Look, I get it. Investing in yourself and your business is a scary thing. But have you ever done it and regretted it? I haven’t. So, whether you’re contemplating your first or next business investment, I wanted to share some of the things I’ve invested in as a freelance content mentor and let you know how they’ve helped me develop personally and professionally.
Why should you invest in your business?
It’s a funny one, isn’t it?
You set up your business because you know you’re an expert and have so much value to offer the world.
But then you find yourself wearing ALL THE HATS.
Suddenly, you’re expected to not only do the main thing but also be your own social media manager, admin assistant, sales director, accountant, and content writer.
(OK, that last one I can do).
The truth is, if you’re going to do all of that to an acceptable standard, you’ll likely need some help to get there.
Whether it’s an investment in your mindset or more practical skills and knowledge, investing in your business is the only way you’ll see growth and success in the long term.
There are different ways to achieve this.
Maybe you’re someone who prefers to outsource everything to experts, so you hire a virtual assistant, social media team, lead gen experts, accountant, and more.
Perhaps you prefer to invest in upskilling to gift yourself the ability to excel in new areas without relying on someone else to get the job done.
Three things I invested in for my business
I’m going to share with you now three of the main things I’ve invested in in my business journey so far.
Please bear in mind, I’m three years into running my business, and I didn’t invest in all of these at once or at the same time.
But these are the investments I see tangible returns from, either financially or within my mentality and mindset.
1. Business coaching
For years, I didn’t really understand how business coaching worked and how it would be worth it for me.
Yet I look back now and it’s hard to recognise who I was and where I was at in my business before I worked with a coach.
I would take on any work I could find, undercharge, get ghosted when it came time to be paid, and I felt burned out and stretched too thinly.
I knew I wanted to move from spending all of my time writing content and help people do it themselves, because I saw the potential in so many small business owners to create their own impactful content with a little support and guidance.
But honestly, I have ZERO clue how on earth to go about doing this.
Was I good enough? Could I manage to deliver training on this? How did I go about creating an online course? And even if I created one, how would I promote it to get people signed up? What tools and strategies did I need to reposition myself and make all of the practicaltiies of this work?
These are ALL questions I had answered by working with coaches.
I’ve worked with three different coaches so far, and each of them took me leaps ahead in my business journey in different ways.
Have you ever worked with a business coach? What was your experience of it?
2. Public speaking support
This was one HUGE GIANT fear of mine which I had absolutely no plans to conquer.
I had hidden behind my MacBook screen for two years and found plenty of clients that way, so why bother?
Truthfully, I never thought about public speaking until recently. It wasn’t for me. I couldn’t do it – it was impossible – so I wasted no time or brainpower worrying about it.
Yet I had an urge to challenge myself to get out into the world of networking to grow my confidence and meet new people. I wanted to feel like I was growing personally and professionally, and after running my online content writing course live twice, I had a sneaky suspicion I was capable of a little more than I was giving myself credit for.
So, when my lovely friend and former client, Liz Boswell, told me about her Bold Voices Speaking Academy, I was intrigued. Could this be the thing to guide me into networking and give me the tools to actually get through the door and mumble an intro?
Turns out, yes.
But not just that.
After venturing out to my first networking event in 15 years (I’m going to spare you the details of my previous networking past as a 20-something PR girl with zero confidence surrounded by a sea of white dudes in suits) I was approached to deliver a 45-minute talk on content marketing at an event the following month.
Thanks to my investment of time and money into Liz’s Bold Voices Speaking Academy, I accepted before I could change my mind and used the gems I’d learned during the academy’s live Zooms and recorded masterclasses to speak with confidence, clarity, and authority.
Believe me when I say this is not something I would have EVER expected myself to do. Yet investing in myself took me down a new avenue and opened up a whole world of opportunities for me and my business. I’d consider that money very well spent.
What’s your experience of networking and public speaking? If you are a nervous Nelly like I was, I highly recommended checking out the academy and finding a super supportive and empowering community to set and achieve real goals on this front.
3. Accountancy services
OK, so this one is way less exciting than the other two (sorry, accountants) but I wanted to explain my reasoning behind adding it to the list.
This may be a limiting belief, but me and numbers DO NOT get along.
And while I’m sure I could work through this, I prefer to outsource it and devote the many, many hours I would waste trying to figure out the financial side of my business to doing something much more productive.
This is worth it for me because it takes away the anxiety, stress, and confusion of the figures and frees me up to do what I’m best at.
Hiring an accountant was one of the first business investments I made and I’ve never regretted it for a second.
Do you have an accountant or do you manage this yourself?
What support is out there to help you improve your content writing skills?
Is there any area you’d love to master when it comes to running your own business?
For my clients, it’s the challenge of feeling comfortable and confident creating great content that generates engagement, excitement, and enquiries.
I believe everyone is capable of doing this – including you.
So, what are your options if you want to develop in this area and learn new skills?
Here’s how you can work with me on becoming the master of your own content.
Join a supportive content writing community
Content Club is a monthly space for you to speak to fellow business owners, share your challenges, get tips and insights. You have your content marketing questions answered by a professional with 16 years’ commercial writing experience (it’s me, hi), and generally feel supported, seen, and empowered.
Find out more about Content Club here.
Upskill through an online content writing course
Investing in a self-paced online content writing course is the perfect way to make a lower-level investment in upskilling at your own speed.
By making a financial commitment, you’ll be more motivated to work on it and see results. Over six masterclasses, you’ll get a new perspective on what it means to create great content, learn insider secrets on how to do it, and discover the tools and proven techniques to make your content writing habit consistent and successful.
Learn more about my online content writing course here.
Get intensive and personalised 1-1 content writing support
If you’re someone who needs personalised support to stay accountable and get the job done, work with me 1-1 on switching on your content brain and discovering the joys of collaboration.
Together, we’ll create a realistic and doable strategy that excites you, give you a great feeling of partnership in content writing and access professional input to reassure you your content is primed for success.
See 1-1 content mentoring options here.
Got a question or want to find out more about any of these options? Follow me on Instagram for content writing tips and inspiration, and sign up to receive weekly musings and motivation for me directly to your inbox.
