Meet Ally Archer | Author, Online Marketing Agency Owner, and Travel Blogger

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ally Archer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ally, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Prior to starting my freelance marketing business, I was working a full-time office job (and before that, working at international education jobs in the US, Europe, and Asia).

My first time traveling overseas was when I was in college, and my passion for travel only heightened as I worked abroad with co-workers and students who were from all over the world. Time was on my side and there was a lot at my office job that could already be done online. While that job required in-person work, I considered the potential for becoming self-employed and earning an online income. Back in mid-2016, it was far more “unheard of” to make a full-time living through an online business, though I was inspired by people I found on blogs and on YouTube who were living an alternative lifestyle as digital nomads who constantly traveled while bringing in money online to support themselves.

At this time, I had been blogging about travel for about two years (goseekexplore.com), but was any income from the blog was sporadic at that point. Also, I had an opportunity to move to San Diego with my roommate, and leapt at the chance to live in this beautiful corner of the world – which was always a dream of mine. Since my former office job could not be done remotely, I took a leap of faith to move and figure out an online income stream along the way.

Right after I moved, a friend introduced me to someone who needed email marketing and social media support for her local business – she was impressed with what I had done so far with my travel blog, and I knew I had the skills I had were transferable to most businesses. She hired me as a freelancer, and referred me to some other clients after seeing my work.

I was able to quickly build up a client base that would support me to live fully off of freelance income. Over the years, I’ve continued to support businesses fully online with my marketing services, and as my client base has grown, I shifted into an agency model. I’ve been based in San Diego for over 6.5 years at this point, working online and taking my laptop with me to travel wherever and whenever!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
What sets apart my business model is that my business is set up for both consistency and flexibility. These factors make balancing work and travel that much more doable. What makes many freelancers stressed and overwhelmed is undercharging and gig hopping. This leaves freelancers in a constant need to be in “sales mode” to fill their client base and pay the bills, while simultaneously needing to deliver on projects – on top of everything else that comes with running a business.

I teach my readers in my soon-to-come book, “Infinite Entrepreneur,” how to set up a solid foundation for freelancing from the start by working with clients on a monthly basis. I cover how to use your transferable skills to choose a service to offer, how to come up with a mega-valuable monthly package to offer clients, how to find and land clients, travel planning tips for digital nomads, and so much more.

My business is set up specifically to support my digital nomad lifestyle – it is far different than brick-and-mortar businesses or massive corporations. This is why I teach my exact process in “Infinite Entrepreneur” to help others do the same!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We live in such an amazing city, so this makes it hard to narrow down a few fun and interesting things to do! I would first recommend a day on the water, of course. Start with Corie’s Saturday or Sunday 9:00 am yoga classes overlooking the ocean in La Jolla’s Cuvier Park – the best way to start the day! Then grab coffee or brunch somewhere nearby in La Jolla, and then head to the beach or Mission Bay for water sports, surfing, or relaxing.

The next day, venture to Little Italy and downtown for a city feel. It’s tough to choose where to eat, but you can’t go wrong with Italian pizza and an Aperol Spritz at Barbusa, or if you visit Davanti Enoteca, definitely get the Ricotta and Honey grilled flatbread – yum! – and the Boboi gelato kiosk inside the Little Italy Food Hall for dessert.

Walk off the meal along the water and Waterfront Park, and if you walk far enough south, you’ll stumble across Seaport Village and the famous kissing sailor statue. If you have time, get on a boat and cruise around for an afternoon. Or, you could take the Coronado ferry (instead of driving) for some nice views along the coast and spend some time on Coronado Island.

I could keep going, but will leave it at that!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I am hugely thankful to all of the wonderful clients I have worked with over the years, especially at the start! It has been great to not only live my dream of traveling while being supported by freelance work, but to also be able to support so many heart-centered people and businesses as well. Using marketing strategies to help my clients deepen their own impact on the world is a phenomenal ripple effect that comes naturally with my business.

Website: infiniteentrepreneur.co

Instagram: instagram.com/allyarcher

Twitter: twitter.com/allyarcher

Facebook: facebook.com/goseekexplore

Youtube: youtube.com/allyarcher

Other: Order “Infinite Entrepreneur” at infiniteentrepreneur.co (coming June 1; pre-order available!) Read Ally’s travel blog: goseekexplore.com

Image Credits
Ally Archer, Cristina Toscan, Perry Skegness