Contributor of the Week Tom Shivers: Capturing Success

Who would have guessed that two decades ago, BizSugar Contributor of the Week Tom Shivers’ career dissatisfaction would lead him to the most exciting career experience he has ever known, as an online entrepreneur heading his own small business and helping other entrepreneurs do the same.

Back then Shivers, now President of Capture Commerce, an SEO consulting business based in Atlanta, had reached something of a career crossroads.

“I had been working as a marketer for a small financial services business and had a falling out with them,” Shivers recalls.

Far from at loose ends in his existing career track, Shivers went looking for a new gig and entertained some attractive offers but found nothing to really tempt him.

“When I interviewed with other companies, nothing about them excited me even though the salary and career opportunities were there,” Shivers said.

So he did something that might not have occurred to many job seekers.

“After conducting a few informational interviews with successful executives who were doing what I wanted to do, I realized starting my own business was not impossible,” he explained.

Shivers can still remember that first foray into entrepreneurship:

“When I started my first business, everything seemed to be tight. My desk was on one side of the room and my bed on the other,” he said.

But despite the risks of startup, magnified by the times, Shivers found himself not scared but exhilarated.

“It was in early 2000 during the dot bomb recession, but I was so excited about what I was doing and the possibilities, that at times I couldn’t sleep at night. I lay in bed dreaming with eyes wide open. For the first time in my adult life I felt like a kid on a wild adventure!” he recalls.

Shivers has been aware of BizSugar.com for some time and is now an enthusiastic member and user:

“Some of my SEO friends turned me on to BizSugar not quite 2 years ago and since then I’m convinced it is the best social voting site for small business on the web today,” he said.

Why does he like it and how does he use it?

“The quality of the contributors is high here, so I use BizSugar to learn new ideas and get great tips on all aspects of business,” Shivers explained. “BizSugar is also a kind of proving ground for my blog’s content to identify which topics get the most interest from one of my target markets: small business.”

Over the years, Shivers’ consulting business has grown allowing him to work with a variety of other innovative entrepreneurs. Still he says he is always looking for new challenges and in this BizSugar helps as well.

“Of course, it’s always cool to see one of my contributions hit the home page because I’m always trying to grow the audiences of my clients as well as my own,” Shivers says.

How about you? Would you like to be a Contributor of the Week here on BizSugar? Then why not join the community, open a free account on BizSugar and “like” our Facebook page to get to know our friendly community of small business leaders and entrepreneurs better. Share valuable small business content with our members and in no time you’ll be a valued contributor too.