to attract customers through persuasion and enticement aka advertising. This could be social media captions, email funnels/sequences, landing pages, product descriptions, etc.
Once I researched the differences and took a deep look at what type of content I enjoy writing, I niched down my services.
By niching down my services, I’m able to better nurture the skills needed for the services I offer and stay up-to-date with trends and cycles. Understanding this, I now dedicate weekly hours to staying in the know. I want to ensure that my clients are getting the freshest, most up-to-date style of content marketing that’s out there, fused with the collaborative writing style we create. I must stay relevant so my clients will have relevance.
Visibility
I need to be way more visible in these social media streets. I have been known to post here and there on Facebook and Instagram. That’s not enough! According to Apryl, “if you’re too busy to … market your products and services, outsource or you won’t stay busy for long!” She is so right! Since I’m not outsourcing and I want to “stay busy,” I’m doing it myself against expert advice!
Step One
I must ease into things as I learn more about them. As far as social media, I will be posting once every week or every other week on all channels where Writing Waves has a presence. I create my graphics using Canva and that takes time, along with scheduling, ooo weee. Let’s just say I do not see Social Media Management as a service to offer any time soon! WHEW!
Step Two
You’ll notice my last blog entry (Tide) was in 2021. I wrote Tides for clients in 2022, and never took the time to write Tides for myself. I am a word-surfer. I am a storyteller. I am a blog specialist. I must tell the tale, including my own!
That being said, new Tides will be posted on the 15th of each month in 2023. I encourage you to subscribe. At the same time, links will be mentioned or shared on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Alignable (when I figure that website out). I will continue my Tide style of each Tide being random, personal, and in my conversational voice, so tones and topics will always vary. However, each Tide will have more depth since I’m growing in more ways than one. I may add a Tide here and there, but expect a new one on the 15th!
Oops!
I gotta say, I did not plan for this Tide to be a High Tide. I planned a Low Tide. Oh, for my site, High Tides are long-form blogs (800 – 1,500 words) and Low Tides are short-form blogs (300 – 799 words). I tell ya, sometimes when I get going, I keep going! But hey, it needed to be said! 😀
So, if you made it to the end by reading and not scrolling, THANK YOU! I appreciate you! ❤ 🙂 😀
Writing Waves 