3 Things I Used To Start My Content Writing Business (They Aren't What You Think)
A few weeks ago on Instagram, I did an “ask me anything” question box on stories and someone asked, “what’s your background? How did you get started?”
At that moment, I realized that I don’t think I’ve ever shared my full story or really talked about how I ended up in the done-for-you service provider space.
I know that’s probably considered a business owner “no no” because you’re supposed to share your story so people feel connected to you and yada yada yada.
But for the past 9 months (since July of 2022) I’ve been laser focused on one thing:
helping business owners implement the overlooked asset of blogs and emails in their business so they can work smarter, not harder on their content and confidently show up as an expert and thought leader in their industry.
In April of 2022, I left my full time job with no backup plan, meaning I had no clue what I was going to do and I definitely had no intentions of starting a business.
I feel like when I hear business owners tell their story, they say entrepreneurship has always been in their blood and they always knew they’d own a business one day, but that really isn’t the case for me.
While I was trying to figure out my next move, I started freelancing (I’ve been in the marketing world since 2017, so I knew how to do a variety of things in this space) and quickly realized that the one thing I absolutely love is content writing.
As I started to observe the business owners that I follow and work with more clients on a freelance basis, it was so obvious that the main thing that many of them were obsessing over was social media.
That’s when I realized there was a huge missing piece that people were overlooking, which brought me back to a long lost love of writing blog posts.
My first job right out of college was at a law firm as a Digital Content Creator and my primary job was to write blogs for the firm. We used those blogs to drive the rest of our content, including our social media content, and it made a lot of sense!
And that’s when it clicked - business owners need this.
So, I set out on a mission to help business owners understand that building your brand or business on social media alone is a huge risk because you never know when those social platforms will disappear.
Creating content and housing it in a place where you own it (your website through blogs) sets you up for the long game and allows you to refer to the content for years to come.
PLUS, it makes your entire content creation process for social media 10x easier because you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
9 months later, here I am with a business baby that’s fully booked with 1:1 clients that have learned the better way and aren’t turning back!
The thing is, I don’t think I would be able to write that sentence if I would’ve given into the temptation to have everything perfect and figured out right away.
When I decided that this was the thing I was going to do, it was so tempting to create the perfect website, obsess over my brand colors and logo, get brand photos, etc.
I saw other business owners have all of these things and it made me think that the only way I could start is if I had those, too.
But deep down I knew that those things could come later.
So, I decided to do the best I could with what I had which were 3 things:
One semi professional looking photo that my sister took of me on our sis trip to Palm Beach, FL
The desire and skill to write
The passion to help business owners stop obsessing and spinning their wheels over social media content and put that effort into blog and email content instead
I quickly created a mediocre website on Wix, crafted a service guide with what I wanted to offer and started cold pitching myself to mostly local businesses that I wanted to work with.
Yes, you read that right. Cold. Pitching. As expected, most people didn’t respond.
But a few people did and all I needed were a few to get started! Even though they didn’t all last as clients, I was proving to myself that people were interested and needed the service.
(Fun fact: one of the first businesses I ever reached out to is still a client to this day 💖)
Between the people that said “yes” from my cold emails and a handful of people I found on Upwork, I made tweaks to what I wanted to offer and finally decided to make things “official” - and by official, I mean posting it on Instagram. 😂
My point in telling you all of this, friend, is to encourage you to STOP. WAITING.
Stop waiting until you have things completely perfect or figured out to start the thing you want to start.
I know it’s easier said than done - I really do! I am 100% the type of person that prefers to have a plan and to know the next steps.
But just remember this: NO ONE wins (including yourself) when you wait.
Your potential (or current) clients, your kids, your spouse, your friends or YOU benefit when you don’t take some sort of action.
This goes for anything in life - personal or professional.
Wanna start working out? Don’t wait for the cute Amazon set. Start with your old sorority t-shirt and Nike shorts. Refine later. The Amazon set doesn’t determine your results.
Wanna start meal prepping so you eat out less? Don’t wait until you find the perfect containers. Start with your old tupperware with the mismatched lids that’s in your cabinet. Refine later.
Wanna start creating consistent content for your socials? Don’t wait until you have the most aesthetically pleasing social media templates. Start with what you find on Canva. Refine later.
The world will always be there to tell you that you need to have ‘XYZ’ before you start something. Don’t let them fool you!
As cliche as it might sound, take the messy action. Chances are no one will even notice that you don’t have the perfect thing you’re convinced you need.