We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Pat Kramer. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Pat below.

Pat, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I realized my love for reading and writing when I was quite young and from the age of eight, I began writing in a diary (and then a journal) recording my thoughts and impressions of the world. During junior high, I served in my first editorial role on my junior high school’s yearbook. By the time I was in high school, I knew I wanted to write for a living.

I graduated from Emerson College with a Bachelor’s Degree in the Mass Communications and for ten years, I worked as a radio news reporter, broadcaster and story editor. And while I loved being a news journalist, the money wasn’t enough for me to make a decent living so I transitioned out of that role to do marketing and PR for a Cable TV franchise. But after four years of doing that, I missed being behind the scenes, interviewing people and asking relevant questions about what they do for a living, so I began my journey back into journalism.

For the past 30+ years now, I have operated my own business as Writer For Hire. My goal is to create a positive image and promote the credibility of my clients by writing content that elevates them and puts them in the spotlight. I have helped 100’s of businesses gain visibility with my writing work since then and my most recent addition to my services is in helping seniors write their memoirs.

I believe everyone has a story to tell and that’s why I’m working more and more as a ghostwriter for wanna-be authors who won’t have writing expertise. The seniors, themselves, are an underserved population that hold the memories and stories that should be written down for future generations – or they will get lost. That’s my mission and I love my work.

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.

As a writer, I bring my clients my background as a news journalist to flush out the key information that I need to write about them. I also have many years of experience as a writer for public relations and ad agencies, so I fold those skills into everything that I do.

Essentially, I create unique stories about my clients that are fun to read, interesting and that are memorable. That’s something that cannot be done by AI or GPT Chat apps, which just replicate other people’s content.

As far as what I’m most proud of, I would say one of the things I have done that I’m most proud of is that I created a detailed history of all four grandparents’ stories. I should tell you that none of them were alive when I did this – I did it all from research and from interviewing other family members who remembered them. It took me three months, initially, to create the histories but since then I have updated them with new information that I’ve gotten for further research.

By doing this work, I was able to meet second and third cousins who I have never been introduced to. These people are within five years of my age and are related through my maternal grandmother’s sisters and my paternal grandfather’s sisters. It’s amazing that we share so many traits and experiences and I would never have known them if I had not done this extensive research into my grandparents’ past.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

As a writer, I am always imagining ways to better stay in touch with my clients. I keep a daily log with references to each conversation I have and I also maintain files on each of my clients which I revisit as times goes by.

I love printed materials and I have produced many postcards over the years. But these days, postage is very expensive and it’s time consuming to hand write letters or cards. So, I am doing more digital communication with my clients, although I don’t send anything on a monthly basis. I probably should do MailChimp more often.

I do blog on LinkedIn every month and my blogs also go on my website, which I just re-launched in April 2023. I’m very proud of my new web content. I wrote it all myself and worked with a website master to implement the graphics and backend work.

As far as social media, I do posts on Facebook and LinkedIn and stay in touch with my clients via email, frequently.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Being a sole practitioner is not easy. I’ve been self-employed for over 30 years and I’ve had to pivot constantly as new technology changes the way we do business. This requires being willing to educate myself on new and improved communication devices. For this, I am a member of IWOSC, the Independent Writers of Southern California. I have always been a member and I attend webinars and live meetings quarterly, if not monthly. This is one of the ways that I keep improving my skill level.

There was a time in the early years of my business when I learned that I needed a better work contract after I had to take three different clients to court to get paid for work that I had done. I joined a professional business networking group where I met an attorney who generated a new contract for me. This contract protects me and my work, which was not the case previously. It also lets potential clients know that I am a legitimate business and not someone they can push around.

What I learned from that experience was that when I wanted to quit and work for someone else, because I felt lost from those frustrating experiences, what I really needed was to reach out and get the support I needed. Quitting comes out of a fear that I’m not going to get my needs met. But it really had nothing to do with my job skills, which have always been very high-level.

I would suggest for anyone who is new in their business to join a business association and become active in it. Meet other members who can support you and look at ways of improving yourself and your business skills. That is the essential factor that most self-employed people need to be successful. We all need support and there’s nothing wrong with asking for help.       

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.writerpatkramer.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ghostwriterpublicityandmarketingwriter/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ghostwritingbrandingexpert/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/pat-kramer-writer-for-hire-sunland-2?osq=writer+for+hire

Image Credits
My photos belong to me.