8 Tips for Entrepreneurs in the Changing Seasons by Wendy H. Jones
It's been an abnormal and completely unexpected few months for the world and no one can have escaped the effects of this.. This applies wherever you live and in which ever career you work. There's no getting around the fact, the world has changed and we are living in what we term, 'The New Normal'. Everyone has had to swivel on a sixpence and work out not only how their personal lives should look, but also their professional lives. As Governments around the world decide what can and cannot be done in terms of protecting the population, we find ourselves making more changes and again even more.
Whilst I appreciate we are all in the same boat, I would like to concentrate on what life has been like for me, as a writer, and I am sure many other writers globally. It's a tale filled with ups and downs as you will have already guessed.
The first thing that happened was that all my face to face events were cancelled, not just in the short term but for the remainder of the year. As you can imagine both in terms of income and networking this is catastrophic to an author. I sell a lot of books at events and meet both readers and industry experts. This was a large part of my business model and it disappeared overnight, at the flick of a global pandemic. It would have been easy to say, "Woe is me," at this point but, rather than seeing it as a setback, I decided to view it as an opportunity. And an opportunity it has been. Already established as a networker, I joined in on conversations in Facebook groups and on twitter. Not because I wanted anything but because I genuinely wanted to reach out and help others. This led to a speaking engagement at an International Female Entrepreneur Summit, which was quickly followed by a global collaboration on an anthology. Called, The Power of Why, this book is the stories of how 23 Women, from India, USA, UK (Scotland), Nepal, Australia, Canada and Switzerland turned their lives around and started their own business. These powerful testimonies inspire women to find their own why and take steps to change their lives. It truly was an honour to be involved in this project. This led to an invitation to collaborate on another International Book - Women Win Against All Odds. Here, women share their powerful testimonies of how God has shaped and changed their lives.
Following, The Female Entrepreneur Summit, I was invited to speak at a Professional Speakers Summit another global online opportunity. The ability to work Internationally has been opened up so much farther than before this pandemic started. I have been interviewed on USA television, podcasts from around the globe and at Facebook Live events in time zones so much different to my own. I have to say, working globally can lead to a serious lack of sleep.
Through all of these projects I have met so many powerful and fabulous women, many of whom I would now call friends. However, I would like to give a shout out to one in particular, Kimberly Lawson. Kimberly is an entrepreneur from Georgia in the USA and her surname happens to be my family name. We connected through this and as a result I will be featured in her upcoming anthology which will be released in January. I am honoured to be a part of this. We are hoping to meet when I am, hopefully, able to go to the states for business next year.
My takeaways and tips from this are:
1. Nothing can be guaranteed - plan for the unexpected.
2. If the unexpected happens be prepared to make swift changes
3. See opportunities, not setbacks.
4. Treat people well and be prepared to help them.
5. Seize every opportunity which comes. You never know how far the ripples will reach.
6. Embrace technology and the new opportunities this brings.
7. Be prepared to work globally rather than locally. The world is, so much more than at any time previously, on your doorstep.
8. Make the most of what is available rather than mourning what is lost.
Just in case you think I am not taking my existing writing and publishing commitments seriously, this is not the case. I have been busy with a few projects and my next non-fiction book, Marketing Matters, will be out by the end of July, 2020. This is a new and completely revamped version of my original marketing book and is packed with powerful tips and strategies for the 21st Century writer. If you would like to know more, get your free Writing and Marketing Blueprint and get notified when the books is available, go to my Website and sign up for my newsletter, where you will get Free Advice Fortnight articles, every two weeks.
About the Author
Wendy H Jones is the Amazon Number 1 best-selling author of the award winning DI Shona McKenzie Mysteries. Her Young Adult Mystery, The Dagger’s Curse was a finalist in the Woman Alive Readers Choice Award. She is also The President of the Scottish Association of Writers, the Secretary of the Association of Authors in Scotland, an international public speaker, and runs conferences and workshops on writing, motivation and marketing. Wendy is the founder of Crime at the Castle, Scotland’s newest Crime Festival. She is the editor of a Lent Book, published by the Association of Christian Writers and also the editor of the Christmas Anthology from the same publisher. Her first children's book, Bertie the Buffalo, was released in December 2018. Motivation Matters: Revolutionise Your Writing One Creative Step at a Time, was released in May 2019. The Power of Why: Why 23 Women Took the Leap to Start Their Own Business was released on 29th June, 2020.
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