Success must be continually practiced, or it will take wings and fly away. ~Kenneth Harmon
Sow an action and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny. ~William James
If you want to be a success at anything in life you must continually think of yourself as being successful and must constantly nurture and feed it. If you stop, it is only a matter of time before the embers cool and the flame goes out.
The best way to maintain success, then, is to simply make it a habit.
Let's put this in a modern-day perspective. Say you want to become a freelance writer. You go online and join several job sites. You post on Craig's List for your area. You start joining writer forums and even put up a website. Then what?
You are looking for work. Great news-- you get a gig... you get another... hey, this is easy! You are enthusiastic and seem to have hit the ground running. You are busy writing.
The first project is done... you start on the second. Oh, the first guy needs a revision or two-- no problem. Done. The second is completed. Great!
Two weeks come and go and there is no more work. Now you wait... waiting... waiting... waiting... sound familiar?
To be a success, you have to keep the work flowing. You need to look at workflow as a pipeline. Once the pipeline is primed and the work is flowing, you have to keep adding more work to the back end or the flow stops and you are at square one again.
That's how things work in the life of a freelance writer. The same holds true with graphics, illustration, web design, and other freelance work. It is also why lots of freelancers maintain a regular job for at least thirty-two hours a week until they have built a solid foundation. That steady paycheck gives them a little comfort until their business is really moving.
You need to keep your pipeline full. If squeeze pages, landing pages, and all the trendy buzz words and ideas don't bring people clamoring then you have to work on getting your name out there.
Don't stop. Marketing is a never-ending process. If you want to keep your pipeline full, then you have to keep your name out there. Network in your home town. Hit the forums and job sites. Write a book or two. You need name recognition.
Whatever you do, don't stop believing. Never give up.
