August 5, 2024 • 37 mins
In this episode of the Mom Owned and Operated podcast, Rita Suzanne and Kelsey Romine discuss raising a family, running a business and remembering yourself.
Kelsey is a teacher turned mompreneur, specializing in WordPress websites for busy coaches and service providers. She focuses on strategy first before implementing a design to ensure that the website is working for you and can be one of the best marketing tools for your business.
If you’re tired of spending all of your time trying to market your business, sending traffic to your site and not booking clients or reaching your sales goals, it might be time to take a look at your website strategy. Kelsey loves sharing aspects of website strategy that you can start implementing today!
You can connect with Kelsey on her website, on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Send a text message! Email, if you want a reply though. ;)
P.S. You can find more interviews at momownedandoperated.com and learn about working with Rita at ritasuzanne.com/apply/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
If I do, I'll share it with you.
Okay, hi, this is Mom Owned andOperated.
I'm Rita, suzanne, and today Ihave my guest Kelsey with me.
Kelsey, I'm so excited to chatwith you about all of the things
.
Please tell us all about you,your family and your business.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Hi, thanks so much for having me.
So I am a WordPress websitedesigner and I specialize in
working with coaches and serviceproviders, focusing on strategy
first before even designing, tomake sure that the website is
optimized to attract your targetmarket and actually do work for
you, even when you want tospend time offline with your
(00:40):
kids or by yourself, whateverfloats your boat at that moment.
I know that very well because Ihave three littles also.
I have a five-year-old, athree-year-old and a
one-year-old, so I know how busymom life is.
I know that you don't haveevery second of the day to spend
marketing your business or tospend in your DMs, on social
(01:00):
media, et cetera, and neitherdoes your target market.
If you are trying to talk towomen or moms especially like we
just don't have the time to belooking at websites that have so
much content on it that I amreally passionate about
optimizing them for the busymoms in in life.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Oh, you're speaking my language.
I love talking strategy overpretty, and so let's talk about
how do you design strategy first.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Oh, there's so much that goes into it.
First, I want to know a targetmarket.
I want to know who are youmarketing towards.
Now I do work with a lot ofpeople who also work with moms,
because we all get each other,we understand it, and so I am
always like let's not have athousand million words on a
website.
No one's going to read it,they're not going to spend the
(01:54):
time to do it.
We don't have the time to do it.
So I'm also like I'm alwaysabout making sure you're concise
with your wording, making sureit's clear.
It's okay to be clever incertain places, but making sure
that people know what you do,who you serve, what your
transformation, that you canhelp them.
They need to know all of thatfront and center on a website.
(02:14):
So some of it is copy-based.
I don't write the copy youdon't want me to, I can promise
you, but I will like direct youthrough the copy, right?
So some of it is that.
And then even how you displayit on a website matters If it's
all in the same text, like thesame color.
It's all black, normal bodyfont.
Everyone gets overwhelmed withthe amount of words on a website
(02:37):
and they'll just stop reading.
You've got to break it up.
Think about like a social mediacaption.
Right, we're not making it onebig paragraph on a social media
caption, we're breaking it up.
We're putting emojis.
Now you don't need emojis on awebsite, but can you use images
to break up content, can you usebullet points, can you use
icons, can you use differentcolors with your font, or even
(02:59):
style it with italics or bold orsomething like that.
So I think about all thosethings when I'm putting it on a
website.
I'm also passionate about mobileoptimization.
Like if you are attracting amom, I can almost promise you
we're on a phone all the time,whether we're like sitting in a
pickup line waiting for a kid,or I mean, it's summer, maybe
(03:20):
you're like at the pool withyour kids, not that we're like
not watching our children, butlike you're.
You're on your phone so muchthat it needs to be so mobile
optimized, otherwise thosepeople are gone.
They're not going to stop andjump to a computer unless it's
like super vital, right?
So things like that.
I'm always thinking about howpeople are going to interact
(03:41):
with the website, the interface,the navigation, all those types
of things.
I don't want anybody to come toa website and feel confused or
lost or overwhelmed.
It needs to be easy, it needsto be user forward.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
I love that and I always tell my clients that,
especially about the menus.
I stinking hate sub menus and Ithink that oftentimes clients
want to put every single page ona sub menu instead of guiding
their their visitors through thewebsite, as they should, or
(04:17):
utilizing the footer for thoseextra spaces.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Yeah, yeah, the top menu, just like hit the top
highlights.
