Today we’d like to introduce you to Gertrude Nonterah.
Gertrude, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My name is Gee Nonterah and three years ago (June 2015), I moved to San Diego with my family to start working as a post-doctoral research scientist with UC San Diego. A year before we moved out here, I had started a blog called My Online Biz Journey. I have had dreams of starting and running my own online business since 2012 and the blog was the beginning of that journey.
Since then, my blog has grown to around 15,000 page views per month. And I have made a very nice income as a result of it. This year, I began to concentrate on growing my YouTube channel and that has been super exciting as well. Around May this year, I lost my scientist job due to funding cuts however because I had been building this side hustle since 2015, I was able to transition nicely into working for myself full-time and the journey has been exciting.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Nope! As a blogger, you can be putting out content in the very beginning and have nobody pay attention to you. I have felt like giving up a lot. When I started working for myself, we had to start paying for health insurance out of pocket. That was rough too but my husband and I overcame that.
There is also the fear that you won’t make enough money. I think this is the worst fear of all. Through it all, however, I have learned to have a lot of faith and just keep swimming and knocking on as many doors as I can. Eventually, a door will open and you will be happy you worked hard for it.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Gertrude “Gee” Nonterah – what should we know?
My business is two-pronged. On one end, I am a freelance writer. What that means is that I help small businesses and other bloggers create content that helps them draw more traffic to their blogs and which also helps them rank in search engines.
I am proud when my writing makes a difference in someone’s life. You see as a writer, my job is to educate. And so when I educate and people say “Oh Gee, that makes so much sense now!” I get excited because it means I did my job.
The other end of my business is my blogging/YouTubing. I make an income by selling eBooks, affiliate relationships and Google Adsense for teaching people how to start their own venture online.
Finding a mentor and building a network are often cited in studies as a major factor impacting one’s success. Do you have any advice or lessons to share regarding finding a mentor or networking in general?
For networking in general, I would say look at a place like MeetUp.com and look for meetups that interest you. Interacting with people with similar interests will be invaluable to you as you grow your business. I have gotten writing clients just because I was at an in-person meetup right here in San Diego.
As bloggers, it is tempting to sit behind your computer all day. But no! Go out there and meet people.
Mentorship can be done in several ways. Most of the people who have helped me on my business journey have done so through their books, podcasts and videos. You don’t have to be physically close to someone to be mentored by them. You can receive a lot of instruction and inspiration from the content they put out or sell.
Contact Info:
- Website: MyonlineBizJourney.com
- Email: gertrude@myonlinebizjourney.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geenonterah/
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/gertrudenonterahtv
Image Credit:
Fred Nonterah
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