Case Study: How One Young Woman Wrote Her Way to a Thriving Business

Case Study: How One Young Woman Wrote Her Way to a Thriving Business

Reader Comments (33)

  1. “Sometimes, fast content creation can work in your favor — especially if your topic is time-sensitive.”

    Great point. You can’t sit on content forever because it does you no good in draft mode. You have to be willing to push something out and let it do it’s job. Not every piece of content is going to be a gold medal winner, but there is value to every piece you create.

    • Nick,

      You are soooo right! In fact, I know many bloggers have a gold mine sitting in their drafts! You can’t be afraid that it isn’t “good enough” Heck, I am sure if you read through my things, you will find lots of errors…. but you need to go on with your bad self and DO IT bc nothing is ever PERFECT. 🙂 Thank you for taking the time to comment!

  2. Great info! Bella is truly an inspiration!

    There’s something to be said about knowing your industry like the back of your hand and becoming one of the experts or tastemakers.

    • I agree, Scott — I love the way Bella found something that pet owners really care about and NEED to know about, and built her content strategy around that! Smart!

    • Scott,

      Thank you so much! I would take your comments a step further and encourage every industry to “know what they are selling!” For instance, we do not sell dog walking and litter scooping… we sell peace of mind, trust, and security. Only then, do I believe, the “magic” happens! 🙂 Thank you for taking the time to comment! I appreciate you! – Bella

  3. Great story Beth. I love case studies highlighting how the small business can win. Your story reinforces the business power of the pen. Writing may be perhaps the most valuable skill in marketing and beyond. Maybe we need to rethink focusing so much education energy on STEM and teach our kids how to write 🙂

    • I couldn’t agree more, Rick. I think math and science are incredibly important, but I’ve gotten more out of my 8th and 10th grade English/writing classes (I had fantastic teachers for both) than any other class I’ve ever attended. And that includes 4 years of college. I think we need to focus on teaching great writing, so our next generation always has that tool in that toolbox — no matter what they decide to do in their professional careers.

    • Rick if I went back in time, I would have wanted to learn how to write better. Although learning as I go has taught me a lot of “street smarts,” I would have loved (at least in college) to have a class all on how to write blog articles. They are a lot different than the 5 paragraph essay!

      But then again… that is how we all get our voice, wouldn’t you say? 🙂

  4. Wanted to let everyone know that Bella is on her honeymoon in Europe (congrats, Bella!) so she’s offline until the beginning of February. Her staff is taking care of the business while she’s out on vacation….which I think is fantastic. Because Bella is out, I will be answering questions, etc. here in the comments.

    Check out some of her honeymoon pics (from ROME!)

    • Thanks so much for your beautiful article Beth and watching in o the comments here! You are amazing and and I am so happy to have met you! 🙂 <3 Woof!

  5. Taking action is just as important as planning, whether that’s writing or promoting or anything else, one thing that stands out here in this case study is that Bella decided what she wanted to do and took action to get it. Flexible enough to change when needed, her going to get it done attitude is infectious. Thank you Beth, for sharing this case study.

    • Michael, I am glad you find it infectious! That is my goal in life, to inspire others…

      You can’t ever be afraid of doing things. If you make a mistake, I believe, it isn’t really a mistake if you learn from it. Always be stepping forward!

  6. Great story! Even though “newsjacking” is nothing new, it’s still not an outdated tactic at all. She had everything she needed to promote herself — a unique niche, a blog full of resourceful content and updated news on the topic.

    A perfect concoction of success!

  7. What a great case study and for a college grad, it makes it that much better. I hope people see this before making the commitment to college, hopefully give them inspiration to try this before investing a ton in school.

    • Adam, I couldn’t agree with you more! I am a firm believer that with the right personality and drive anything is possible. In fact, I didn’t take one business class in college. I was a COM major and there bc my parents expected me to be. I love them dearly, but yes – I think I might have been able to do this without college. It is all about the individual. Life is school if you let it be!

      Side note – living at home was a major push to start sleeping over other people’s homes with their pets so I could get out of my parents house. I wanted my independence! 🙂

  8. Thank you for this, Beth.

    I’ve been busy sharing it broadly as I believe it answers the complaints we’ve all been hearing all over the web: “Only the big guns can afford quality content.”

    Bella proves that lean and agile win the day!

    Know your audiences pain points and create relevant and engaging content for THEM.

    Now where have I heard that before?

    But it bears repeating. And I echo all of the earlier commenters, it is so terrific to have real world examples.

    • Lori,

      I will elaborate on your comment with a story I tell those I coach. There is so much relevant content around you every single day. You just need to open your eyes and put your “news reporter” cap on.

      For instance, a pet sitter goes into a home and is scooping clay litter. When this happens a puff of smoke billows up and the pet sitter takes their tshirt and sticks it over their nose so they don’t breathe it in. BAM!!!! There is a blog article:

      “5 of the Worst Types Of Cat Litter”

      Every blogger just has to be sensitive to everything around them and find inspiration from life! 🙂

      Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. Beth is amazing bringing all these real life examples to her readers. I am honored to be included!

  9. Hi Beth. Thanks for the article. Quite eye opening how a website can be used so effectively to propagate information locally (as opposed to globally – which is what first comes to mind)

    I also like how she provides ‘ancillary’ information that assists the community in general to build the know like and trust pillars that are essential in a successful online relationship.

    Bravo!

    • Ash –

      Every business gets the same questions over and over again. So each one is written out in a fun blog that is easily emailed to each potential client to help drive home the points. Yes, it is like having an artillery of sales weapons to use!

      I think it also goes to say that this content can be used over and over again…. =)

      We all have relevant info in our communities to pass around! BE THE SOURCE! 🙂

  10. I just love this story! Bella’s approach is so inspiring. Who would have thought local business could thrive off inviting the world to join online? Proof positive of the poser of social media, blogging and writing. Thanks for this piece!

  11. Bella has shared some really useful gems on how to maximize content marketing. A real help and insightful post.

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