Family First writer Esther Kurtz had always wanted to teach a fiction writing class, but had been limited by space considerations. She didn’t have a large room in her home for gatherings, and renting a space wasn’t cost-effective. On top of this, she lives in a relatively small community, so the population of aspiring fiction writers is limited. “It seemed like a pipe dream,” she says.
But when the world switched into digital mode, she grasped the potential to make her dream a reality: She would do her class through Zoom, hoping her name recognition would pull in clients; she could set herself up in a corner of the house where she looked most professional. (Who’s to know if you’re in your kitchen or your child’s bedroom?)
“It wasn’t easy to create a business from nothing,” she says. “I reached out through email marketing and LinkedIn, which is a whole world in itself! I learned from a lot of people there.”
She hoped to get about eight students. In the end she got 20 — with another ten put on a waitlist for the next session. They came from all over: Passaic, Far Rockaway, Miami, and Brooklyn. Now, she reports happily, “Due to the success and demand, I’m developing a membership site with a writing-resource content library, as well as live elements and a community component.”
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