TheWritePlace

I would like to introduce all of you to our next Ms. Biz! Please stop by and visit Sam at TheWritePlace.

Q: Tell me a little about your business (or businesses). For example, what you sell, services offered, etc)

Sam: While I am involved with several business activities, my main focus is on Advertising & Marketing. Creating ad campaigns gives me the opportunity to indulge in my first love, writing. Marketing gives me the thrill of seeing my efforts to persuade come to financial fruition. As you can see from my web site, I am involved with several businesses, as I have learned how much diversification means financially. Along the way, I learned how much I enjoy and have profited from Affiliate Marketing. The key is feeling good about something enough to want to promote it because it’s the consistent advertising to large audiences that brings home the bacon.

Q: What is your best selling product?

Sam: I would have to say my best selling product is ad creation but my advertising affiliates and the mailers I offer run very close behind.

Q: How did you come up with the name?

Sam: I honestly don’t recall at this time, but I do know that it came quickly - as if on its own.

Q: When and why did you start the business?

Sam: TheWritePlace opened for business a few years ago. I tend to make friends easily (on and off the Net) and through discussions I began to realize that while so many people wanted help with their ad campaigns the price of hiring someone was prohibitive. Occasionally someone would ask me for a favor: would I write an ad for them? I did. Finally, another friend told me I was going about this all wrong. She said that since I was blessed with the talent to be able to create successful ad campaigns, why was I ‘giving away the freebies’. It hadn’t occurred to me yet that I could possibly develop my own service. Since I hadn’t needed them, I didn’t search copywriters, but now I was curious about what they were charging. I was stunned! No wonder people were unable to afford this kind of help. It was then I decided to help their struggle by offering reasonable assistance. I knew I could do a professional job and deliberately priced well below the going rates. Some thought I was cheating myself; others loved the idea. Either way, it made me marketable starting out. Since then, I’ve still kept my pricing low. There are a lot of talented, ambitious people who have trouble writing ads but most people do not have large budgets, especially these days, so I think of what I try to do for others and what they get out of it as a Win/Win situation.

Q: What was the hardest part for you?

Sam: Initially, believing enough in myself. New beginnings are exciting but they’re a little scary, too. I realized that now I’d have to start advertising ‘myself’. Could I do that? Would anybody pay attention? At the time, I was editor/publisher of a newsletter - but would that guarantee anything? Well, I just threw myself out there and advertised all over. Sometimes I still can’t believe how fortunate I’ve been. My first Testimonial had me over the moon for days!

Q: What motivates you to keep going?

Sam: The sheer love of what I do and, significantly, the people I get the opportunity to meet from all over the globe.

Q:  Do you have any advice for other women wanting to start their own business or ones who have just begun?

Same: Do not let anything discourage you. Do not let other people tell you how ‘crazy’ you are. It’s not always easy, but get yourself to the level of tuning them out. This might surprise some, but people who are independent-minded and ambitious can be very threatening to those who’d never venture outside their own build-in cocoons. Communicate with people who think like you do. I wrote a book a few years ago, “Soul Food For The Net”. It was all about people like us and how we bolster each other. There are also articles. I was very pleased with the response because it gave others the impetus to keep marching to their satisfying beat. This may sound self-serving, but trust me, it comes from the heart. Competitive Activity on the Net is stiff (and that’s putting it nicely). I can’t say it enough: do not send out Bad Ads and stop wasting your time with ads that are not working for you. Your competition can’t wait to pick up every dime you leave on the table. Again, this is not self-promotion but experience. We ALL have to change advertising courses sometimesand that includes me.

Q: Tell me about you - hobbies, favorite things, etc

Sam: Besides working on the Net (which I absolutely love!), my favorite things to do are writing, reading, traveling, cooking, watching old movies (Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Jimmy Cagney, Constance Bennett, etc., etc.), anything by Rodgers & Hammerstein. To round it out, I also enjoy horror movies (Dracula’s my favorite monster) and dramas like “Gentleman’s Agreement, “Imitation of Life”, “Raisin In The Sun”, “Madame X” and “From The Terrace”. “The Godfather” and “Goodfellows” are way up there, too. I’m also a huge fan of doo-wap music and when my family gets together we love to sing it. I guess I’m pretty eclectic (or, as my friends say, I’m all over the place). I consider myself fairly lucky, too, in that I really enjoy my 9-5 (as Asst. Property Manager for a large residential unit).

Q: Do you have a discount you would like to offer the readers?

Sam: Yes, especially with the hot Holiday Selling Season on our heels! If they mention that they read about me here I will give them a 15% Discount on any writing I do for them, and that includes the packages. All info is on my site. In fact, tell them to mention “Tami sent me!”

So, stop by and vist Sam at TheWritePlace.  The discount combined with her already reasonable pricing is too good a deal to pass up!