SEO – Page 16 – The Woman Wednesday Blog

Q and A with Lesley from Goodyear, Arizona

“…it’s never too late. I didn’t start my business until I was in my 50’s.”

Q: What are you passionate about?

A: My passions include helping women in business with their marketing by implementing SEO strategies to improve online visibility, drive organic traffic, and increase sales. I love figuring things out and finding solutions to move forward in business. As an entrepreneur, you wear many hats and possess many skills. But not all skills come as naturally as others. When I first got started, I thought I was going to be a copywriter – because I love writing and communicating in any way shape, or form. As I was writing for clients and building my business, I discovered that in order to truly get seen and heard online, you also had to incorporate SEO – search engine optimization. I was being told I needed to improve my online visibility, but I needed to figure out how to do it. When I started learning about it, I was confused and overwhelmed because there are so many moving parts including keywords, on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and analytics, let alone having the ability to create and manage a website.

I did what I always do; I dove headfirst into all things SEO and learned, practiced, tried things, failed, tried again, experienced success, and learned some more all as a means of just moving forward. I soon realized that if I can do this as a woman in business, so can others. They just need the right resources and support to do so. Hence, SEO Inkwell Solutions was created for women pursuing their own dreams and passions. I’m now an SEO and Content Consultant who provides resources, online support, courses, consultation, and more in order for women to level up their marketing.

Personally, I’m passionate about making the most out of life, finding joy in small moments, and being grateful every day. I advocate for mental health and wellness constantly encouraging others to do what’s best for their physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, and financial health. I love coffee far too much, enjoy wine not as often as I’d like, spend mornings walking or hiking outdoors, and throw tennis balls to my two dogs daily. I have an incredible husband who supports all my endeavors, two amazing adult children pursuing their own passions, and a future son-in-law I adore with my whole heart.

Q: What were your younger years like?

A: I grew up in Minnesota on a lake before moving to Arizona in my junior year of high school. The move was the first time I ever experienced real, significant change. It was difficult leaving everything I knew and loved to a place that was so very different and quite foreign to me. What I learned is life is always changing, relationships come and go, and the only person I can ever really rely on is myself.

I taught at a public high school and community college for 26 years. Nothing brought me greater joy than helping young people improve…at reading, writing, research, analytic thinking, and life. The pandemic and changing social dynamics facing young people made it difficult to continue, however, and I opted to retire from my teaching career.

Although I was no longer teaching, I needed to keep working, knowing that if I didn’t do something that challenged me mentally, I risked losing myself and my sense of purpose. Not only that but as my father was recently diagnosed with dementia and frontotemporal degeneration, I knew I needed to keep my brain actively engaged in order to prevent early-onset dementia myself. Plus, I was too young to retire officially and was excited about doing something different.

Going from education to business was an eye-opening and challenging experience. New challenges, LOTS of learning, some reasonably significant soul searching, and finding support are now what occupy my day, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. My business allows me to meet amazing people, work with incredible women, and earn a living in a completely new way.

What I do to help others with their SEO isn’t something I’d consider glamorous. It’s nitty gritty. It’s technical at times. It’s continuous problem-solving. But it’s creative too. It’s what I love to do day in and day out because there is nothing better than being able to help someone move forward in their business, and SEO is one of THE BEST ways to move forward if you have a website and use it as your storefront online.

Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?

A: Perhaps the most important thing I’ve learned about being an entrepreneur is you MUST be true to yourself first. I spent an entire year working on myself, my mindset, my self-worth, etc. to overcome the imposter syndrome I was experiencing. I also had to learn how to give myself grace and no longer hang on to guilt. Guilt for doing what I want to do, pursuing my dreams, and living each day on my own terms.

Q: What does feminism mean to you?
A: Feminism to me means you can live your life unapologetically. You live knowing your gifts, goals, and opportunities are endless and it’s up to you to pursue them knowing you are wholly capable of achieving every dream you have for yourself. It means no longer apologizing for wanting to do your own things and needing to be 100% authentically yourself. I think as women, we’ve been conditioned to believe our purpose is to nurture, serve, and submit to those we love. But the one who deserves that more than anyone is ourselves. Having passions, desires, goals, and dreams is not selfish. Rather, it’s necessary in order to live our best life.

MORE FROM LESLEY: If there is one thing I’d love women of all ages to know, it’s never too late. I didn’t start my business until I was in my 50’s. I loved being a teacher. I thought I was only ever going to be a teacher. But life happens. Things change. And the ability to adapt and overcome whatever obstacles life throws our way is a skill anyone can learn at any time.

Connect with me!

Lesleymeekagency.com

IG: seoinkwellsolutions

FB Community: seoinkwellsolutions

Pinterest: seoinkwellsolutions

Subscribe to the newsletter for all your SEO know-how: https://seoinkwellsolutions.myflodesk.com/newsletter

*Note: Woman Wednesday is a part of our blog. Each Woman Wednesday post will feature a woman who would like to share information in the hopes of inspiring and motivating other women. Comments are welcome below.