Hit the highlights.
You know like we need easy andclear and focused, instead of
there's a million things to sortthrough it.
I don't know where I'm supposedto go.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Yeah, and I think that they think if I put
everything up here, then peopleare going to go to it initially.
And you know, if you look atyour analytics, your top places
that they're going to visit islike about and home Typically.
Maybe you're going to getsomebody to click on your work
with me page, but you know, it'sjust they want to go to your
(04:57):
about page, so, or if you have astart here page, but yeah, so
I'm with you, I I'm.
I'm all about making sure thatyou know.
And one thing that I couldn'tstand or I can't stand is when
people try to rename things inclever, especially for their um,
their menu, like rename inclever ways, like, um, a
(05:24):
different name for their blog orsomething like that.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah, yeah, I'm with you, I'm with you.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
I can't think of anything like right now off the
top of my head, but somethinglike Like.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
I know we want to be cute, but also we want to make
sure people know where they'regoing.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Cutesy Chronicles or something like that.
What the hell does that even?
Speaker 2 (05:45):
mean yeah, yeah, the more confusing you are or the
more there is to sort through.
Like if there's so manydifferent pages even though you
want people to go to those pages, they just get overwhelmed and
they're just like no.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Yeah, I always tell my clients that too, like, and
if there's too many options, toomany links, too many things
going on, it's just.
It's just, you know, too manycolors, too many fonts, too much
?
Yes.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
The fonts and colors are another thing.
Like we, I get that you want touse color.
I'm good, I'm happy to usecolor and I'm happy to use fonts
, but also too many is thenconfusing and it's it's like
what's going on?
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Yes, we are on the same page, you know.
So I you know, sometimes it canbe really challenging, I guess,
to convince the clients thatthat's the way to go.
So what is a strategy that youuse, I guess, to help them
optimize their websites?
Speaker 2 (06:48):
I mean a lot of those things.
I am also very big on liketesting.
You know like, but then youactually go to a mobile device
or a different size monitor andthings look different or they're
(07:09):
a size slightly different andyou want to fix that.
The other thing, oh my gosh,the thing that drives me crazy
when I go to like a mobile pageor even, I guess, a regular
desktop page, but especially onmobile is I'll try and click
something and I know what'shappening when it's not
clickable.
But not everybody does.
I'm like.
I know it's like not layeredcorrectly or maybe it didn't
(07:32):
even get like a link associatedwith it.
So I'm big on testing.
I'm big on color use, breakingup sections, like all those
different things that can factorinto how people will actually
interact with the website,making sure that your call to
action is obvious.
We want to make sure thatpeople know what step you want
(07:54):
them to take and offer it morethan once.
We don't need to just put itlike one spot in the header at
the top of the page.
Give them more than oneopportunity to say yes, type of
thing.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Yeah, heat maps are good too for sales pages,
especially if it's a big programthey're good for, like a, you
know.
But let's talk about call toactions too, because I love
talking about that.
And do you like changing up thetext and the button colors, or
what is your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Like meaning throughout the same page or in
general.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
On the same page if it was a sales page.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
I tend to like to keep it as consistent as
possible.
I know that not always is thatpossible and every now and then
you might need to change it, butI like using a color that's
going to stand out.
That accent color is perfectfor buttons.
Make sure it, you know, popsoff of all the different
background colors.
So that's where I can see wheremaybe you might need to change
it, like if the background colordoesn't quite work with that
(08:58):
particular button.
But I like it to stayconsistent throughout the page.
Just to make it obvious and youkeep pointing it out.
You know this is the thing thatwe want you to do and you keep
offering it.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Yeah, I'm with you.
I like my buttons to berecognizable throughout the
whole site.
Really I want them to be thesame, unless they were two
buttons on the same page goingto two different things, and
then I might use two differentcolor buttons, but most likely
I'm going to use the same ones.
However, I will change the text.
(09:32):
I do like to change up the text, do you do?
Speaker 2 (09:35):
like what it says.
Yeah, copy of the text.
Yeah, yeah, I'll keep the samefont, but the the wording on it.
Yes, I will change, and it itdepends on where you're sending
them to right it.
You might actually have tochange it based on where you're
sending them with that specificbutton or whatever, but I almost
always change it.
I'm not super consistent withstaying the same wording because
(09:58):
some people might be attractedto different words and and
understand what they meandifferent ways.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
So plus, I think, like different sections call for
different.
Yeah, call for action, right.
