Building a Writing Empire: The Moment Janice Buswell Embraced Her Entrepreneurial Calling

Janice Buswell's entrepreneurial journey began with a simple invitation that transformed her life. As the founder of Experience Writing, she empowers writers to discover their unique voices and navigate the authoring journey. In this Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur Spotlight, Janice shares how building a dedicated team marked her true shift from wantrepreneur to entrepreneur. Her unconventional strategies, like utilizing SMS for connection and fostering a volunteer-driven team, have been pivotal. Janice’s story is a testament to the power of relationships, purpose, and perseverance in creating a thriving community for aspiring authors.

Hi, Janice! Thanks for joining us today. Tell us about your business. Who do you serve, how do you serve them, and what's the impact that your business and work makes?

Experience Writing is a conference and community designed to help writers of all ages discover or recover their God-given voice and to navigate the authoring journey to get their books into reader’s hands.  

We equip new writers to recognize their story’s God-given uniqueness and to navigate the writing, editing, and publishing process in a way that maximizes that uniqueness (instead of losing it) in order to make their story stronger than ever before.

Tell us about the moment you finally felt like you went from wantrepreneur to entrepreneur.

Interestingly, the moment that looked like I’d moved from wantrepreneur to entrepreneur was the second year of the conference. We had quadrupled attendance that year from the first. However, behind the scenes, things were barely holding together. 

It wasn’t until the third year, when we finally had a full team in place and everyone was contributing and operating in their gifting and talents, that I felt that wantrepreneur to entrepreneur shift. That year, we didn’t just have people jumping into roles last minute. We had team members bringing value in places and ways I couldn’t possibly have accomplished on my own. And they brought that value both “on stage” and behind the scenes. Once that team was in place, I felt like I was where I needed to be, and I am so incredibly grateful. I couldn’t have done it without them! 

Describe the moment or period in your life/career that motivated you to make the entrepreneurial leap.

My entrepreneurial leap started with a simple invitation. My neighbor asked me if I wanted to help him start a Christian writers conference, and I said “yes.” We were co-founders, but he was the senior. That first year, we laid everything out: the legal, financial, mission, vision, objectives, communications, marketing…etc. And then we ran the actual event, a four day destination conference with breakout session, go-karts, you name it…for 10 people.

From a consumer value standpoint, I felt 100% satisfied with the results. The attendees got what they came for and half started writing their books! Financially, that year was a big loss, but I’d been around startups before and had expected that. What I didn’t expect was that after that first event, my senior co-founder would say “I’m done. I think this is yours now.” I strongly disagreed with him, but he insisted on stepping out (though he agreed to remain in an advisory role for one final year). 

By the end of that year, I discovered he was right. I was ready to step into the lead. And I’ve absolutely loved it! 

Describe a tool, service, or software that has been a game-changer for your business. How does it contribute to your success?

It may sound odd, but SMS text messaging has been a game-changer for me. Everyone who has ever attended the Experience Writing conference is opted into receiving a weekly text of encouragement from me (one that I personally answer). I never use the text to advertise, only to encourage. This channel has been the single most powerful tool for building relationships with the writers I’ve ever employed.  

This weekly text has helped many of the writers stay connected and write their books. Most weeks, I get a lot of “thank you’s” in reply, some will send updates and prayer requests, some never say a thing by phone, but across the board, whether by phone or in person, I’ve had writer’s tell me how much the weekly text has meant to them and helped them move forward. It’s amazing the sense of closeness it creates, and I believe it’s helped with the rate of conference returnees as well. 

We know that success is very often a non-linear path. Tell us about a failure, pivot point, or lesson that changed your course or direction and helped to get you where you are today.

So, the first year of the conference, I was cold calling and knocking on doors to invite people to this brand new event. And, I happened to knock on the door of the director for the Institute for Excellence in Writing. I knew their organization taught school-age kids how to become excellent in technical writing. Experience Writing—which specializes in storytelling and creative writing—seemed like a natural complement for their students.

When I pitched the conference to the director, he was happy to share with his students and asked me to tell him how the event went when it was over. So after we held our 4-day destination conference (for our 10 writers), I arranged a meeting with the IEW director.

When I walked in the door, one of his very first comments (paraphrased!) was, “Other than knowing you wanted to inspire writers, I really have no idea what it is you are trying to do.” 

“Thank you,” I said. “That is excellent feedback.” 

The director, who I discovered has run and spoken at conferences for decades, proceeded to give me an hour and half’s worth of fantastic advice. Probably the most impactful thing he shared was that every successful company must choose whether to be the cheapest in the market or the best.

He informed me that I had to choose one of those directions and develop my USP (unique selling proposition). That process of clarifying my thoughts and messaging to writers, as well as simplifying the event itself, was a huge turning point. The second year, I hosted a two-day conference for 41 writers. The best part? All 10 of the previous year’s attendees returned!

What unconventional strategy did you employ that significantly impacted your business?

This is an odd one. Most of my team is made up of volunteers who’ve paid to attend the conference. They are people who believe in the cause and want to give. I actually found I prefer this dynamic to paying for every position because people who are volunteering aren’t looking for a paycheck, they’re looking for purpose. 

Now, my speakers are always paid well (and we’ve been known to gift here and there to those in need), but on the whole, having people participate because they love helping other writers—not because they’re looking for a payoff—has been a game-changer. And I can’t say enough how deeply I am indebted to those who volunteer! Their investment creates an atmosphere of hospitality and welcome that’s a key ingredient in creating a safe space for writers who’ve just met to go deep and share meaningfully with one another. 

What’s something you wish you knew sooner that you’d give as advice for aspiring or newer entrepreneurs?

It’s all about relationships. When it comes to marketing especially—focus on relationships! In the beginning, I wasted a lot of time pursuing opportunities where there was no relational connection to open the door. The best first step to build relationships is to take a genuine interest in others. Then, go to trade shows and industry-related events and just get to know people. When people know you are truly invested in who they are, they naturally take more interest in what you do.

Want to dive deeper into Janice's work? Check out the links below!

• Visit Experience Writing's website: expwriting.com
• Find Experience Writing on Facebook: Experience Writing
• Follow Experience Writing on Instagram: @expwriting