Rock the Tabula Rasa: Why Being A “Blank Slate” is Pretty Damn Fine

 
I spend the majority of my waking hours pumping people up + pimping people out: revamping their brands, helping them hustle and crafting the right taglines, logos and bios to broadcast their talents.

Clients often bubble into my inbox when they’re facing a career chasm. They want to quit their job. They’ve been laid off. They want to crack into a new industry. They want to set their cubicle ablaze and dance ’round the pyre. Oftentimes, they need a coach / therapist / guru, not a writer / editor / organization freak — and I tell ‘em so.

But sometimes, the situation is a little murkier: they’ve got a dream and they’re ready to pounce, but they don’t really have any experience. Or testimonials. Or credentials. Or a portfolio. Or…anything.
Who’s gonna hire a walking, talking tabula rasa?

Actually, plenty of folks. It’s all about packaging + transparency.

If you’re still in the blank slate phase of your empire-building, that’s okay. Everyone starts there. The key is to build credibility and attract clients while “keeping it real” and being forthright about your qualifications.
 

How to … build credibility

+ GO PRO BONO.

At least for a minute or two. If you’re an aspiring food photographer who’s never had a photo published, start snapping pics for local restaurant menus in exchange for free coffee and dessert. Build up a reasonable portfolio. Then set your rates accordingly.
 

+ GET CERTIFIED.

If your chosen vocation has a union, forum, guild, group or troupe, join it. Unless it’s super-lame. In which case, skip the formal certificate. Instead …
 

+ GET A MENTOR.

Find someone who is living your dream, send them a platonic love letter, and pitch yourself as their willing apprentice.
 

How to … keep it real

+ DON’T LIE. DUH.

If a client asks you how long you’ve been working as a professional pastry chef, and the correct answer is “six months,” then say, “six months.” However …
 

+ POLISH THE TRUTH TILL IT GLEAMS.

Maybe you’ve only been a professional pastry chef for six months, but you’ve been an avid culinary experimenter since age twelve, and you won a pie-baking contest at age sixteen, and you wrote your senior thesis on “Yeast and Yeoman in the Middle Ages,” and you run a blog about toaster ovens, and, and, and … y’feel me? Say that stuff, too. Passion is the portal to validity.
 

+ KNOW YOUR LIMITS.

If your new employer asks you to caramelize six dozen crème brulées – but you’ve never so much as handled a blowtorch — then say, “whoa, nelly!” Be upfront about your areas of expertise — and less-pertise. They’ll be grateful for your honesty. And no one goes home with scorch marks.
 
xo.
 

 
 
For further words of wisdom on honesty, clarity + the striking power of telling it like it goddamn is, absorb: The Secret to Success by Danielle LaPorte, Authentic Personal Branding with Hubert Rampersad and Build a Killer Online Portfolio from Freelance Switch.
 
 

Read More business // acceleration creativity // inspiration

How To Maximize A Freak-Out Session

 

Today is my 122nd day of full-time freelancery.

Approximately 112 out of those 122 days have been hip-shakingly, mind-blowingly, eye-poppingly awesome.

But the remaining 10? Oy vey. Massive, puffy-eyed, sobbing freak-out sessions. The kind where you call your mom, when you oughta be calling a crystal healer. Or accountant. Or crystal-healer-accountant.

The maniacal, self-loathing voices inside my head went something like this:

I don’t have enough Twitter followers … I’ll never succeed at anything!

All my bloggy friends are releasing best-selling digital books … why haven’t I written one yet?

I have enough money right now, but what about next month? Suze Orman is gonna yell at me!

I’m a firm believer in the motivating force of a good freak-out session. The key is pushing past the anxious “what-have-I-dones?” to the empowering “so-here’s-what-I’m-gonna-dos.”

Here are 3 tips that clicked for me:

Forget the fucking Joneses.

After picking apart my brain and consulting with my coach, I realized that a ton of my self-imposed stress is about “keeping up with the (virtual) Joneses.” So what if some of my blog pals have a zillion Twitter followers and Facebook fan clubs in Japan? I don’t have to match anyone tweet-for-tweet, friend-for-friend, or product-for-product. I’m running my own game, and in the immortal words of rapper Kid Sister, “ain’t nobody out there making shit / quite like me / quite like this.”

Short-term solutions ROCK.

Sometimes, we overcomplicate matters by thinking too long-term / big picture / far-off-distant-future. Stressing about making your monthly mortgage payment? Get a housemate — even if it’s only for 3 months. Feeling gross and under-nourished? Commit to doubling your H2O intake for 5 days, just as an experiment. Take the intensity out of major decisions by limiting their duration of impact.

Shelve it, soldier.

Sometimes, you simply don’t have all the facts. Too many unknown variables. Every option feels icky. Take a deep breath, and shelve the drama for later. Decisiveness is a beautiful thing, but then again, life is an ever-fluctuating maelstrom of questions. You don’t need to answer every single one of ‘em by 5pm tonight. I promise.

“Keep calm and carry on,” and let your freak(out) flag fly!

 
XO.
 

 

Read More creativity // inspiration