Lori Redfield, FreelanceMom
FreelanceMom, founded in 2002 in Putney, Vt., is a free informational service and community that helps woman achieve their dreams while following their hearts.
‘Ah ha’ moment that led to launching the business: During the time period that FreelanceMom was launched, my husband was becoming increasingly unhappy in the corporate environment. I was staying home with our children and was determined to find a way to continue staying home with them while contributing to our expenses. I began looking for work that I could do online. As I began to find work and build a client base, I became inspired to launch FreelanceMom in an attempt to help as many women as I could to succeed in their own attempt to run a home business. It is sustained by sponsors through advertisements. Back in 2002 I didn’t realize that websites could sell advertisements. Within a month of launching I was approached by a potential advertiser and began to sell ad space from that point onward.
Ideal customer/target market: Women who want to be home for their children.
Measuring Success: I have always measured success through the website traffic. By the end of 2004 I was receiving several thousand visits a month and I realized that I had found a growing niche that was valuable to the public.
Biggest Struggle: The challenge is to keep FreelanceMom active, with fresh content and to be there for the new members to offer support and advice. I developed a system where I would work on the website and check into the forums early mornings during my first cup of tea. Senior members of the forum became real assets as well. I could count on them to welcome new members and answer questions. This gave me more freedom to develop content and promote the website.
Surprise!: I founded FreelanceMom out of a heartfelt desire to help other women. Money wasn’t a motivating factor. I was astonished to learn that an informational community website could generate revenue.
Promoting Sales: Search engine optimization has been key to the growth and success of FreelanceMom. I have performed keyword research, optimized content, and built inbound links for many years. The website now ranks for popular keyword phrases that are directly relevant to my target market.
What you wish you would have known: I regret not knowing about content management systems prior to designing the website. A content management system would greatly improve the ease of updating content on the site.
What keeps you up at night (business wise!)?: I’m always thinking of ways to improve FreelanceMom and grow it to the next level. How can I drive more traffic, attract better and more regular writers, and brand the website better. How can it become more valuable and easier to navigate? There are so many improvements that can be made to the website and I often find myself brainstorming those possibilities.
Ever tempted to throw in the towel and just get a job?: No! FreelanceMom has become symbolic of my own personal growth in business. As my regular business grows and I acquire more skills and understanding in my field, I’m able to share that information on FreelanceMom and am able to directly apply the knowledge (SEO, Social Media, etc.) to the website. This is a good, enjoyable and rewarding fit for me.
Biggest Goal: A complete redesign is underway. In the process the site content will be moved into a content management system. I have created the preliminary design myself and will be working with a programming team and virtual assistant to implement it. I’m very excited at how this change will help to grow the FreelanceMom community.
Pricing: Raise your rates consistently. As your skills grow, so should your rates. When your plate is full, that’s the time to set your rates higher. Your time is valuable. When you are working, that is time away from your family. Research your competition. Come in far above the lowest and a few steps under the highest. You deserve clients who can pay you well.
The absolute best part of owning my business is: the unlimited growth opportunities, flexibility and satisfaction it lends to my life.
If I had to start over again, I would: engage more writers to contribute unique content and find ways of rewarding them from the beginning of the launch.
I never imagined: I would be looking at the website as primary source of retirement income for my husband and myself.
If standing on a rooftop facing crowds of aspiring or struggling small business owners, I would shout: “Be grateful for small successes and celebrate, have confidence in yourself and your vision as you step forward, and always do work that resonates as truth and inspiration in your heart.”
