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November 15, 2021

Employer Success Story: Petra Wintner

What is your top advice for small business owners looking to hire remote talent?

This tip for me is true whether you hire remote or on-site talent, but for remote talent it is actually easier to implement: Before you actually hire, do a clearly communicated trial period. This period should be paid, but the expectation on both ends should be clear, that only after the period a decision for hiring is made. Depending on what you are hiring for this can be anything between a week and 2-3 months. There should be clearly defined goals/deliverables to be achieved during this period and the working mode should already resemble the future work mode.

What is your top tip for working with a virtual team?

Create communication channels that resemble an “office environment”, e.g. a Slack workspace, which can be used for questions as you would ask them walking over to a colleagues desk and set clear rules and expectations around the use of these communication channels: e.g. I might not look at my emails for the better part of a workday, because I batch my email-time, but I check messages on Slack immediately and try to answer asap.

Why did you decide to use HireMyMom.com for your hiring needs?

Because we are a service for parents/mothers and I was looking for someone with marketing experience, who understands the target group well. The “part-time working mom” is in my opinion an ideal employee profile combining high caliber with interest in working part-time and is therefore ideal at the stage of my business, where I cannot afford to hire a full-time resource, but need someone with experience, who can work independently.

What piece of advice do you wish someone had given you at the start of your business career?

I was lucky to start my career at a small company, where my contributions were more visible (to both superiors as well as clients) right from the start. While for me, it was coincidence, I would actually recommend, purposefully considering small businesses for a career.

What do you see as your greatest success in life?

That – at least so far – I managed to lead a life, where I was always content with my career and private life balance.

 

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January 27, 2020 0 Comments

HireMyMom Success Story: Sara Lingenfelter

What’s your success story with HireMyMom.com?

I had only been a member of HireMyMom for 2 months when I landed my first 2 clients! I was only trying to get 1 client, but both wanted to interview me and I thought why not? Besides, I didn’t think they would both offer me the position. But they did, and since neither was a high amount of hours I said yes to both. I learned so fast my responsibilities with my first client grew. We worked together for about 3 years total! I also ended up doing some work for his wife too. It got to the point, I wanted to do business management and he didn’t need that. To this day we are still friends. We even got to meet once at a conference we both happened to attend.
With the second client, after our phone interview, she offered me the job on the spot. She said she didn’t usually do that but after our conversation, she felt I was the right person. She and I worked together about 2 years. Again it was when I was moving onto higher level work and so we parted on a good note. And she and I still talk as well. While working for her, she flew me to an event in Vegas and it was really cool getting to meet her work her event.
After those two, I landed numerous other clients through HireMyMom. Some were just project-based, and during this time I was still working my bookkeeping job from home.  As my network grew, and I submitted really great proposals I was fortunately working a lot. About a year after doing VA work, I realized I could make more money doing that and that it could be a real business. In January of 2013, I decided to quit my job and do VA work full-time. Things had gotten to a point where if I wanted to do more, grow my skills, invest in building a business, I needed to quit my job to focus on this business that I “accidentally” started and just two years prior didn’t even know existed. I know many moms question if they can really make it as a VA. I’m very transparent when asked questions about how I got started, what I learned, and how much money I made. My first 11 months as a full-time VA, I billed out $47,000 which was $10,000 more than my salary as a bookkeeper.
I credit HireMyMom to giving me my start. Signing up was the BEST choice I made when trying to get started. Since starting I have worked with 75+ clients, I’ve really lost track of the exact number. I did eventually take a course to get certified in Online Business Management. The awesome thing about becoming a VA is there are so many possibilities. I ultimately did this work for my son, so he could stay home with me. HireMyMom is connecting clients and VA’s in a way that truly impacts families in an amazing way!

What’s your educational and experiential background?

My parents never went to college, and they always talked about how they regretted it. So I went to college at night after graduating high school. I had to work full-time to put myself through school, so that’s the reason I went at night plus the tuition was cheaper for night classes. I went to Drury University and got a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and Psychology. Then I always had office jobs from the age of 18 to 31. But my plan was to become a Probation and Parole office for the State of Missouri. To be clear, I had NO business background, no entrepreneurial experience, and no training when I started working as a VA.

What is your top tip (or tips) for landing a gig on HireMyMom.com?

I could give many, but I have this top tip and it’s what worked for me! It is, to be honest about your experience. Many clients are looking for certain skills. But when I first started, I didn’t have any experience with the online world. I had just dabbled in Google doc. I didn’t know any software programs. These potentials clients I was sending proposals to wanted people with certain skills that are common for someone that had been working as a VA for a while.
Here’s what I did and you can do too. I had gotten a job as a bookkeeper (prior to working online) but when I went to the job interview I thought I was interviewing to be a secretary. At the interview, I find out the owners of the business changed their mind. A friend referred me to them and told them I was smart. I had experience with money, payroll, and unions but that was it. And it just so happened they needed to replace their bookkeeper more than they did their receptionist. Long story short, they offered me the job. What does this have to do with being a VA? Well in a few months and with a bit of training, I was doing all aspects of bookkeeping for this HVAC company that did average sales of $3.5 million a year. In my proposals to potential clients I explained, that even though I didn’t have experience with the programs they list, I know that if given the chance I was 100% confident I could learn that program or programs. And I gave them the short explanation of how I went from never doing bookkeeping to being able to fully perform all job functions needed and had that job for 10 years. I did payroll, used account/inventory software, created financials and much more.
What does this mean for you? Give an example of a time you learned something and performed it very well! If they understand you can learn, potential clients are often very willing to give you a chance, especially if they feel you are organized, pay attention to details and communicate well. You can’t always teach someone those soft skills but you can teach them a software program or give them a chance to learn it.

What’s your favorite thing about HireMyMom.com?

My top favorite thing is that potential clients realize most of the VA’s applying are moms. I’ve heard negative talk in the past about a mom working from home also having her kids home with her. By having this site, most potential clients understand you have kids and it gets you over that hurdle that can be an issue with some. It makes the process easier and I love that.


What’s one fun fact about you?

I went skydiving when I was 21 but yet I am scared of rides at theme parks. I’ve never been on a roller coaster or any other ride like that, I play it safe, too scared! LOL I have no idea the logic.

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July 23, 2018 0 Comments

HireMyMom Success Story: Kari Turbeville

What’s your success story with HireMyMom.com?

I was rejected for the first job that I applied for on Hire My Mom. That, ultimately, ended up being the beginning of my success story.  When I was rejected, I was crushed, but I emailed the employer thanking them for their time and asked that she keep me in mind for future projects. To my surprise, she did reach back out to me when her selected applicant went on vacation. After working with me for two weeks, she decided that she wanted to keep me on. That was almost five years ago and not only do I still work with/for her — we have grown to become good friends.

Tell us a little about your business and how you got started.

I’m a creative and have in some way always offered my design services to others for more than 20 years. Because of Hire My Mom, however, and the job I secured through your group almost five years ago, I had a steady stream of income that allowed me to pour that money back into growing my business as a web designer/developer. My business is now an LLC, has a strong client base, and has grown enough in the last year that I am back on Hire My Mom. This time, I am positioned as an employer looking for help managing the growth of my own business. I am truly grateful for Hire My Mom and the blessings it has ushered into my life. My business is Studio Barn Creative LLC

What’s your favorite thing about HireMyMom.com?

Hire My Mom is to employers and employees what eHarmony is to men and women; an online match making service creating connections based on all the things that matter most to each individual.

What’s one fun fact about you?

I’ve been known to randomly break out into song as it relates to the conversation that I’m having.

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May 29, 2018 0 Comments

Hire My Mom Success Story: Katrina Martin

Name: Katrina Martin

Location: Shelton, WA

What’s your success story with HireMyMom.com?

I was only a member for 1 quarter. I found a job within the first few weeks! 

What’s your educational and experiential background?

I have over 20 years’ experience in a broad range of fields including office management, customer service, purchasing, inventory, and personnel management.

What is your top tip (or tips) for landing a gig on HireMyMom.com?

I checked every day for new posts but I also looked at older posts, which is how I found my current position.

What’s your favorite thing about HireMyMom.com?

First and foremost, the quality of the leads.  The fact that they are vetted and legit is absolutely worth the cost of the membership.

What’s one fun fact about you?

I’ve been to China for a month last year and can’t wait to go back!

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May 1, 2017 0 Comments

HireMyMom Success Story: Anza Goodbar

What’s your success story with HireMyMom?

Hire My Mom has been a wonderful tool for me to find clients over the years.  I have been an active member off and for more than 6 years.  Every client I have found on this site has been wonderful to work with and flexible with my schedule. Whenever my business is in a lull, HireMyMom is the first place I go to find new clients.

What’s your educational and experiential background?

I have a degree in communications.  I have been a business owner since 2004.  I have owned a mortgage company, a video rental company, a wholesale distribution company, a branding and packaging company as well as my online business services company.  I have recently started a coaching certification program to enable me to grow my virtual company by including business coaching, masterminds and webinars to teach entrepreneurs business basics.  I work primarily with coaches who want to grow their businesses. I also enjoy writing articles and blogs.

What is your top tip for landing a gig on HireMyMom?

Take your time to answer the questions the potential employer is looking for.  Also add a cover letter and follow their instructions for applying. Many small business owners will use a sequence of directions to see who can pay attention to detail and follow directions, if you don’t follow their directions you’ll be disregarded before you even have the chance to sell yourself.

What’s your favorite thing about HireMyMom?

The ease of use on their website.

What’s one fun fact about you?

I’m a competitive ballroom dancer.

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February 6, 2017 0 Comments

HireMyMom Success Story: Katty Flores

What’s your success story with HireMyMom.com?

I tried HireMyMom for the first time this year. It took a little less than a month to find my first job! I applied to several positions, I’d say 12 different postings, being careful to not only apply through the HireyMyMom site but also to email these employers/businesses directly. I had 3 interviews, the last being the one that made me an offer. I was elated to finally have the chance to work from home while still being a mom and wife, first!

What is your top tip for landing a gig on HireMyMom.com?

1) Make sure your resume is clean, short and sweet. I know that we want to draw attention to ALL of our experiences, however, I read that you should keep your resume to one page.

2) Some employers will have links to their applications. Treat these like you would any other important, paper application. Fill them out completely and thoroughly. Even if you uploaded your resume, make sure you fill in job by job. Otherwise, it resembles laziness.

3) Use complete sentences and proper grammar when typing up explanations.

4) Email the employer with a quick greeting and inform them you’ve just applied to their position (if applicable) and briefly introduce yourself.

5) After 3 days or so, send another follow up email regarding your application. The idea is that if your goal is to get a job, your actions should demonstrate it.

What’s your favorite thing about HireMyMom.com?

My favorite thing about HireMyMom is that the business or individual posting their job on the site is well aware the applicants are family centered first. They are knowingly giving moms the opportunity to feel worthy of their intelligence and skills, while allowing them to be sensitive toward their family.

What’s one fun fact about you?

A fun fact about me is that humor is my most used ingredient when brewing perspective for life’s expected and unexpected challenges.

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January 9, 2017 0 Comments

4 Top Tips for Using Facebook for Business

Facebook is an important and useful tool for promoting and sharing as your business.  Whether you’re a business owner, post content for other companies, or simply promote your services via social media, using Facebook effectively is key.

Read along for some top tips to ensure that you’re utilizing Facebook in the most effective ways.

Stay consistent

Consistency is key, and it’s the way to keep your readers engaged with your brand and its content.  If you’re posting very sporadically, no one gets to know you.  Try to avoid posting five times per week, followed by once per month, followed by 3 times per day.  Get into a routine that suits your content and schedule, and make sure that it’s realistic.

To start, figure out how much time you have to create content.  If it’s one hour per week, determine how long it takes to create each post.  You’ll also want to factor in consistency here and determine if this will be feasible as an ongoing schedule. From here, create a content schedule that includes the content that will be posted with the date and time.  If you’re able to do this weeks or months in advance – even better! Do what you need to do to establish a routine that is consistent and doable for your schedule.

Visual appeal

Your posts can’t simply be informative, they must also look nice. Articles can simply use the attached photo or a stock image, but your quotes, tips, and customized posts need to look their best and match your branding.  Facebook is a very visual platform, and posts containing graphics often per

You can utilize programs such as InDesign or Illustrator to create graphic posts, or simply use free online tools like Canva, Pablo, or PicMonkey.  These sites allow you to upload images, add text and/or shapes, and so on.  You’re able to create stunning posts in a matter of minutes, and it’s much better than constantly borrowing graphics from others.

Avoid selling

If you have a business, your first reaction in using Facebook for business is likely for sales.  Unfortunately, this isn’t the best course of action for social media.  It’s tempting, especially with a large, engaged audience, but it’s not ideal.  This doesn’t mean you can never feature your products and services, but they should always include the benefits to your prospects.  Additionally, you’ll still want to keep these posts to a minimum.

Your goal, in using Facebook for business, is establishing a presence, as well as establishing yourself as an expert in your line of work.  Provide a generous amount of valuable information to your readers, and they will realize that you have a lot of knowledge in your area.  You can also provide tips, advice, product usage information, benefits of using your type of services, inspirational quotes and information, and much more.  Keep your information varied and interesting, but ensure that 75-80% is valuable versus salesy.

When you do post something that could lead to a sale, your audience will be more likely to receive this favorably, since you are the expert and they’ve valued your free information so much so far.

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December 19, 2016 0 Comments

HireMyMom Success Story: Stephanie Enciso

What’s your success story with HireMyMom.com?

I worked full time until the birth of my first son in November 2014.  I was blessed to have a stay at home mom growing up, and wanted nothing more than to provide the same for my children.  As with everything, I “Let go and Let God.”  One night, I stumbled upon a Facebook Ad while rocking my toddler back to sleep.  I never heard of the website, but decided to dig a little further.  After a few minutes, I knew I had to be a part of this in some way! I joined the site in June 2016, and within a month had my first interview.  I wasn’t offered the job, but was determined to find something that would allow me to stay at home with my son, while earning some additional income for our family.  Within a few weeks I received multiple interview opportunities and was fortunate enough to receive two offers.  I currently work for two companies, part time, and 100% remote.  I continue to apply for positions, willing to take on more work!  I love being able to work from my home, in my PJ’s, whenever I have free time!

What’s your educational and experiential background?

I graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2006 with a Bachelors degree in Communication.  After college, I worked for a medical manufacturing company in their customer service and marketing divisions.  I also worked for a steel manufacturing company in an inside sales support role.

What is your top tip for landing a gig on HireMyMom.com?

If the job seems interesting, apply for it.  I sent my resume to as many employers as possible.  I wanted to learn and gain as much knowledge about the WAH world as I could.

What’s your favorite thing about HireMyMom.com?

I love how all of the details are presented in the job posting.  At a quick glance, you are able to know the pay rate, the requirements, and a link to employer’s website.

What’s one fun fact about you?

I married my high school sweetheart on 9-10-11.  My husband can’t ever forget that day!

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October 17, 2016 0 Comments

HireMyMom Success Story: Beth Rodgers

What’s your success story with HireMyMom.com?

I had been looking for legitimate opportunities for me to be able to work and still be home with my kids.  I wasn’t impressed with what I had been finding on my own.  I heard about hiremymom.com and went back and forth on whether or not to pay for a membership.  After checking out the reviews on the hire my mom website I decided to give it a try.  I hadn’t been a member long when I came across a listing that I knew would be perfect for me!  Me and the Mouse Travel was looking for a vacation planner specializing in Disney travel!  I had a series of telephone interviews with the companies owner and was offered a position!  I have been with Me and the Mouse Travel for 3 years now!

What’s your educational and experiential background?

As soon as I seen the listing from Me and the Mouse Travel I became so excited! I had worked for Walt Disney World and studied tourism in college I knew that I would be perfect for this job!  I graduated in 2003 from Central Michigan University with a bachelors degree in business management with a concentration in Human Resources and Travel and Tourism.

Check the site daily new listings get posted daily.  Brush up on your phone and facetime interview skills as most of the time you won’t meet your employer face to face.  Also, make sure to follow up on resume’s and applications you send!

What’s your favorite thing about HireMyMom.com?

My favorite thing about having a membership with HireMyMom.com is that they did the leg work weeding out any job opportunities that I wouldn’t have considered legitimate, professional job opportunities.

What’s one fun fact about you?

I LOVE my job!  Just like HireMyMom helps you to find a perfect job to fit your life circumstances I help families plan magical vacations to fit their desires!  My planning services are free to use!  For more information about my Disney vacation planning services please visit  http://meandthemouse.com/vacations/beth-rodgers/ or email me at beth@meandthemouse.com.

If you’d like to be featured as one of our Success Stories, please contact us!

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July 5, 2016 0 Comments

HireMyMom Success Story: Autumn Burns

What’s your success story with HireMyMom?

I think I saw an ad somewhere online back in 2014 when I was working a dead-end job that was boring me to tears.  I clicked on your site a few times over the course of several days and after reading reviews and the sample job postings, I decided a 3-month membership would be a good place for me to start.  At the time I was trying to re enter the workforce after raising 3 children.  I had been a stay-at-home mom for 17 years.

Anyway, I took my time and carefully read through all the job postings and tagged 5-6 that looked interesting.  After reviewing those few postings I finally gained the courage to apply to one.  It turned out that I was the only applicant to Black Spectacles and little did I know this little job would turn into a career position that has been the very best job I’ve ever had (except being a mom).

The funny thing is I worked for Marc Teer (founder, Black Spectacles) for 10 months before we ever met face-to-face.  He interviewed me and hired me after phone conversations and some online exchanges.  My husband even loves telling this story!

I am now a full-time employee with Marc, his Operations Manager, and our business is growing like crazy!  We are now 5 people strong and I’m his only HMM hire.

What’s your educational and experiential background?

Received my Bachelor of Science in Education from Arkansas State University (1990), taught high school one year, and after deciding not to continue teaching I found a job as a project manager for an entrepreneur allowing me to travel and learn some business skills.  I got married a few years later and quit work to raise 3 children.  As my oldest began his senior year of high school I wanted to go back to work but still needed the flexibility to be “mom” as necessary.  HMM came along at the most perfect time.  I was working part-time in a cubicle of a local company and although I was happy to be back in the workforce (“contributing” as my husband so fondly says) but hated the mundane work and lack of flexibility.  I found a part-time, flexible job I could do from home and it was exciting!  I was doing everything remotely and learning a lot, it was the perfect part-time job.  And then, things began to happen for Black Spectacles, we started growing and that was exciting.  My little part-time job has now turned into a full-time career position!  It is so fulfilling to be part of something that is new, cutting edge and constantly interesting.  Everyday is different and that makes it wonderful for me.

What is your top tip for landing a gig on HireMyMom?

Read the job postings carefully.  Very often there are specific tasks a person/company is looking to have accomplished.  Make sure you clearly understand what is being asked and honestly evaluate your skills to accomplish those tasks.  I spend 2 weeks reading the postings before selecting 5 that seemed like a good fit.  After reviewing those 5, I only applied to 1, and that’s my job now.  I realize this may not work for everyone, but it worked for me because I knew very clearly what I was capable of and what I was looking for.

What’s your favorite thing about HireMyMom?

I really liked being able to read and reread the posting and highlight the ones I felt might be a fit.  It was a very strategic way for me to narrow my choices.  The site is very user-friendly in my opinion and I’ve recommended it to many friends (a few who have found temporary work as needed).

What’s one fun fact about you?

I have my motorcycle license and I act in local community theater productions (sorry, that’s 2).  🙂

 

 

 

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