As a business owner, consultant, coach, freelancer, writer, or artist…
Are you doing busy-work or brave-work?
Busy-work is work that:
- Requires a lot of time. Inefficient.
- Requires no courage, or very little.
- Feels “safe.” Doesn’t require emotional risk or discomfort.
- Feels “productive,” yet strangely unsatisfying.
- Generally doesn’t lead to massive results.
For you, busy-work might look like:
- Spending countless hours posting / scrolling / managing your social media presence.
- Puttering around in your inbox all day long, except you avoid sending that “one email” that actually matters.
- Doing tons of “research,” but somehow you never get around to taking action to move your idea forward.
Brave-work is work that:
- Requires minimal time. Efficient!
- Definitely requires some courage.
- Requires that you take an emotional risk. You risk hearing “no.” You risk being rejected. You risk having your ego bruised. You risk feeling uncomfortable.
- But, the temporary sting of discomfort is worth it.
- Leads to massive results. Book deals. Dream clients. Doors opening. Big things.
For you, brave-work might look like:
- Making a list of your top 5 favorite clients of all time, and then writing a personal email to each person to ask, “Would you like to hire me again?”
- Introducing yourself to 10 local businesses who might want to partner with you on a project, or refer clients to you.
- Teaching your class / releasing your book / sharing your work even though your inner critic relentlessly tells you, “It’s not good enough yet.”
I’ve been self-employed for 10+ years.
I’m far from perfect and I’ve made numerous mistakes in those years.
But one thing I know for sure…is that when I spend my time doing less busy-work and more brave-work, my business functions so much better. My income rises. My schedule becomes less cluttered. My brain feels more focused, sharp, and smart. And I feel really proud of
myself.
Brave-work is how I landed a 3-book deal with a lovely publisher.
Brave-work is how I secured a $10,000 copywriting gig last week.
Brave-work is how I booked a virtual speaking gig that brought in $2,800. (I had never dared to charge that much before…now.)
Brave-work is how I co-produced a successful fundraiser for an important cause, and co-wrote and released a new tiny book, all in less than 2 weeks. Even though I felt twisty-knotty-achey with nervousness ("Is it good enough?" "What if people hate it?") pretty much the whole time,
and had to remind myself, "Just do it anyway, keep going" numerous times a day.
Brave-work unlocks many doors.
Busy-work just keeps you…busy.
What’s one thing you’ve been doing lately that feels like busy-work?
What’s one thing you’ve been doing lately that feels like brave-work? (Or, what’s something you could *start* doing?)
Do less busy-work.
Do more brave-work.
Watch your life, career, and income change dramatically.
Fortune favors the brave.
-Alex
PS. Would you like to spend July hanging out with me…doing less busy-work and more brave-work? Yessss. It will feel so good to complete the month with more clients, more money, a new attitude about marketing, and a calm, spacious feeling in your brain. It’s all happening inside The Marketing Without Social Media Program.
Learn how to promote your work and find plenty of clients without using social media very much (or, not at all) and without being frantically busy.
Get back to real, genuine relationship building and old-school marketing that works: personal emails, snail mail, unexpected acts of generosity, brave-work that inspires clients to say, “Yes.”
- Here’s more info about the program.
- Here’s a quick video tour.
- Here’s the program schedule.
- Here’s everything that’s included.
- Here’s where to see pricing, payment options, and how to register.
- Please register by July 5, at the latest. Our kick-off Zoom meeting happens on July 6.
- Questions? Email hello@alexandrafranzen.com
I can’t wait to get started!