My Story
It never ceases to amaze me how life can surprise us and we often arrive at a complete circle.
Although none of my jobs required a degree in journalism, most of them provided opportunities for projects that required writing. In fact, my first job in journalism was in the 10th grade when I wrote a column for a local paper about our high school activities. I remember being paid 10 cents a word and I suspect my columns were rather wordy.
While I was working at Roeper School a physician asked me to help him develop a marketing strategy and write promotional material because he was changing his medical practice. I established my first company, EdiText Co. to provide a paper trail for being hired and compensated by the doctor. I enjoyed the work so much that I decided to develop my own business as a marketing strategist and freelance writer.
I worked out of my home and returned to school to learn more about the growing aging population that I met while working for the doctor. Having attended one of the first programs in gerontology in the Midwest I became an instant expert for the topic of healthy aging for magazines and other print media. That topic expanded to health in general and that eventually expanded to business topics. I also taught several classes over a two year period about starting your own business in your home because it was so new. In fact, you didn’t tell people you worked out of your home back then because they believed you weren’t really working. The classes were my way of giving back to the community and interestingly, one of those people who started her business after attending my class remains in business!
For the next 15 years I was busy writing articles and earned an excellent reputation for taking on even the most complicated of health topics and making it understood by the average reader. During that time I only worked with a half dozen people providing them with marketing strategies. By the year 2000 the Internet was everywhere and print publications were disappearing so I explored other revenue avenues. From 2006 through most of 2009 I worked at creating promotional efforts for healthy aging, writing articles, marketing affiliate products and teaching online classes. I was not very successful.
However, back in the later months of 2008, upon their request, I started working with a dentist and a chiropractor, developing strategies for promoting their business and creating content for their projects. In 2009 I received requests from 6 other people, professionals and small business owners, to also help them promote their business with content.
This is 2010 and I have closed the circle but it is no thanks to me. It took 10 people to ask for my skills before it dawned on me that not only was I was moving in the wrong direction, I wasn’t very successful at it either. I had created a job marketing healthy aging and that was not where I wanted to be at this point I my life.
Now I am working with people who were downsized and want to start a new career using the Internet as their platform. They requested my help without any promotional efforts on my part. I am also working with men and women who are supposed to retire at their age but would rather continue to be productive. They are making slight changes in their career and working the Internet to give them the time flexibility they enjoy.
It is so much fun helping these and others who see promise after being so demoralized about the recession. I love helping others and I am enveloped in teaching which brings me much pleasure. I just wish someone would have hit me on the head to wake me up a couple of years ago so I could have been teaching business owners and professionals how to market their businesses or profession. I know my life would have been so much more enjoyable and my clients’ lives more profitable.
