The REAL Reason You’ve Been “Throwing It In” Without Getting Paid For It

Have you been performing certain tasks for clients (often just “throwing it in”) and delivering phenomenal results, yet haven’t made it “official” that you’re offering it as a standalone service so you can be compensated for it fairly and squarely?
You probably have a dozen reasons why you aren’t doing it (yet.) At least half of which seem VERY convincing.
I’m going to go out on a limb and bet there’s a 95% chance that those “reasons” are just excuses so you don’t have to OWN IT.
Because when you do, you really have to STEP UP and do it like you mean it.
No wriggle room. No more “oh it’s ok… I’m just throwing it in so if there’s a slight error the client won’t complain” kind of BS you can feed yourself.
You’ve to bust through doubts and fears that make all your excuses seem very real.
You’ve to face the real reason that you’re sabotaging yourself.
You may find evidence proving that your fear of not being good enough is “real,” especially if you’re prone to the comparison trap.
You may have to shift things around in your business and the change makes you uncomfortable… “if it ain’t broken…,” that chicken shit little voice says.
And now that you’ve put up the shingle to say, “the doc is in,” you risk putting a target on your back and being judged or criticized.
Sometimes you need room to cultivate the awareness and work through the fears… hug your inner child and all.
But many of us have done enough of that…
Often rehashing these things in your head is just going to keep you running in circles.
One of my favorite way to bust out of the hamster wheel in your mind and get down to business is to take all those ideas out of you head and ARTICULATE exactly you’re offering, what results it delivers and how it’s relevant to your niche.
When you put your ideas into words, your left brain can process it intellectually and get on board, instead of dismissing it as some unsubstantiated “gut feeling.”
I don’t care how “intuitive,” “right brain” or woo-woo you are, your left brain – your entire self – needs to be in it to win it.
When you can give voice to your inkling, you can experience it as something “real.” You can finally sink your teeth into it to determine if the execution is truly in alignment with your message and superpowers.
Then you can fully commit to it or get over it and move on. One way or the other, you’ve freed up a whole lot of energy to do what matters, instead of having a bunch of vague ideas swirling in your head and taking up space.
This is one of the reasons I’m hooked on copywriting…
… it’s not just having some words to put on the website; it’s not just checking something off a list.
During the process, I (or my clients) gain clarity, refine my message and hone in on my offering so I can turn my inklings into a product or service that’s RELEVANT to my peeps (aka, sell more stuff, get more clients.) 
***
When I decide to create a new product or service, I typically write the sales page early in the process to help me see the offering from the clients’ perspective, and articulate it in a way that’s relevant to them.
The copywriting process helps me connect with and validate my offering.
If you aren’t excited when you communicate your offering, how can you expect your potential clients to get on board?
Except this time…
I’ve been offering website strategy, copywriting and editing to my coaching clients for a quite few years now (not counting the 10 years when I worked at online marketing agencies during which I often pitched in to write copy) – and they always walk away happy and excited when they can finally have their message articulated in a way that matters.
And most importantly, I LOVE how much my clients get out of the process when I combine my knack for getting to the heart of their message with my communication skills to create website content that truly connects and resonates.
To my own surprise, I haven’t made copywriting an “official” offering by putting a framework around it and articulating the service in a “sales page.”
It took me a couple more months before I made that happen.
Which is unusual…
… considering that I write sales pages for kicks and I can whip one out in a couple of afternoons (with kids screaming and all.)
That points to the need to dig deeper…
… because the writing bit is not the problem:
In the span of those two months, I’ve been writing on my own blog every single week, banged out 8 pieces of paid long-form content for an SaaS company and kept up with my guest posting schedule.
I haven’t been sitting on my bum and eating banana bread (I bake a mean banana bread. It’s heavenly with ice cream + whipped cream.) I could easily fit in a sales page if I wanted to.
Editing copy and crafting content direction as part of my coaching offering felt different from selling it as a standalone service.
The real reason I’ve been stalling is that I was afraid to step up, own it and call it what it is.
The deliverables have to be tight. Even if I’ve been doing it buttoned up like I’d have in my ad agency days, it’s somewhat scary to finally “label” it.
It’s somewhat intimidating because officially, English is my second language.
Even though it’s more native to me than my mother tongue after spending more than half of my life in the States…
… getting top scores on TOEFL and SAT;
… getting A’s for almost all the papers I wrote during my 8 years in Ivy League schools;
… being responsible for scope documents, client communications and occasionally filling in for copywriting for 10 years;
… scoring writing gigs that look for “native speakers only.”
I even helped a friend with his admission essays that got him into MIT business school.
Yet, somehow, ESL is still tugging at me.
When I realized how it’s holding me back, I knew the only way to work through it quickly – instead of having it swirl in my head – is to create a copywriting offering that turns my intuition, marketing knowledge, coaching experience and love for communication into an alchemical experience. 
You can talk (or journal) till you turn blue, or you can just DO IT to show your monkey mind that you CAN do it.
I chose the latter.
Own it, claim it, by DOING IT.
I wrote the sales page, choose to tell you this experience, and share the lesson learned…
Self-doubt that stems from an old label or a past identity could be holding you back from STEPPING UP and putting your superpowers out there in their proper spotlight.
What’s the THING that you REALLY want to offer, yet haven’t done so? Have you been “throwing it in” so you can hide it behind something else?
Isn’t it time to ARTICULATE it, so you can get ALL of YOU on board, step up and CLAIM the hell out of it?