Frontlines

Transition Tales: From Data Cruncher to Brand-Publishing ‘Solopreneur’

By Ritika Puri February 3rd, 2014

I was in the sixth grade when my first piece was published in print. Seeing that byline brought on a swell of pride, and I knew writing was the career path for me. Years later, I excelled in my high school English courses and majored in literature as an undergrad. Writing for a living as within reach. And then 2009 hit.

With six-figures of debt and the publishing industry collapsing, the thought of becoming a writer now seemed ludicrous. If I wanted to pay off monster loans and stay financially independent, I’d need to put my childhood dream on hold. I did everything possible to stay away from a writing career — I put myself through a statistics-based master’s program, got a job in online marketing, and embraced a new romance with the business world.

However, I could never quite kill my love for writing. In 2010, I started earning spare cash as a freelance blogger, the keyword being “spare.” I made roughly eight dollars per post, closer to one penny per word than one dollar per word. But writing for scraps still brought back that passion, so I stuck with it. I earned roughly $800 blogging that year. The next year, I earned $2,000.

Back then, there’s no way I would have imagined that, three years later, I’d be able to write full-time. That I’d be managing a team of writers, working with Fortune 500 companies, and thriving as a brand-publishing “solopreneur.” But I am. So how’d I get here?

It all started with a LinkedIn ad. In 2011, I clicked an ad on LinkedIn for a free portfolio, filled out an application, and began working with the Contently team. Their editors taught me to embrace my love of storytelling. Telling the right stories, it turned out, can be so much more than just a vehicle for brands to push sales agendas.

The pay was great, and I loved it. Soon, other companies were finding me through my stories and my portfolio. I started working with them directly and building my own branded content business. What surprised me most was how much these organizations wanted to let me be me. Far from a parrot, I was encouraged to write about the topics that inspire me.

Recently, I quit my day-job to concentrate on my branded content studio full-time. But even though my business is thriving, I am terrified out of my mind. I fear my company will suddenly crash and burn, and I won’t be able to make ends meet. Even as I gallop through this new brand-publishing world, busy and in-demand, I wonder how I will feel when I experience my first inevitable lull.

Some thoughts that haunt me before bed include:

What if brand publishing is just a bubble? What if brands go back to the banality of intrusive pop-ups and TV ads?

What if my black cloud of a student loan turns into a hurricane of debt?

Will my data-crunching skills become obsolete as technology changes?

And if I decide to return to the corporate world, will I be marked as unemployable?

These fears are still as potent as the day I gave my one-month’s notice at work. Despite how empowered I feel, I’m always worried about taking steps in the wrong direction. Talking to other writers who took the same leap as brand-publishing solopreneurs, I’ve learned that these worries subside, but they never go away.

I have also learned to be thrive on the freedom and uncertainty of being my own boss. I remind myself that, logically speaking, a full-time job is less stable than a portfolio of 10-15 clients. If I’m laid off from a full-time job, I lose all my income. If I lose a client as a solopreneur, I just need to hustle a little harder.

Now, I just need to figure out how to do my taxes. If you know an accountant in need of some content marketing, hit me up @ritika_puri. Maybe we can make a deal.

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