Every so often you meet someone who seems like she’s a born teacher. Someone with the smarts, the organizational skills, and — let’s not forget, the patience — to teach.
Helena Denley is like that. In almost every aspect of her life she is in “teaching mode.” And her clients, students, and family all benefit from her gift.
To reach a wider audience with her educational efforts, Helena began using online teaching tools many years ago. They’ve permitted her to build a worldwide audience and maintain the flexibility she values in her life.
Helena’s story is this month’s Hero’s Journey feature. We’re tapping the collective wisdom of our community members to bring you reports from the front lines of the content marketing world. See all the Hero’s Journey posts here.
Read on as Helena shares her tips for moving from a service-based to a teaching-based online business.
A dynamic duo online and off
Helena Denley: My business is WP Website Coach. It’s a place for solopreneurs and small business owners to get help with their WordPress-based websites so they can move to the next level in their businesses.
We currently offer a group of interconnected one-on-one services (digital strategy, web design, “tech rescue,” monthly website care, and website reviews).
Plus, we have a WordPress training membership site and a web design course for solopreneurs.
My husband and I work in the business together and bring our life skills to all our client interactions.
Warren is a senior business analyst with more than 20 years
Category: The Hero’s Journey
Here’s How to Find the Right Mix and Fine-Tune Your Offer
Have you ever wondered if your strange collection of skills and interests could be woven together to build a profitable business?
If you have, you’ll love today’s Hero’s Journey article.
Lauren Pawell is a rare breed: she has a background in development and marketing. That’s a combination you don’t see every day!
Some people might have encouraged Lauren to choose one field or the other. But she persisted and has built a business that artfully combines her many passions.
Lauren’s story is this month’s Hero’s Journey feature. We’re tapping the collective wisdom of our community members to bring you reports from the front lines of the content marketing world. See all the Hero’s Journey posts here.
Read on as Lauren shares what she’s learned over the years and how you can use her hard-earned wisdom in your own business.
Building a one-stop revenue-building shop
Lauren Pawell: What sets Bixa Media apart is my background in both development and marketing. This allows me to sit at the intersection of business, technology and design.
We help entrepreneurs turn their WordPress and Shopify websites into revenue-generating powerhouses. We do that through a mixture of website design and development, content marketing, search engine optimization, paid advertising, and online reputation management.
Not only can we write killer copy, but we can also evaluate your technology options, decide which is best for your needs, and build everything for you, while keeping your business objectives at the forefront of the process.
I find our clients really value having a partner
How to Dig Deep and Discover the Treasure in Your Niche
Let’s take a moment to sing the praises of counterintuitive moves that propel our businesses to a whole new level.
Every so often, you try something completely different. And every so often, it really works.
Take Jelle Annaars, for example.
Jelle has spent years offering copywriting services to a long list of clients. But when he shortened that list, business improved.
He’s also spent years building a robust online presence. But when he incorporated offline techniques, that’s when things took off.
And he became a Copyblogger Certified Content Marketer by submitting writing samples in English — and English isn’t his first language!
Speaking of our Certification program: doors close tonight at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Register now before it’s too late. (Authority members: log in first.)
Jelle’s story is this month’s Hero’s Journey feature. We’re tapping the collective wisdom of our community members to bring you reports from the front lines of the content marketing world. See all the Hero’s Journey posts here.
Read on as Jelle shares the counterintuitive moves that have made a difference in his business.
The nail-biting decision that now seems obvious
Jelle Annaars: I’m a content marketing consultant and copywriter. I often tell people I’m a one-man agency for content marketing: I do content strategy, planning, and production. I work mainly with small businesses that have 20-250 employees.
I give my clients a bird’s-eye view of both their current content marketing efforts and future possibilities. That’s the strategy part.
When they need to actually produce content, they can rely on me
Sour to Sweet: An Advisor Who Transforms Businesses
Every business has moments when it’s on shaky ground.
Sometimes the business is in the middle of a major growth phase. It’s traveling over rocky ground as it transforms from what it was to what it’ll become.
Sometimes it’s simply struggling to put its best face forward on the web.
And sometimes the business lacks the technology or processes needed to get to the next level of growth.
Raúl Colón helps with all of the above.
