Jackie jump starts Walch Communication

Meet Better, Smarter, Richer’s blogger, newsletter creator, and social media strategist, Michelle Walch.

Name of Business:  Walch Communication www.michellewalch.com

Years in Business: three

What the business does: Content Marketing, Copywriting, Social Media Strategy for healthy aging, women’s health, rural health and aging.  Interview Better, Smarter, Richer clients for Jackie’s blog.

What were you doing prior to your current business? For years I worked survival jobs. I  took a few journalism classes in college but thought jobs for writers were finite.  As a result, I never really pursued it except here and there.

World Traveler

I traveled to Israel in 1998 to volunteer at the Baha’i World Center.  Afterwards I traveled around Africa for a year and a half, continuing volunteer work. In I returned in 2001 to a recession in the U.S. I earned a master’s degree in 2007, then the crash of 2008 happened, thwarting hopes of getting a decent paying job.

Turning Point

Our daughter turned one in 2009.  At that time I launched an artist agency which lasted six years.  I started taking classes at the CLIMB Center, and eventually Jackie became my adviser.

When I showed her the artwork for the proposed book my husband, illustrator John D. Maddin, and I were working on, she immediately encouraged us to shop the collection around.  As a result, our book, an ABC children’s book Letters of the West, was published in 2014 and was nominated for the 2014 Oregon Spirit Award for nonfiction.

How did you end up has a copywriter?   Jackie and I were talking one day. I mentioned I had started blogging about Letters of the West.  She said she needed a blogger and would I be interested? Yes I would! Jackie jump starts Walch Communication!  That was November 2016.

What’s working now?  Writing every day has improved it.  Blogging requires a specific format, which I wasn’t used to at first.  I educate myself on blogging and social media strategy constantly so I can learn best practices.  I’m getting better at pitching story ideas.

Take Aways:

• Do what you are passionate about.
• What do friends and family say your strengths are?  That feedback can help guide you.
• Focus on one (or a few things)..
• Fearlessness.
• Work long hours.

Working with Jackie:  Jackie has a gift in figuring out what it is you ought to be focusing on and what to leave out.  The Deep and Narrow Niche approach didn’t make sense to me at first.  My thinking that way originally is for a couple reasons: employees are often expected to multi-task, big companies offer many products and services, and you might think you are missing an opportunity if you don’t offer a variety.  But the opposite is true for solo business.  When you specialize, and in some cases specialize again (healthcare became women’s health, aging well, and rural health and aging), you become the go-to for that focus. You are one person, so offer one thing.  Work that, make it your brand. You will get known.

Work with Jackie through her eCourse Best Beginnings.