Meet Content Repurposing Specialist Willow Paule
“Get clear on the most important markers of success for you at this time in your life and then you can be more clear about how to meet those goals.”
Willow Paule
Okay, let’s get started on the interview!
Tell us who you are in 50 words or less.
Hi, I’m Willow. As a content repurposing specialist, I reshape entrepreneurs’ existing marketing messaging for other audiences and media.
By helping my clients get off the hamster wheel of constant content creation, they can get back to serving their clients and building their businesses in a deeper, more intentional way.
How and why did you start your business?
In 2018, I had just moved to Southeast Asia and I was looking for online work. I did an inventory of the skills I had learned from other jobs and previous businesses and I also did a lot of research. I happened upon the field of virtual assistance (VA) and thought that could be a good fit for me! So, I started this business by offering VA services.
After serving many different clients in different capacities, I found that I was most skilled at helping clients with their content strategy and creation, so I niched down in 2022.
What services do you offer in your business?
I offer content creation and repurposing services for heart-led business owners like healers, wellness practitioners, coaches, and creatives. I work with clients in different ways – either with an on-going arrangement or on a project basis.
I spend time getting to know my client’s brand and their goals so that I truly understand how to create content that speaks to their audience. I use their existing content to create new emails, blogs, and social media posts for them.
Content repurposing is a huge timesaver but it’s also a smart marketing tool.
THE MORE YOU CAN SHARE THE SAME MESSAGE IN NEW WAYS, THE MORE CHANCES YOU HAVE TO CONNECT WITH YOUR AUDIENCE AND CREATE BRAND AWARENESS.
What makes your business or services unique?
With a name like Willow, you probably know my parents had hippy tendencies (my mom always points out that they had jobs, though). I come from a family of entrepreneurs who are smart and open-minded.
I’ve also spent time in different parts of the US (my home country), and Asia has become a second home. I’m used to doing things a bit differently than the people around me. All this is to say that I’m a freethinker.
I work with clients in an open, collaborative fashion. There are many creative ways to approach business problems, and I love to figure out unique solutions to support my clients in bringing their message to the world.
I love working in my yard around my plants and nature.
Having a functional website is an important aspect of running a business. How was the process for you to get your website up and running? For example: Did you create it on your own or did you hire a web designer? Which platform is your website hosted on?
What I can tell you is that I’ve gone through many iterations of my website. I’ve worked with multiple web designers and had varying luck. Some were talented but disappeared. Some weren’t that talented and still disappeared.
My site is on WordPress and it’s hosted by Lyrical Host. I’m so glad I got away from the bigger companies that don’t have great customer service and sometimes have a lot of downtime.
Lyrical Host is really helpful with site maintenance, teaching me how to do things and their support team handles some updates for me.
Through owning my website for many years now, I’ve learned how to make some basic updates. I’m a little afraid to say this without knocking on wood, but, now I also have a reliable web designer. She can help me when I don’t know how to make an update or when it will take her less time. I am happy with this arrangement.
What resources are you finding helpful in your business right now?
I find coworking with other entrepreneurs to be helpful. I belong to a few different online coworking groups and I visit when I'm feeling like I need some human interaction or a little pressure to get my work finished.
I also like Focusmate: it matches you with a partner and you see them on camera as you get your work done together. You can meet people from around the world but it's still structured time, so you can get a lot done if you want to.
What is the one thing you wished you had known before starting your entrepreneurial journey?
HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO CONSTANTLY BE LINING UP NEW CLIENTS AND HAVE MULTIPLE STREAMS OF INCOME.
Even when you have enough clients, you should still be fostering relationships and looking for more. If there is a sudden exodus, which happens sometimes, you should have some replacement income in the pipeline. Otherwise, things will be super tough and you don’t always know how long these periods will last.
When I first started my business, I didn’t realize how important it was to have a client pipeline. I had enough work and things were going well. But when I lost my main client and didn’t immediately find a new one to replace the income, it meant I had to decrease my spending and concentrate a lot of time and energy on finding new clients. If I would have been lining up other relationships while I was still working with that client, it would have been an easier period.
