On Helping Companies Streamline Their Content Production
Hello! đź‘‹ My name is Tomas Laurinavicius. I'm a content marketing consultant, lifestyle blogger, and co-founder of Content Writing Jobs.
Content Writing Jobs is a platform for both writers and organizations. We aim to reduce friction between writers and companies seeking for content producers.
We’re in very early stages and we’re not making any money right now but we’re getting some traction and post writing jobs daily.
What's your backstory and how did you get into entrepreneurship?
I’ve been blogging and designing websites since 2007 and built multiple projects since then.
Some were profitable, others were not, but ultimately, I acquired a broad skillset (web & graphic design, UX/UI, email marketing, content marketing, automation, copywriting, outreach, SEO, sales) that allows me to quickly build prototypes and test them out.
You don’t become a good developer by talking to people and telling stories, you become a good developer by sitting alone and solving problems.
The best part is that I was getting paid to learn all of this. Once I find myself interested in a new skill, I try to offer a service to my old clients or new ones and figure out what to do on the job. I get a healthy dose of accountability, challenge, and a paycheck to keep me going.
In the last decade, I changed a lot of hats and went from being a web designer to a self-published author to lifestyle blogger, and recently, to content marketing consultant, and entrepreneur.
I always wanted to see the world. In 2013, I dropped out of Business Academy in Aarhus in Denmark and decided to travel the world. Since then, I traveled to over 50 countries while bootstrapping and running a stock photo marketplace (acquired) and a digital design magazine (acquired).
After some time, I switched to content marketing consulting and now spend most of the time helping companies with their content strategies and streamlined content production.
Take us through your entrepreneurial journey. How did you go from day 1 to today?
I grew up in a small village in Lithuania.
Entrepreneurship didn’t come naturally to me because in my environment I didn’t see anyone doing it. My parents taught me how to persevere, be resourceful, and frugal.
I didn’t have much but I was always curious about building stuff.
After my parents bought our first computer I didn’t waste time playing games and found myself obsessed with Photoshop. I followed tutorials, tried different techniques, and after some time built a blog sharing my interests and progress.
After some time, I realized that I can get paid for design work and for writing about design work, so I started freelance writing. It was a bit complicated to get paid as I was still underage and didn’t even have a bank account but I loved the challenge and figured it out along the way.
Thanks to the internet, I kept myself informed and before graduating from high school, I knew I wanted to study abroad.
Once I moved to study Multimedia Design in Denmark, I was exposed to a completely different culture – diverse, intellectual, and entrepreneurial. I learned about business, startups, and communication.
While studying abroad, I gained some weight partying too much and once I couldn't recognize myself in the mirror, I decided to go all-in on self-development.
I started devouring self-help books and podcasts. Some were OK and some were life-changing.
Around the same time, I discovered an old interview with Steve Jobs where he shared the secrets of life. I was mind-blown. I watched the video over ten times trying to grasp the message and never looked back.
As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to travel, so I decided to drop out of college and seek adventures. I treat all of these years spent traveling and building businesses as my MBA.
I learned a lot of new skills and met a lot of people but I also expanded my comfort zone. Thanks to all the travel experiences, I can tolerate more uncertainty and perform under stress.
Almost all of my short career, I was writing. For myself, on my blog, for my clients. I also hired and managed writers.
Up until recently, I was hesitant to properly learn to code, mostly due to a lack of time and interest.
But then, the no-code revolution exploded. I became a Makerpad member and was surprised by how much you can build without ever touching the code.
And then it clicked.
What if I combine my writing experience and my newfound interest in no-code and build a platform for writers?
After a quick SEO and competitor research, I decided to give it a go and build it for fun.
I used Webflow, Airtable, ConvertKit, and Zapier to build the initial version and shared it with my LinkedIn network.
People were interested and I decided to team up with service systems designer my good friend Edgaras Benediktavicius.
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
Right now, we’re focusing on growing our writers’ audience so we can attract companies seeking writers.
We post new jobs daily and send a weekly newsletter with the latest content writing opportunities.
It’s going pretty well and we’re converting around 15% of visitors to subscribers.
At the moment we don’t charge companies to post writing jobs but once we hit 5,000 subscribers, we’ll start charging.
Other than that, we’re working on building a writer’s directory and a better solution to reduce the friction between writers and companies seeking content producers.
There’s a lot of room for innovation and we’re trying to figure out how to make it smooth for both parties.
Our operations are very lean right now.
It’s still a side gig and we use Notion for all the internal notes, planning, feature roadmap, bug tracking, and daily to-dos.
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
You must launch early. I learned that you can’t possibly think of what your customers want until you build something and show it to them.
You must iterate constantly. Launching early means you’ll be shipping something unfinished and that is alright if you keep improving it. People don’t need to see a polished product to see the value of it but they need assurance that you are the person who can execute on the promise. Regular updates breed that confidence.
Automate. There are many tools out there that can help you automate most of the repetitive stuff you’re doing. While it takes time to set up the automation, it saves you tons of time in the long run and allows you to focus on other tasks.
Team up. I wanted to run Content Writing Jobs myself but I realized that I didn't have enough time to do so. I decided to team up with my good friend with a complementary skill set and that turned out to be one of the best decisions I made. I’m more productive and can focus on tasks that I’m good at while my co-founder takes care of the rest.
What platform/tools do you use for your business?
I absolutely love Webflow. It saves tons of time and is super fast. Even though it’s not for beginners, I feel the learning curve is not as steep as learning to code from scratch. Also, they have engaging learning materials.
I use Pipedrive for sales and outreach emails. Zapier and Integromat for automation.
Ahrefs is the best tool when it comes to idea generation and competitor and keyword research.
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?
I’m a self-proclaimed bookworm.
Here are some of the most influential books I read that shaped me on my journey.
Mindset by Carol Dweck. I learned that there are two mindsets. Fixed mindset and growth mindset. This book opened the whole new world for my growth potential.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. I never understood how wealth worked. This book completely changed the way I think about money and creating wealth.
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Whether you like people or not you have to learn how to become more influential to live a better life and build a meaningful business.
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. This book showed me how to fight my ego to become more content and present.
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. This is my all-time favorite. This book about humankind completely changed the way I understand life and all the stories that keep it together.
The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. I’m a proud morning person. This book showed me that without an effective morning routine, you are betting on your life instead of taking control of it and focusing on things that matter.
If you’re curious, check my full recommended reading list.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?
Don’t bet against yourself. I see many young people trying to copy what other people are doing. In most cases, it won’t work and the best solution I found is to know yourself. Work on discovering your natural strengths and use these to your advantage. If you’re naturally drawn to people and find yourself telling stories, don’t try to become a developer. It requires calm, patience, and silence. You don’t become a good developer by talking to people and telling stories, you become a good developer by sitting alone and solving problems.
Start with B2B. Most of the beginners (including myself) come up with “sexy” ideas. A slick to-do app, a photo-sharing networking, a weather app with sick animations. While all of these things are pretty and exciting, these are horrible (meaning they need a large upfront investment and luck) businesses. I learned that when getting started, focusing on B2B, and providing valuable service will give you a fighting chance and an opportunity to be profitable from day one.
Where can we go to learn more?
I quit most of the social media in 2018, but you can find me on LinkedIn, my blog, and newsletter.
If you’re interested in working with me, check my content marketing consulting services, and if you’re a writer or looking to hire writers, check content writing jobs.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
