Advice For Freelance Writers From…Donald Trump?

D. Trumpby Catherine L. Tully

Ok, it has been a while since I heard this advice, so Mr. Trump, please pardon me if I don’t get this exactly right. It’s the essence of your idea I’m trying to communicate today…

I once heard Donald Trump talk about success and he said something that really stuck with me…basically it is that most people give up too soon and that is one of the main reasons why they don’t succeed. He noted that he has seen it time and again–someone on the verge of hitting it big–who just walks away and goes down another path because they feel like their current endeavor isn’t working…

I’ll tell you–if I’ve ever seen advice that applies to writers, this is it. The beginning of your writing career may well be the most difficult time you will ever have. For some it is a longer stretch of time than for others. But…if you give up…if you walk away…you’ll never know if you were just around the corner from making it. So today I’m here to encourage you to keep going a little longer. After all, success could be just one query away…

2 thoughts on “Advice For Freelance Writers From…Donald Trump?”

  1. My path is proof of that. Year 1 as a freelancer was awesome: Lots of projects, good money, didn’t really work that hard for leads because I’d left my corporate job with a couple of safety-net clients.

    Year 2 was a nightmare as a couple of those clients lost their positions in a crappy economy. But I knew the last thing in the world I wanted to do was work in an office again. Peter Bowerman’s “Well-Fed Writer” saved my butt, by introducing me to cold-calling and proving that it 1) wasn’t that horrible and 2) was very effective.

    I knew I was still a solid writer and smart businessperson–nothing about *me* had changed. But, in addition to “not giving up,” I did have to change my approach to adjust to a market downturn.

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