Sadly, I didn’t get to meet my ballin’ blog buddy Sarah on the east coast last month. That said, she probably wouldn’t have the time anyway – she’s on fire with her new biz, an awesome company called Greesonbach Creative! I wanted to know all about it, and she was kind enough to indulge my curiosity.
Who are you and what makes you awesome?
I’m Sarah Greesonbach, CEO of Greesonbach Creative. What makes me awesome is my energy and enthusiasm for all things online writing and marketing. My slogan is that I help companies let their hard work shine online — because so often hard-working businesses don’t know how to translate that into a successful web presence.
Describe your work in three words?
Awesome internet words!
Who are your dream clients?
I love people who love to wake up in the morning. I’ve been very fortunate to work mostly with small businesses and startups, the people who are living their dream and looking for ways to accurately express themselves online.
How long have you been doing this?
My tango with words began as a nerdy ten year old, but I’ve been writing professionally for almost three years now. Two as an informal blogger, one as a marketing specialist, and a month and a half as a full-time writer.
How did you get into it?
I got into it by being laid off! I had been building my online “nest” so to speak for almost two years, and I had the itch to get out of the traditional 9-5 but not the legitimate need. Because who turns down a real job with a steady paycheck without a huge savings buffer and a fully-funded business plan?
What I’ve come to realize is that we’re all self-employed freelancers, it’s just that the majority of us only have one large, mean client (AKA the corporate job!). So now that I have several, small clients, I feel like a more flexible, more vested employee.
What have you learned along the way? Any surprises/learning curves/hurdles?
I’m not sure I can do it all justice… It’s been a self-respect learning curve, for sure, because once you realize you need to charge someone for talking to you on the phone, you sort of re-evaluate your life.
It’s a pleasant balance of being “in the zone” and helping companies do things that come naturally to me, while also finally being able to run my home and cook the food I need to stay healthy. We’ve rebuilt our budget based on what we have to pay for, what we need to pay for, and what we want to pay for, and I look forward to reaching a point where I can just stop working when I hit the right numbers. That has been a whole new kind of living, for my typically American workaholic self! I’ve never had the luxury, before, of thinking about what would be “enough.”
What are you proudest of accomplishing so far?
My proudest accomplishment was hitting my invoicing goal for October 31st. Not because it means I can pay my rent, necessarily, though that’s nice, too, it’s more about unleashing my desire for self-determination. When put in a potentially bad position, I rallied everything I had and I’m making it work. Tons of others are doing so, and tons more do so in traditional jobs, but for me this has been an excellent fit and a huge accomplishment. And oh, yeah: terrifying.
What’s one common thing you see people doing online that just makes you facepalm?
Not having one, or having one with all standard backgrounds and images. Having the blank egg and sky clouds background on Twitter is insane to me!
To everyone wondering how to fix it, just stick your company logo and call it a day. Head to your website, right click on your website’s logo, click “Copy image URL,” open that in a new page, save it to your computer, and load it as your Twitter and Facebook image. Please!
Overall, I have loved hearing the sighs of relief from prospective clients when they receive my email response explaining exactly what they need, how I can do it, and how little it will cost. Social media and strategic content are really important for technical things like SEO and developing leads, but also for the morale and branding of the company itself. My favorite part is that everything I do and everything I’m paid is really an investment in someone else’s dream — their business! So it’s a lot of good karma all around.
What is the first thing you do in the morning? And last thing at night?
First: Thank God for this opportunity. Last: Actually get excited about the next day’s work (like… seriously. Can’t sleep excited about everything in the works and all the potential in the world).
What’s your drug of choice (aka what fuels you? Coffee? Doughnuts? Midday margaritas?)
Being Paleo AIP, most food “drugs” really are drugs to me, though I’ve been a sucker for decaf coffee lately. My go-to treat is really good dark chocolate and a banana, or decaf black tea with coconut milk.