And yeah, I think that's aplace where you can actually be
cute and like actually emphasizesomething you know, but being
clear and cute, yeah not onlycute, not confusing cute.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
It's a fine line.
It's a fine line.
But yes, I think you have alittle bit more playful aspect
there.
And even if you have like aline above the text that kind of
is cute, leading into the callto action button text, you know
there's ways to play with thebuttons.
I think yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Yeah, so one thing that I do like to talk about is
like and we kind of briefly hiton it but we didn't really talk
about it is like the journey ofthe visitor on the website.
Like what are your thoughts onthat and do you have any
specific like things that youlike to do in order to kind of
guide visitors through thewebsite?
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Yeah, there's a few things and we talked about.
One of them is making sure yournavigation is simple.
Not having, you know, 17,000pages linked in your menu is
already one way to like guidethem through the important
aspects of your website, thecertain pages you want them to
hit your about page, yourservice page, maybe your contact
or your book, a call orwhatever call to action you have
(11:24):
there.
I also like when you're like onyour homepage you know you have
, you might have like, a smallabout section somewhere lower on
the homepage.
That's a perfect opportunity tosend them to your about page.
So there's that where thatbutton can lead to a different
call to action.
You're inviting them to learnmore about you while leading
(11:46):
them through your website.
But then, once you lead them toyour about page, do you offer
them again your main call toaction of book, a call or
purchase, this program orwhatever your main call to
action is.
So when you guide them todifferent pages, making sure
that you offer that main call toaction again, type of thing,
even if you have a blog, youknow, are you linking somehow
(12:09):
what you do to your servicespage or contact or are you doing
something on your blogs or evenleading them to another blog
post, that's, taking themthrough the website in the way
that you want them to.
Are you just or are you justleaving them hanging type?
Speaker 1 (12:22):
of.
Thing.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
So kind of just letting them flow through the
website, guide them through withyour, your buttons, with your
links and things like that.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Yeah, I think it's important for people to do that,
and and also is to change upyour texts on your website
regularly, because, one, it'sgood for your SEO, but two, you
need to see what's working,what's not working, and I think
(12:50):
that a lot of times, people willhire somebody to do their
website and then they just ghostit and they leave it alone and
they don't make any changes toit, and that's probably not the
best thing to do.
So what are your thoughts onthat?
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yeah, I mean, I'm even passionate about offering,
like off-boarding, videotutorials to make sure that they
know how to make those changes.
I don't want them to have tocome to me, you know, three
years later and say I didn't doanything.
I don't want them to have tocome to me, you know three years
later and say I didn't doanything, I didn't know how you
know, or to feel like they haveto pay me to do things or pay
somebody else to do something.
It's their presence on the web,on online, not mine, right?
(13:31):
So while I helped you get there, it's now your presence and I
want you to feel confidentrunning it.
So even I mean at least updateyour pricing.
At least update, you know, somereviews or testimonials, even
if you started serving like adifferent market, like, at least
keep it updated, absolutely,it's not out of date.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
At the very least, I think if they understood, if
more designers educated them onthe importance of updating their
text in their website, if theyunderstood the value of updating
it, then they would be moremindful of updating their
website.
I think that oftentimesdesigners don't do that because
(14:14):
then they do want their clientsto be dependent upon them.
In fact, empower my clients tomake, like you, make their own
changes, but some clients don'twant to do that Right,
absolutely, and so therefore,you know I've trained many of
the A's for my clients to makethe changes, but it's them
(14:36):
knowing the importance of beingable to do that in order to like
in, like you.
Like, if we're educating them,then they understand the power
of the website, because thewebsite is powerful.
So what do you?
How do you feel, like in themarket nowadays, how important
it is to have a website, becauseyou know some people will say
(14:58):
you don't need a website, youcan still make money.
What are your thoughts?
Speaker 2 (15:03):
I don't think they're wrong.
I think that you can stillmarket in other ways and you
don't have to have a website.
To a point, I think therebecomes a point, don't?
I don't think you need to likestart off making a website or
investing in a website If youfeel like this might not be
something you stick with oryou're just kind of testing the
waters.
But if it becomes a businessthat you really want to see go
(15:25):
further, you're going to needone, and I feel like it depends
on what market you're in.
If you're a brick and mortar, Ialmost won't show up at your
Google address or whatever,because I'm like are you real?
You don't have a website.
I just don't know what'shappening.
You know, versus someone in theonline space could maybe get
away with it for a little while.
(15:45):
So I think it really depends onwhat you're doing.
If you're, you know, sellingsomething online, even it almost
it's seen like more than just aservice provider.
If you're like an online shop,you have e-commerce or something
, it almost feels a little bitmore important to have one, also
because where are you sellingthose products?
If you're just doing it aroundyour area or something, then
(16:09):
maybe you can get away with it,but if you want to go bigger and
be able to ship, then you needa website.
So I think it really depends onwho you are, what your goals
are, who you're marketing to.
There's so much that factorsinto it, but I do think that
most businesses, especially now,it just builds the authority.
It makes you a real person, itmakes it seem like you're a
(16:31):
business, it makes you moretrustworthy to have a website.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Right, I agree, but I don't think that it's something
that you need to invest instraight out of the gate.
I've had so many clients cometo me in the past when they were
first starting their businessesand want websites and then in
two years they pivot and theirwebsite it needs redesigned
again and they've completelychanged and everything needs to
(16:58):
be redone, and so it feels likemaybe it was a waste of money
for them to do and so, yeah, Ido think it's important, though
I feel like in today's market,you know, marketing is a lot
different online than or, ingeneral, than it used to be.
Now I feel like there has to belike a three tiered approach.
(17:19):
Like you have to market locally, I, you just have to um.
In the past I never did becauseI had was at home with my kids,
um, but um.
You have to market on yoursocial media, but also if you
have a website, you need to havethat online presence.
(17:41):
You need to have your SEO gameneeds to be on point because
that's your long game, right,that's your long term stuff and
you know that's not somethingthat you're going to build like
overnight, just like your emaillist, Like you need to be
building your email list, butalso that's not going to happen
overnight Like you need to bebuilding your email list, but
also that's not going to happenovernight.
(18:05):
So you know, these things arelike they take, they take longer
time to develop and that's whyyou need to have these other
things that could happen moreimmediate your local connections
, your social media connections.
But for your long-term strategy, like you mentioned, like your
online presence is your longerterm.
You know, marketing strategy inmy point, in my opinion.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Yeah Well, and it's like you have more control over
a website, too, than you dosocial media.
I'm not going to say you like.
I mean you have to pay for ahost.
You know you have to do certainthings that are a little bit
outside of you, but for the mostpart, it's your presence.
You own it instead of you knowsomebody else kind of owning it
for you and you're relying onthat.
So it's it almost feels saferto me to have a website that is
(18:49):
always there than it would be to.
You know, grow my Instagramfollowing or something, not to
say I throw out Instagram.
I am active on there, but it'sit's diverse, it's diversifying,
you know, it's making sure youhave a few different areas.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
Yeah, and you can do whatever you want with it.
Right, it's yours, and that'sthe thing and this is the reason
why I also am a lover ofWordPress is because you own it,
it's yours to own.
And my thought on, oftentimeswhat I see happening is people
(19:23):
are intimidated by WordPress andthey feel like it is too
complex.
And I feel like, with the rightdesigner, it's not going to be
because I'm going to show youhow to use it, kelsey.
I'm sure you're training themhow to use it and it's not as
complex as they may think it'sgoing to be.
(19:44):
I think there's an initialupfront investment versus some
of these other platforms whereyou're paying, you know, $300,
$200 a month, every single month.
You're not going to have thatwith WordPress, especially over
time.
And you have a blog on there,you have e-commerce on there,
you can have a learning platformon there, you can have
(20:04):
subdomains, all of these thingsthat you don't have to pay for
outside of WordPress.
And then what happens is theyget on these platforms and then
somebody else you know thingsdon't work.
And then somebody else is like,hey, look over here, I have
this other shiny platform overhere, switch all your things to
this one and then they switch tothat one and then they go
(20:27):
through the whole process again,and it's just really
discouraging for me to see themdoing that.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Yeah, it's frustrating, yeah, and.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
I'm like I wish I could just you know help you,
come here, let me show you theway.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
I know, I know I had somebody that come to me oh my
gosh, a couple of years ago nowthat wanted to do something on
this other platform, and I'mlike it's just, it's just not
going to do that, it's not goingto do like I don't know what
else to tell you and we had toswitch.
We had to and then now it'sbeen working for several years
and it has helped her businessgrow and it feels like a pain in
(21:07):
the butt at the moment, butsometimes it's just easier to
pick up and move, but be logicalin your move.
