From the age of 12, I knew I wanted to work for myself. I held the misbelief, though, that all people who worked for themselves were rich. What was I thinking? Fast forward to 2011, I resigned from a career in teaching; I had worked nine years in the public school system, and that’s pretty much what I had envisioned for a career — minus a stint in retail. I was lost and depressed. But on my birthday, a company called me to be an independent contractor to teach ESL to corporate employees. I had been an independent contractor before and liked the flexibility the position offered, so that got me researching to see how I could contract for myself. Talking with a friend, she suggested that I start another blog; that would have made my third blog. I hesitated at first, but I did it. My goal was to make money from blogging, so I researched everything I could find from the public library and online. I hatched up my plan, started my blog in September 2011 and it took off! Six months later I incorporated my blog into a business.

Women Are Gamechangers, LLC is a social media marketing and networking event company. We show you how to grab your piece of the online real estate and help women connect with other women in their communities to not only grow their networks, but to gain referrals from them. I invested my own money into my blog – that I’d received from freelancing as an independent contractor, and some money from my savings. It was challenging starting a new business during “The Great Recession” of our times — when so many business owners, particularly, women-owned business (my target client) are reluctant to shell out money for services, but since I had started something, I had to finish.

The way I got the word out about my business was to network with people online, as well as offline. I attended other peoples’ events here in Houston to get to know more about the women in my area, as well as to share with them what I did. The best thing any woman can do for herself, and for her business, is to have a network of people who will help refer her products and services. That way she won’t have to pay for advertising. Women tell me all the time that someone else told them about my blog. As a result, I have grown my business organically. I have yet to pay for any advertisting and people still find me. Making the decision to be self-employed is a difficult one, but once that choice is made, it’s then up to you to do all the research you can on how to stay that way.

Lately, I’ve gotten so many inquires about how I got started in business, that this summer I’ll be incorporating a series on my blog, relating to all of the things I did to grab my piece of the online real estate, as well as a weekly talk show, beginning May 2012, on my YouTube channel. Women Are Gamechangers will address everything we share on our blog. Be sure to look out for both of these. Both will be great resources to help you get started in establishing your online identity and meeting new customers!

Vernetta R. Freeney is Editor-In-Chief of Women Are Gamechangers. This blog, Vernetta runs along with her sister, Valencia. Valencia acts as part owner of Women Are Gamechangers, LLC. Vernetta has written several guest posts for other sites and is the former Houston Home-based Business Examiner. Vernetta is always up for assisting women in any way she can.

For more information on Vernetta and the Women Are Gamechangers blog, follow her on Twitter: @womengamechange. For information on her other social media connections, email Vernetta at editor@womenaregamechangers.com.

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