Lansing freelance writer opens Grand Rapids location downtown, city's growth provides opportunities

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Lansing-based freelance writer Deborah Richmond visited Grand Rapids regularly over the past few years, and seeing the growth and vibrancy of downtown inspired her to open a satellite office in the heart of the city.

Tekkbuzz, 49 Monroe Center, focuses on web site development for small businesses and startups, business to customer and business to business communications, and social media marketing.

"For companies who don't have a web presence yet, I create the graphics, write the content and get the site on the Internet," Richmond says. "I also keep the site up to date, because you can't just put up a site and leave it, you need to update the content regularly."

Richmond was self-employed for 18 years as a court reporter. When demand for those skills waned, she headed up the communications and web design for an insurance firm. But the shift from the autonomy of self employment to the politics of corporate culture left her unfulfilled, so she shifted gears again and launched Tekkbuzz.

"Business owners have been told they need to be in social media, but they don't have a clue what that means or how to do it," Richmond says. "I come into a company and explain to them about Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs, and then I help them get set up. As we move forward, there are different business strategies that develop, and, as those come up, I help them get started."

Richmond expected to spend equal time between Lansing and Grand Rapids, but in the month since launching the Grand Rapids location, she's already spending most of her time here.

"Grand Rapids has grown so much I could see immediately that there would be more opportunities to network than there are in Lansing," she says. "There's a whole lot going on here."

Source: Deborah Richmond, Tekkbuzz

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].