#007 - Here's how you get shit done FAST...

Author

Fernando Cao Zheng
March 05, 2023

Hola amigos,

I'm launching something special today...

So I finally finished my intense project at my 9-5 (more like 9-9 smh).

This week was super chill and I had a bunch of time to work on my business and personal brand.

As I said last week, my focus is on the business and getting it up and running because that is ultimately my main short-term goal.

Growing a personal brand is longer term.

I'm happy to say that all of my back-end business infrastructure has finally been set up.

All the boring stuff like:

  • Entities

  • Payments

  • Calendar links

  • Bank Accounts

Even though I haven't made any sales from these, this is a massive win for me.

I feel like my dream is finally coming to life...

My goal this month is to go all in on client acquisition and land a high-ticket-paying client for my ghostwriting services.

To start this off, I was sent a warm inbound lead from a referral (the prev. guy whose agency I wrote for) and had a sales call booked with him a couple of days ago.

I had no idea how to prepare for this sales call and wanted to make sure I had everything optimized so I could land this prospect.

So I asked Dakota to help me to prepare for it...

He was super responsive and came in clutch.

He sent me:

  • Offer structure

  • General advice

  • His sales frameworks

  • An example of his sales calls

  • How he does payments and accounting

To be candid, I was nervous about asking the client for payment, sending him the contract, and booking an onboarding call, all on the call.

I wanted to do it next week after we had the call.

But Dakota told me to just do it now bro...

So I said fuck it and set everything up before the call.

And then the call....

Was canceled (but he plans to reschedule).

The main lesson from this is that if you want to get shit done fast, light a fire under your ass and have a forcing function.

That could be:

  • A sales call

  • No money to pay your rent

  • Paying your accountability buddy $X if you don't complete a task

And if you want to accelerate this process...

Hire a coach.

Hiring Dakota as my mentor was one of the best decisions I made on my ghostwriting journey.

There's so much nuance to this game that you have to figure it out on your own if you don't have a mentor.

It can get quite overwhelming when you constantly:

  • Come across challenges you're unfamiliar with

  • Have to learn so much stuff you didn't expect to

  • Have specific questions you can't find answers to

That's why I've also started my own 1-1 coaching offer...

I set it up to help those 1-2 steps behind me.

I know how challenging it can be to start your own business (and consequently how easy it is to give up).

It's a 1-hour call where I help you to gain clarity in your life & business (we can set up a coaching package if you find it valuable).

Topics we can discuss:

  • Creating your dream life

  • Escaping the 9-5/University

  • Taking action on your goals

  • Problems you have building your business

  • Building your audience and personal brand

  • Balancing your 9-5/University with your business

  • Building value connections and networking to attract opportunities

...or something else entirely.

If you're interested in or have problems with any of these topics (or something else), you can book a call with me here: https://calendly.com/fernandocz/1hrconsultingcall?month=2023-03

I appreciate you taking the time to read this as always.

Let me know if you enjoyed the new format or if you preferred the old one.

I'm experimenting to see how I can convey the lessons I'm learning in an engaging way.

If you have any feedback on how I can improve, let me know.

I want to make it as valuable for you as it is for me reflecting on my journey.

See ya next week.

Big love, Fernando

P.S. If you want more of my content, follow me on Twitter @thefernandocz (where I'm most active), or My Podcast - The Fernando Cao Zheng Podcast. Links below to my other content, services, and affiliates:

Ghostwriting Community: https://gumroad.com/a/860383443/cooqg (my affiliate link)