Looking to pass time after putting my newborn daughter to bed, I dusted off my grandmother's cookbook and found a yeast-raised doughnut recipe. Staring at this simple, 10-step recipe felt like nearing a black hole in space. (Or, at least, what I imagine nearing a black hole in space feels like.)I couldn't escape the recipe's gravitational pull. I had no choice but to make the doughnuts.And so that’s what I did.Eventually, that doughnut recipe turned into a thriving business with 2 shops and a robust wholesale operation. For 7 years, I owned and operated Harold’s Doughnuts, a made-from-scratch doughnut shop in Columbia, Missouri.Making doughnuts from scratch was fun.But what I really loved was building a brand from scratch.Many things go into building a brand worthy of people's attention, not to mention their hard-earned money, time, and trust.One essential component to brand building is digital communication and leveraging written content via social media and email to attract attention.And then turning attention into customers. I built Harold’s using social media and email and went from zero to over 30K followers and newsletter subscribers in just 36 months. It was the engine that powered our small business rocket ship for nearly a decade.Today, I apply lessons I learned building my own brand to help small businesses leverage writing online to attract leads and convert customers.