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Sunday evening with a cloud cover and slight drizzle. Almost perfect for writing. Oh wait, my dad just made Ginger Tea - now we can say the mood is perfect for writing.
Anyway, I love writing long-form content with depth and insights. That’s my favourite genre of newsletters. But amidst all the brand breakdowns and client case studies, I am worried about byte-sized knowledge getting ignored.
So I drop brain dumps from time to time to ensure you don’t lose access to my little ideas while the long posts take away all the glory.
Today, I decided to drop a short essay - something I have noticed many freelancers don’t know about and need to be SAID OUT LOUD.
“I want to build an email course”
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You will never grow as a freelancer if you don’t do this
I have always been good at content and I only improved with time. Every time I got some time off freelancing, I invested it in understanding content better and improving my skills.
Little did I know it leads my downfall.
Sharpening skills is non-negotiable. There is no debating that. I am sure everyone who picked up freelancing is constantly consuming and applying knowledge to get better. I did the same. But this is where I went wrong:
Content Guy vs. Growth Guy
I have been a dream content guy for my clients. I think independently. I understand briefs. I pick insights most people ignore. And my clients hardly had to make changes to my drafts. This was my story for the first two freelancing years.
But slowly one client left after another with the most common reason for terminating the project being: “We really love your writing but this is going nowhere. We want to invest our resources elsewhere.”
No one ever said we did not like your work. It got me thinking, “What did I do wrong to lose happy clients?”
It made me realize I was a really good content guy and an equally bad growth guy.
The difference between a content and a growth guy is results. While the content guy gives your readers the best content they could ever read, your growth guy ensures they bring more eyeballs or money to the table, which I failed to do.
…and if you think good content will naturally attract larger crowds, I hate to break it to you my friend, you are wrong.
It happens after a certain point, but you must make conscious efforts to one, meet that point, and two, scale from your constant organic reach. It’s a separate topic on its own, but this is my point for today:
If you want to grow as a freelancer, be a Growth Guy primarily. Content can be secondary.
You can be average at content, but if your growth strategies are intact, you will still get a decent ROI on content. But if it is otherwise, the ship might sink before it starts sailing.
To give you a little more clarity, this is how Content vs Growth Guy thinks:
Content: “What research can I do to write an absolutely mindblowing content piece the TG has ever read?”
Growth: “I have a few pieces of content with me. What can I do to bring more readers or to make more money?”
Both are important and yes, it’s a game of balance. But most freelancers are inclined to the prior and completely ignore the latter—even worse, they don’t think it’s their responsibility.
It’s up to you to take this seriously or ignore it. But all I can say is I have 7xed my client’s investment after this mindset shift.
PS: I understand content doesn’t always have to drive sales and it’s much complicated than just numbers or data. All I want to say is to have goals and show progress to your clients.
Think about it: What are you doing for your clients beyond creating content for them?
That’s all I have with this essay. I will see you soon in a couple of days.
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