The ego is not master in its own house. ~Freud

Cream puffs are good, in moderation. They make you feel so good – until they make you feel bad.

Every business owner, especially those who deal mainly in online lead generation, clientele and delivery, needs to feel confident about who they are, what service the provide, and their skill set. The anonymity of the world wide web may tempt some to over-inflate what they can do for clients or how successful they are at what they do.

Recently I was talking to a beloved family member who was asking about my freelance work. I began to speak in such a way that it sounded like I was just so busy all the time with all the freelance projects on my plate. I have been busy and steady but I also spent 30 days in June developing a personal project that had been on the back burner for awhile.

I had been writing like a maniac day and night and so it felt like I was working a lot. During that time I ended two small projects for clients and started a new, ongoing project with a long-term client that I was excited about. Somehow the simple truth of that got away from me and I was inflated before I knew it.

Say what are and be it!

Back to Earth.
Words and promises will come across empty if you can’t back them up. Have you seen someone else do something that you know works, so you ‘add’ it to your skill set and hope you will get by when someone hires you to do it? Do you ask a writer to develop the copy to back you up?

I’ll sell you the copy, you still have to sell yourself.

Ending on a positive note.
I once had a client who was developing new content for a skill he was very good at and wanted to expand. After our consultation I was so excited to write this copy for him. I wrote what I considered to be a spot-on, glowing report of a person who I respected. His skills would be unmatched in his field! He could woo thousands!

So when he called me back unhappy with the copy I was a little shocked. I will never forget what he said,

“Courtney, this is great copy…But I can’t do all that. I think you oversold me! I must’ve been overinflated when we spoke. I can’t deliver what you say I can deliver!”

We changed his copy quickly to bring him back down to a local level. It had nothing to do with his skill or self-esteem, he simply saw that  he ‘is what he is’, no more, no less.

He taught me a great lesson that day and for that I am thankful. And [thankful] for the fact that he paid for that inflated copy and gave me a chance to rewrite it to his specifications.