The Key to Success: Invest in Yourself

What’s the first rule of working from home?

Yeah, I know, you’re sick of rules. That’s one of the reasons why you want to work from home in the first place — so you don’t have to follow someone else’s rules!

Well, there is one major rule of working from home you should follow.

Be willing to invest in yourself!

Taking action to improve your life is the most worthwhile investment you can make in yourself. Investing in yourself creates a ripple effect out into everyone whose lives you touch, whether that’s your spouse and children, your parents, neighbors, or friends.

The sooner you invest in yourself, the better, even if you make mistakes along the way.

Consider this…

When it comes to finding legit opportunities, learning new skills, or growing your work-from-home business, you could go it alone.

You could do your own research using only publicly available information, experiment with it, and see how it goes.

That’s called trial and error.

But the key question to ask yourself when considering that approach is this:

Can you afford the costs of trial and error?

GASP! Costs?!

Yes; there are major costs to going it alone and using only free resources.

The costs of trial and error include…

WASTED TIME

It’ll take much longer to figure out the best way to do something when you have to wade through all the bad information to get to the good.

OVERWHELM

There’s a lot of information out there. How do you find the right information quickly?

NO CLIENTS

What’s the best way to attract clients in your industry? How will you know how to find them? Wouldn’t it be great to have some direction on how to find clients in your industry? That’s why my courses not only show you how to proofread but also how to get clients.

BAD REPUTATION

A good reputation is one of the most important assets a freelancer can have. If your skills aren’t up to scratch, your clients won’t be shy about complaining. Taking on client work without really knowing what you’re doing is a risk. Are you willing to take that risk?

LOW CONFIDENCE

Not knowing what you’re doing will make you feel like your confidence is at rock bottom. Confidence comes with practice, and what better way to practice your skills than by taking a hands-on course.

How do I know?

Because I’ve experienced ALL of the above. I struggled to invest in myself in the past too.

I refused to commit to any business or marketing training — and I refused to pay someone else for help when I could “get the same thing for free on such-and-such blog” (it was never the same thing).

I didn’t want to spend money on any business or marketing training or resources. I wanted to figure out how to do things on my own, the cheapest way possible.

But do you know what the result of my penny pinching was? It took me more than THREE years to get my first freelance business rolling.

I discovered later that what was available for free was not the same thing as what was included in the courses I could have bought. Not even close!

I do what I’m doing now so YOU don’t spend years of your valuable time floundering around like I did.

You don’t deserve to start in three years or even one year or when things “settle down.”

You deserve to start now.

Struggling to decide if you should invest in a course to help you create your dream life? Danielle had gone as far as she could go with her teaching job, so she was looking for other ways to increase her income. At first, she struggled to decide whether to invest in courses that would help her get started. Here’s what happened when she decided her future was worth that investment…

Is it the right investment for you?

So now you know what you could lose if you choose to go it alone. But maybe you’re still not quite sure if investing in a proofreading course is the right investment for you.

Here are some questions you need to ask yourself before you take the plunge and invest.

1. Are you interested in it?

Do you like to read books? Do you enjoy finding errors in text and knowing how to fix it? Have you always been a bit of a grammar nerd?

If you said yes to any of those questions, then it’s likely that proofreading could be a good fit for you.

But if reading is a chore for you… if you tend to skip over words when you read… then it might be wise to keep searching for other work-from-home opportunities.

You’ve got to like what you’re doing. Otherwise you’re creating another job you hate. And what would be the point of that? You could just stay at your current job.

Just be careful you don’t fall into the “I have to find my passion” trap. You can waste a whole lot of time searching for the perfect work-at-home job, only to discount several viable options because they don’t set your world alight.

What people don’t realize is that sometimes you might not even know you’re passionate about something because you’ve never tried it. I had no idea I’d be passionate about writing, blogging, and helping people write their own income story. I started as a proofreader — something I enjoyed and was very good at — but it wasn’t my passion. Proofreading led me to start my proofreading blog which led to creating my courses and many other great opportunities. Start with one skill and other doors will start to open.

2. Do you have any natural ability in this area?

What have you always been good at that came pretty easily to you? Have people always told you you should be a proofreader because you can spot an error on a restaurant menu a mile away?

It’s much easier to start with a skill you already have ability in and one you have a little bit of experience in (doesn’t have to be paid experience).

“But I don’t have any skills, Caitlin! It’s hopeless for me.”  Nope. We all have skills. Most of us don’t even recognize skills for what they are because they come so naturally to us. Sometimes in­demand skills masquerade as everyday tasks. You already have marketable skills even if you don’t think you do. The trick is finding those skills and then deciding which one to pursue.

3. Is there a demand for what you’re offering?

So you know what you’re interested in. You’ve got some natural ability in that area. You should just jump right in, shouldn’t you? Whoa, Nelly! Slow down. You’ve got to make sure there is a demand for what you’re offering before you invest time and money in it.

I get a lot of emails from people thinking of becoming proofreaders, but they see how many people are already selling the same skill, and they think it’s too late. “Oh, no! The market’s already saturated! There’s probably not any work left for me.”

It’s just not true. In fact, the opposite is true! It’s a good thing if other people are already doing what you want to do.

If you see other people offering the same service you offer, it indicates there’s a market for that service. It shows that the service is in demand. It means you won’t have to convince people to pay you for your services because people are already accustomed to paying for those services. Trust me when I tell you, it’s much easier to sell a service that people are used to paying for than to sell something nobody’s offering. There’s plenty of work to go around — especially if you’re willing to go find it.

When I started proofreading, I was far from the only person doing it. There were already thousands of people making money proofreading. I still freelanced my way to a full-­time income. Occasionally, prospective students ask me why I chose to share my knowledge instead of keeping all the clients to myself. “Aren’t you saturating the market by training new proofreaders?” they’d ask. There is no way I could proofread everything myself. There is far more text to proofread than I can handle alone — and there’s more and more every day.

Our Take

Have I convinced you that you are a worthwhile investment? Why struggle for years when you can get help and shortcut your way to success? You’ll be glad you invested in yourself when you see how far you’ve come.

Your Turn

Ready to see if a proofreading course is the right investment for you? Check out our free Intro to Proofreading workshop and start your business with a bang.