The other thing I try to do is have multiple clients and projects that bring in cash. So if one of these projects ends, I’m not totally out of luck.
Tell us about a time when life threw you a serious curveball in your business and what you did to overcome that curveball?
In 2021, I got covid and I’ve had a lot of health problems ever since. It means that I’m dealing with compromised energy levels.
Leaning into my content repurposing skills has been helpful. I’ve found that repurposing my content has made my marketing messages stronger while affording me more time to rest and work on regaining my health.
How have you grown personally from becoming an entrepreneur?
One of the best but hardest things about being an entrepreneur is not having a boss. Although you’re free, it also means there isn’t as much external pressure to get your work done. Sure, clients are waiting for you to finish projects, but there are still a lot of business tasks you have to do for your own business. And no one is telling you to hurry up and get it done.
Creating structure but not too much structure is always the trick for me.
I know that there are a few different ingredients that I need:
Quiet time
Co-working time
Time to connect with other entrepreneurs
Enough sleep, exercise, and healthy food
Specific tasks and goals in my calendar but flexibility in deciding what I do at any time through the day
Now that I’ve been in business for about 7 years, I know that I need all of these ingredients to be productive and happy. So, I actively schedule these things into my calendar.
I ALSO STAY OPEN TO WHAT MY BODY IS TELLING ME, AND ADJUST MY SCHEDULE WHEN NECESSARY.
What one misconception about the entrepreneurial journey would you like to clarify for us today?
That everyone should define success with material markers. For instance, that once you’re making 5k a month, you’ve “made it.”
I THINK IT’S WORTH IT TO GET CLEAR ON WHAT YOUR DEFINITION OF SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE.
For me, freedom is one of my most important values. It’s more important than making 100k a year because I have a low cost of living. Freedom looks like being able to travel, take a day off when I want to, or visit the doctor on short notice.
So, I would always prioritize a client who doesn’t micromanage me over one who pays me more. I’d also always want a flexible schedule over a job where I got a good salary, but I had to work a set schedule each day.
GET CLEAR ON THE MOST IMPORTANT MARKERS OF SUCCESS FOR YOU AT THIS TIME IN YOUR LIFE AND THEN YOU CAN BE MORE CLEAR ABOUT HOW TO MEET THOSE GOALS.
What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about starting their own business?
Depending on how much interaction you have with clients, entrepreneurship can get lonely, even isolating. Consider spending some time building up your entrepreneurial circle by getting to know people with similar values that you can keep in touch and bounce ideas around with.
Do research and see how other people run their businesses, but also follow your own intuition about the right way to move forward. It’s a balance. Make space for fun.
What are some fun facts you would like to share about yourself?
I used to be a nomad and moved about every year or so. Once some kitties adopted me, it became harder to move countries, though.
I’m a child-free-by-choice cat lady and proud of it. I’m also known as Auntie by many kids around the world and I think this title describes me well. I’ve worked with children and teens in many ways: in the juvenile justice system, group homes, and in US, Korean, Thai and Indonesian schools to name just a few of my experiences. I love helping kids explore their natural curiosity about the world.
I love learning languages. In high school, I studied Spanish and French. Later, I studied Thai and Indonesian. I really like all the idiosyncrasies of how people say things in different languages.
My cats, Mrow-Mrow and Mikey.
What is one thing you’re grateful for right now?
I'm grateful for my garden. It feels like its own little ecosystem with the sheer diversity of animals and insects I’ve seen there. Lizards of all sizes, butterflies, snails, frogs, toads, and grasshoppers, to name a few.
And in the evening, the funny sounding egrets that congregate and shriek in the trees overhead. Since I'm not going out much these days due to my health, the yard is really where it's at.
What are you looking forward to in the next month?
I’m going to release a new done-with-you content service in the next couple months. It will be an opportunity for heart-led entrepreneurs to create content that helps them meet their marketing goals by speaking to their soulmate clients.
I’m also looking forward to hosting my monthly meet up Creative Hour on September 12. It’s a free online gathering for small business owners, entrepreneurs, and creatives. Join us for an engaging mix of personal, business, and creativity-related topics and an opportunity to connect with interesting people from around the world.
