Since graduating high school, my endeavors and the skills I have had to learn along the way have been wide ranging. I have learned to prospect for new clients by owning a landscaping company, write intriguing copy when I published my book, and design websites when I wanted to post my personal essays online.
First, when I established my landscaping company, I quickly realized that without clients I would not have a company. I had to prospect. To do this, I walked door-to-door handing flyers to homeowners and advertised on the popular neighborhood app Nextdoor. If I did this again, I would incentivise my customers to leave positive reviews online and display signs with my contact information while I was working for passersby to see. Even looking professional and completing every job to the utmost standard can attract more clients.
Next, while I wrote my book for myself, I learned that if I wanted anyone else to read it, I had to intrigue the potential reader with the cover, draw them in with the back cover text, and keep them hooked with every sentence. I had to learn to write copy. This specifically applied to the back cover text and book description on Amazon. Doing this, I learned that effective copy requires a balance of psychology and understanding the target audience. Writing copy for a book is not about boosting the book to be the best ever, but understanding the target reader and catering to them. This goes with all copywriting, sales, and life.
Finally, when I was 18 I wanted to post my essays online for others to read. To do this, I had to make a website. I did this with WordPress and an Elementor template, but knew nothing about how to guide a user’s attention. When I relaunched my website (greggould.blog) earlier this year, I was conscious of having a clear landing page, easy navigation, and SEO. Moreso, I used ChatGPT to customize parts of the site using HTML. Combining these pieces, I can guide a user’s attention through my website. That is critical.
In closing, a favorite motto of mine is “Commit, then figure it out.” Whether it was from owning a company to publishing a book to creating a blog, I learned to prospect, write copy, and design a website all by figuring it out along the way.