Anyone who has known me for less than 3 minutes knows that I love business. I soak it up. In particular, there are two things that I love in the business world. The first is entrepreneurship and the second is business development. Throw a strong woman into the mix and I am one slap happy mama. Recently, I had the opportunity to interview one of those dynamos, Rachel Thompson, a self-made business woman, who threw aside the daily grind of the corporate world to start several small social media consulting firms and businesses targeted toward assisting Indie and Self Published authors market their books. To boot, Rachel is an Amazon bestselling author.
Rachel discusses what made her leave the corporate world and blast into the small business world. Furthermore, she gives critical advice to women considering the same path.
In your previous career, you were a pharmaceutical rep and a sales trainer for a pharmaceutical company. What made you change careers? Can you tell us a little bit about your previous career?
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Were there fears in striking it out on your own?
I suppose, though I’ve never been one to give in to them. I’m a very determined woman! I’d had success in my twenties selling articles (I have a Journalism minor), and I knew people were interested in my writing. In 2008, I started slowly with an Examiner gig, in addition to my own blog. I then spread out into social media. Having a background in sales, marketing and training helped me plan and make it all happen in a strategic order. Any fears I had about starting my own business disappeared completely within the first month of hanging out my shingle. I was booked up within thirty days. I’m so grateful. I also network continuously, sending people business and they to me.
How did you come up with the concept of your companies? What made you think of working with Indie/SP authors? Had you had any experience in the publishing industry before making the jump?
Having cofounded the Indie Book Collective (which I’m no longer affiliated with) helped me to understand the learning curve of ALL authors. It doesn’t matter if one is a self-pub’d, small press, or traditionally published, people must learn to market their own work. I taught webinars monthly to hundreds of people about how to market using social media. I also learned a ton about Amazon and how to optimize our work there. When people started asking me for one-on-one consulting, I struck out on my own in 2011, forming BadRedhead Media, using my personal marketing and sales experience from my own two books, A Walk In The Snark and Mancode: Exposed. As for experience in publishing, not really. I mean, I sold a few magazine articles, but I’d never written a book before. My blog was as close as I got to ‘publishing.’
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As someone who works in healthcare sales/business development, we receive little experience in the area of social media since that is often managed out of the marketing department, yet on many occasions; I have called you the “Queen of Twitter.” How did you develop those skills to the point of being considered a professional?
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Aw, thank you! I was already involved in social media when I first started my blog, but understood quickly how developing a robust platform would impact my own work. As for Twitter specifically, I watched, learned, attended webinars, and read constantly with regard to updates, tips and tricks. I teach people how to do the same in my business, and offer free info on my @BadRedheadMedia stream and blog http://BadRedheadMedia.com . I always say ‘Twitter isn’t rocket science.’ For many of us, as adults we learn differently and are used to more traditional methods of marketing. Don’t tell yourself ‘I don’t get this. It’s stupid.’ Instead, be open to learning.
What advice would you have for businesswomen considering leaving the corporate business world and striking it out on their own?
We are a digital world. You must dive in and understand how social media works if for no other reason than to learn new media and networking. Don’t say NO to anything out of our natural adult fear of change or the unknown; and don’t make any assumptions (.ie., Twitter is for kids). Social media is terrific free marketing when done correctly. In addition, know what your strengths are and focus on those. I’m very clear with people about what I don’t know or understand fully (ie, I don’t do traditional PR or website design) but guess what? I’ve sought out and surrounded myself with amazing women who are experts in these fields. Also, be generous. Share your knowledge, support others in your field, be the person everyone wants to talk to at the party. And don’t forget about real life – meetups, conferences, etc are all amazing ways to create and cement online relationships.
And that’s my final note: find people who support you; not in competition with you. There are enough sharks in the business world without turning on each other. I always tell my kids: you get what you give and you give what you get. The same karma principle applies here.
Rachel Thompson is the author of two Amazon best-selling books, The Mancode: Exposed and A Walk in the Snark. In her previous life, she was a top selling OTC sales rep for Trojan Condoms for their Western region where she lists one of her best clients as The Mustang Ranch. An experience which has influenced her writing and taught her a lot about male/female differences! From there, she joined a pharmaceutical company as a sales rep and then sales trainer. She gave all that up to start several social media consulting organizations designed to help Indie and Self Published authors sell their novels. Currently, she is owner of Bad Red Head Media (www.badredheadmedia.com) and Indie Book Promo. Rachel’s webinars on mastering Twitter are notorious! She can be followed on Twitter at @RachelintheOC.
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