Today we’d like to introduce you to Andra DelMonico.
Hi Andra, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was an overachiever my entire life. In college, it caught up with me, and I realized I didn’t have enough classes to take me through to the spring graduation. I’m the first in my family to graduate from a four-year university, so I wanted to give my parents the full experience of a spring graduation ceremony. I had all but three classes for a Business Law minor, and three more classes is what I needed to be a full-time student through the spring semester. I ended up falling in love with the law and decided to go to law school in the last semester of college. I learned in law school that I loved the law but hated the idea of being a lawyer.
Once I graduated from law school, I went back into marketing. I worked for several corporations and longed for the independence and freedom of working for myself. In my spare time, I learned everything that I could about freelancing, marketing, SEO, and social media. I had a three-legged corgi named Isosceles, and I used him to practice my skills by running a social media account and producing content about him.
In 2018 I was laid off from my current position and given a two months severance package. I decided that it was my opportunity to take the plunge and strike out on my own. I started looking for clients and secured my first client in the first two weeks of looking. From there, I took on more clients and curated a book of clients that I love working with. Over the last five years, I’ve developed my business, increased the number of clients I work with, and started my own website. I now have bylines on several websites for automotive, motorcycle, and interior design topics. I also write for attorneys across the country on a range of legal topics and regularly get quoted as an expert in interior design. I am able to work as little or as much as I want, when I want, and where I want.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. There have been months when I had no work, and I had to use my emergency fund to pay my bills. There were clients that became a nightmare because they didn’t know what they wanted and constantly changed their minds, resulting in triple and quadruple work for me. Then there was the time I had a mountain of work ahead of me, and my laptop completely died on me. I had been having trouble with it for a few months, but the day had finally come when I could no longer get it to even turn on. I immediately went online and ordered a new one for pickup at Best Buy. Brought the new laptop home, and within 10 minutes, it was having a critical malfunction and not working. Brought it back and exchanged it for another one. This one lasted five days and then had the same issue as the previous one. Brought it back for a full refund and bought a Mac instead. That week and a half were some of the most stress I’ve felt while working freelance.
The biggest struggle of working for yourself is having no one but yourself to depend on. If I’m sick, there’s no one to pick up the slack. If my equipment gives out or has problems, there’s no IT department to call. If work slows down, it’s my job to go out and find new clients. I am also the accounting department following up with clients who haven’t paid their invoices.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
One element about my business that I love is the ability to be creative. I can write about a range of topics that I’m passionate about. I focus my content writing services on autos, motorcycles, legal, and interior design. These are all topics that I get excited to write about, so my passion and personal interest come through in my writing. I can include my personal experience and point of view, which sets me apart from other writers who don’t have personal experience or passion. I’m also offered opportunities that I wouldn’t normally have access to. Sometimes it’s new products to test out, and other times it includes travel or event attendance.
I’ve also learned over the years that my law degree has set me apart from other freelance writers. I learned valuable skills like researching, attention to detail, proofing, and discipline. These have allowed me to be much faster and more precise than my peers. It’s as if I took all of the elements that I loved about law school and applied them to my current career.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I think success is what you make of it. For me, success is setting a goal for myself and achieving it. This means that success is always changing and evolving with me. That way, I never become stagnant or too comfortable with where I’m at.
Pricing:
- 500 words- $50
- 1,000 words- $100
- 1,5000- $150
Contact Info:
- Website: https://andelmarketing.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andelmarketing/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheAnDelMarketing
