You just might get it.
I asked my readership to provide a comment or feedback if they felt so inclined.
I got a few.
One was from a good friend of mine… and it has me thinking… HARD!
But, before I wade out into that thought pool, and get in up to my neck, I would like to make sure you and I are still dialed into my purpose for trying to capture my attempt at a successful personal re-brand – “turning myself into a successful writer/author/freelancer.”
With it being the middle of November in Wisconsin, and the gun deer season just days away… let’s take a moment to check and see if our rifle and scope are still able to hit the mark… double checking to see if we are still dialed in.

This article is like, the few rounds of ammo I sent downrange today in order to KNOW if old Sarah-Jane was still on.
I hadn’t shot her in a year. I had some help seeing if she was shooting true.
I garnered some great information shooting Sarah-Jane today. So of course I’m going to try and roll that experience into this article and hope it makes sense.

Let’s start. Be safe. Are you ready? Let’s fire some rounds. You set? Ok.
“FIRE IN THE HOLE!”
“Dave, what is your mindset on your re-brand project? Is your ego so fragile that you need to be successful to validate yourself?”
Well, let me explain what my perspective going into this was, by sharing a bible verse… from Ecclesiastes 2:3
“… my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.”
In the past I dove head first into trying to be a business man… 3 times… and paid the price for my uneducated enthusiasm.
This time I wanted to approach it with confidence, but with a strong sense of intentional purpose.

That purpose… “to capture my journey along the way, so I can share with you the successful steps it takes to become successful at something… but… not to talk to you as from on high, as from a position of looking down, as from a person who has already made it, I didn’t want to leave out any good tidbits along the way and create a gap that might hinder you or cause a stumbling block on your own journey of finding what success means to you.”
That statement is mine. I spent time thinking it through. I own it.
Right now I have great confidence in it.
The same as with my rifle, as I went into the sight in session.
Now until today that same rifle was my dads rifle, used and scoped by my uncle, and came out of Texas… even though I’ve had it in my personal possession for the last 30 years.
But out of respect for my dad and uncle, and me being nostalgic thinking they are with me when I use it for hunting, I never considered it… mine.
Today that changed.

After getting some help with a place to shoot it, some tools to check the scope, and the helper acting as a spotter… I now feel that that gun, ol’ Sarah-Jane, is my gun.
I have the very same feeling about my personal blog capturing my journey.
It’s mine. I’m very confident in it.
Same as with my rifle.
“FIRE IN THE HOLE!”
“But Dave, you yourself have said, “I haven’t made any money writing yet.” Do you consider that as being successful?”
Well, before today I hit everything I ever shot at with that rifle. But today… I learned, and tweaked that rifle, so that now I KNOW exactly where that it will hit, and will be only more able to hit what I aim at in the future.
Same as with my writing. I have been hitting the current targets that I have set up for myself.

But going forward…
Between learning about writing, and the experience I garnered from my failed business attempts, I know I have to learn more about MARKETING, marketing both myself as a freelancer, and my books that I author.
Like my second round of shells fired downrange that showed me that I was a little left, and a little high… my current experience in writing shows me I am at a stage where I need to learn how to market myself and my current writing skills to an appropriate audience.
“FIRE IN THE HOLE!”
“There it is. Cripes! You put two through the same hole, left side of the bullseye.”
Having a spotter is nice. Talk about positive instant feedback.
Sweet. I’ll send two more, just to make sure. (And cuz’ it’s fun!)
“Leave it right there. You’re ON!”

Ok. Like the last four rounds sent down range, asking for feedback and comments helped. It gave me a little nudge to keep sending rounds, or articles, downrange.
And with each round giving me feedback, I can take another successful step forward… with great confidence.
Not that I’m done with the rifle. It needs a new sling. The slide needs to be re-oiled. And there is room to tweak the accuracy just a bit more.
But for now… with my experience level with it… it’s time to go huntin’!

With my writing… it’s time to garner some confidence in MARKETING my writing abilities… by reading, studying, and learning about MARKETING authors.
To me… that part… is as fun as a day on the range where you end up needing a leaf rake to clean up all the empty brass!
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