His story is this month’s Hero’s Journey feature. We’re tapping the collective wisdom of our community members to bring you reports from the front lines of the content marketing world. See all of the Hero’s Journey posts here.
Read on as Raúl tells his story.
How Raúl turns lemons into lemonade
Raúl Colón: Right now, my business works with clients — either management departments of companies or business owners — to recommend new technologies for their businesses.
To accomplish this, I research and take snapshots of their processes.
Once I understand their current state of business, I start mapping out how they can best align their people and processes to help them serve their customers in an efficient and effective manner.
And my business, Limonade, designs and builds websites on WordPress. We create content for clients and consult on how to make their tools work. We also serve as a strategic partner for larger agencies who might need our resources.
Strength in diversity
Raúl Colón: Our strength is that we offer a diverse group of folks from all walks of life.
For
A Champion of Creative Play
Life was simple when we were seven, wasn’t it?
A puddle and some pebbles, crayons and paper, a piece of chalk and a sidewalk — that’s all we needed to keep us happy and amused for hours.
But somewhere along the way, most of us lose this sense of joy in simple creative pleasures.
Today, you’ll learn about Melissa Dinwiddie’s quest to bring creativity back into your daily life.
Melissa’s story is this month’s Hero’s Journey feature. We’re tapping the collective wisdom of our community members to bring you reports from the front lines of the content marketing world. Read all of the Hero’s Journey posts here.
Here’s Melissa to share her journey in her own words.
How Melissa champions creativity
Melissa Dinwiddie: My business is Living a Creative Life — that’s the name of my blog, and it’s also what I do and what my business helps other people do.
I call myself a Happiness Catalyst and Creativity Instigator.
I help people switch their creative taps to the “on” position and turn their lives from grey to full color.
Really, I help people play again, and return to the joy, freedom, and happiness of a four-year-old playing in a sandbox, back when creative play was a normal, daily part of life.
Reminding us to make time for play
Melissa Dinwiddie: For most of us, creative play gets tamped down pretty early.
The school system trains us how to please an authority figure (the teacher), rather than how to push creative boundaries.
We’re taught to believe that creative
A Business Built Around Mentoring Fledgling Lawyers
Some of the best businesses are built when an entrepreneur wants to right a wrong, and today’s story is a perfect example.
As a young lawyer himself, Chris Hargreaves saw that budding lawyers were thrown into the profession with little-to-no support. They were expected to figure things out for themselves, and as a result, took longer to get up to speed with their field.
And that was bad — for their clients, their employers, and their own careers.
Chris’s story is this month’s Hero’s Journey feature. We’re tapping the collective wisdom of our community members to bring you reports from the front lines of the content marketing world. Read all the Hero’s Journey posts here.
Now let’s hear Chris explain what he does in his own words.
Moonlighting as a mentor
Chris Hargreaves: By day I’m a full-time lawyer, but by night (and lunchtimes, early mornings, bus trips, and any other minutes I’m not attending to my wife and kids) I create media at Tips For Lawyers.
I help train young lawyers in the essential skills that are largely forgotten by university education. I genuinely care about the development of young lawyers — for their sake, for the sake of their employers, and for the sake of their clients.
Often what these young lawyers learn is ‘how it’s always been done’ — which is a terrible reason to do something the dumb way, but something that lawyers are renowned for.
The result? Their questions go unanswered, their issues go untouched, and their stresses
An Advocate Who Helps People Change the World with Content Marketing
There’s a certain type of client who’s naturally drawn to Amy Butcher’s work. And there’s a certain type of client Amy Butcher is naturally drawn to.
The common thread?
Amy helps nonprofits, research institutes, and public sector agencies craft ultra-effective content. Her words help them get more support and more donations.
Her words help them change the world.
Once a month here on Copyblogger, we tap the collective wisdom of our community members to bring you reports from the front lines of the content marketing world.
For this month’s Hero’s Journey feature, I asked Amy to remove her superhero cape momentarily to tell us more about her business — who she helps, and how she helps them.
Here are her answers in her own words.
The universal theme that ties her clients together
Amy Butcher: I’m a translator, writer, content marketing consultant, and editor. I help organizations use content to get more support.
