5 Mistakes you will want to avoid as a writer

Making these mistakes could impede your growth and cost you to waste a lot of time before reaching your limelight.

I have been in the writing industry for 3 years and counting. I have done some things right, yet I know I got some others wrong. 

Do I wish to go back and start all over again? No. I definitely love where I am now.😁 

But, will I want you to get it right from the beginning of your career? Yes. 

I won’t want you to make the same mistake I or any other successful writer out there made during their writing journeys.

Note: This doesn’t mean I have figured it all out. I’m still on the journey, and I learn every day. I could make more mistakes (no one can tell, yeah?), but I will continue sharing my stories - the good, the bad and even the ugly.

So, shall we get right to it? What are some of the things I skipped doing during my early career days that I feel would have positively impacted my career if I had done them?

Not having a mentor

I am not saying you cannot do it on your own. Hey, look at me. I believe in “go out there and get your shit done; you don’t need no one’s permission”. I did it. I got here today without a mentor.

But, I will be frank with you. It may not be easy. At some point, you will wish you have someone to ask questions. I remember getting confused sometimes on how to charge my clients, and I wished there was someone I could always run to at such moments.

So, if you have the opportunity of having someone agree to mentor you, please work with them.

Also, remember not to feel entitled to it. Nobody is entitled to mentor you; everyone is busy with their lives. You may have to come up with something to offer them in return for mentoring you. 

Build personal brand

It was until recently that I understood why this is so important. You might think that because you don’t have a company registered in your name, then you don’t have a brand to build. On the contrary, everyone has a brand to build; it is called a personal brand!

Besides, your career is your business. As a freelance health writer, I like to see myself as an entrepreneur. Because I sell my services to you and because my services are topnotch, you seek me out to render those services to your websites. 

Is that not the same for you? So, what makes you think you don’t have a brand to build?

If I knew what I know today, I would have started at least two years ago to build my brand on social media. God knows I would have gone far by now. But let’s not dwell on that; get yours right.

What do you want to be known for? What should come to people’s minds each time they come across your name? You can mould your brand to be exactly that. 

Do you want to know how to do that? Check out my profile here. Check out to see the types of things I often talk about - this is me building my brand. (It’s never too late to get started).

Invest in paid courses

I know many people will not like this part. After all, who likes to spend money?😅 

But, did you notice I didn’t say “spend money on courses”? Rather, I said “invest” because it is an investment. Subscribing for great courses is good for your career because it brings in returns within a short duration.

No one told me about getting paid courses when I started writing. I probably may not have been able to afford some courses. But here is one thing I know, if I had invested in a great writing course, it might not have taken me more than a year to get to where I am today. 

My friend invested in a paid copywriting course, and within 3 to 4 months, she was already landing high-paying clients. 

What did you pick from this? Premium courses may cost you money, but they can help save you a lot of time which again translates to money. 

Imagine earning what you should be earning within a year after 2-3 years? Imagine taking 2 years to learn what you could have learnt under 3 months.

Build relationships

This is somehow linked to building a personal brand. It was not until recently that I went fully into connecting and building relationships with people in similar career fields, and I must say it feels good. 

It feels great to interact with people who share similar career interests, similar experiences and understand your pain points. (I am still open to building more relevant connections!)

If you haven’t started, you should give it a try. It helps even when it comes to jobs. People will find it easier to refer you for a job position if they feel connected to you. 

Join writing communities and be active there. Offer to volunteer in such communities if you can. It increases your visibility. Here is one rule you should stick to - when you connect, don’t ask people for favours immediately; offer them value first. 

Create more time for personal projects

I still battle with this because of time, and I wish I had it sorted out when I had more free time. If you are a freelance writer, you could easily get carried away with working on several projects for different people.

Of course, you may be earning considerable amounts of money from doing that. But, think about it, would you want to continue writing for people all your life?

I see some people pause with freelancing to build something for themselves, and I admire how sensible they are because it makes a lot of sense.

It is not too late for me though but I just thought I should add this to the list too. Don’t get carried away with earning money from helping others fulfil their own dreams. 

What happened to that dream of being an author? How about building your own blog site? How about creating a course that would generate money for you in years? How about building a community or an emailing list? 

These are only small ideas. Look around you. There is definitely something you can do that you will call your own.

It doesn’t even have to be in the area of writing. It could be a business idea you always had. Create time to build it. You will be happy you did in a few years' time.

For me, the aim is to work, build and invest now so that in 10 years, I could sit in my condo with the love of my life, sipping wine, gisting and watching our favourite TV channel while the money keeps streaming in from our projects.😌 What about you? 

Did you pick anything from today’s letter? What do you wish you had done differently, or what do you plan to start doing differently? Do share with us in the comment section. I will love to hear from you! 🕺

P.S: I still have a request from a fervent reader of the newsletter, Chris, to write something on self-publishing and blogging for dummies. I plan to do this in the upcoming newsletter.

I only need a favour from you to encourage the nuggets this newsletter brings your way every week - Read, comment, like and share!💪

....................................................................................................................................................

𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘤 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰? 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘭 (𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘤𝘦115@𝘺𝘢𝘩𝘰𝘰.𝘤𝘰𝘮), 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥𝘐𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘓𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘯, 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴!