Heather Deveaux is a full-time freelance writer who works with clients all over the world from her home in New Waterford, Nova Scotia. Heather launched her career as a freelance writer within hours of losing her job as an executive director of a career college in Cape Breton. After the college closed, Heather decided she was ready to dedicate her skills and abilities to her own business and has been successfully growing her freelance writing business ever since. She’s recently branched out to create The Freelance Writing School, in which she’ll teach others how to start and run their own freelance writing businesses in rural areas across Canada. Heather holds a Master of Adult Education degree and taught herself how to use WordPress when she realized she needed a website that was fully customizable that she could build when she wasn’t working on client projects.
What’s been your best experience with WordPress?
I love WordPress because it has provided me with a platform to share my business(es) without having to fork over a lot of money. I appreciate the high quality platform and the ease of use. It has literally changed the way I see web design and no longer feel intimidated by what it takes to get a business on the web. Plus, it’s also evolving and there’s something to learn every single day.
Tell us a bit about your WordCamp Halifax talk.
I’m going to be talking about how WordPress breaks down barriers for small business owners who don’t have thousands of dollars to pay a web developer to build a website for them. I have worked with many developers who made me feel intimidated by trying to do these things myself, and I worked with many other developers who encouraged me to give it a try. I prefer to work with people who are not afraid that you’ll steal their livelihood by putting a website on the internet. After all, an entire community of people put time and effort into building WordPress so we can use it to build our blogs, businesses, and ventures in our own light.
What’s your favourite thing about WordCamps, or if your first one… what are you looking forward to?
This is my first one! I’m super excited! I’m looking forward to meeting other entrepreneurs who are passionate about what they do and learning how I can help them or at least, encourage them to take chances on themselves and try new things.
Let’s get philosophical… what are you most proud of?
Over the last two years I have made dramatic changes in my life and have found that putting doubt aside and taking action has resulted in some pretty incredible things, including the launch of my own WordPress websites. For years I thought I couldn’t learn how to build/use/edit a WordPress site but completing that one task proved that if I sit down and work at something, I can figure it out. I’ve used this formula over and over again to bring my business to life and create a life I always wanted for myself, including being a speaker at an important event like WordCamp.
Session Details
Everyday small business owners like you incur a range of expenses that can sometimes break the bank. Web design, launch, and maintenance doesn’t have to be one of those expenses. WordPress provides an opportunity to design and launch your own website so that you can maintain creative control, update when needed, and learn a few new skills along the way. Armed with just some Youtube videos, a notebook, and a pen, I quickly learned how to set up a WordPress website and launch my freelance writing business into the world. While many people are still afraid of what web development means and requires, WordPress makes it easy for anyone to become their own web developer, and in turn, reduce one of the biggest barriers that small business owners face today. This talk explores how navigating a little discomfort in the beginning to learn how to set up and use a WordPress website can pay dividends throughout the life of your small business.