Cindy Cyr here with the ONE BIGGEST thing you can do right now, today, that flat out guarantees your freelance business success …

My Friend, Samantha, the Rubber Ball

So, let me tell you about a friend of mine … I’ll call her Samantha …

Last week, I spoke with Samantha about the travel website she’d started several months ago.

“How’s it going?” I asked.

“Not so good. I think I’m going to try photography,” Samantha told me.

As she continued excitedly about her new photography business, I didn’t have the heart to tell her I didn’t think she’d succeed.

It’s not because she isn’t capable. She’s got a great eye. Knows a lot about taking pictures. And, even has experience selling her photographs.

She owns AWAI’s Turn Your Pictures Into Cash photography program that will show her exactly how to do it. Plus, she’s good at marketing.

She has many people who will support her, encourage her, and even give her business.

But odds are, she’ll fail.

The One Crucial Step For Success

I’m not saying this to be mean. But, having watched her start and stop at multiple businesses, I can tell you she’s never taken the one crucial step necessary for success.

And, it’s crucial to your success, too.

It’s the secret behind every person who has ever built a business from scratch.

For example, it’s how Henry Ford built Ford Motor Company after going broke five times.

It’s how Walt Disney created an empire that makes billions today from theme parks, movies, and merchandise despite a rough start. He was fired from a newspaper because his editor said, “he lacked imagination and had no good ideas.” He then failed at several businesses and even filed bankruptcy.

Dan Kennedy says if it hadn’t been for him doing this one thing, he’d have quit well before he ever succeeded at his copywriting business.

And, it’s the same secret used for losing weight and saving money, too.

So, what is this one thing already — which is the BIGGEST and most important thing you must do?

Make a Decision.

Decide Right Now

Don’t wait. Tell yourself that you are going to be a highly-paid freelancer and you are going to succeed at your entrepreneurial business, no matter what.

Eliminate your thinking that tells you, “I’ll give this a try and see what happens.” Or “I’ll give this a test drive for six months.”

Decide to Succeed No Matter What Happens

Why? Because if you haven’t made the decision to succeed at all costs, it’s too easy to quit whenever you hit a “speed bump.” And for some, that bump doesn’t have to be a big one.

Rejection from a prospect, criticism about your entrepreneurial dream from a family member or friend, or not making as much money as you’d hoped in your first year … all can “support” your “I’ll give it a try” thinking that says, “this must not be working out, time to quit.”

However, once you’ve firmly decided you are going to make it happen no matter what, those setbacks become mere hiccups that slow you down from time to time. But, they never stop you, not even for a minute.

Frederick Speakman, a well-known author of illustrated guides to English forests who was a pioneer in childhood environmental education said, “Decisions determine destiny.”

So, if you want to guarantee your business life destiny, take a minute today and decide you WILL be a successful small business person, no matter what.

Don’t be like my friend Samantha who hasn’t committed to what she’s doing and continues to bounce around like a rubber ball — hoping something will “stick.” You can succeed, if you’ll just decide.

This article was written by Cindy Cyr, Freelance Copywriter and Circle of Success Member, for The Writer’s Life, an online publication of AWAI. You can contact them at: thewriterslife@awaionline.com