And I help self-published authors take their memoirs, business books, and novels to the next level to drive book sales.
Overall, I tend to connect with people who are passionate about helping others and changing the world.
Solid content and a dash of spice
Amy Butcher: I offer my clients both structure and style. I help them organize their content in clear ways while adding a dash of ye’ old razzmatazz.
I don’t sit around talking about content problems. I get on with hunting them down and fixing them with my trusty utility belt, courtesy of Copyblogger.
How to Play the Long Game to Bring Your Idea to Life
Not long ago, Chris Healy and Lindsay Barto were driving back from a client meeting. It went well, but they couldn’t help asking themselves, “What’s our thing?”
Lindsay and Chris run a creative agency, Round Two Creative Group. They make websites, set up email systems, create original content, build sales funnels, and more.
But what was their silver bullet? What differentiated them from everyone else?
As they drove back to San Diego, it suddenly became clear: they’d talk about hair ties … for guys!
Except they didn’t have any hair ties. For guys, or for anyone. Or a website. Or a brand. Or anything — except an idea and a funny commercial they made.
That’s when they realized it’s not about a loop of elastic. It’s about why guys with long hair need hair ties for guys.
Chris and Lindsay’s story is this month’s Hero’s Journey feature. We’re tapping the collective wisdom of our community members to bring you reports from the front lines of the content marketing world. Read all the Hero’s Journey posts here.
Let’s hear directly from Chris and Lindsay to discover how two guys created a recognizable brand around their long hair.
How to build a business around a unifying idea
Chris Healy and Lindsay Barto: We realized guys with long hair need advocates, education, and a place to celebrate.
Advocate: Countless world influencers have been men with long hair, yet today they’re called “slacker” and “hippie,” told to get a job, and that they
From a Hidden Niche, an Empire Is Born
Back in the day, Michaela Clark had quite a glamorous career.
She worked in radio station promotions, and her job involved international travel and mingling with celebrities. Every day was different.
Then she became a mom. When her second child was diagnosed with autism, she knew she needed to make a drastic change, and she left her promotions job.
Within a span of a few short years, she went from mingling with celebs to changing diaper after diaper. Around this time, a friend suggested she look into becoming a virtual assistant.
The new career suited her life — her work was flexible, and she could do it from home.
But that wasn’t enough for her.
She took all her career experience and created something much, much bigger. And she did it using content marketing.
Michaela’s story is this month’s Hero’s Journey feature. We’re tapping the collective wisdom of our community members to bring you reports from the front lines of the content marketing world. Read all the Hero’s Journey posts here.
Now hear how Michaela’s story has played out, directly from Michaela.
First off, let’s learn a new word: “tradies”
Michaela Clark: My business provides a range of services that help building contractors, such as plumbers and electricians (affectionately known as “tradies” in Australia), grow their businesses and build lasting assets.
Our core business is Tradies VA, the only specialized virtual assistant and phone answering service for trade contractors in Australia.
In addition, I co-host the number-one podcast for tradies with Warrick Bidwell. It’s called the
Guiding Online Dreams (and Dreaming of a New Community)
Darren DeMatas has built a career helping others bring their dreams online. With his newest venture, selfstartr.com, he’s finally shifted his focus to a new client he’s never served before: himself.
It’s a new business, and his dream is to create a community where people can start to learn how to use content to market their own e-commerce businesses.
Darren’s story is this month’s Hero’s Journey feature. We’re tapping the collective wisdom of our community members to bring you reports from the front lines of the content marketing world. You can read about Belinda Weaver, our featured community member from last month.
Darren’s professional experience up until this point has ranged from search marketing to e-commerce and software-as-a-service. This new business will draw from his previous experience to help serve those who want to grow online.
Let’s turn this over to Darren so he can share his story.
Online businesses are built on connection
Darren DeMatas: We help e-commerce entrepreneurs turn their ideas into a sustainable business with free courses, step-by-step guides, and podcasts.
I think my willingness to connect with my readers gives me a huge advantage. My number one goal is to create meaningful relationships with people. If I don’t have that, I don’t have anything.
People who join our community are blown away at the personal advice I give them when I respond to their emails.
I’ve always been the type of person who will roll up my sleeves and get down in the trenches with