Getting Real With Shadra Bruce
When I said goodbye to my “atrocious boss” and decided to work from home almost 10 years ago, the first job I got was to write 100 testimonials for a company. I had two days to do it and they were paying $125. It was the first time I’d ever bid on anything, my first foray into the world of content marketing.
I would never, ever do it again.
In fact, Kira and Dave both had to help me just to get them all done in time, and I probably only made $3 an hour for the trouble.
But, it was a start.
The next job paid $35 an hour (almost twice what I was being paid in corporate servitude) and lasted over a year…so right away, things were looking much brighter than they had that first few days.
Over time, I’ve built a pretty awesome business – a business that has remained flexible and has changed with the times and has clients that have stuck with me for four, five, even six years. When I started, content marketing, SEO, and social media marketing weren’t terms everyone knew, and there was a much different approach to online marketing.
It’s actually better now, because WHAT you write matters and building real relationships with fans/followers/customers/clients is important. Before, it was all about writing an article so stuffed with keywords that it barely made sense and publishing it to as many places as you could get it.
Now, it’s about value. People won’t read what you’re writing if you’re not giving them something different, something interesting, something entertaining. Even then, you’re competing against a bazillion other things being written every day.
But no matter how hard I have to work from home for my clients or for our business (my husband and I have partnered now to grow what I started), it’s worth the trouble and the effort. I’m home with my kids, I work hours I choose, I travel when I want.
I work harder now than when I worked for Mr. Atrocious, but I work happier.
And in the end, isn’t that what matters?
