As a freelancer, you will face a lot of curve balls while starting out and looking to find a footing. Be it picking your niche or building a network that supports you, figuring things out on your own might be daunting. Moreover, there will be a lot of new situations and experiences which will require you to decide on the right approach.
While judging the pros and cons of following your gut instinct might help you find a solution, it is always advisable to have a second set of expert eyes and ears who can provide valuable insights that you might miss on your own. Business mentors and coaches are more experienced, have experienced similar challenges before, and help people navigate challenges through their acquired wisdom.
Rai Hyde Cornell, a business mentor, and coach for freelancers and self-employed creatives help people increase their income and quality of life as independent income generators.
Breaker of Norms
Although Rai Hyde Cornell belonged to an unusual household where she lived under a lot of restrictions that made her feel stifled, she did not give up on educating herself as she wanted to experience life differently and better.
Academically inclined from the beginning, Rai completed her bachelor's and went on to earn two Master's degrees in Professional Clinical Counseling and Criminology. While working toward her license, she worked at a drug rehab facility, a community counseling center, and a mental hospital. Yet, Rai never fit into the confines of traditional employment and 9-5 jobs. She always wished to do more, be more, and work with freedom and flexibility. Her interests took a different direction.
Rai started using her writing skills to feel free and get rid of accountability, as she had always been a self-driven and self-motivated person. Hence, “being on her own” did not seem unnatural to Rai.
Power of Words
Rai founded Cornell Content Marketing in 2007 with a mission to help businesses build powerful, long-lasting relationships with their clients and scale their ventures with well-strategized marketing. Often, businesses struggle to reach out to the audience with the right words due to several factors, including lack of time and funds.
Rai’s company helps such businesses and entrepreneurs by creating custom-made digital marketing plans, delivering top-notch content, and optimizing different systems to obtain maximum results and growth. The services offered by the agency include content strategy, copywriting, sales funnels, web design and development, brand message guides, blog content, social media posting, videos, and more.
With over 15 years in online marketing and writing, Rai Hyde Cornell leverages her deep understanding of human behavior, emotion, and decision-making in her coaching practices, along with tailor-made strategies that are devised based on proven practices and her many years of rich experience.
Her approach is simple, yet effective: she first dives deep into understanding the client's requirements and assessing the competition, audience profiling, messaging and strategy, execution, and constant analysis and optimization.
“At our agency, we strive to guide our target audience through every stage of resistance by answering their questions and objections before they even recognize them and ultimately experience quantifiable proof of success in the form of increased sales, revenue, and followers,” said Rai. Courses in content creation and copywriting are also offered for those who want to master the art of writing.
Chiron Consulting
Many freelancers struggle in the initial stages, where they must put their business together in terms of pricing, packages, and profit margins. To help such freelancers and self-employed creatives, Rai started Chiron Consulting in 2019, which is the extended unit of her marketing agency and deals with mentorship programs.
At Chiron , Rai provides a step-by-step guide to entrepreneurs to tackle challenging roadblocks that come with self-employment, including pricing, selling their services, and designing a schedule that best fits them and their creativity. Through online courses and workshops, Rai focuses on helping her clients understand the nuances of business-building and apply manifestation theories in the practical world.
Rai also offers free monthly workshops on personal and business development that are packed with powerful strategies and actionable tools aimed at getting real results.
With podcasts being all the rage currently, Rai wanted to use that segment to reach out to aspiring freelancers and creative people who also needed her help. She started The Soar! Podcast, which features inspiring stories, tips, and tricks for bringing your dream business to life. The podcast is especially targeted at freelancers, entrepreneurs, and self-employed creatives who have stepped out of the “conventional” and forged their own path.
Fulfilling Life
From navigating life’s challenges to building her own marketing agency – Cornell Content Marketing – to help large companies and solopreneurs build more profitable, streamlined, and joyful businesses, Rai has come a long way.
She understands very well that venturing out on your own and especially out of your comfort zone, can be scary. But with grit and determination, everything is possible. She is on a mission to help people in similar situations lead a more fulfilling life and give wings to their dreams.
In February this year, Rai Hyde Cornell also contributed a chapter to a multi-author book titled, Corporate Dropouts , which features stories of over a dozen trailblazing women who have left traditional 9-to-5 jobs and created a path of their own in the world.
An entrepreneur herself, Rai understands the challenges and blind spots that come with running a business. She advises women who want to start their own businesses to keep themselves at the center of the business and see what fits best to revolve around the life that they have already created for themselves.
“Start with the big picture and see how you want your life to look like. Design a business that empowers your vision. Following what seems normal might make you feel unsatisfied and burned out, but drive yourself to follow your passion,” Rai adds .
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