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WAHM Interview: Valerie of PWD and Valerie's Virtual Services 1. Introduce yourself... Where are you from? Are you married? Have kids? Pets? What are your hobbies and interests?My name is Valerie Serio and I live in Turlock, California, with my husband Jason and our son Ozzie who is 7 and our daughter Ivy who is 4. We have a tiny 95 year old house with a huge backyard which we share with our cat Sunny (whose name is no indication of his personality) and 5 chickens. My main hobbies are sewing... clothes, quilts, curtains, purses and anything else I can dream up... gardening, cooking & reading. I usually read 3-4 books at the same time and I'm a huge fantasy geek. 2. What is your company name and what do you do? I operate Valerie's Virtual Services. I provide business writing services and dabble in design. I specialize in writing content for e-commerce businesses. 3. What made you want to get into your particular field? I've always loved writing and particularly editing... I love taking the bare bones of someone's idea and turning it into something spectacular! Remember in school when the teacher would have you pass your paper to the next person and you got to correct each others work? I was the dorky kid who took that way too seriously! Truth be told, I feel like I kind of fell into my current profession and it was the sort of landing that made me realize "This is what I want to be when I grow up!". It meets several requirements that make me a happy girl: a.) I can work as an independent contractor, at my own pace from home (I work at a really fast pace... I've just never done well with the whole 9-5 thing!) b.) It gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling when I finish a job and have a happy client! and c.) The variety of different projects I get to work on means I am never bored... there is always something new to learn! The idea for my services came from talking with web designer friends and seeing the quality of the content on the sites I came across. I got the feeling that some people think that all you need to do to have a successful business online is to throw up a website with some products on it, when actually there is a lot more to consider. Creating a product description that is search engine optimized, fits well within the style of the site and still manages to engage and entertain potential customers takes a little bit of finesse and it's a challenge I thoroughly enjoy! 4. What did you do before launching your company? What kind of experience, education or training do you have? I've been a fry cook, a maid, an English tutor, a newspaper delivery person, a lab tech for a canine blood bank, a squab ranch helper, a diet clerk, an administrative assistant, a receptionist and a database manager. I went to community college and got a certificate in Culinary Arts and took several English, composition & marketing classes. I'm mainly self taught, and am lucky to have the support and patience of several key people who have helped me to develop my skills along the way. Remember how I said I'm not really a 9-5 type of gal? Well, I'm not really a formal education kind of gal either. I'm hoping my kids and I might go to college at the same time, maybe by then I'll be ready! However, when I take an interest in something, I read about it, study it, talk about it incessantly and sometimes dream about it, so I consider myself fairly well educated on a few chosen subjects. 5. What sets your company apart? I'm not a cookie cutter copy service and I'm not interested in running a cut & paste kind of operation... I work one on one with my clients and really try to get a feel for the message they want to get across. I tend to gravitate toward indie, women run businesses and I'm very passionate about doing everything I can to help my clients succeed. It's not completely altruistic... the more successful my clients are, the better it reflects on me! But I really do love a good success story and I like to think I can help make that happen. 6. What/Who are your influences? What do you turn to when you need inspiration? The Thesaurus! My friends and family are always willing to listen and offer an idea when I'm stuck. My husband is an excellent writer himself and is often my go-to for an awkward phrase that I can't seem to get past. My best friend and I can tear up a brainstorming session... we've nearly figured out world peace after a bottle of Muscato a few times! Music, art and nature are always a good place to turn to. And as someone who tends to be oversensitive to criticism, I've learned there is absolutely no better teacher than seeing through the unbiased eyes of others. Even if it hurts, there is always a nugget of truth and lesson to be learned if you can put your ego aside! (I'm working on that... baby steps...) 7. Do you have any long term goals or upcoming additions to your services/products that you are excited about? I'm excited to be learning all about web design... I have a lot to learn, but it is so much fun and I'm lucky to have a lot of good support! Another area I really want to focus on in the coming year is gaining more local clients. Our area is a bit behind the times for some reason and I want to help change that! 8. Do you work from home or outside of your home? How do you balance the responsibility of running a business with the rest of your life? I work from home, from my desk in the corner of my dining room. I know when I tell most people that I work from home they immediately say "How great! You can work in your PJ's!" and yes, I can. More importantly, if my morning gets taken over with housework or childcare, I have the lovely option of a power nap and an afternoon of work instead! Still, maintaining a balance is difficult sometimes. It's hard to talk on the phone with clients with my kid's version of WWF going on in the next room. And there have been plenty of times where I just want to scream "Leave me alone!! I'm working!!" What works for me is spacing projects out, giving myself enough time to make deadlines (something I had to learn along the way) and not get burned out and not working weekends! I'm not great at sticking to a schedule, but I am pretty good at turning work off when I need to relax. 9. It's Saturday, you have no one but yourself to look after, an endless supply of money and 48 hrs to do whatever you want... what would you do? I would rent an extremely expensive cabin on the beach and spend the entire weekend tide pooling, hiking, eating delicious meals at expensive restaurants and reading. I know... I'm totally boring. 10. What is your secret for handling a difficult client/customer? Don't respond right away! (Obviously you may not be able to do this in person.) When you have been working on a project and someone wants changes or has a different direction or a new idea it can be really, really frustrating. It helps to step back and get some room to breathe, and come back to it when you can think objectively. Also, know that you have the right to choose your clients. If you cannot seem to work well with someone, if they are abusive or you can't give them what they need for whatever reason, there is no shame in wishing them the best of luck and recommending some other service providers to work with. 11. What networking strategies have been the most beneficial to you? What have you done to "get your name out there"? Has it worked? I joined The Switchboards, which is a great place to connect with other women business owners and has so much information! Most of my business comes from word of mouth and referrals, so I'm really still trying to figure this one out. 12. What is the hardest part of running a business for you? Selling myself and figuring out pricing. In the beginning I was charging way too little, and getting really frustrated with it. It's hard to find a happy medium! 13. What do you love the most? I'll admit it... I love seeing my words out there! I'm still a little shell shocked that people will actually pay me to do something that 9 times out of 10 doesn't really feel like work at all! 14. When you first started your company... did you have the support of friends and family? Did you have any sacrifices you had to make in order to pursue running your own business? I have been lucky to always have support. My husband recently started his own company, and I think we have a pretty good understanding of the lifestyle it takes to achieve our goals. Income can be spotty during slow times, so fancy vacations and eating out and new toys are pretty much out of the question, but, I am confident it will be worth it! We try pretty hard to lead a less materialistic lifestyle (although that is really big challenge for me at times... I love to thrift shop and always have a craft project that needs funding!) so it actually fits in pretty well for us. 15. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Where do you see your business? I would love to still be working from home, doing a variety of different jobs! I really want to build a house in the country, where I can raise livestock and farm on a small scale and still be able to run my business. I want to be able to have my kids help me out and be a good example of carving out your own niche in this crazy world! I think in ten years I might be ready to start thinking about opening my next business... someday I want to open a tea room & a steak house/bar (separately... not together!) here in my area. Valerie Valerie's Virtual Services * We are proud to offer Valerie's services here at Phaedra Web Design! Many of our customers have worked with Valerie to create custom copy for their websites and promotional materials. For more information please contact us, or visit Valerie's Virtual Services! |