Many of us who were around to experience the first landing on the Moon needed a bit of coaxing to join the computer revolution. Website designer and manager Nancy Camden of Camden Web Marketing, was no exception. She reports she got started while searching for the perfect Christmas gift for her then thirteen-year-old son. “A friend suggested we get him a computer. I was skeptical. My son was thrilled. He told me, ‘Mom, you’re going to love this!’”
“When I asked him what I would want with a computer, he told me, ‘You can keep all your recipes on it.’ That was a smart-aleck comment, as I didn’t have a collection of recipes.”
From a Blog to a Business
What really got Nancy Camden going in the world of websites was her decision to start a blog about her experience being a widow. “My son was working in IT by then. When I asked him to help me set up an on-line blog, he told me what I’d often told him growing up, ‘You can do this.’ So I learned how. I am totally self-taught.”
After she learned how to set up a website for herself she agreed to help a friend design one. Then another friend asked for help and it wasn’t long before she had a customer base.
Before getting into web design, Nancy taught middle school language arts and social studies. She also often tutored children. When her son was in the third grade, she decided she could either focus on other people’s children or her own, but there was not enough energy to do justice to both. However, the combination of her teaching experience, combined with language arts skills and tutoring, make her very effective as both a web designer and a teacher of the skills needed to use the internet as a marketing tool. Many people know the technical side of the web world. Those who can teach the skill to others are hard to find.
Quilting Yields Marketing Experience
In the years she was a full time homemaker she started quilting. Eventually she was making contemporary quilts people bought to use as wall hangings. One of her quilts that she took to the popular annual Houston Quilt Show was featured on the cover of a quilting magazine. When the detailed needlework required to make quilts became more difficult, she moved on to real estate.
The skills she learned from selling her quilts and selling houses, has given her a strong foundation in marketing that she now applies to her web business. Her assorted career experiences show up in her current work with clients. She says, “When I work with clients, I do not just copy the same thing for every web site. Each one is customized to the person’s skills and interests. I want to put together a web site that will work for my customers to make it the most useful for them.”
Know People who Know
As a recipient of her ability to both design a web site and to coach me on how to maximize the benefits of having one, I can testify that she delivers on her goal to work individually with her customers.
For better or worse, the public market is more and more found on the internet. It is no longer enough to write quality and compelling copy. To compete in today’s virtual publishing and promotion world an author either needs to be a whiz with all things internet-related or know people who are.
Personally, I look for people who can help me with internet issues. Nancy Camden is one such person. I am ever grateful to Brian Bearden of Houston who introduced us to each other. I met Brian when I was assigned to write press releases to promote his book, 52 Tips To Turn Your Website Into A Sales Machine. When I asked him to review my website, he tactfully told me it needed some serious work. He referred me to Nancy and my on-line experience has been improving ever since.
Both Brian Bearden and Nancy Camden can help you improve and increase your on-line presence. If you need help in that area, I recommend you contact either or both of them. Tell them I sent you their way.