I am your creative & strategic partner to help you turn goals into action, bring your ideas to life & focus on effective, low-cost marketing strategies.
I work with with service-based entrepreneurs to end the cycle of ineffective marketing tactics following my mantra of “Simplify. Build. Profit. Repeat.”
I work with service-based entrepreneurs to end the cycle of ineffective marketing tactics following my mantra of “Simplify. Build. Profit. Repeat.”
Build your business with less stress using my structured, yet flexible approach:
THE BRAND BUILDER SYSTEM.
Strategy, Brand identity, Websites, Marketing & More
I offer training & customized support to start & grow your service-based business. I can help you get you started AND help you transition into working with ideal clients…and I can create & implement a plan that works for you. Build your brand at a pace & budget that works for you!
DO-IT-YOURSELF
Get started with my budget-friendly toolbox to start & grow your business. Work at your own pace with free tips, training & resources. www.brandbuildertoolbox.com
DONE-WITH-YOU
At any time, add on 1-on-1 support to accelerate your success & ease your stress. Transform your vision into reality & attract ideal clients with your marketing. Brand identity, websites, business cards & more. www.virtuallinda.com
Are you looking for an expert on branding, business strategy, marketing, social media or tech tools?
I am available for speaking engagements, workshops, webinars & teleseminars.
I am on a mission to help Startups, Solopreneurs, Coaches, Consultants and Business Owners embrace marketing and simple technology. I am a creative geek with a passion for helping people strategically reach their goals.
With humor and example stories, I will explain the “moving parts” of building your brand…the many technologies and websites that have to work in sync in order for a business to be successful. I will outline how to build a strategy with concepts such as branding, softer selling techniques and building relationships online.
Audience questions are highly encouraged to customize the presentation. Audience members will leave with ideas on how to better target audiences, leverage existing networks and be more efficient using technology.
SPEAKING TOPICS INCLUDE:
How To Create a Magnetic Marketing Message
How to Increase Profits by Defining Your Perfect Client/Customer
Reducing your Marketing Overwhelm & Increasing Your Profits
Online Marketing: Getting from Overwhelm to Action
Social Media Strategies for Successful Engagement and Community Building (Workshop)
All topics can be developed into a custom presentation or workshop for your specific needs.
PAST SPEAKING EVENTS & WORKSHOPS INCLUDE:
AGU Education and Public Outreach Workshops
Chesapeake Life Planning Network Meeting
National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) – Washington, DC
Women Entrepreneurs of Baltimore Business Owner Success Series
The Productive Business Owner Telesummit
WOAMTEC Confident Women Conference Tour
Morgan State University Graves Honors Program Guest Seminar
I co-founded The Sun Today, one of the leading hubs on solar physics and space weather. My design and strategy helped build this community by blending education with excitement about the Sun. It reaches millions of people and the site is often quoted by reporters globally. Lessons learned from this project can be applied to YOUR passion to build your brand.
Participated in social media strategy & execution for award-winning live NASA webcasts.
Social Media Works
2009–2011
An on-call team which offered a unique blend of consultation, services and training for Entrepreneurs. Clients relied on our expertise for both small projects and an entire web presences. Services included social media profile setup and WordPress blogs/websites. Training from Byte Sized Learning assisted teams in learning how to maintaining their social presence.
Linda Schenk (Virtuallinda) was the project lead. She has a unique blend of creative and technical knowledge. She works with people who are ready to begin a journey of embracing technology and learning how it can make their business run more smoothly…with a twist. She understands:
Social Media is complex, and it’s very easy to get overwhelmed and confused.
The how-to’s don’t matter if you are not clear on what you want to accomplish.
Most busy professionals don’t have a lot of time.
Social Media Works worked your team to understand your short- mid- and long term goals and scale your project to your budget and time frame. We recommenedd a project strategy to plan for your company's growth.
Byte Sized Learning
2009–2013
ONLINE TRAINING
Virtuallinda created online training to teach you big concepts in small chunks of time, at your desktop or on-the-go. This is was a unique format that every professional could use to increase his or her knowledge of social media quickly and effectively. The training topics covered were business strategy, networking, social media and blogging with WordPress.
On-demand and short format to fit into your busy schedule
Big concepts are broken down to eliminate info overload
Low-cost investment that won’t break your budget
Simple action steps will put your new knowledge into practice immediately
Printable workbooks to record your ideas
PDF handouts that are quick-to-read and will act as a reference library
Online videos will reinforce concepts as you listen and see what is being taught
STRATEGIC COACHING WITH VIRTUALLINDA
For more personal support, coaching was added to help get specific questions answered. The recorded phone sessions built on the online training.
