Three Content Writers who started from scratch and made it big!

When I started off with content marketing, the first person that came to mind was Joe Pulizzi. I bought his book Epic Content marketing, and most of it is still lying unread. It is probably the writer in me, who’s worried more about the writing, than the marketing. That said, in my journey of content marketing over the last 3 years now, I have come across these three stalwarts who have redefined the industry with their skill, not to mention their own careers. 

Julia McCoy 

She founded Expresswriters in 2011 and the rest as they say is history. The About Us page on her website- https://expresswriters.com/about-us/ is what really got to me. That is such a great way to draw the reader in. It is the story of the Founder and doesn’t promise you the world. She kept blogging year on year, sent emails weekly, wrote and published her own books. And look where she is at now! Their client success story of how they helped a digital marketing agency in need that resulted in 77% increase in revenue is phenomenal! 

Check out their website here: https://expresswriters.com/ and her LinkedIn profile at: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/juliaemccoy/

The one thing about Ms McCoy that resonated deeply with me too, as the Co- Founder of a content firm is trusting my hires. She learnt the hard way that who you hire will not come to the table with as much ownership as you. You need to work them, trust them and make them earn your trust further, give them the freedom to soar and also ensure that your brand doesn’t get compromised in any way. Guess what, we learnt this the hard way too. Also other start ups that you might work with- they may not share the same work ethics as yours. It does well to be on your guard. 

But moving on. 

Carol Tice

Apart from writing content, she also helps writers land jobs. Her description of herself as a “long time six figure freelance writer”, really intrigued me. Content is a tough profession. Often people want great quality copy and content, but think it is unjustly priced. Her website- https://www.makealivingwriting.com/ is a goldmine of practical help for freelance writers. 

Carol writes compelling business stories. See the word play in the last 3 words. Compelling- Business- Story. Wow! She started out in 2008 and drove 2.5 million readers to her Forbes blog in 3 years. I have chosen an older print of hers- https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/226467 to illustrate how she makes the compelling business stories. It is about a small size firm’s attempts at reducing his business’ carbon footprint. I will let you read the article, but you will see that it is spaced with actual doable things for small businesses. It also has links to the services that this business used to actually reduce their carbon footprint. 

Look up Carol at: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/carol-tice-freelance-writing-business-coach/

What am I getting at? 

The better and best content writers, exemplify what they are getting at.

They don’t stitch stories around what ifs.

They research, they write and they publish.

Julia’s blogs too are full of exactly what they have done. They aren’t misers when it comes to sharing the process and that is what sets their writing apart. 

Kristi Hines

She has recommendations from the likes of Neil Patel and Mike Stelzner on her website’s home page. She has written for Joe Pulizzi’s CMI too! Apart from being a content writer and marketer, she has quite a few digital marketing certifications under her belt. Her About Us has one sentence that says that - “Combined with her industry experience, the knowledge she gained from each course allows her to provide her clients with the most effective content to achieve their content marketing objectives.” Check it out here: https://kristihines.com/freelance-writer/ and her LinkedIn profile at: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/kristihines/

I love that last bit. Content marketing objectives. It is so illusive that we believe it to not exist or to not have be of any significance at all. The content industry is itself so fluid that objectives even if decided sometimes get waylaid by more short term business mandates.

Krist also has the Guest Blogging Survival Guide to her credit and I recommend that you read the marketing blogs and the marketing news on https://kristihines.com/category/blog/. 

 Julia, Carol and Kristi started from scratch using nothing but their own skill set and believed that “writing” would be their ultimate attempt at glory. There is no one trick to becoming a great content writer, except one fool proof way at it- keep writing every day, publish content every day and come back and keep doing it everyday. 

And as Seth Godin says- Content Marketing is all the Marketing that’s left.

More from the Author:

About the Author:

Anuradha is passionate about stories. From a very young age, she remembers reading late into the night with her mother by her side. Her love of reading is only rivalled by her "need" of writing.

For more than two decades now, she has been writing and contributing to story telling and content in any form that she can. Emotive writing is her forte and she considers herself to be an amateur poet too.

She writes and publishes at: https://drywaters.blog/ .

Anuradha has also Co- Founded a Content firm - https://21dsolutions.com/ that believes that storytelling is their USP.

In this new "#LearningtoWrite" series on LinkedIn, Anuradha will take us through ways and means of becoming a better writer.