Somebody important at FedEx once commented that he had always thought FedEx was in the package delivery business, but he realized one day he was wrong. In working with customers, he discovered that FedEx was actually in the reliability business, that is, it was in the business of making customers feel confident their valuable packages would arrive at their destinations on time and in good condition.
Many writers, freelance or otherwise, feel that they are in the wordsmithing racket. Or maybe the creativity business. That is all good and well, if you don’t mind starving. But successful writers realie we’re in more than the words-on-paper (or pixels-on-screen) business.
Our real business is providing answers. It may be the answers to a client (how can I get my website finished? How can I write a compelling ad? How can I explain this new chemotherapy drug to other doctors?) or it may be the answers to a reader (how does this product work? how do I make chocolate eclairs? why should I buy this new antiaging cream?)
We’re in the answers business. It is a subtle shift, not the kind of thing that radically transforms your day to day activities, but it’s huge mentally. It catapults you from the mere act of delivering words, words, words to being a source of value to your clients and readers.
