Interested in starting your own freelance business as a content marketer or copywriter for small business owners? Then read up on our interview with Carinda Gosling, the founder of This is Co. a marketing consulting company based in Australia, helping business owners worldwide.
Tell us all about your business...
I help small biz owners master their content, copy + compelling brand messages so they can get seen, loved + selling with complete ease!
What's your background and motivation to get into the solopreneur life?
I {Carinda} am a word-nerd + marketing-sidekick with serious street credentials and experience {over 10years}.
I have a proven track record and a huge passion for helping small and medium-size businesses achieve their goals through copy, content, and compelling marketing - from bringing brands to life through standout brand positioning + content, to helping businesses build their end-to-end marketing plans and master them with ease {and serious shortcuts}.
In a past life before opening my own marketing support biz, I was a Chief Communications Officer and Brand Strategist leading communications for some very successful businesses {and kicking some serious goals}.
And now every day I get to help incredible small biz owners connect with their audience, compel their audience, and CONVERT their audience to create success in their business.
To be seen.
To be loved.
To get selling.
And to stand out from the rest.
I believe every biz deserves to succeed without the struggles of content + marketing getting in their way which is why I exist, and what every single one of my solutions revolves around - from my digital content solutions all the way through to the Content Mastery Club. Support. Shortcuts. Strategy. Success – those things are my love language.
Being the sidekick to small biz owners is my passion. My purpose. And to be honest, a damn privilege.
As a business owner, what does success ultimately mean to you?
To me, success in my biz is measured by the success of others. I measure my businesses success by the people I support. The outcomes they achieve. The impact in which I can make in their lives and businesses.
It also means loving what I do. I feel so successful every damn day 'cause I wake up running to my little home office with a skip in my step and a smile on my face so keen to see what solutions I can create to serve biz owners. What content I can share to really move people forward. Who I can serve and support to help them achieve their goals.
And while I measure my biz by impact first, being successful to me also means having the income to achieve the things I want in life - to provide for my family, give back to causes, and feel financially at ease.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
Small biz life is TOUGH. There is no denying that at all. There are so many things we face every day that we overcome but I often find the hardest thing small biz owners face is 'strategy' - knowing what to do next. There's very often no roadmap, no sheet that says "ok now you have done this so you should head in this path and in this direction". And that can be terrifying but also, when we make those calls and choose that direction and it pays off? It's so satisfying and rewarding.
What are the top 3 tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run or grow a business today?
Know your niche!! When you can show a clear group of people why your solution is clearly the one for them - the answer to their particular problems or particular desires - your biz has the ability to stand out and skyrocket. The BIGGEST mistake I see biz owners making is not niching and trying to serve everyone. 'Cause when you talk to EVERYONE? You stand out to no one.
You DON'T need to be everywhere to succeed. In fact, trying to be everywhere and on every platform can significantly water down your community and focus which can lose you traction. When starting out, pick 1-2 places to serve your audience {for me it's IG and a Facebook group} and give that your all! You'll build more engaged communities, use the functions of the platform to their full ability and be loved more by the algorithm gods and your sanity and stress levels will be better for it also.
Get your foundation right. Everything starts with your brand, your audience, and your content clarity and strategy. This is the stuff your entire biz is built off. Don't skip this stuff and just throw up any ol' words in your bio or on your website and start pumping out any ol' content. You need to get strategic. It's not hard. It's not scary. It's the key to success. It's about having a brand that serves a key group of people in a key way {that's clearly communicated}, having a clear voice, vibe and values to stand out and connect emotionally, really understanding your audience deeply so you can talk right to them and show them you understand them and their needs, and having a plan for your content so you are not only never lost for ideas again, but the content you are creating has purpose to tick off all the things your audience need to see to move along their consumer journey and convert!!
If there was one thing you could do repeatedly to help grow your business, what would it be?
Apart from the maybe obvious answer of "market it" :) I would beeline for one thing: and that is conversations with my ideal audience.
Having conversations with your ideal audience - your ideal customers or ideal clients regularly - can help to supercharge every part of your biz. From understanding how to create better content that connects better, how to create better messages that stop people's scroll, how to shape your services and product offers, how to engage your community, how to serve better, how to sell better. You are in business to serve a group of people. And the more you know that group? The better you are at serving... which means the more you end up selling.
And if you can't have conversations just yet? That's ok! Do research. Get into Facebook groups, forums, the comments of blogs, the comments of social media and see what people are saying. What they are struggling with. What they desire. The things they like. Their habits. All these things help to shape your biz for the better.
What are some of the things you put in place to maintain a healthy work/life balance and to keep it all together?
I am going to be very real and say this is something I am still working on - one of the 'downsides' of loving what you do so much means you want to do it all the time. But I do know that if I don't rest and don't make time for 'me' then I am not at my best so I take regular holidays where I switch off. I also have a very needy four-legged office assistant who requires lots of cuddles and pats during the day which helps with microbreaks. And I also have a handy addiction to reading which makes me get off the laptop and pick up a book each night.
Where can people find you online?
Here's my website or you can find me on Instagram @this_is_co._
If you like what you've read here and have your own solopreneurship story that you'd like to share then email community@subkit.com, we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.
