Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Emily Krings. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Emily, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

There are many motivations for becoming a business owner. Some people want more money. Some people want the glamorous “CEO” title. All of that sounds cool to me, but what I’ve wanted from the start is freedom.

I saw a meme circulating a couple of months ago that said “I quit my 9-5, and now I work 24/7,” and boy, did I feel that. Since I went straight from full-time student to full-time entrepreneur, I didn’t leave a 9-5, but I dodged one.

There is nothing inherently wrong with a structured 9-5 job with clear hours, benefits, workplace comradery, PTO, and so forth. In fact, sometimes, it sounds kind of great. However, there is one thing it lacks: the level of freedom that I want and need in my life.

However, that freedom doesn’t come overnight. For me, it didn’t come for years, and in the beginning, the security of a 9-5 was so tempting. I can’t tell you how many hard days left me browsing jobs on Google, but I never applied. I cried it out and kept pushing through.

The first year that I was a full-time entrepreneur left me with very little money. I made a little more than $20k that year. The next year left me with a roster of (what I thought were) well-paying clients, but a mix of crappy contracts and lack of confidence put me in a position where I was bending over backward to please people who had no respect for my time or energy. Does any of that sounds like “freedom?”

Over halfway through year three is where things started getting better, I landed a really solid client that gave me the confidence boost I needed to start better advocating for myself. Not only was the pay great, but the respect was absolutely refreshing. With better boundaries and higher pay, I got a taste of the freedom that I had set out to find.

This confidence helped me land my dream client which totally changed the game. It was the key to freedom. It brought me over the hump and prepared me to deal with the burnout that I had been pushing through for over two years.

My current roster of clients has given me more of the freedom that I have been after. I have the time and energy to pour back into myself. I am healthier mentally and physically, which has made me better at everything that I do.

The answer to this question may have been different a year ago, but today, I am happy as an entrepreneur. I sacrificed so much time, energy, and peace to get here. I cannot say that the means justified the ends because the burnout I felt at times was absolutely terrifying, but I am thrilled to be on the other side.

My business is only three and a half years old, so I am still at the beginning. There is so much more to come for me, and there are so many lessons to learn and rollercoasters to ride. But if there is one thing that I know, it is that I am happy to be an entrepreneur.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I became a writer by accident. I started a blog five years ago, and that just-for-fun project got a lot of hype from my friends and family. Maybe they were just being nice, but it empowered me to get an internship as a blogger for a local music company.

When I realized that this little writing hobby could actually make me some money, I started looking on Facebook groups and Reddit forums for work. I was still in college at the time, so I thought it would be a fun way to make some extra cash. Two writers took a chance on me and let me do some of their spillover work.

One of those writers became a mentor to me and taught me everything there was to know about SEO content writing. Not only did she mentor me, but she put me on some pretty cool projects so I was making money while I learned. At this point, I started considering that writing could become a career.

From there, things kind of snowballed. Every new client was bigger than the last, and writing became my full-time job. I offered any sort of writing service someone could possibly need just so I could land clients and get experience. Around this time was when Quill to Keys Content Writing was born.

Today, I focus on SEO content creation and strategy. I sell SEO blog content as my main service, but I am willing to expand those offerings once I develop a relationship with a client.

I also do some work in helping my larger clients, such as Alibaba.com, develop internal writing “agencies.” I help them assess writers to determine which ones to keep, which ones to train, and which ones to let go of. I’ve learned so much while working on projects like that.

As for the structure of my business, it is branded and structured like an agency. However, I currently handle most projects by myself and only call in for help for a select few. My focus has been primarily on growth vs. scaling, but that will likely change very soon. I often have the vision of owning a full-blown agency, but I also like providing the personal touch for all of my clients.

What I believe sets my services apart from others is that I prioritize organization, timeliness, and getting the job done right. My clients have repeatedly thanked me for delivery, efficiency, and transparency, and I am very proud to embody each of those qualities.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think that always delivering as promised has helped me build my reputation within my market. That is why my clients are typically in it for the long run.

Also, being credited for my work that was ranking high on dozens of SERPs (layman’s terms: the first page of Google for different search terms) helped so much.

What do you find most rewarding about being creative?

When it comes to my personal projects, I love to be able to express myself through writing. But when it comes to my clients, I love when they read something that I wrote and they feel like it totally showcases who they are personally or as a brand.

Contact Info:

• Website: quilltokeys.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/emilykrings
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-krings/
• Twitter: twitter.com/emilykrings
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnmy3c9hGzj09D6YBMr7n-A

Image Credits
Alison Frank Photography