When you know your real Big Why, that knowledge makes you shine – and it’s so much easier to write and speak about your passion
It’s good to give your “Big Why” some thought. We’re always told these days that we must “be authentic”, and that’s quite right – I tell my members so all the time. Thinking about why you’re in business and sharing that is the best way to show that, because that’s how you help people warm to you, and choose you.
I thought I had all that sorted, and I thought I knew my Big Why: being self-employed works for me and my family; I’m good at writing and like it. Others aren’t or don’t, so they’re quite happy to pay me to do it for them. Simple!
Except it’s not that simple; and somehow, I’ve often felt over the last six years of doing it, that I’m not adequately getting across the passion I feel for doing it well. That great buzz I get when I’ve found those perfect words for someone who’s been struggling to do it themselves; that delight when someone has read and enjoyed my blog; that humbling joy when someone tells me I’ve inspired them, and given them the confidence to write that they never knew they had.
The buzz and the delight and the joy have always been there – but I wasn’t articulating them to my satisfaction. Until now. Because in January this year, I discovered by true Big Why – the deep-seated, deep-rooted reason that I get that buzz in the first place.
It’s All in the Past
In January, I had a networking 1:1 with Francine Kaye. She told me a lot about her business – relationship counselling – and how everyone brings their backstory with them. As we chatted, she asked me why I love writing. I said that it was because I get great pleasure and satisfaction from sorting through my thoughts (or my customers’), organising them in a way that makes sense, and expressing them as they are intended to come across. “So,” she said, “it’s about feeling heard and understood…That’s what writing does for you, and you love to share that gift with others as well.”
BOOM. The penny dropped (quite a big one) and I realised that this is exactly what it’s about for me: being heard and understood, and helping others to be heard and understood as well, especially if they’re struggling.
Knowing this has changed so much for me. For a start, I’ve changed my strapline – the elusive statement that sums up in a few words what’s brilliant about working with you. Now it’s “Getting your Business Heard and Understood” – and that sums up the outcome that gives me the best buzz of all.
I’ve changed the services I have on my website to make it clearer to find out how to work with me. There are specific options, depending on what you’re stuck with, and how you want to access the help I can give you – a full copywriting service, one to one workshops, or joining my Writing Club.
Most of all, it’s changed how I present myself at networking. Before, I didn’t feel I had the words (ironically) to feel sure that I’d properly communicated my passion in my pitch minute. Now, I can tap into it almost instantly, and explain in a few short phrases what working with me can do for your business – and how much I love doing it.
So here I am, I’m moving through 2024 with a brand new understanding of myself and my business. I have new vocabulary to use, and new confidence that when I use it, my message is being heard and properly understood – and that I can help you to do the same. All because I finally got to the bottom of my real Big Why – now I really know why I’m in business.
Find out your real Big Why
And what makes me most excited is that I can give that gift to you too – Francine is joining me at my masterclass on 12 March to take us all through that same process of unlocking your true purpose, and discovering how that knowledge can give you the language to shine. You too can have your moment of revelation – find out what lights you up, and how to use that everywhere you talk about what you do!
Masterclasses are included in membership of my Writing Club, or you can attend one-off with a £25 ticket – book yours here: Next Masterclass: What Makes You Different?
