We’re a content marketing agency that writes case studies, eBooks, and blog posts for high-growth B2B SaaS (business-to-business software-as-a-service) companies like ClickUp, Calendly, and WalkMe.
Tell us about yourself?
I studied linguistics at university. I loved it, but it’s about as useful as a history degree in terms of finding gainful employment. So I hopped on a plane and spent my 20s galivanting around the world, travelling and working as an au pair, a receptionist, and finally, an English as a second language (ESL) teacher. I had a blast!
Eventually, though, I got tired of feeling like a circus performer at the front of the classroom. I wanted a job where I could sit down and think. I also wanted a job where I had more control over my time, income, and career trajectory.
I knew I was a decent writer, so I took the leap and became a freelance writer. It was tough going in the beginning. With no portfolio and no local connections, I had to network like crazy, something I’m still not a big fan of to this day.
Eventually, I figured out that if I got to know all the web developers in my city, I could become the person they sent their clients to when they wanted a new website but didn’t have any content for it. It worked out well, and I soon became the person people thought of when they needed web content in my city.
After 11 years as a freelance web writer, I decided I needed a change. Ironically, I’d never really loved writing, but what I do love is running a business. I enjoy the strategy, the sales and marketing, and the operational side of things. I decided to start a content marketing agency and have a team of freelancers do the writing and editing while I took care of running the business.
As a marketer, I knew that I’d have an easier time marketing my content marketing company if I had a narrower focus. At that point, I had one B2B SaaS customer in San Francisco, and I thought that could be a niche for me. I knew that if I had one B2B SaaS customer, I could get two. And if I could get two, then I could get four. Six years later, we have a full roster of B2B SaaS companies all over the world.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
As an entrepreneur, it’s easy to feel like you’re being pulled in 10 different directions with 100 competing priorities. I was lamenting this recently to someone I admire, and they said to me, “What’s the best use of your time to drive your business forward?”
I don’t think we often slow down enough to really think about the answer to that question.
If I could go back in time to the early days of my business, I would tell myself to really figure out what I need to do with the limited time I have to make a difference in my business.
All too often, it’s easy to procrastinate by doing the easy, low-value work. But instead, we need to prioritize the tasks that drive growth for our company. Often, these require real brainpower. They’re sometimes a bit daunting because we may not have done this particular task before. Or we know we need to push ourselves to do the task even better than we did it before. It’s easy to put off because it’s hard.
Perhaps there’s a task on your to-do list that you know will make a difference in the growth of your business, but you keep finding excuses to push it to tomorrow. If this is you, I recommend this: Schedule it as your first task of the day. You’ll not only get it done, but you’ll enjoy a huge sense of relief at having finally finished it. All the other stuff can wait.
What problem does your business solve?
Our customers are content marketers and customer marketers at B2B SaaS companies. They are under constant pressure to produce copious amounts of high-quality content, but they have a hundred other competing priorities and not enough peoplepower or writing skills.
We are a flexible and agile resource that partners with marketers at tech companies to create a consistent flow of valuable content that moves their target audience through the buyer’s journey.
By outsourcing content creation to us, marketers are freed up to work on other strategic initiatives that drive value for their companies.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
Previous to Uplift Content, I was a freelance web writer in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and all of my customers were local. I was interested in expanding to bigger customers in bigger markets in the US but really didn’t know how I would do it.
And then a gift landed in my inbox. A previous mentor of mine referred me to a big SaaS company in San Fransisco that needed help with case studies. They ended up hiring us, and this kick-started the creation of Uplift Content.
We now have customers across the US and Europe. When my customers were all local, going for coffee to network was a big thing. Now, I rely on LinkedIn and industry Slack groups to network. I also try to get to industry conferences once or twice a year.
What is your magic sauce?
What sets us apart is that we take the time to really understand our customer—their company, software, and target audience.
B2B SaaS companies like to work with us because we’re NOT a full-service marketing agency that does a bit of everything. They like that we have a singular focus on creating hard-working, high-performing content for B2B SaaS companies like theirs.
Our customers have a good experience because we’re there for them every step of the way. We check in. We respond to emails. We answer phone calls. We care. We make sure things are flowing and moving along smoothly.
For us, it’s important that we create content that meets our customers’ business objectives, but it’s equally important that we’re able to support the marketer as an individual to make a greater impact at work—and be recognized for it.
At Uplift Content, we thrive in long-term relationships with our customers. Our very first customer was with us for six years, and I think this really speaks to the relationship we developed and the value we were able to add to their team.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
In the next five years, I’d like to double the number of customers we’re able to help. I’d also like to empower our team to be able to provide our customers with great service and excellent results.
It’s important to me to support other women entrepreneurs by hiring them for our team of writers, editors, and marketing specialists, so I will continue to focus on this while building our team.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
The biggest challenge we’ve faced recently is the economic woes that the tech industry has been facing for the past 12 months. Layoffs and budget cuts have been really challenging for those who work in tech companies—and those who work with tech companies.
We’ve seen a 30 per cent slowdown in the last year, which means many of my writers and editors aren’t getting as much work as they’d like. It also means that our customers are struggling because they have to do more with less—fewer team members and less budget.
We are continuing to reach out and engage with our customers, people in our network, and prospects, but we do so with more empathy, compassion, and understanding. We continue to strive to be helpful and provide valuable resources to our community. We know that when the economy turns around, we’ll be well-positioned to pick back up where we left off.
How can people get involved?
If you’d like to check out our free resources or chat with us about how we might be able to help you with content, please reach out to me at www.upliftcontent.com/saas-content-marketing-agency.