We were lucky to catch up with Malika Bowling recently and have shared our conversation below.
Malika , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. The first dollar you earn in a new endeavor is always special. We’d love to hear about how you got your first client that wasn’t a friend or family.
Funny story. Sort of. I was newly laid off and looking for a job. Recruiters, who are notoriously slimy and untrustworthy, had posted about a job writing content for a company. I was definitely interested because I love writing and the topic was home improvement which I enjoy. Lo and behold, I turned up for the interview and was told there was no job, that the recruiter was just sending in candidates to “keep on file”. Since I had spent hours comping up with ideas for what seemed like a dream job, I offered to share my insights with them and they could take them or not. I just had to get all of that preparation I did for the interview out of my head and share with them. Turns out, even though they were not hiring for the role, they were so impressed they created a contract position for me!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I always loved writing. As a kid, I relished getting an essay test over multiple choice or True / False any day. I always thought of it as a hobby. In fact, my father, an award-winning author himself, discouraged me from pursuing writing as he knew it is a struggle to make a living from it.
Getting a degree in marketing, I thought that was the smarter choice. But when I was laid off from my job after giving 100% for years, I thought there must be a better way to make a living. At the same time, blogging was in its infancy. With a passion for writing and this new thing called “content creation” I thought there may be something to it. At first when I started my freelance work, it was a food blog. I used social media to drive traffic from social media as well as learning Search Engine Optimization. Using my blog as both an example of my work and as a guinea pig for new online marketing techniques, I went slowly added clients by word of mouth and networking.
I mostly began doing social media creation and scheduling and blog writing for businesses. I’ve now moved on to doing more work as Search Engine Optimization which I really enjoy.
I’ve seen so many big name businesses (some I even work with) that charge outrageous amounts and what they deliver is sub-par. I strive to under promise and over deliver to my clients.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
Luckily for me as an online marketer and content creator, I have needed just a handful of things – a computer, an internet connection and a good smartphone. For me, I am a big believer in 2 things when it comes to funding your business:
1.) Don’t spend money for a program, course or tool if you don’t have the money to pay other bills. Only pay for those things if you can afford it. 90 percent of the time, the information is out there, you just have to be willing to spend time to find it rather than have it nicely packaged up for you.
2. ) At the same time, if you can afford to pay for a service that you could do yourself, evaluate if it is worth your time. Is it better spent building your business? Probably so. For example, I COULD have built my website myself, but the amount of time it would have taken to learn a skill I wouldn’t need again for more than 5 years just wasn’t worth it. So I paid someone to do it for me.
Within this industry, I find relationships are important and are just as important as capital. There are some deals I’ve gotten because I forged relationships. These relationships are priceless. Also, I’ve learned how uncaring and unwilling some women are to support other women despite touting this mantra. I’ve gotten more help and more support in getting where I am from men than women.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
In general, I think anyone who has a regular 9 to 5 doesn’t understand the life of small business owner. I love that image that shows the top of a rock peeking out of the top of a lake and the remaining 90 percent is below the surface. The caption basically states the top is what everyone sees but what’s below the surface equates to hard work. I laugh on the inside when people say, “Wow – I’d like to get some free meals or travel, maybe I’ll start a blog.” Or when people I don’t know message me and “I’d love to start a blog can you tell me how to do that?” People have no idea what goes into this work. And I couldn’t possibly explain 14 years worth of learning in an email response. Nor would I want to.
I also think that people who want to use the services of creatives without payment are atrocious. I get requests all the time to “consult” for free. A publicist in Atlanta asked me to lunch one day under the guise of catching up. But as soon as I sat down she said “How do we grow this restaurant’s Facebook page?” I think she truly believed buying me lunch equaled revelaing my strategies I took years to learn.
Another time, a well known Georgia ice ceam brand asked me to drive to their location and “spend the day with us and tell us how we can market ourselves better.” Taking the high road, I chose to believe they were willing to pay me for my time, so I shared my consulting fee and never heard from them again. It was years of blood, sweat and tears to create what I’ve done and I truly believe these people believe I just do it because it is “fun.”
Contact Info:
- Website: www.roamilicious.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/Roamilicious
- Facebook: Facebook.com/Roamilicious
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malikabowling/
- Twitter: twitter.com/MalikaBowling
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-AEhWG0KEWauu8D2NQO67A/videos
- Other: https://www.msn.com/en-us/community/channel/cid-7c97defbdc3624c2
Image Credits
Malika Bowling