Writers’ Rough Drafts – Episode #50 With Carrie McKeegan

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Carrie McKeegan is an energetic business leader, a mom, and a global citizen who also happens to love to write. She is the co-founder and CEO of Greenback Expat Tax Services, a company she started over a decade ago with her husband David, after they recognized a serious lack in the market for tax services specifically designed for American expats. With an undergraduate degree in Political Science and an International Master in Business degree, Carrie spent the first decade of her professional career working in financial institutions around the world, like American Express and Barclaycard.

Greenback Expat Tax Services has been named to the Inc. 5000 list and featured in countless publications, like the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, CNBC, and Bloomberg. When Carrie realized that she was having more conversations and getting more press requests to share how she and David successfully manage a 100 percent remote team of over 40 people, she took the big scary leap to pitch herself to a major business site as a Contributor. On her first try, she landed a column on Inc., and the rest—as they say—is history.

What You’ll Learn About Writing This Week:

• Why looking back at what you loved doing as a kid can be a window into your adult soul
• How feedback can often be a gift—even when it doesn’t feel that way
• Why the thing you enjoy doing the most is often what falls to the wayside
• How bringing in a few helping hands improves your copy and marketing plans
• How to overcome imposter syndrome and pitch yourself to your dream publication
• How to manage your time as an entrepreneur and a professional writer
• Why it helps to come up with 20 ideas in one sitting instead of just one

Mentioned in This Episode (Links and Resources!):

• Video of “turning a piece of fruit into a rose”
• Carrie’s series on Inc.
• Carrie’s column on Entrepreneur.com

You Can Find More of Carrie and Her Writing On:

• Her business’s website, Greenback Expat Tax Services
• Her column on Inc.
• Her own website, CarrieMcKeegan.com

Tweetable Quotes From This Episode:

• “I realized you needed to literally imagine who you’re writing to, and that helped, especially from a marketing perspective.” – @cpmckeegan #WritersRoughDrafts
• “I always think about the words someone is using when they’re explaining what they liked or didn’t like about a product.” – @cpmckeegan #WritersRoughDrafts
• “If someone tells you that something isn’t very good, take it as a ‘thank you.’” – @cpmckeegan #WritersRoughDrafts
• “I was seeing a lot of people go through the same struggles we went through … so I liked the idea of being able to address that more through [my] writing.” – @cpmckeegan #WritersRoughDrafts
• “Coming up with 20 ideas that I’m excited to write about is actually not that much more difficult than coming up with one.” – @cpmckeegan #WritersRoughDrafts
• “Success looks like … getting my voice out there. And I’m enjoying that feeling of not putting too much pressure on [myself].” – @cpmckeegan #WritersRoughDrafts
• “People find it really intimidating to start … so just sit down and write something. Think about what you want to write, and write about it.” – @cpmckeegan #WritersRoughDrafts

Thanks to our Season 4 sponsor: Coworker.com