Caitlin Pyle was the kind of gal you asked to proofread your work email before you send it or the one in your group of friends who looks at your resume for mistakes. Caitlin just loved words. While a college student in Germany for a semester, some of her classmates paid her to polish their papers. It was a dream come true that Caitlin didn’t forget.

In 2009, she joined the team at a court reporting agency and honed in on the art of proofreading. She was known at the company for spotting even the tiniest errors. But she still found the regular 9-to-5 a drag.

Caitlin craved the freedom to work where and when she chose and had an inkling that others had the same goal. She wasn’t seeking monetary riches, but instead the richness of a life where she was in control of her schedule. She wanted to feel like she made a difference in the world.

She had a full roster of court-reporting clients she’d work with every week, spotting errors in transcripts with her “eagle-eyed” proofing skills, and still had people asking every day for advice. Finally, inspiration struck: she would build a course to help others develop their own proofreading business and help them find the freedom and meaning they all wanted.

Creating Proofreading Everywhere

Caitlin was excited, but still a bit doubtful.

Caitlin started by creating her website, copy, and blog posts, and hyper-focused 16 hours a day to build the foundation of ProofreadAnywhere.com. The course began focusing on course reporters doing transcript proofreading and included text-based modules and videos with quizzes. Caitlin developed lead magnets in the form of free workshops for both transcript proofreading and general proofreading.

Then she faced her first challenge: selling her initial course. But with her strategy of transparency and support for her community, success was much more manageable.

Future Empire Building

To market her course, Caitlin used her blog as a launchpad, along with her free workshops. But the most significant advantage has been with ads. She ran ads on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram to spread the word to potential new customers who don’t know the company. Her blog, created years ago in response to the questions others asked her about proofreading, is another traffic driver for her free workshops and course.

After the original transcription course started taking off, Caitlin added a second general proofreading course to her repertoire. She recognized she could do more to help her students thrive as independent business owners and freelancers, and started a new website, Work At Home School, to help students find financial and time freedom. This site provides tips for creating a work-from-home lifestyle, resources on opportunities and skill-building, and a book.

Today, Caitlin’s products, blogs, and courses make $2 million per year! She’s “retired” to the life she always dreamed of and has eight team members running her business day-to-day.