This week marks an anniversary of sorts for me. It was on June 26, 2016 when we published our final issue of the Similkameen News Leader. It was a good day I recall, with many customers stopping into our downtown office to say goodbye and to wish us well on our future endeavours. We had hosted a casual drop-in day complete with coffee and cookies and several of our readers took advantage of the opportunity to come to our workplace and share some time with us.
 
At the time, both Brenda and I had already put a couple of years work into part-time home-based ventures. She was working on JamBusters! – a specialty food preserving and vending operation and I was well on my way with a freelance web content business that had several clients already in place. What neither of us knew as we were shutting down our newspaper business was that we were actually stepping into a future that was already partially created and functioning.
 
I can’t remember exactly when we had the conversation, but there was a day somewhere between the paper closure and our final day in that office space (a month later) when we decided to try to turn our part-time ventures into full-time work-from-home businesses. Now that I look back on it, it really seemed to be the most logical route to take but I know that it just didn’t seem all that possible at first. But we started talking about it more and soon the idea sounded right.
 
Essentially all we did was shift our focus on each of our part-time gigs. Brenda started booking more vending venue dates and I started applying for more writing jobs. As insanely simple as that sounds, that was pretty much how it happened. We took a holiday – the first one we have ever had as a couple – and more or less plotted our future when we got back. We had a lot of time to sort it out as we slowly emptied out the office and moved everything home.
 
So, now two years have passed and both of us truly enjoy what we are doing. JamBusters! has grown to the point where we find ourselves trying to keep it small and manageable for just the two of us. My ghostwriting work has also exploded over the past two years and I currently have clients in 42 countries and have written web content for hundreds of different websites on as many different niches. Neither business has slowed to the point where we have been concerned.
 
If anything, we have either turned down the odd vending opportunity or writing job because we simply can’t fit them all in. I was following a rule where I would say ‘no’ to no one but I did eventually have to choose what writing jobs I would accept and which ones I would pass on. For me, as a full-time freelance writer, that’s not a bad problem to have and I do not take it for granted. Both of us have worked hard over the years to get to this place.
 
Although I won’t likely be celebrating the closure of a business I had owned for just over a dozen years – and worked at as an employee for over three years before that – we do have something to celebrate. Both Brenda and I were able to take the newspaper closure and turn it into something positive that was already taking shape in our lives. It really is proof of the old saying that when one door closes, another one opens. We both agree that this is what happened.

​This month has been slightly busier than April was for me. The number of orders received in my ghostwriting business topped 50 totaling almost 90 different projects which kept me going steady for the entire month. What was most interesting was that I also took on a few outside projects to help promote Brenda’s home-based business. Let me explain this a little further.
 
It was sometime last month when the two of us decided that if we were going to keep vending steady at the Oliver Indoor Flea Market in Oliver, we should seriously consider some extra marketing plans. As both of us have experience in the newspaper advertising world, that was the first place I started researching. I contacted two Oliver-area papers for ad rates.
 
I pretty much knew what I wanted to do and Brenda was on board right away. I thought a business card sized ad running weekly would give us an affordable way to get the word out beyond the online marketing we already do. In conversations with the market managers in Oliver, we quickly found ourselves with an interested advertising partner.
 
The thought process Brenda and I had was simple. Once one or two of the vendors in Oliver started to advertising in a local newspaper we would probably see more jump on board. Well, that was exactly what happened within two weeks of our first ad. I designed it, which I must admit I quite enjoyed doing having not ‘built’ a print ad since July 2016.
 
That was when we had closed our own local newspaper business. I was pretty happy to be able to put those skills to use and I also designed the ads for the two other vendors who joined with us to advertise the Oliver Indoor Flea Market in the Osoyoos Times. There’s already talk of one and possibly two more vendors getting into the program which will keep growing.
 
Rack Cards
 
A few months ago I designed the rack cards for the Oliver Indoor Flea Market. As part of our discussion about expanding our marketing in the Oliver region, Brenda and I felt we should become members of the local Chamber of Commerce. Both of our home-based businesses hold Princeton Chamber memberships so we joined the Oliver Tourism Association as well.
 
