Happy Sunday folks, back with another solopreneur blog update.
I gotta say, every once in a while I like to go off on a business-related rant.
Today is one of those days.
Now I’m not the most popular person in the world, but I do a fair amount of communicating over email, LinkedIn, etc., and there’s one line of text that makes no sense to me.
Have you ever had a message or email start with: “I trust this email finds you well”?
Because over the years, I’ve seen it dozens – maybe hundreds – of times, and it still drives me nuts.
Please don’t ever use it, and here are two reasons why:
First of all, it doesn’t even make sense! Why and how would you need to trust in someone else that they are well?
We don’t ever trust anything else in someone, why do we trust in their wellness?
Second of all, what if they’re not well? What if they’re sick? What if they just – God forbid – suffered a terrible loss? What if their business is failing or their kid just got suspended from school?
Maybe I’m crazy, or maybe I’m sounding more like an old man despite only being in my early thirties, but please, I beg you, do not use that line!
I have 2 suggestions:
- Something like “I hope you’re doing well” is 100% more effective. Whether someone is doing well or not, you can still hope that they are!
- Always continue to learn and improve on how to market as a solopreneur.
Whether you’re trying to grow a business, land a new job, grow your network. Marketing yourself will always lead you in a good direction.
And it just so happens that in episode 119 of the Solopreneur Grind podcast, I talked to Rob Barratt about just that – how to market in 2022.
We talked about transitioning from 9-5 employee to successful solopreneur, blogging/podcasing/other marketing strategies, and much more.
I also hosted another in-person networking event for solopreneurs on Thursday, and it went great!
Do you like going to networking events?
I distinctly remember the point in my career where I started attending them.
It was back in 2017 – oh how the world was different then – and I had just started my own immigration law firm and moved to Toronto.
The big problem?
I had no network and no clients.
So I’d try to set up as many calls and meetings as possible, and everyday I’d check Eventbrite for any events that looked good that night (for those not familiar, Eventbrite is kind of like the Uber for events).
I still remember most of them in extreme detail – the nervousness, the excitement, the thrill of meeting new people who were doing things I’d never even heard or thought of before.
It was amazing in so many ways, and I can’t recommend it enough.
I’ve attended dozens and dozens of them, and there are probably only a handfull I regretted. Largely because they were organized poorly, or didn’t have good attendance. But in most cases, you can find at least 1-2 cool people to connect with.
And that’s why I decided to start running my own events – I had all of these ideas of how to make them even better. A few years later and they’re still running stronger than ever.
If you’re in Toronto and want to get updates on future events, or want to follow along on my business journey, make sure to join the email list here.
Have a great day and keep grinding.
