Enterprenuer
Amanda is a thought leader, ghostwriter, brand strategist, and copywriter.
She also produces creative content for PR and marketing companies, entrepreneurs, and small businesses worldwide.
She can be found wearing many professional hats, sometimes all at once.
You can find her writing science fiction stories, polishing her novel, or caring for Warden, her cat.
From where did the idea for your business come?
I am a simple gal. My ability to sign off on every piece of copy that I create as a content writer is crucial to me. I used my name.
Why would I make it if I could not happily write my name on it? My name is tied to my work, even ghostwriting.
However, very few people will know that it’s me behind those words.
This is a testament to the integrity I strive to bring to every client engagement.
How do you make your day more productive?
When I get up in the morning, I make sure to have a cup of coffee before I spend time with Warden, my Balinese shorthair cat.
To get my brain moving and clear any worries or doubts lurking in my subconscious, I journal at least one page each morning.
This increases my creativity and helps me create a list of things I need to do for the day.
I am either creating brand strategy and messaging documents or writing thought leadership articles at any one time.
My workday is varied depending on what I have going on, but I aim to complete at least three hours each day of client work.
It helps me stay focused and in the zone.
After lunch, I switch to my side projects. I write a column in Luna Station Quarterly about the intersection between speculative fiction and chronic illnesses.
I have also written several academic papers on composition pedagogy for the 21st Century.
It sounds boring, but it is a lot of fun!
My brain is exhausted by 3:00 pm, so I take a break to go to the gym or walk around.
Southern Virginia is a great place to live. There are many beautiful beaches and trails.
I love walking along the coast or on the bay.
My cat keeps getting distracted by the many plants and sticks he can chew in the great outdoors.
I am trying to get him to walk with me on a harness.
After I return home, I clean up my living and kitchen areas.
My apartment is small but cozy. It is essential to take a few minutes each day to tidy it up.
Because it speeds up the time, I listen to music or podcasts while I do this.
When it’s dinner time, I switch from being a go-getter to becoming a potato-shaped alter ego.
It is equally important to rest and relax as it is to go-go-go.
I play Mario Kart and Animal Crossing with my sister every night, which was the best gift I received for Christmas) and read a little before going to bed.
How can you bring your ideas to life?
People love to be around other people. I make sure that the content I write is more personal and gives my clients a sense of who they are.
I mix personality and prose to ensure that my clients’ voices and tone shine through my copy, even if it is a simple press release.
Which trend is your favorite?
The emphasis is on quality content that promotes leadership and marketing.
This trend is exciting for someone who has worked in digital media.
Although SEO rankings and keyword density are essential to consider when sharing content online, they won’t have meaningful audience interactions if it doesn’t contain the substance.
It’s great to see more companies seeing this, and it’s a joy to be able to champion that content for my clients.
Which habit makes you more productive as an entrepreneur than another?
Sprints are the best way to work. I set timers that I follow, usually in 30-minute increments.
I work as fast and intensely as possible within these time limits.
This helps me be accountable for my work and make sure I am using my time effectively.
What advice would your younger self give you?
Passion is what makes you a great writer and leader.
As a youngster, I was frequently teased and looked down upon for my love of my craft.
I believe people misunderstood that passion for naivety.
It’s a fire inside me that would have made me who I am today.
I regret that I wasted so much time trying to control it.
We need to hear something you believe is accurate and that nearly everyone agrees with.
There is no “right” way of being productive.
You don’t have to give up on popular productivity methods.
All you need is to find one that works for you.
My workflow suffers as a result of being neurodivergent and chronically ill.
It’s not good!
What is one thing that you recommend to everyone as a successful entrepreneur?
My work is something I share with someone who doesn’t know what it is.
My mom is my mother in my case. She is my mom. I love her dearly, but she doesn’t understand content creation.
But that’s a good thing. The questions she asks and the explanations she gives me to force me back to the basics of why I do what I do.
It’s a great attitude and reality check. It’s also therapeutic to share my process with someone more interested in listening than anything.
Which strategy has been most successful in growing your business?
I have found that joining invite-only groups such as Dreamers & Doers or Ellevate has allowed me to meet like-minded businesswomen and men committed to supporting each other.
Although I am a solopreneur, I don’t want to do this alone.
I feel fortunate to be surrounded by business leaders who have helped me and given me much.
How did you overcome that failure as an entrepreneur?
Early in my career, I had difficulty keeping up with client demands.
Many projects almost fell through the cracks because of this.
However, clients didn’t feel the strain I did.
That’s why I created a lot of my time-dependent workflows.
I don’t remember feeling so stressed, harried, and burnt out as I did during that time. I will never feel that way again.
Which business idea would you be willing to share with our readers?
It would be a great idea if someone could create a platform to calculate freelancer rates.
This would allow new freelancers to enter their industry, location, years of experience, and areas of expertise and receive a detailed rate breakdown on what they should charge and why.
Some platforms can do this, but it would be great to have it all.
This is something I wish I had back when I started my freelance career.
Which was the most expensive $100 you spent recently? Which and why?
I booked a weekend getaway to Washington, DC.
It’s incredible how many ideas you can get on a three-hour drive.
Sometimes, staying in a hotel is as rejuvenating as an hour of exercise.
Which piece of software or web service can you use to help you be more productive?
My workflow has been dramatically accelerated by Shift, an at-a-glance desktop solution.
Shift! Shift! Many of my clients have onboarded me into their domains.
However, having multiple email tabs open at once can cause severe problems for my computer’s processing speed.
Which book would you recommend to our community? Why?
Disciplined dreaming is a comprehensive approach that businesses and individuals can and should use.
You can harness your creativity to turn those ideas into processes, interactions, and solutions.
This book is for those who struggle to understand the concept of taking pictures from ideation to execution.
Which quote is your favorite?
Richard Siken was my favorite poet. In his poem “Snow and Dirty Rain,” he wrote this line that I have kept with me for many years: “We all are going forward.”
We are all going forward. It is a reminder that looking back at the past won’t make you any better.
The world will continue moving forward regardless of what.
Key Learnings:
Two critical characteristics of running a successful creative company are transparency and passion.
It’s not a suggestion to have a work/life balance.
You can set yourself up to succeed by being honest about your failures.
