Today we’d like to introduce you to Valerie Morris.
Hi Valerie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I came to the marketing world partly due to the economic downturn around 2008 and partly because I was looking for something stimulating that would allow me to continually learn. I originally have professional training in architecture and after graduation, worked in a couple of firms within the building industry. However, shortly after, most companies were doing layoffs, rather than scaling up. Not only that, but I found myself stuck doing very repetitive work that was mainly technical. When I compared this to my education, I was lacking the stimulation of leveraging left-brain and right-brain tasks at the same time.
As a result, I took the design background of my experience and education and got a role in an ad agency doing graphic design and basic communications work. At the time, social media was just becoming a tool for businesses and I very quickly got thrown at those tasks as well. Pretty soon, I was focused on content marketing strategy and social media management.
It didn’t take long before I realized I could make a business of my own out of this same work. After a cross-country move back to Colorado, it was the right time to branch out and build up what is now Tintero Creative. We offer content marketing and social media strategy and execution. Much of our work is done for you, allowing clients to focus on their expertise, while their marketing engine and online presence are working for them in the background.
We work with a good mix of clients in Colorado, as well as clients from coast to coast in the US, as well as a few clients overseas.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
One of the biggest struggles has been managing a business and learning to scale. Since I didn’t go to school for business management, my training has been “on-the-job.” I’ve invested in reading business books, participating in masterminds, seeking out mentors, and looking to learn from peers as much as possible. It’s a continual process.
Another big struggle is to break the mentalities and limiting beliefs around women and success that I picked up somewhere along the way. While I’ve seen myself come a long way to achieve things I never dreamed of doing, I still find myself reverting back to limiting beliefs from time to time. That’s where peers and friends who are also women and successful professionals have been extremely important.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Our team specializes in content marketing, especially with a focus on creating and leveraging content to position our clients as the most trusted expert in their industry. We leverage original content on social media heavily, as well as other channels such as email marketing, video, and other digital platforms. However, we also are voracious learners who understand that none of these channels work in a vacuum. Therefore, we’ve learned a ton about SEO, website development, funnel marketing, paid ads/media buying, and more. Whenever we’re working on a content or social strategy with a client, it is always through the lens of how our pieces can support and work with any other marketing efforts in place.
For example, if we’re creating blog content, we want to think through what keyword strategies are in place for a client’s Ad campaigns and SEO, so that anything we create can help those efforts for ranking as well. Sadly, we’ve come across too many situations where clients have had marketing professionals in the mix who didn’t approach things from a comprehensive perspective as we do, and as a result, the client’s results suffered. We always make the effort to collaborate and be comprehensive in our approach. We also are big on educating the client on the basics of what they need to be asking and looking out for so that their entire marketing strategy benefits.
What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Business (and marketing too) is all about relationships.
Tintero Creative has benefited over the years because of relationships, new and old. I’ve seen referrals and opportunities pop up from people I haven’t seen in a couple of years. Former clients have also come back for help on new projects or when new budgets open up. Some clients have stayed on as clients for countless years. I try to share my own life and passions where I can and often conversations with business partners and clients are dominated by simply catching up.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tinterocreative.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TinteroCreative
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tintero-creative/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TinteroCreative
