Strategy, Expertise and Tools

Hello Friend!

Thanks again for subscribing to TheWriteProcess. You probably know what this newsletter is about if you read the previous issue.

Today, I will introduce you to the framework guiding my ideas for this newsletter. I call it the SET framework, a combination of Strategy, Expertise and Tools.

Before I get into the discussion, I'd like us to solve this riddle:

What's something that successful entrepreneurs know that most people don't?

You might think: "well, entrepreneurs know that running a business is hard."

That's correct. But most people know that.

Okay. What about this:

Successful entrepreneurs know that academic grades have little correlation to business success.

Great suggestion. But many business books have talked about that.

Another try:

Successful entrepreneurs know that overnight success takes 10 years, and ideas are worthless without execution.

Uhmm. I think you'd find 20 Twitter threads that talk about this in a minute.

Now look at this:

Successful entrepreneurs know they can control their outcomes (not determine, not predict, control!)

You don't hear that often because most people think trying to control your outcome is wrong since you cannot control unforeseen circumstances. That is a flawed assumption that makes way for excuses.

Why set goals at all if you think you might not achieve a desired goal due to unforeseen circumstances?

Look around you; entrepreneurs who have built and scaled several businesses know they can control their outcomes by following a proven process.

Richard Branson started a mail-order record business in 1970. He called it Virgin Records. Two years later, he founded Virgin Airlines. Then he started the Virgin Rail Group. And then Virgin Record. And Virgin Galactic (Spaceflight Corporation).

You see, successful entrepreneurs know that everything is a process. And a change in the process might lead to a difference in the outcome.

Top-class Chefs know this too.

• They know that cooking meat just a minute or two longer than desired can change its level of doneness and texture.

• They know that a short blend at full power makes for a terrible smoothie.

Even you know this as well.

If you've consistently earned repeat business with freelance writing clients, you know that agreeing on a final outline before writing a piece helps you and your client manage expectations and outcomes.

Where am I going with this? 

I am saying two things here

• Success requires visualising a desired outcome and following a process to achieve that outcome repeatedly.

• The process that makes you successful in one task can bring you success in another.

When I announced this newsletter in January, I described it as the place for freelance writers who want to "build systems that support repeatable success."

If that's you, the SET Framework is for you.

Strategy, Expertise and Tools

Running a successful freelance writing business is not like cooking a medium-rare steak or making smoothies. But it requires the same principles- manage your process and control your outcomes.

The problem is: you often hear people say, "create a process," and imagine a linear, step-by-step guide to writing a blog post. That's only a tiny part of the system that forms a process.

You can write a high-quality blog post once but fail to do it consistently if you're working for a client that responds today and leaves you hanging for another two weeks. Then you go back to sending cold DMs and emails again.

And this is just one instance among thousands that can discount your efforts.

Reducing the idea of 'creating a process down' to a checklist misses opportunities for repeat business, innovation, creativity, resilience and (ultimately) happiness.

That's why you need to design a system that:

• Puts you in control of outcomes through an agile process;

• Change your thinking from "I want to write a blog article" to "I want to run a successful freelance writing business".

• Aligns your Strategy, unique Expertise and Tools to achieve repeatable outcomes.

The SET framework.

Strategy

Strategy is the foundation of everything you do. It answers the question: how do you intend to achieve this goal?

It comprises the following components:

Values system

Your value system provides the framework for many daily decisions and actions. It guides your decision-making and behaviour towards your job and everyone involved.

• You don't support AI writing for ethical reasons, so you avoid clients who prefer AI-written content.

• You enjoy flexibility, so you deprioritize clients who want you to be on sit 9-5

• You prefer to learn along the way and enjoy working with colleagues who don't over-strategize

Do you see a pattern here?

You can be as good as Stephen king but fail to achieve desired outcomes if a strong value system does not support your process.

This system is the difference between writers who make $10,000/month and are unhappy and those who earn $2,000 and live their best life.

Mission

Your process should align with a mission statement. As we do with content strategy, your mission statement should identify what you do, whom you do it for and the result you provide.

I write comparison pages for Martech SaaS brands so that they can rank for high buying-intent keywords and convert leads.

Communicating a clear mission statement is like telling people how to describe you. It differentiates you from the crowd.

Offering

The key to a great offering is to ensure that it provides value to your clients. To do this, you have to productize your service initially.

Think;

• What value am I exchanging for profit?

• What product powers this value?

• How is this product relevant to my clients?

• What makes it unique?

• Does it align with my values?

Objectives and key results

Every piece of article you turn in and every task you complete- should help you achieve your objective and your clients. That way, you can measure effectiveness and optimise where necessary.

Business plan

With a business plan, you want to combine your offering and values to align with market realities. ChatGPT is disrupting the freelance writing market. Your business plan prompts you to ask:

What do clients want? How does this change affect my offering and mission? How can I make my offering "timely" and "relevant"?

The answer to these questions helps you unlock a new business model without compromising your values.

Expertise

Your expertise combines the experience, knowledge and execution skills necessary to successfully run and manage a business.

Using your expertise doesn't mean you have to acquire an MBA in Content Marketing or Copywriting. Instead, it involves your ability to identify your unique skills and combine them to deliver outstanding results.

Experience

This is your unique life experience. The things you will not learn from textbooks.

We all know why one must open a Google Doc the moment we receive it. You don't want to experience that embarrassing moment when you discover you don't have access to the doc on deadline day.

That's an example of experience.

Some life experiences are unique to you, and you'd need them when designing your business process.

Knowledge

These are the skills you acquire from training, courses and books.

Anyone who's read any piece of content written by Ryan Law can deduce that he's read many classical books. This knowledge has helped him stand out in the marketing industry.

If you studied microeconomics in school, you could also use the knowledge in running your freelance writing business. After all, Clients love people with a unique touch.

Execution

So you have sufficient life experience. You've read many books and taken the training. But can you execute?

• Can you combine knowledge and experience to go from point A to point B?

• Can you transform a strategy from an idea into real changes in services?

The answer to those questions tests your execution skill.

Tools

The right tech stack optimises your Strategy and Expertise for efficient delivery. Some writers scrape review sites with Python commands because they have the skill.

I definitely can't follow their process because I need to learn Python. That will complicate my process. So I choose tools that align with my strengths, values and experience.

That is where Tools come into the framework. You'd need the following category of tools.

Process library

Your process library documents your unique process for executing a task, be it writing a comparison article, a research report or a sales page. Some writers also work with their clients to document their communications, marketing, and client prospecting workflow.

I'll share tips from experts who have built and run their businesses with multiple processes so you can build your process library too.

Software

Simple! Your research, writing and editing tools come in here.

Templates

These are structured guidelines you can edit to your needs. We won't just explore hundreds of pre-built templates; we'd also learn to observe your process and design a template that works for you.

Framework

We will explore frameworks (like AIDA and PAS) and mental models to achieve a range of freelance writing tasks.

That, my friend, is the SET framework.

Now, you might be wondering:

"but I'm just a freelance writer. Why do I need all of this? I just want to write and get paid."

And you won't be wrong. You can write and get paid without thinking about the process, values, or execution skills. But that's it; you're another writer exchanging service for profit.

Writing becomes a business if you want to play the long game, creating value for profit. If that interests you, you will find this newsletter resourceful.

Next week, I'll share my discussion with top freelance writers about the importance of having a value system and how it helps them.

Stay safe.