Specky Scribbler: 2019 Lessons Learned

With January comes new folders on the cloud ‘Specky Scribbler 2020’, and new spreadsheets ‘Finances 2020’ and the fact that both are quite barren at present has given me time to reflect.

Anyone who runs their own business knows that January and February are the quiet months. The months when the budgets are being worked out and agencies are planning their workload for the year ahead. Depending on your industry, you could also see a slump in workload during the summer, but generally speaking, January is slow.

Slow January

My previous blog was in November, and that is because November and December were busy, and the way Christmas fell meant that the holiday season was extended: from roughly 20 December to yesterday, really. Which brings me here: to my summary of 2019 and what I learned.

1. Each project has unique challenges.
   No matter how well the brief was written, or what your relationship with the client was before you started working together, very few (if any) projects will be seamless. This is perfectly normal and the best thing to do is to flag any potential issues as soon as they arise. Which leads me to…

2. Communication is everything.
   For me, this goes without saying. I’m a communicator. In my personal and professional lives, I’m a talker. I’ll talk about anything and I like to think I listen, too. If I know I’ll be out of the office or travelling, I’ll say this in advance. If I think hours are running over, or a particular workflow hasn’t really worked for me, I’ll say it. In my experience, problems on projects arise when the client doesn’t communicate. Of course, not everyone is a great communicator, and that’s okay, that’s my job, but it really is crucial for successful projects.

3. The client determines the timeline
   There' are certain tasks that I know I can perform in an hour, a day or a week. These are generally editing tasks, article writing tasks or analysis of existing resources. However, something I always clarify with my clients is that I can only create final pieces once they’ve given me their feedback. This means that, ultimately, the client determines the timeline. If I produce a blog in a day and a client gives me feedback 2 days later, then that’s not a delay on my end. Which means I learnt that….

4. Most projects start/end later than expected
   This is fine, things happen. Often this happens with work I do with agencies, who have a delay on their end from their client pushing back. Sometimes it’s during a Tone of Voice project if I’m working with a CEO who needs to put their attention elsewhere momentarily. It has taken me a few years to really understand that nothing is absolute until initial deposits have been made and a project outline and timeline have been signed off. Now that I know, I can augment my workload to adjust to this.

5. I love what I do
   I don’t think anyone who works for themselves full-time or works freelance could do what they do if they didn’t love it. There’s uncertainty, huge peaks and valleys and a whole load of self-discipline involved. I couldn’t do this job if I didn’t love helping other business owners reach their potential and communicate effectively. I do it because I get the greatest kick when a client says, ‘You nailed it!’ or even just ‘This is great. Thank you’. I love helping others use their words better, especially when it means so much not only to them but to those with whom they work.

Let’s see what we can do in 2020

So far this year I have a few things in the pipeline: a project that had preliminary groundwork done in November and December and the launch of a project I’ve worked with/on since 2018. I’m hoping this year will bring me many learning and development opportunities, and the ability to grow my business even more.

This also means that I’ll be posting more blogs, so I want to ask: what do you want to hear more about this year? I’m happy to write about projects, tips and tricks. If there’s anything else you want me to scribble about, or you have a project you want help with, get in touch.