10 years of WriteCloud
December 2021 marks 10 years of WriteCloud, so I am taking a look back at how it all started.
The beginning
If someone had told me 10 years ago that I would still be working for myself in 10 years time, I would have laughed a little and shrugged it off.
I’m just doing a bit of work from home. I’ll be back in a “proper job” in a few years.
I had no desire to work for myself. But it’s a familiar story, and it actually starts 14 years ago, not 10, after child number two came along.
It was July 2008, my maternity leave was coming to an end after having my second child, and the likelihood of returning to my job was getting slimmer by the day. I didn’t want to work full time, the office had relocated, I didn’t want to commute and I didn’t want to be relying on expensive childcare to allow me to work.
I was becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of flexible jobs. I trawled through the internet, contacted agencies and explored the so-called ‘work from home’ opportunities in the hope of finding something that would fit with me and my life. I didn’t want to compromise – I wanted to find valued and challenging work that was flexible enough to fit around my family – but I still needed a job. So I took a part-time job in a restaurant.
And then I fell into copywriting
In 2009, I was asked if I could help out with some copy for a flyer, you know, as I was ‘quite good at English’. To which I replied ‘ok, but what is copy?’
My husband had recently set up Puffin Creative, doing graphic design and websites, and he needed some help with the words on a leaflet (it was a leaflet about mattresses) for one of his clients. I didn’t even know what copywriting was at the time. But I really enjoyed the process. This was my lightbulb moment.
I loved it; researching, writing and working at home just me and my laptop, so much so that I decided to sign up for a distance learning course to learn more. Finally, something I could get stuck into.
From there, I took on the odd copywriting project – wrote some words for a few websites, did some work with a content mill, struggled to earn anything…
The thing was, I wasn’t very good at finding work. When you only want to work part-time, to fit around your family, it’s really difficult to spend time finding the work too, especially if you’re not a natural salesperson and your confidence is low. So, I stayed on at the restaurant as well and I kept planning and thinking and researching.
Until…
I was contacted quite by accident through a friend who knew someone that wanted some home-based admin support for a few hours a week. It was a good fit for my skills and experience having worked as a customer service administrator previously. At the time, the term ‘Virtual Assistant’ was unknown to me and it was actually unknown to the client, too. They just knew they wanted some reliable support, but, being a virtual organisation themselves, couldn’t employ someone to work in their office.
That one regular client was enough to make it all feasible.
WriteCloud officially started in December 2011
During my freelancing journey, I’ve progressed from occasional freelancer to full-time business owner. I have had some amazing opportunities to work with some amazing clients. I’m privileged to be helping clients on their own business journeys as they launch their website and reach their audience or to support them as their business grows and their communities expand. No two jobs or two clients are the same. Working for myself has also given me the opportunity to learn new skills. Whether it’s researching for a new project or just brushing up on the latest technology, the opportunities to continue to develop in this career are endless.
It’s now December 2021. 10 years!
Full time freelancing
My business is full-time, but it’s grown at a pace that’s been very steady, sustainable and increased year-on-year (pandemic aside), which is how I wanted it to grow as my family grew up.
So, no, I won’t be going back to a “proper job” any time soon.