Q and A with Jen, Green Bay, Wisconsin

“You can do what you set your mind to. Everything takes work, and learning is a constant part of life. If your dream is to one day own a business that makes money, you need to make sure you have all the skills and knowledge to make that happen.”

Q: What are you passionate about?

A: In a few words, my passions are my family (including my collies and cat), my business, and flyball. I own Candy Social Media. I am a digital marketer helping real estate agents and mortgage brokers generate exclusive prequalified leads. I also offer social media management, social media strategy, and social media marketing and consulting. My main focus, however, is on generating leads for real estate agents.

I found this passion when I realized that my previous passion for technology simply wasn’t there anymore. I felt the fire burning out. Back in 2003, I was overwhelmed with technology, and I was excited to help people. I finished my degree in network security from the local technical college. I was president of the computer science club there for two years while attending college. I really enjoyed being in charge of the club, and I enjoyed the extra responsibilities involved of being president. I moved on to get my bachelor’s degree in business management. I enjoyed learning about business management. I yearned to be in front of technology. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it and learn more about it. From 2007, I have worked in the technology field in various roles from being level 1 support to network administrator. All of these required some sort of certification requiring me to renew it every three years. As if spending 10k on my education wasn’t enough, Corporate America wanted me to spend another $500 to $10,000 dollars to show that I know my stuff.

Pictured: Jen and her collie, Candy.

I was tired of not being recognized for my knowledge and education that I worked hard for. I wasn’t able to move up in management positions because of my lack of certification. One day, the job that I enjoyed required the support team to learn to programme of C++ or C#. I knew that it was too detailed for me to do. I quit my job and decided that I wanted to work for myself. I wanted a career change.

I saw this 9-5 killer ad on Facebook. I signed up for the webinar. I didn’t have the money to pay for the course, but I talked with other people who joined the course. It changed their lives, and they were able to make a living. The business involved creating websites that focused on Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO is difficult to keep up with because of the fact that almost every second, it’s changing. By the time I finally knew what I was doing, something new came out. I tried that for about 6 months. It didn’t work out. I went back to work for someone else at a college. The people there showed me that I didn’t have a passion for helping people in technology. I was reminded that I didn’t want to work for someone else. I wanted to make myself money; I did not want to make money for someone else. I saw another ad for a social media manager. People pay you to play on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, et cetera. I spent the last year learning about how to engage, the software required, the content required, et cetera. This is all great, but you aren’t making money from your knowledge. It’s an expensive hobby. From there, I signed up for one more class of how to prospect your clients and reaching out to our potential clients. Then I jumped in!

Up until about October, I was friends with a digital marketer who was looking for different people to complete his challenges. I signed up for his challenge and immediately was blown away. The first thing I learned was sales. I learned about how to get the clients. And from October, I have been able to gain the knowledge and confidence for me to put myself out there connecting with real estate agents and mortgage brokers. I was too scared to reach out to clients. I thought if I friended them on Facebook and made nice with them and offering them advice about social media, they will ask me to be their social media manager. Nope. This isn’t the way things work. You have to put yourself out there constantly to make yourself known. I have reached out more to potential clients in the past three days than I have in the past year.

Outside of business, I am passionate about health and pets! I have three collies and one cat. My company is named after my dog, Candy. Candy is a 14-month-old border collie who gets to travel the country with me (attending flyball seminars and tournaments). Flyball is the past time passion that I enjoy doing when I am not working. It’s something that makes me happy. I was able to train Candy from my past experience training with Gunner. Gunner is a 2-year-old border collie who knows flyball, but he seems to have a jock mentality [laughs].

Q: How has your past experience shaped you?

A: All of my past experiences and education and personality really helped to develop who I am today. The motivation and ambition have to be there every day. Also, never let your disability get in the way of your dreams! I have a stuttering disability and rather than hiding behind it, I use it to my advantage to work harder! I am sacrificing time being spent on training my dogs and time with my boyfriend, but in the end, I am putting time into my company, which means that I am putting time into myself. I am finally living the life that I want to without having to worry about paying those bills or worrying about my cell phone bill being cut off! And it’s nice knowing that if I need an extra day off, I don’t have to call my boss hoping that she or he will give me the time off.

Q: What would you like others to learn from your story?

A: You can do what you set your mind to. Everything takes work, and learning is a constant part of life. If your dream is to one day own a business that makes money, you need to make sure you have all the skills and knowledge needed to make that happen. If you would like to do what I do, you will also need the right software. It is also important to have the capital to put into your business. I worked a part-time job to have money to put into my business.

Also, always make time for those who matter in your life.

Happy Holidays from my family to yours!

Tag: SEO

Woman Wednesday: Jen