Freelance Friday – Why I Do What I Do

About a yer ago I moved from Northern Virginia, right outside of DC, to a small town in the Shenandoah Valley. While in the DC area I had primarily worked with corporations and associations, helping them with website development, social media marketing and project management. Most of these businesses had decent budgets and a team of internal staff that I would confer with during the projects. The projects were interesting and I enjoyed seeing them delivered successfully.

Since moving to the country and spending time in nearby small towns, I’ve gotten to know a lot of great small business owners. People who work hard every day not only to grow their business but to simply keep the doors open. Over the past year, we’ve seen several businesses in our downtown area close up shop and I admit that it makes me sad. I do what I can to support the local economy. I shop locally instead of at chains. I use a local mechanic and visit our local restaurants instead of Applebees or Fridays. But in an unpredictable economy, let’s face it. It’s just hard to be a small business owner.

Since I can rarely take my marketer hat off, I  think about how these businesses can better connect with their customers and extend their reach to new customers. I think about how I can help them thrive (or at the very least pay their lease.) So I made a decision to focus my efforts on small businesses within my area; people that could really use my help. And I love it.

During my time here, I’ve joined the local Chamber of Commerce and met a lot of great folks who enjoy talking social media, value my opinion and are a treat to work with. I’ve met restaurant owners that are benefiting from their new websites and new online business opportunities. I’ve met folks in agriculture who are truly wonderful people bringing healthy, fresh food to the community. With some help from the web, they are now also using their businesses to educate about nutrition and the importance of buying local.

So, while working on big, important projects with big businesses was a challenge, helping these wonderful business owners and entrepreneurs is, for me, incredibly fulfilling. It feels good when a client is truly excited about their new website and receive positive feedback from their customers. It feels good when a client calls just to thank me for helping them get out an e-newsletter to reach more customers. It feels good that at the end of the day, I’m helping people. Real, tangible people that I see on a regular basis.

I live by the matra that if you aren’t having fun doing what you’re doing – you should do something else. And over the years I’ve struggled with my happiness in my own career. But over the past year I’ve regained that passion to help the community, support small businesses and bring new ideas to traditional business owners.

So, I do what I do…because it feels good.

Photo courtesy of (cc) Shashi Bellamkonda blog.networksolutions.com or www.shashi.name.

Tagged as: Freelance, small business