Instead of this, consider that.

Vitamin-rich substitutes for every business & self-promotin’ occasion.

1. Instead of a deadline with milestones, consider a date with milkshakes.
2. Instead of a case study, consider a LIVE client fashion show.
3. Instead of free 30-minute conversations, consider posting a video in which you illuminate your process. (Or, you could do a BusinessWeek interview at the park across the street—OMG, it’s me!)
4. Instead of status updates, consider creating project open office hours in advance, so clients can message you within windows of time, knowing you’re both focused on the same stuff.
5. Instead of finding a niche, consider finding the metrics for the work you’ve already done, and showing them off on your website, in your email signatures, wherever your people can see.
6. Instead of trying to write a bio from scratch, consider first making a list of things you believe, things you don’t believe anymore, and things you’ve done in the past that tie into what you do now, in unexpected ways that somehow all make sense.
7. Instead of writing the perfect description of what you do, consider writing about what your clients do.
8. Instead of accepting a project that isn’t the right fit, consider becoming the benevolent ruler of your own world.
9. Instead of wordsmithing, consider making a new, value-based offer to high-level people.
10. Instead of convincing someone why they need you, consider convincing yourself why they don’t. Write out this conversation with yourself until you get to the end of the line, when you’re forced to acknowledge that when it comes to x, they really do need you. Start there.
11. Instead of creating the all-encompassing Services page for everyone, consider creating three client scenarios, each linking to a package.
12. Instead of writing a blog post, consider interviewing a client or customer.
13. Instead of noticing when this project is taking more time than you expected, notice when this project is giving you more energy than you expected.
14. Instead of ignoring all of those pangs of ‘this doesn’t feel true,’ consider listening to them. Then, incorporate those insights into your copy.
15. Instead of beginning your sales page with a problem, consider beginning it with a time machine that carries them into the future, so they can see clearly what’s possible.
16. Instead of positioning something as exclusive and hard-to-get, consider positioning it as the most popular thing amongst the exclusive crowd.
17. Instead of explaining how it works, consider using an unexpected or surprising anecdote about what happened when you or a client used this, or what happened when they didn’t.
18. Instead of adding one more thing to your schedule, consider taking that nap.
19. Instead of trying to increase your hourly capacity, consider increasing the number of referrals you give away.
20. Instead of writing the world’s most persuasive sales page, consider writing a mini-ebook presenting surprising workarounds to common problems.
21. Instead of finding more ways to save money, consider finding more ways to share resources.
22. Instead of knowing why this will fail, consider what’s different this time.
23. Instead of feeling guilty, consider declaring amnesty.