Welcome to another Student Success Story here at Horkey HandBook!
One of our favorite things is celebrating the stories of students of our 30 Days or Less courses. These folks are awesome examples of what happens when you not only invest in honing your skills, but you apply what you’ve learned and take action.
In this post we’re featuring Michelle Wells, a graduate of 30 Days or Less to Freelance Writing Success. She’s got an awesome story about how she tripled her rate with only one email. Read on to check it out!
Name: Michelle Wells
Website: mwellssolutions.com
Course enrollment date: Writing course February 24, 2017 and VA course March 24, 2017
Business launch date: March 1, 2017
Date hired by first client: March 30, 2017
Hours worked per week: 10 – 15, but lots of behind the scenes work that I don’t get paid for ( working on my website, being a guest contributor. etc.)
Average monthly income: $1200
Top three services/niches: Content creation in health & fitness and family niches, email management, Amazon listing copy
Hi, Michelle. Tell us a bit about yourself.
I am a wife to one and mom to six.
I’ve always had a desire to write but never imagined I could make it work as a business. That all changed while I was on a different entrepreneurial path and I stumbled across Gina’s 30 Days or Less to Freelance Writing Success course.
I decided to take a leap and bought the course … the rest is history!
What about your business?
I am still in the early stages of my business. I just recently completed my website – YAY!
I’m currently ghostwriting for a doctor and for an entrepreneur in the fitness niche. I also have just started doing some virtual assistant work (2 – 5 hours a week) for another entrepreneur.
I’m hoping to continue to build my business. And I’m absolutely loving all the learning that is taking place.
If you’re still not sure what virtual assistant services you can offer, we’ve put together a list of over 150 services that webpreneurs need help with.
How did you decide to start freelancing or working online?
It was because of a strong desire to stay at home and be available to my family combined with the harsh reality that raising a family of eight requires two incomes.
And how long did it take you to earn your course investment back?
Once I landed my first client, it took two weeks.
What was the most challenging part about getting started?
Wanting everything to be done yesterday.
And getting a good website up.
How did you overcome that?
I think the 30 Days or Less courses really do a great job of breaking up the material into doable chunks. Because there is such good quality info in each of the modules, I felt successful when I finished each of them.
What has been your biggest success since you’ve started?
I applied to be a ghostwriter for a client.
The job posting was published on Problogger, and I was later told that 160 people applied. Yikes!
The client narrowed it down to five of us that he wanted to have write a sample (which he paid for). I ended up writing the one he liked and used. It was a huge boost to my ego because I realized that even up against experienced writers, I had a chance to make this work.
Can you tell us about your highest paying project?
So that client hired me to ghostwrite weekly for him.
He said that the pay would be $100 an article (1500 – 2000 words). I was thrilled as this was my first opportunity to get paid for writing.
After doing about six articles, I realized that they were quite labor intensive and that as much as I liked working for him, the amount of time required didn’t make much business sense.
I decided I would ask for a raise, knowing that he might just tell me he would have to find another writer. I took a bold move and asked for $300 which I knew was a big jump, but I thought that was a fair compensation when you took into consideration the time required.
Surprisingly, he said yes!
What are you working on right now?
I am trying to build up my clientele on the VA side of things.
What are you looking forward to most over the next 12 months?
I can’t wait to see where this goes. It is so freeing to know that I learn things every day that just make me more valuable and marketable. I love deciding what I will work on each day… and I love being able to be home for my six kids.
I am a wife to one and Mom to six. With a strong entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to be the “executive manager” of our home, I developed my web-based business, M Wells Solutions, where I get to do what I love: write, create, encourage and help. My family and I live in sunny Florida where I enjoy cycling with friends, kayaking on alligator infested waters, reading with a glass of wine in hand, running with my kids through the woods, and taking long walks under the stars with my hubby and two large dogs.