Services offered included strategic planning, usability evaluations, information architecture, branding and logo design, illustration, content (copywriting and editing), analytics and web metrics, and virtual assistance.
The aim was to design websites that are easy to navigate, pleasing to the eye, load as quickly as possible, target your intended audience, and meet key business goals.
Involved in
all stages of production including branding, marketing,
interaction design, HTML, graphic design, site launch
and search engine submittals. Specialized in finding cost-effective solutions for clients such as PayPal and Blogger. Clients include:
The Marc Steiner Show / Center for Emerging Media: www.centerforemergingmedia.org Branding, Information architecture, design and development of a community & podcast website. Site built using Drupal to promo radio show, blogs, featured articles on a variety of topics. Content entered by client, then displayed based on template styling.
Special promotional images for events & features.
ECommerce donations uses PayPal.
Military Benefits Portal & Website
Redesign and coding of HTML templates. New flash elements to educate users on the various services available.
Templates design to be used for other Military branches with minimal layout changes.
Updated navigational elements so user does not feel “lost” in the site.
Fashion Community Website Information architecture, design and front-end development of a community website featuring
user profiles, fashion photo upload with rating system, "Add a friend", user comments, weekly video webisodes. Users created a "closet" consisting of their own and favorite items from other users. Design incorporated the site sponsor's look into parts of the website.
TalentPlanet: www.talentplanet.com
Full site development for a small business, which
combines executive recruiting with coaching and organization
development. Also features tips from a bi-monthly KPIX
news segment. PHP code for rotating content and fly-out
menus for easy navigation. Added Blogger to site for new book promotion. Podcast development in progress.
Heart
Healthy for Life Full site development of this community website featuring
articles, video and audio content. Utilizes PHP, CSS and
JavaScript to create multi-tiered navigation structure.
Member management system and payments processed via PayPal's
subscription plan. Members-only pages are protected with
username and password.
SFA,
Inc & US Army / Primedia / HealthMark Multimedia:
Created various industrial and medical illustrations using Photoshop and Illustrator. Accuracy of graphics was very important. (Arthur Graphics)
The Berndt Group
Baltimore, MD
2005–2008 Web Production & Usability Specialist
Front-end programming of multiple websites using HTML, CSS, javascript, Flash-detect and SEO (search engine optimization) techniques. Sites used Dreamweaver templates, server-side includes and/or CMS template integration.
Review of information architecture wireframes
Conducted on-site client training of Adobe Contribute and Dreamweaver. Wrote documentation for internal production and QA procedures.
Evangelist for usability and interdepartmental collaboration to streamline the development process.
Sites launched include The Berndt Group, University of Maryland
School of Law, MapInfo, AIPAC Extranet and Internet, Mercy Medical Center, Maryland China, Maryland SPCA, and The Johns Hopkins Children's Hospital.
A Barnes & Noble.com Company
Online bookstore
Santa Clara, CA
1999–2001 Lead Creative Producer, UI
Responsible for designing and maintaining
unified look and feel of entire web site using templates,
storyboards, style guide and software training.
Worked as part of the User Interface Team
to define end-user and product feature requirements.
Created flow charts, screenshots and interactive
prototypes of products/features for use in usability testing,
marketing and web production training.
Finalized design and HTML to resolve identified
usability defects and to engender customer satisfaction.
Launched new web sites: Mightywords and
Accenture Information Exchange.
Collaborated with departments including
Production, Writing, Product Marketing, Program Management,
Engineering and QA to evaluate, plan and execute company
needs.
Senior Web Producer
Contributed to the creation and regular
maintenance of HTML pages.
Created customized bookstores for partners
including: Adobe, Cisco, Clarify, Lucent, Microsoft, Nortel
Networks and Sun Microsystems.
Met schedules for both long-term development
and multiple, daily deadlines.
Animation Research & Production Facility
Baltimore, MD
1994–1995 Intern
Produced 3D animated graphic packages
for clients using high-end equipment.
Gained knowledge of production house
and team environment.
Trained on Wavefront with certified
instructor.
University
of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC)
Baltimore, MD
B.A. in Visual and Performing Arts, December 1994
Areas of Emphasis: Graphic Design & Computer Art
Currently working independently through
Cirquel Design.