While helping a friend run a stand at Summernats in 2010, Rachel Ziv fell completely in love with Canberra. Coming from Sydney, and never having been here before, she was amazed by the lack of car fumes and pushy people, and delighted by the beauty, friendliness and abundance of services in a town that still offered that “country” feeling.
In short, the quality of life seemed better.
So together with her husband, they packed their bags and left friends, family and their businesses to start a new life in Canberra.
“It was like an adventure. I grew up in the same house my whole life. I’ve travelled a lot, but never thought I’d live outside Sydney. But the busier and dirtier I felt Sydney became, the more open I was to moving somewhere new.”
Rachel, a freelance copywriter and web designer, wasn’t sure whether she’d be able to build up the type of business she’d spent years creating in Sydney.
“I took some time to get the ball rolling. Just after I moved to Canberra I fell pregnant with my daughter. But after a while I couldn’t escape that desire to start building it all again, and before I knew it my website was up and I was ordering business cards.”
Finding Canberra a much easier business landscape to navigate than Sydney, Rachel grew busier and busier over the next few years.
“I could only take on so much work because one kid became two and it was a juggling act. But I have always loved every minute of it, even when I’m doing the slow blink in front of the computer at 2am.
Running a business is so different in Canberra. Just living here gives you a certain amount of trust with locals. After all, we’re Canberrans. And more than other states I’d say we really try to support local businesses.”
Rachel now runs her freelance copywriting and web design business from home in Weston Creek, servicing a range of small business and entrepreneurial clientele.
“They’re my favourite.” she says. “Working with people who are willing to give up anything to step out of their comfort zones and start a business of their own; it’s true courage. The light that shines from the eyes of someone who has taken that leap of faith is awesome.
My clients range from established businesses needing to re-brand with great copy, to tradespeople and all types of small businesses needing affordable websites and copywriting to get them started.
And age is no barrier either. One of my clients just turned 80 and he’s still going strong!”
Rachel is a huge advocate for new businesses in the capital, and offers these helpful tips for business owners wanting to grow their client base faster:
- Tell everyone what you do. You can only help people with your product or service if they know what you offer.
- Utilise community mediums such as local newspapers, magazines (especially the free ones) and websites (like The-RiotACT.com).
- Be transparent. The more open you are about pricing and what you can do vs what you can’t (or don’t want to) do, the more clients you’ll attract and the happier you’ll be.
- Look for partnerships with complementary businesses. Offer your services in exchange for theirs or team up for a great cross-promotion.
- Provide great service. Word travels quickly in this town, and a great review will land you tons of referrals.
To learn more about Rachel or her affordable copywriting and web design services, visit www.rachelziv.com.au.