Kim Reynolds, Founder of Savvy Media Marketing and QwikR
Kim Reynolds’ BIO
Kim has been designing websites since 1995, when she registered her first domain. Her specialty is Joomla based e-commerce sites. She is a social media aficionado as well as a self-professed Empire Avenue addict. When not designing websites or trading virtual stocks, you can find Kim either hanging with her family or at the gym.
Savvy Media Marketing is a full-service internet marketing company that caters to every facet of your online presence, from website creation to personal/corporate branding to social media marketing.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW
1. Please share with us what prompted you to create your company.
Kim: I’ve always worked for myself. Starting at age 12, selling books door to door. During college, I worked at a document company and while going to grad school, I started an accounting services business. In 1994, a friend “introduced me” to the internet and it was love at first sight. I registered my first domain that year and built my first e-commerce site, Book-Net, in 1995. A couple years later, I founded an electronics website, specializing in GPS equipment. That was my first major success and it was addicting. The excitement of waking up each day to see what sales had come in over the night was amazing. Soon I was helping other people design websites and coaching them on internet marketing and search engine optimization. At that point, I decided to take a break and focus on my family. While I was busy burping and breastfeeding, Facebook exploded onto the scene. It was such an exciting time that I was lured back in to internet marketing, except this time it was social!
That is when I founded Savvy Media Marketing (http://savvymediamkt.com). I decided to go full-time into helping others reach their dreams online via web development services and social media management.
Recently, I founded a new website, QwikR.me. QwikR.me is a labor of love. I find technology, QR codes, in particular, fascinating. A couple of years ago, I was giving a friend my contact information and thought that it would be so nice if there was an easier way to let her have all: my social information like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, as well as the usual phone numbers and email. A centralized repository would be handy too. There really was not an easy way to share all of your social identities. It just seemed a natural to use QR codes to let people share information quickly. QR codes are a quick way of transferring information from the real world to the virtual.
2. There is no typical day in the life of an entrepreneur. Please share with us a sample of your day, start to finish.
Kim: My day typically starts at about 6:30. First thing I do is check my email, then check my EA ticker. Then I spend a few minutes jotting down must do tasks for the day. Next, I wake all the kids up to get ready for school. Out the door by 7:30 for my rounds to the different schools, then coffee at Starbucks. My “alone” time with my hubby. Then its the gym from 9:00 – 10:00a. After that, I am in my home-office for the next 4 hours, taking a break at 2:45p to pick us from kids from school and eat lunch. Then, I put in another 2 hours until its time for homework, chores and dinner. Then back to the office from 8-midnight. On Saturdays, its the same, except I don’t have to make the school rounds. Sunday is usually a day off. We like to go to church, to hiking or go on a picnic. Family time.
3. What are your ‘can’t live without’ Smartphone or desktop applications?
Kim: There are so many! I use Skype a ton. It is great for coaching clients. I can screen-share with them and it makes all the difference in the world. The internet is visual, so having a tool like Skype is invaluable. I also use Hootsuite and another program in conjunction with it called Bundlepost. I try to stay away from too much automation in my social media, but some repetitive tasks are better served with select tools like Ifttt. Scoop.it for content curation is a huge timesaver. Another tool, though technically not an app, is my iPad. I use it daily when I visit clients. It is such a great way to display specific information without lugging around a laptop.
4. What are your tricks for time management?
Kim: My only trick for time-management is more of a tip. Give up the notion of a 8 hour work day if you are self-employed. Success takes time. You HAVE to put in the hours. Simplify the tasks you can with automation tools so that you can spend your valuable time in tasks that need personal attention, like engaging with your audience. That can not be left up to an app.
5. What was the best advice you received when you started your career?
Kim: My grandmother, my role model, was an incredibly successful business woman in San Diego during the 60s and 70s. She told me that in all things, live by the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. In other words, treat others as you would like to be treated. Treat people with dignity.
6. Given the current economic climate, what has been your strategy for building awareness of Your work for short term and long term growth?
Kim: I think that we all recognize the importance of conservation in a world with scarce resources. This applies in business as well. I am much more cognizant of maximizing the effectiveness of my actions, especially in regard to social media marketing. There is no room for waste. I aim for maximum reach with each action.
7. What is your proudest achievement as an accomplished entrepreneur?
Kim: To this point, my proudest achievement has been QwikR.me. It has such a huge scope, but I have built it myself, on a shoestring budget, in my spare-time. The fact that it even exists is more a testament of my refusal to quit than anything else.
8. How do you achieve balance in your life?
Kim: Balance is a tricky thing. I do not believe you can have it all. Superwoman is a myth, a cartoon character (with really good…hair). In real life, something has to give and for me, since I refuse to neglect my kids, personal time is sacrificed. I can’t think of the last time I read a book just for fun. Or got my nails done. Or went on a vacation. Balance is find a way to make it all work, not necessarily all work on any given day. Or week. I try to find balance on a monthly scale. At the end of the month, did I accomplish what I set out to do, did my kids get the time and attention they need to be happy and healthy, did my husband feel at least a little bit appreciated ?
9. Your top 3 book recommendations?
Kim: All three of my top book recommendations come from the Bible: Genesis (How it all began), Job (Perseverance in the face of adversity) , and Revelations (How this chapter ends).
10. What are your most rewarding charitable involvements?
Kim: The JDRF – Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. My daughter is Type I (insulin dependent) diabetic. I pray for the day when a cure is found and she can be free of daily injections, blood sugar spikes and the general uncertainty that comes with being diabetic.
11. Who has influenced your career the most?
Kim: My grandmother. She passed away before I accomplished anything of note, but in my most uncertain moments, when I feel the least able to complete anything more complicated than a yawn, I remember that Gran is a part of me. If she could do it back when women were so under-valued in the workplace, so can I.
12. What is your advice for someone interested in entrepreneurship?
Kim: Never give up. Many time success is just the refusal to quit. I think entrepreneurs are born. It is something innate. Not every person is meant to be an entrepreneur – and that is ok.
SOCIAL MEDIA FOR SAVVY MEDIA MARKETING
SOCIAL MEDIA FOR QWIKR.ME
Beyond Success Online 