There are a million reasons why people start their own businesses. I won’t bore you with what mine were when I set up as a writer, but I will say that I bet the one reason that unites most people in making that leap out on their own is the fact that they feel unfulfilled in their day job.

This gave me a problem about a month ago, because despite running a wonderful business that I love and that seems to love me right back in the fact that it earns me money and I haven’t yet been sued, I just felt that with all this ‘writer of stuff’ stuff I was doing for other people, my own writing was kind of going… nowhere.

Welcome to Unfulfilled, Bolton. Population: Me.

Just as I realised around six months ago that I needed to start taking my CPD seriously in order to develop my business, and just as I realised around three months ago that I needed to start outsourcing various non me-ssential bits in order to concentrate on building it in the first place, one month ago I realised I needed to start speaking to someone professional about really getting the most out of what my business could do for me as a writer in my own right.

I’m not talking about ‘seeking professional help’ as in a psychiatrist – although some might say I shouldn’t rule that out. I’m talking about speaking to someone who knows you, gets you, and is genuinely excited about where they might be able to take you.

I just need to say at this point that I wasn’t (and I’m still not) looking for a coach. I’m married to one, and I have many clients in that role. They will all tell you that I’d likely be uncoachable, anyway. In fact, I wasn’t looking for anyone specific at all. I just happened to find someone, and in being a bit of a believer in fate (within reason), I knew that when I heard this girl speak, she was the one for me!

Joelle Byrne is a Business Growth Specialist. I didn’t know her, I didn’t know what her job title meant, and when I heard people use the phrase “passive income” in relation to who she was and what she did, I instantly switched off. I’d only ever heard of passive income in relation to two things: One was MLMs (think Arbonne and getting spammed to hell and back in your DMs), and the other was property investment. Having worked with a complete arsehole of a client several years ago in that ‘arena’, I wasn’t enamoured with how any of it worked.

This was different, though – as I’d soon find out.

Joelle and I ended up in a group chat together, thanks to some mutual friends who were trying out some business ideas and wanted various professional inputs. The fact that Joelle was a) immensely likeable, b) spoke sense and sparked good ideas when it came to business, and c) never once actively promoted her stuff… well, that was all I needed to start actively looking for her stuff!

I started following her (in a hopefully non-creepy way), and the next thing you know, I’m trying to find extra hours in the day where I can implement all the ideas, opportunities and approaches she’s excitedly shared with me. I’d already created From Blag to Blog before even meeting JB, but in learning that this was an example of passive income (I seriously hadn’t thought of it like that), we both got really excited about where this might take me as a writer in the future – specifically in terms of what doors it’s going to help me to open/kick down with inimitable Jo force.

Over that last month, I’ve invested time and money in JB’s resources, her Power Hour chats, and in becoming a member of her Academy. It’s not a negative against Joelle when I say none of it’s changed my life (I am waaaaaaay too cynical to ever make that claim about anything), but having her input has given me a new lease of life and a lot of opportunities when it comes to the writing that I do for me (whatever shape that may go on to take in the future). I want to be known as a writer, as well as a copywriter, if that makes sense? It does to Joelle, and that’s why I need to keep hold of her.

I’m going to post a link HERE now, which if you follow it, will take you to Joelle’s website. Please allow the cookies, because if you spend any time on her site in the next couple of months and you decide to invest some of your hard-earned cash into any of her products, services or memberships (god there’s loads on there), then I will get small amount of money for having made the referral. This is the only time I’ve ever done anything like this, and the way I see it, is that you’d be supporting not one but two small businesses if you go ahead and buy anything.

It’s an affiliate link, but I want people to decide if they like Joelle and what she does in the same way that I did – go with your gut. As with anyone out there helping businesses, there’s every chance that she’s not going to be the right person for you. So, to sum up how I ended up actively working with her and not someone else, let me tell you this:

I didn’t need to be pushed out of my comfort zone. I like my comfort zone, and confidence is not something I particularly lack, should I stray.

I didn’t need an arm around my shoulder. Wallowing is something I prefer to do alone, and I’m level-headed enough to know that things will always get better – eventually.

I didn’t need a kick up the arse, a kick in the head, or a kick to the bollocks (metaphorically speaking). Sometimes I just enjoy being lazy and seeing how things go, and I already have enough determination about me to know that raising a daughter who mimics that attitude is a huge problem.

What I needed were good ideas. That’s all. I wanted to see a direct income (or outcome) based on my own writing for myself. Making money from clients who pay me to write or edit their stuff for them is fabulous and will always be what agoodwriteup is all about, but as a good writer at the helm of it all, I wanted something for me! I wanted to get fresh ideas and I wanted to be pointed towards previously unopened doors, so that I could go out and start saying to the world, “Yeah, look at what I do for my clients, but look at what I’ve done for myself!”

When I’m dead and gone – which hopefully isn’t for a while yet – I don’t want people to say I was known for being a successful business owner and then have them list my monthly takings and prolific client list as people mourn the loss of a spreadsheet rather than a person. If they must talk about anything to do with business at all, then I want them to say, “Jesus (which won’t be offensive because the funeral won’t be in a church), this girl could WRITE! Have you seen her stuff?”

Hopefully over the past month you’ve seen some cool ‘writer of stuff’ stuff from me on a personal rather than business branding level, but watch this space for what’s yet to come – and feel free to hold me accountable to doing it.

So, yes, whilst this little blog is part story-sharing, part soul-baring, part testimonial-giving and part affiliate-link promoting, it’s also a message to anyone out there in business who’s just not feeling like their work for others is the be-all end-all at the minute. I don’t know who you need to go looking for, or who you need to grab hold of (so to speak) when they cross your path, but just know that sometimes you can’t do things all alone. Have a good think about what you need and who you need. Then invest in them.

It could be the best way you ever invest in yourself.

Oh, and if I do die, don’t listen to anyone eulogise that I was loved by everyone I met. If you’ve read any of my social media posts or blogs in the past couple of years, you’ll know that’s not even fucking close to being true.