We recently connected with Kat Cox and have shared our conversation below.

Kat, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later?

While my business started organically, I wish I had been more serious about it earlier. I started freelance copywriting as a side hustle in the mid-2000s. I wasn’t intentional about it and just accepted work here and there from people who needed help. I always thought of it as something I was doing between jobs or to make money on the side.

I made a jump to contracting full-time in 2016 but didn’t officially register my business as an LLC until 2019. I wish I’d put in the work to research what it meant to register my business before then, but — like most people who work for themselves — I was too busy working to be very intentional about it.

I don’t have regrets about how my business has been built. I still get most of my work from referrals because I’ve built strong relationships and done good work for people. As someone who has written about small businesses, I’d definitely tell people to take it seriously earlier and believe in yourself sooner. If you’re doing something meaningful to you that you could sell, even if you’re not making money at it right now, you are a small business owner. Register your business and get a good accountant, especially for tax purposes. Leverage resources, network, and sell yourself as a small business owner whenever you can. Carry business cards wherever you go because you never know who’s going to need your skills next.

I think most small businesses grow organically, and there’s nothing shameful about that.

Kat, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a writer, plain and simple. I’ve always considered myself a writer — even as a young girl, when people would ask what I wanted to be when I grew up, I didn’t waiver from the answer. Of course, when I was young, I thought I’d be a novelist or a journalist. My idea of what being a writer means has changed, but I make my living writing now, and I’m proud of that.

Now I write marketing content (blogs, websites, white papers, articles, press releases, social media copy, ad copy, radio scripts) for businesses of all sizes. I also write fiction for myself and clients, but that’s not the majority of my work. (I have to console my inner child about this quite often.) Luckily starting as a fiction writer means I’ve honed my ability to tell a story, which helps me think about marketing writing more creatively and sets me apart from people who went through marketing programs at business school (although I often find those are some of the best people to collaborate with).

My biggest strengths are researching and explaining complex ideas in easy-to-understand content. My best work has been for tech companies, lifestyle brands, human resources companies, and other businesses that need to quickly and efficiently explain how their products and services can make a potential client’s life better. I’ve learned to center the customer in my writing rather than the story I’m trying to tell, which drives engagement. I’ve also learned to apply accessibility and clarity best practices to all my writing so more people can read it. I can still write formal, advanced content when the audience is right, but my biggest asset is helping subject matter experts get their concepts out of the jargon in their heads and into the wider world in a way that sells rather than confuses.

I’m also extremely efficient at what I do. I write very quickly while maintaining a high level of quality. One of the reasons I can do this is because I absorb information and digest it well before I sit down to write. Typing at 100+ words per minute helps, too.

I find a lot of joy in being able to mix my creative strengths and passions, including writing, teaching, and public speaking into meaningful work for myself.
Another benefit of working for myself is I have found clients whose missions and values I align with. I have a variety of interests and causes I believe in and I have the pleasure of helping businesses in those arenas flourish. Recently I started a podcast with a former colleague about green living and eco-friendly lifestyles, and while we aren’t making money at it, I’m enjoying the challenge of researching new topics and helping other people learn about them through our show.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

My number one source of new clients is referrals from previous clients. I frequently work with web designers and graphic designers who bring me on to write website copy for a new client. Often small business owners who need a new website also need help with other copywriting and marketing, and we tend to start a contract from there. I’ve also often had new clients who brought me on because I worked with someone on their team at a previous job. Also, people that I’ve worked with in a full-time capacity have referred me for contracts that I’ve loved. People who know your work and can speak for your collaboration skills are the best sources of new work.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think many of us have been raised to believe that going to college and getting a “real job” is the best or only way to make a living. I was very afraid of not having the security of a full-time job all my life. While I’ve done well in office jobs, I have always felt like a wild bird in a cage. As a creative, I need a lot of freedom, alone time, and space to flourish. My creative process involves a lot of thinking, which I do best on a walk or run, playing with my dog, or talking with people who don’t know about the subject to see if I can explain it. This doesn’t translate well to a 9-5 where you need to look productive by typing at a desk.

I have often felt like there was something wrong with me because I couldn’t seem to stay in any “normal” job long-term, even with great coworkers, beautiful office spaces, and a pretty good paycheck. I’ve found myself bored when I’m not thinking about big problems, which felt like a weakness of character. Going into the same office day after day and doing the same tasks over and over drives me to misery.

It took me a long time to realize there’s nothing wrong with me; I’m just not well-suited to normal corporate life. I need the freedom to pick the topics I research and what I write about. I need control over my time and a lot of room to choose where I spend it. I need my work to be more than busywork and have a purpose behind it or that it teaches me something important. I need to feel that the work I’m doing has an impact beyond making a rich person richer. I admire people who can go to the same office every day and be fine just taking the paycheck, but that never worked for me.

Also, just because something doesn’t earn money doesn’t mean it isn’t valuable. I know plenty of entrepreneurs who want to make money, which is fine for them, but it doesn’t work with my creative brain. Expression is more important to my writing than money. I’d rather spend a long time telling a worthwhile story that makes me no money than “hustle” to pile on clients and increase my bank account. It’s also not a competition for me. I don’t want to outwrite others or make more money than others or outsell others. Just because I’m a small business owner, it doesn’t mean I’m single-mindedly pursuing a cash payout. My greatest success is when someone who didn’t understand a subject or hadn’t thought of it before tells me they learned something from my writing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.katcox.com
• Instagram: @katcoxwriter
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherinecox
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@greeningupmyact
• Other: https://katbrain.substack.com
  https://www.greeningupmyact.com