Interview with Entrepreneur Erica Martin

How can you combine an entrepreneurial lifestyle with the real world? Do you need thousands in the bank to make the jump from paid employment?

I did it while unemployed with zero in the bank. You could too.

I spend a lot of time talking and working with people on the Internet who are often following similar paths to my own. Erica Martin is one of these and has agreed to share her story with you. I hope you find it helpful.

Erica Martin, Entrepreneur

Who are you? (Name, location, a bit of background)

My name is Erica Martin, I live in Cary, North Carolina (just outside of Raleigh), I have a Bachelor’s degree in French with a minor in Writing and Language, as well as an Associate’s degree in Paralegal Studies, and a certificate in medical transcription (I have many interests and have tried to do many different things!)

Where are you on the road to earning a full-time income as an entrepreneur?

Not as far as I’d like to be. I currently earn about $150 to $200 a month from my entrepreneurial/independent contractor income, which is why I’m also still working full-time as an interviewer for a company that does interviews with people who’ve applied for life and health insurance products – I’ve been doing that for five years.

What do you do?

My entrepreneurial efforts center around writing and transcription – I’ve written a few eBooks, and I also write blog posts for a few of my own blogs, and I’m a contributing writer for the website “Work at Home Adventures.”

How, why did you choose the area you work in? Is it related to any previous paid employment?

Not really, writing has always been a passion of mine, I especially like teaching through my writing – I had tried to use my Bachelor’s degree in French to teach French, but found that I wasn’t very good at teaching school-age children. I do however enjoy teaching others about my experiences through the writing I do on my blogs, and elsewhere on the web. I also do transcription to make money so I can support my writing efforts, and the things I have to do to promote my writing. I enjoy transcription because a lot of times I’ll learn interesting things through the transcription I do.

What are your motivational factors?

The fact that I don’t want to stay at my current job for the rest of my life – the money is good but sometimes talking to the people I talk to every day can get really frustrating.

How important are your contacts? Can you give examples?

I don’t really have many contacts, I’m still working on trying to develop them, but don’t get many chances to since I work full time, and write and do transcription on the side, and also try to find some time in there to spend with my husband of twelve years. I do have a few contacts who have developed full-time incomes through their blogs, and I’ve used ideas they’ve given me to help develop my own.

 How did you develop your contacts?

I’ve developed my contacts gradually over the course of the last 12 years I’ve been working from home – I’ve met different people at the different companies I’ve worked for, and some have been involved in other endeavors that they’ve told me about or about other websites, which has lead me to look at them and possibly try them out for myself. For example, a girl I met at a company I worked for called Babytobee told me about Work at Home Adventures so I looked it up and read it regularly. One day I decided to write something of my own for the site. The site owner liked it and I’ve been writing for Work at Home Adventures for about five years now.

What obstacles have you overcome in your entrepreneur journey?

Balancing working full-time, plus working on my entrepreneur sources of income, plus trying to find some time to spend with my husband can be a challenge. I try to get up early in the morning to work on my habits and a little bit on my entrepreneurial sources of income – I might work on my eBook, or on transcription for a client, or write a post for one of my websites, I also try to work on those things a little on the weekends, and I also try to fit in a little time with my husband on the weekends and in the evenings as well. I’ve been trying to make an effort to not look at my email or notifications on the phone every five minutes in the evenings, especially if we’re watching something on TV.

Where Can Readers Find You Online?

My Professional Website – This is the best place to get an idea of what I do. http://elmwritingandtranscription.weebly.com/

My eBook Journey website – This is the blog I use to update others on my writing efforts. I also occasionally write posts on other topics relevant to authors – www.myebookjourney.com

Work at Home Tips Online – This is a website I started where I talk about different tips that will help people be successful working from home. I try to keep the focus on tips and not on work at home jobs themselves, because a lot of other people I know are already writing about different work at home jobs. I’m also trying to use this more as a way of marketing my eBooks –www.workathometipsonline.com

Facebook page for Work at Home Tips Online: https://www.facebook.com/workathometipsonline/

My author page on Work at Home Adventures – This is where you can find the posts I’ve written for Work at Home Adventures –  http://wahadventures.com/author/emartin

How do you use social media?

I have Facebook pages for a few of my websites – I post links to new posts on my blogs on those web pages, as well as anything that I find that’s relevant to the topics of those Facebook pages. I also send tweets about new blog posts to my twitter followers – I’ve actually been adding a few new followers every week – I’m not sure if it’s because of my tweets or just because people have been finding me through other Twitter followers.  https://twitter.com/emartin1974

Is there anything else you would like to add?

If you really want to be an entrepreneur, don’t give up. Find time to work on your entrepreneur journey, whether that means getting up early, staying up late, working on weekends, or giving up things that you really want to do. At the same time though, try to find balance – work on your entrepreneur journey, but also try to find time to spend with your family and friends.

One other thing, take care of your health – get plenty of rest, plenty of exercise, and eat as healthfully as you can. Those three things are also real important to making sure you have enough energy and good health so you can continue working on your entrepreneurial journey. And to all the aspiring entrepreneurs who are reading this, good luck!

My Thoughts on Erica’s Entrepreneur Journey

I know Erica through MyBlogU.com, which is a site where I have met many people. Erica did not count me as a contact. I think she now realises how many contacts she really has. When I read this I referred her to a couple of my own contacts who were looking for writers. That is the power of contacts.

Your Thoughts

What are your thoughts on Erica’s entrepreneur journey? How does it compare to your own journey or dream? Please use the comment box below to share what you think.