We were lucky to catch up with Willow Paule recently and have shared our conversation below.

Willow, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you think folks should manage their own social media or hire a professional? What do you do?

Since a big part of my business is creating content for my clients’ social media accounts, I manage my own as well. I find that it keeps me creative and aware of constantly changing best practices for each platform.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

In 2018, I was looking for work I could do online. Previously, I owned a photography business, and I had learned a lot about what it takes to run a small business in the process.

So, back to my search for online work in 2018. I did an inventory of my skills and a lot of research to find the right type of work. I read about virtual assistance, and I thought that could be a good fit for my skills. So, I started this business by offering virtual assistance services.

After a few years of serving many diverse clients in different capacities, I figured out that helping clients with their content strategy and creation was my thing, so I niched down in 2022.

Now, I offer content strategy, creation and repurposing services for heart-led business owners like healers, wellness practitioners, coaches, and creatives. I help them stay more visible online with emails, blogs, and social media content. They get to connect with soulmate clients without getting stuck on the content creation hamster wheel.

I spend time getting to know my client’s brand and their goals so that I truly understand how to create content that speaks to their audience. I don’t create content for content’s sake. Instead, everything is strategic, and there is a purpose behind each piece of content.

I love using content repurposing to help my clients. Not only is it a huge timesaver, but it’s also a smart marketing tool. The more you share the same marketing messages in new ways, the more chances you have to connect with your audience and create brand awareness.

Recently, I’ve introduced a new program called 📝Content With Friends for business owners who want to learn how to write content that connects with their audience. It’s a virtual, done-with-you group program and it gives people structure and accountability to put in the work on creating great content for their brand.

Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?

I started my business in a super lean way! However, I got a job teaching English online and I was able to use some of the proceeds from that job to buy basic supplies for my office and online subscriptions I needed. I wasn’t living in a high-cost area and that helped so I didn’t have as much pressure to immediately have a large amount of income.

Every time I got a new client it enabled me to invest in new supplies or online education programs that could help me. I also began raising my prices after about a year. I had become more skilled and could justify raising my rates, and that, in turn, allowed me to save more money.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

In the past few months, I had gotten on a few discovery calls where potential clients would start by saying, “I’m not looking for now, but maybe in the future.” It felt like there had been a shift in who I was attracting. Before that, people would have already made up their mind that they wanted to work with me, but just wanted to meet on the call before getting started.

So, recently, someone reached out to schedule a discovery call. In my call form, I ask about potential clients’ budgets. This person wrote, “I have no budget yet.” I felt frustrated but decided to go forward with the call anyway.

When I spoke with the potential client it turned out it was more a case that they didn’t know what their budget should be for the project, and not that they didn’t have one. We had a great conversation and decided to work together. It reminded me to keep an open mind, even when I think I know someone won’t buy.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.willowpaule.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/willowpaulecreative/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/willowpaulecreativethatsme/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willow-paule-101/
• Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/willowpaulecreative/