Nidhi: Reflecting destiny through her writings

Creating a path for herself, Nidhi, post studying science in school and doing business administration in graduation, decided to leave her full-time job to follow her passion for writing. Started with having her own blog in high school, to helping her brother with his startup, she never thought of doing freelancing until she discovered the power of LinkedIn to generate leads. She believes that her best work is still inside her and that pushes her further to give her 100% in all that she does. She is a determined person who believes that contentment is the way of living life. 

Read her promising journey here: 

Tell us about yourself? Where are you from? About your family, parents? How was your childhood?

I am a person who has changed roads too often. From wanting to become a designer to an artist to an engineer and finally a writer, I have always thought that it’s never too late to follow your passion and do the things you love.

I am from Ahmedabad, Gujarat. I live with my parents, brother and sister-in-law. Business runs in my family and there’s always lots of advice mixed with a tinge of arguments popping up from every side at the dinner table.

A shy child who would go crazy at the idea of going to the library with my mother. That sums up my childhood in one sentence.

Tell us about your educational background? Why did you initially choose to study science and later business administration?

I had secured 90.8% in my 10^th grade. My thoughts at the time were, ‘Hah, how difficult could science be? I already secured 90s in both ‘Mathematics and Science’. 

Suffice it to say, I couldn’t be more wrong. Although I secured good marks in both my 11^th and 12^th grade, I knew I didn’t want to live a life crunching numbers or solving mathematical equations.

The obvious choice then was Business Administration. I liked the idea of learning different facets of business and I knew that that knowledge would always help me in whichever field I chose to go.

While it was difficult shifting streams, I have never regretted picking Science and then moving on to commerce. I have met beautiful people and made great memories. I believe that everything in life happens for a reason. You might not realize the reason now but you definitely will later.

What does writing mean to you?

I have never been a talkative person. I was the kind of person who would sit at the last if it meant not having to talk to people.

But I have all these thoughts in my mind and the only way I can portray them is to spill them out on paper. I think and write better than I talk. In a way, you can say that writing is how I express myself. Over the years, it has become so important that I just can’t imagine my life without writing being a part of it.

What was the trigger for you to shift to “content writing”? Talk to us about your interest in writing and creating content?

I have always been a reader. I remember reading an entire 500 page book in a day because I just couldn’t stop. Whoever has been a reader for long, they always have this one tiny unspoken dream of being a writer.

That’s what made me start a blog when I was still in high school. I used to post short stories over there- the lame ones (the reason that blog doesn’t exist anymore :D). Then in 2017, I started a page on Instagram called ‘The Random Stories’ where I started posting stories and poems. The page now has an audience of 144,000 followers. 

In 2019, I realized that writing was my passion and so I quit my full-time job to pursue a career in content-writing and since then, I have never looked back.

Why did you opt for freelancing? When did you start freelancing? Did you plan it or how it happened?

Although I had decided that I wanted to be a content writer, I never thought about freelancing. I started by writing articles for my brother’s startup named SmartTask.

I thought that after gaining experience, I would apply for a full-time job. That’s when I discovered the power of LinkedIn. I thought to myself, ‘Why stick to one company, one niche when I could gain knowledge about various domains and work with different people and projects?’

I started cold-emailing companies and building my profile on LinkedIn. I didn’t have a proper plan. I just went with the flow. Freelancing has been a rollercoaster journey for me – it has taught me everything from marketing to leadership to being your own accountant and your own colleague. (and of course, learning the art of patience. You tend to need it a lot)

As a content writer and creator, how do you stay aware of the happenings around the world? What are your key strategies?

I read articles on Medium to stay in touch with the current happenings in the niches that I love writing about: productivity, wellness and motivation.

I also hop on to certain sites such as HBR, Lifehack, Hubspot, etc.

Apart from that, I stay updated with the help of social media. Nowhere does news travel faster than on platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

As a freelancer, how do you use social media to your strength?

If I ask people which brand of coffee they will buy, at least 5 out of 10 will reply with ‘Nescafe’. The reason? You keep seeing that brand’s advertisements again and again or you keep noticing that brand in almost every grocery store you go to.

That’s the power of visibility and accessibility. As a freelancer, getting noticed is very important. Clients can only reach you if they notice you, if they read your content and like it. Social media platforms like LinkedIn give you that opportunity.

I stay active on LinkedIn and post regularly. Building a network is one thing but maintaining and growing it is as much important.

What according to you is the best or worst thing about freelancing?

The uncertainty when it comes to freelancing can be really scary. One month, you have many prospects coming in, the next there would be very little.

I guess this worst thing also turns into the best when you understand that nothing teaches you to sail the rocky waters better than freelancing. You learn to have patience, you learn different ways to not get stagnant, you keep upskilling yourself and above all, you learn how to manage everything when times are not good. 

What is the one thing you hate about clients? What can they do to make your life better?

I am grateful to have worked with some of the most wonderful clients. There’s no one thing that I hate about clients.

But the one thing I dislike is not having a clear evaluation process. For example: stating that the article is missing out on ‘something’ doesn’t tell the writer what he/she has to improve on. Pointing to a specific paragraph or pointing to a specific point will make more sense and will actually guide the writer not to repeat the same mistakes the next time.

What is your best work to date? Why do you think it is the best?

I feel like my best work is still inside of me. It’s not anywhere out there. That motivates me to keep giving my best and improving myself in various arenas.

For a writer, I guess there are bits of their great work lying everywhere. Somewhere in the middle of an article, somewhere on their social media or on some page of that diary they always have nearby.

What are your mission and vision? How do you want history to look at you?

Truth be told, I am not a long-term centric person. I make goals for the month, for the year but not further than that.

Strange as it may seem, I do not want history to look at me, to remember me. When I am 60 and re-reading Harry Potter, I just want to know that someone out there is reading my words (in the form of the articles that I have written or the poems I have published) and feeling a sense of contentment or happiness. That’s my dream.

To see my words becoming a saviour or a friend to people just like they are to me.

As you look back, do you feel satisfied with yourself or do you think you missed something?

Yes, I could have done a lot many things right, the way I should have done them but the truth is that the past is called the past for a reason.

I am happy where I am. If I hadn’t made those mistakes, if I hadn’t done things the way I did them, I would have missed out on so many wonderful opportunities, memories and people.

I am lately realizing that happiness and contentment isn’t something you have to run towards. It’s right here, right now, waiting for you to find it.

Nidhi can be reached out on Refrens, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

After reading Nidhi’s story, if you are inspired to become a freelancer and want to know about getting sales leads, read our article on How to increase quality leads as a Freelancer?.