Actually, it was just JamBusters! that joined but we also paid extra for rack card display space at the Oliver Tourist InfoCentre. The Manager there explained to us that they also distribute member rack cards to area hotels, motels, B & B’s and related tourist spots. We saw this as a great opportunity to promote JamBusters! and Watkins plus the market indirectly.
 
So, my job was the design the rack cards for us to use in our Oliver-area marketing. Once again, I was pretty happy to be able to take this little project on but I had hit a few road blocks along the way. I had a concept, Brenda had a concept but I was having difficulty in making the concept come to life. I was trying to use royalty-free photos and graphics as part of the design.
 
This morning (May 29, 2018) I decided to scrap that idea and use some of my own photos instead. It actually worked out better than I had expected and Bren was pretty happy with the final design as well. And wouldn’t you know it, this morning I received an email offering 40% savings on the printing of the rack cards so that encouraged us to order a larger press run.
 
As for the rack cards themselves, I started with the Oliver Indoor Flea Market information on the bottom first. I then chose to put JamBusters! on the top third of the remaining space and used some colourful photos of a few products to act as an eye-catching feature. I used our recent “spicy, fruity, boozy” tag line and made sure to include the website.
 
The Watkins portion was the easiest as I just dragged in two of the Watkins-approved graphics that Independent Consultants are allowed to use in advertising. I then used the remaining space to promote Sparkle By Bee (hair silks). I used one of my photos, added that there are 21 colours to choose from and included our cell phone number as a contact and that completed it.
 
Once I got rolling on what I wanted to have in the rack card design, and consulting with Bren a few times, I had the finished product ready to print off as a proof within an hour. I’d have to say the print ad and rack card design projects were probably the ones I enjoyed the most of all the work I had come across my desk this past month. Next month is going to be different, I’m sure.

​A ghostwriter is someone who is hired to write something for someone else and does not get credit for it, just a monetary payment. I have been ghostwriting for four and-a-half years. It was a term I only recently have started to use as I always considered myself a freelance writer. The word ghostwriter more accurately describes what I do for most of my freelance work. I have clients who contact me to write blogs, website page content and online product descriptions. They pay me for the job and my name does not appear on the final item when it is posted online.
 
So, why would anyone want to use a ghostwriter? Here are the top five reasons I see a fair deal of work from website owners and bloggers seeking someone else to write for them.
 
1 – Ghostwriters Give You Time For Something Else
 
I know many of my clients are busy people. Some of them have families and other business commitments. The blogging or eCommerce work some of them do is part-time as they build their online properties. When I get hired to write a regular blog or series of articles, I have freed up time for my client to use on something else and they still get the content they need.
 
2 – Ghostwriters Can Write About Pretty Much Anything
 
I would be lying if I said I have written about just one or two topics over the past week. In actual fact, it’s closer to dozens of different topics. My clients have website niches that cover most any topic you can imagine. As a result, I have gained a great deal of knowledge about a lot of things. I also have been able to use some of that background to help other clients with their content.
 
3 – Ghostwriters Typically Don’t Have Filters
 
I get asked to write about some pretty far out topics at times. I also get to write about some common, day-to-day topics. What I like most about it is that I am going to write without bias and produce a finished product that may say something that the client may have been too nervous to say themselves, or could not say without being opinionated about that specific topic.
 
4 – Ghostwriters Spend Time Researching So You Don’t Have To
 
I could not begin to tell you how many jobs I’ve had over the past month where the directions were either a few words or one sentence. While that may not sound like much to go on in order to write a 1,500-word article, I have learned how to do some crazy types of research. Online searches are faster and bring up various results that I’ll pull from and use as background.
 
5 – Ghostwriters Don’t Expect Long-Term Relationships
 
I have worked for a lot of different people over the past month and year. Out of them I would say very few have become regular customers. That’s just how it works. I get hired for single jobs a lot and sometimes for a series of articles but for the most part, there are not a lot of ongoing contracts. I sort of like that as it keeps me fresh with a steady flow of new clients all the time.
 
Think You May Need A Ghostwriter?
 
I work from home, set my own hours and spend a lot of time writing. But I love what I do. I can probably even do some of it for you. You can reach me via my website Looseink Freelance Ninja or at one of two different online freelance platforms. I have profiles at Fiverr and UpWork. If you need content for your website, don’t forget that ghostwriters provide you with an option.