nDash’s Managing Editor, Jenn Greenleaf, talks to Carol Morgan about her background as a freelance writer, her work as a college professor, and more!
Background: The Highlights
Carol Morgan is a communication professor at Wright State University and a speaker, TV personality, and author. Her expertise is in communication, relationships, motivation, leadership, and success.
In addition to her career as a professor, Carol also owns HerSideHisSide.com, a relationship and dating website. You can find Carol’s work published on LifeHack, HuffPost, BrainSpeak, and many others.
nDash’s Discussion with Carol Morgan
Jenn: Thank you for taking the time to participate in this writer spotlight! Can you tell our readers a little bit about your background as a freelance writer?
Carol: I started writing for popular websites such as Lifehack.org, the Huffington Post, and others about ten years ago.
I am also a college professor, and I wanted to take my knowledge outside of the classroom walls so I could reach and help more people around the world.
I write on a variety of topics, including communication, relationships, dating, self-improvement, motivation, positive mindset, success, business communication, and many other various others as well.
Jenn: When did you know you wanted to become a college professor? Was there someone or something that inspired this decision?
Carol: My bachelor’s degree is in advertising, so I thought I was going to go into that industry. But after about a year of working for a small ad agency after college, I decided to go to get my master’s degree.
I wasn’t necessarily thinking about becoming a professor at that point. But after meeting a lot of fellow graduate students who were going on for their Ph.D. after their master’s with the goal of becoming a professor, I thought I would do the same thing. It seemed like a great career.
But I think I always felt like I was a natural teacher. However, I knew I wasn’t really cut out for teaching young children. So, teaching communication in college was the perfect fit for me. And it has turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life!
Jenn: How does your career as a professor at Wright State University influence your freelance writing career?
Carol: I teach a variety of classes at Wright State, such as Interpersonal Communication, Race/Class/Gender Communication, Business Communication, Small Group, Public Speaking, Interviewing, Media Criticism, and many more.
I think everything I teach in these classes is valuable life skills for everyone. And I know I can only reach a limited number of people inside my classroom walls, so I thought freelance writing would be another great way to “teach” people some valuable life skills without them stepping foot into my classrooms.
Jenn: I see you have an extensive background as a relationship and dating coach. Does this background tie into your teaching career, or do you manage each separately?
Carol: The only way that my relationship and dating coaching tie into my teaching career is that I use the same concepts and skills from my classes and apply them to dating and relationships.
For example, I teach about self-esteem, self-worth, and self-talk in my Interpersonal Communication class. This can be easily applied to dating coaching because a lot of people have low self-esteem and don’t think they can attract and (or) keep a good partner. So, working on how they talk to themselves and helping them feel better about themselves makes them more confident when it comes to dating.
Another example would be coaching and teaching a couple about handling conflict in a more productive manner so they can be happier. Most people are never formally taught these skills, and because of that, they tend to flounder in their relationships, and they’re not as happy as they could be.
Jenn: Can you tell me about what inspired you to launch HerSideHisSide.com?
Carol: I think it was a couple of things. First, even though I write for other popular websites, I also have my own website focused on relationships and dating coaching: DrCarolMorgan.com. But I wanted another one that was just focused on articles.
The other reason is that I teach a class about gender communication. From teaching it for so many years, I have realized that men and women really don’t understand each other sometimes.
So, I thought it would be a great idea to have articles about dating and relationships written from both a male and female perspective so that people could understand the opposite sex’s mindset a lot better.
The rest of nDash’s Discussion With Carol Morgan
With approximately a decade of experience, Carol is an expert in lifestyle and business topics. Her specialties include writing articles, blog posts, case studies, email copy, presentations, and website copy.
Jenn: How did nDash become part of your journey as a freelance writer?
Carol: I was a regular writer for a popular relationship and dating website for a few years, but unfortunately, they recently decided to use more AI for their writing. So, they laid off a good portion of their writing staff. It was sad because I enjoyed writing for them. But then I stumbled across nDash and thought I could find some great writing projects here.
Jenn: Can you tell me about your path to publication for your books, Couple’s Bucketlist: 101 Couples Bucket List: 101 Fun, Engaging Dating Ideas and The Bucket List Activity Book for Couples: Deep Questions and Meaningful Activities to Help Plan Your Life’s Adventures?
Carol: The publishing company reached out to me and said they were interested in having a series of “bucket list” books for couples that include date ideas and other activities. And so they asked me if I would write the books for them.
Of course, I said yes!
I found both of them to be fun, creative projects that I enjoyed writing. I also hope it helps people come up with fun things to do as a couple and keep them close.
Jenn: What are some challenges you face as a freelance writer, and what advice can you give our readers to overcome them?
Carol: I think the biggest challenge is finding work and also finding work that pays well enough. At the beginning of my freelance career, I wrote a lot of articles for free just to build up my portfolio. And while I enjoyed this, I finally reached a point where I had enough experience with freelance writing to charge for my services. But finding steady work is sometimes challenging.
The advice I would give to nDash’s readers is to never give up. The life of a freelance writer can be frustrating if you’re constantly looking for work and projects to do. But there are steady writing jobs out there. You just have to be persistent enough to find them.
Jenn: I notice you have quite a large social media following, especially on Facebook. Do you receive a lot of conversions from your followers, or do you see better opportunities from other marketing efforts (i.e., newsletters, speaking engagements, etc.)?
Carol: Actually, I think I get the biggest response from the articles I write. I have been contacted by people from all over the world thanking me for my articles because they really feel like they helped them. I love this because that’s why I do what I do – to help people.
It’s not like I don’t interact with people on Facebook, but I just think Facebook’s algorithms aren’t what they used to be. You have to do certain things to have your posts show up in your follower’s feeds on a regular basis.
Jenn: What is the best advice you’ve ever received as a freelance writer? What is the best advice you’ve given to others?
Carol: I think the best advice I have received is the same advice I have given to others – know your worth. There are a lot of websites out there that don’t pay their writers, and they get away with it mostly because they are popular websites.
But as a freelance writer, you have to believe in yourself and know that you not only deserve to be paid, you deserve to be paid well (depending on your level of experience, of course). Businesses should not expect their writers to do it for free, so just hold your ground until you find the right fit for you.
Thank you for taking the time to talk to me about your career as a professor, relationship coach, and freelance writer!
Work with Carol Morgan on nDash Today!
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