Mom Laura Christianson is the co-owner of He Blogs She Blogs, based in Snohomish, WA.
He Blogs She Blogs has a focus, of course, on blogs. This company recognizes that blogs can be a huge marketing strategy—and yet knows that not all companies have the desire or the ability to take it on and do a great job. He Blogs She Blogs manages blogs for companies and not only offers design services, consulting and optimization, but the writing of the blog.
The owners have found such an interest in their topic that they recently released an e-book called “Blogophobia Conquered” which addresses the fears of blogging (such as not being technically-savvy enough) and how to overcome them. You can win a free copy by commenting on this post. The winner will be drawn 10/31.
Julie-How many people do you have working off-site?
Laura-We have three bloggers, two graphic design/development teams, several commission-based salespeople, and a handful of “available at the last minute” writers whom we hire for short-term projects. I also have a business manager but he works from my home with me.
Julie-Has there been a downside to having employees/contractors outside of your office walls?
Laura-Although we exchange regular e-mails and phone calls with our team members, it’s not the same as face-to-face contact. Even though most of us are professional writers, it’s easy to misinterpret the tone and content of e-mails because we can’t read one another’s body language.
Julie-How do you get around that?
Laura-We try to alleviate this by agreeing, up front, to be honest and transparent with one another. We cc one another on e-mails to lessen the possibility of gossip and back-stabbing. If someone gets their feelings hurt, they say so. If someone isn’t sure how to interpret an e-mail, they ask. We take great care to hire people who are skilled at working cooperatively (in the virtual sense), who can give and take constructive criticism without getting offended, and who enjoy the freedom to be their own boss.
Julie-How do you implement green?
Laura- The fact that we commute only to meetings is a big help. Most of the time, the people closest carpool with me to meetings, which also saves on gas. We try not to print any more documents than absolutely necessary (only final drafts). When we need to print drafts, we always do it on scratch paper.
Thanks, Laura!
Meet & Greet