I'm Zoë. I run Falling Forwards Ltd. I write Booked By Friday, a weekly email that lands every Sunday with one specific action you can take that week to land a paid booking by Friday from people already in your world. Past clients, lapsed buyers, the lead who said "not yet" three months ago. If you sell services and your calendar's lighter than you'd like, that's the inbox you want to be in.
The Dream Dispatch: Literally no one cares
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Hey Reader, Sun is shining! It's a blue sky! And I am writing this on my bed (note - not in my bed) because Ben (husband) is working from home and I cannot work in the same room as him and his shouty calls. My brother Garth rang me this morning. I had text him earlier on to see if he was in the office for a coffee so thought he was ringing about that. He wasn't. He hadn't seen my message and it was a general catch up (🫡 for any How I Met Your Mother apologists). He has been working in the freelancer space for 11 years now, and we were discussing what that looks like for both of us now I am back in Done for You world. "What does scaling look like for you?" he asked me. "I genuinely haven't thought about that. Right now, and for the significant future I want to take on a client, do a good job, get a name for doing things well and keep on doing it month in and month out". How different is this from where I used to be. Wanting to grow and scale and make all the money. Don't get me wrong, I still want to make money! But I'm not looking to chase the figures others shout about, when it costs as much to make that money in the first place. I have seen behind many 7 and 8 figure businesses and the people at the top? They're like adrenaline junkies trying to get that next high. And it is never as good as the first hit. My client asked me yesterday what it takes to get to be known as some names are. My thought was that it takes unwavering dedication, risk, persistency, consistency. A big support system. And the thought that your business comes first above all else. And I said to her that for us, we have other things in our life that are as important (or more important) than our businesses, and personally I am ok with that. In my professional and personal life, I've seen the stress and pressure that keeping the lights on creates, and harmony for me is to keep each client happy, knowing I've done a good job, without chasing the high of being a revered thought leader or being featured in newspapers. Because with that, you need a thick skin, and having that thick skin means you lose your sparkle and think everyone is out to get you. When in reality, as Garth told me when I started out 8 years ago - literally no one cares. Would love your thoughts... Speak soon Zx
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Booked By Friday: weekly emails about which past client to message this week.
I'm Zoë. I run Falling Forwards Ltd. I write Booked By Friday, a weekly email that lands every Sunday with one specific action you can take that week to land a paid booking by Friday from people already in your world. Past clients, lapsed buyers, the lead who said "not yet" three months ago. If you sell services and your calendar's lighter than you'd like, that's the inbox you want to be in.
In September 2023, my brother and I had an idea. For 100 days, we’d spend 100 minutes a day working on our businesses and see what happened. That was basically the whole idea. 100 days. 100 minutes a day. Work on your business. I invited some other people to do it with us, because apparently if I’m doing something slightly ridiculous I need witnesses. The important bit is that I wasn’t telling people what they had to spend those 100 minutes doing. It wasn’t 100 minutes of sales, or marketing,...
Whale hello there, Reader, Have you heard of Rate My Chives? It's an Instagram account. A very serious Instagram account. People, and not just home cooks, we're talking actual chefs, submit their chive-chopping for rating. And the ratings are... completely unregulated. A 6.6 here. A 7.4 there. No apparent rubric. No explanation. The comments section is full of professional chefs nodding gravely and offering their thoughts on the chop. The thing that got me though, was what happens BEFORE the...
Can I tell you something I’ve been sitting on for a while? I want to start a sweatshirt business. Not “I’ve looked into it a bit.” I mean I have an actual list of ideas for fun, punny, printed sweatshirts and I am doing nothing with it because one half of my brain is screaming “JUST START” and the other half is going “Zoë, concentrate on the business you already have.” So for now, the list lives in a my notes app, haunting me. (Would you like to see some of them? Maybe that's my IG post today...