You know like WordPress is justso flexible and customizable
and you can do so much with it,and it's been around for so long
that there are so manyresources about it.
So even if you want to dosomething and you don't want to
like call back your web designer, there are so many different
(21:29):
resources that you can find.
I would say you can almost findanything about WordPress on the
Internet.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
And you know, and again, it's better for your SEO
than these other platforms andyou know you're just going to
get more traction than movingyour your site.
I just think, overall, likeyour investment is just going to
be better to just just pay thatinvestment upfront.
Get onto a platform that youlove with a good host, don't go
(21:57):
on shitty hosting.
You know, like, please, that Iwill die on that sword forever.
And you know, like you, you pay, you get what you pay for.
Um, you know, and also, like,if I also want to get on my SEO
horse again SEO is impacted byyour hosting.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
How fast your your website runs, you know, yep, not
all hosts are created equal.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
They're not, and so you know, just because something
is affordable doesn't mean it'sthe best option for you.
And so you know all of thethings and so, yes, we will talk
.
I will sit here and talk aboutyou know websites all day.
Let's day, let's pivot a littleand talk about branding a
little, because that's notsomething that we talked about.
Do you do branding also, andhow in depth do you go?
Speaker 2 (22:49):
I do.
It's not something that mostpeople are coming to me needing,
so it's not something that Ihave been pushing my marketing
towards.
But when people come to me andthey're like I need a website,
I'm like, okay, do you havebranding?
Because we kind of need thatbefore we can really move
forward.
Like you want a logo, you wantcolors that speak to your target
market.
That also, you know, representyou as a business.
(23:12):
We at least want to be able touse fonts consistently.
So we need to, like, decidewhat fonts we're going to use on
a website and then please usethose in your other marketing,
you know.
So when I do branding, I willwork with colors, I will work
with topography and you get atleast three different logos from
me.
I usually end up doing morebecause I find them fun to mess
(23:35):
around with.
But you'll get a primary logo,a secondary logo and at least
like a sub mark of some kind.
But every now and then, youknow you might have something
else.
Like you might have a programthat you want a specific logo
for or something.
So we'll throw that in type ofthing.
But all of that also comes witha strategy making sure that
your colors actually speak toyour target market, right?
(23:57):
If you were marketing towardsmen, you probably wouldn't
choose pink, right?
Like, even though you love hotpink, like we might not use hot
pink.
You know there's differentthings that factor into the
colors and how people react tocolors.
That you want to make sure thatyou are putting out the vibe
that you're trying to go for,type of thing.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Yes, oh, and I was gonna say, like even what you
mentioned initially, it soundslike you're doing branding
anyways, because you're talkingabout their target audience and
market.
You know that's part of theirbrand too.
So so, yeah, like all of thosethings work together and I don't
think that people reallyunderstand, like how, like we
can't design websites if wedon't know your target audience.
(24:39):
Yep, it matters.
It matters, yep.
So how are you able to manageall of the things you know,
building all these websites withthese three beautiful littles
running around and you wranglingthem at the same time?
How did?
Speaker 2 (24:58):
how is that?
You know, it's kind of just aneveryday adventure.
I'll just say that, like,certain days, you know, they
behave better than others.
Um, certain days I might havemore calls than others.
Um, they were doing preschooland now they're not.
And then they, you know, whenthey were offset in naps and now
they're not.
So everyone knows kids are veryfluid and changing all the time
(25:21):
.
So it's really just looking atthe week ahead what needs to fit
in?
What do I need to accomplish?
Where are my pockets of time?
Um, now they're all napping orresting, reading books at the
same time.
So now I have at least atwo-hour window where nobody's
bothering me.
So that's where I'm fitting incalls and podcast interviews and
(25:45):
that's where a lot of mymarketing and my work time, my
client work things like that.
That's where a lot of mymarketing and my work time, my
client work things like that.
But you know what?
I work with so many amazingpeople that you know, half the
time I show up to a call with achild on my lap and there's just
like no one seems to.
No one seems to care, and it'sawesome.
I love that.
We are in a time of life, Iguess that we're supportive of
(26:11):
one another instead of like, ohmy gosh, how dare you have
brought a child onto a call?
Like that's so unprofessional.
We're just all in it togetherand I, if I've taken it to the
point where I know that mytarget market is supportive of
that and if they don't want tobe, if they don't want a child,
they're like they'll know onthat first connection call of
(26:32):
whether or not we're a good fit,because you know, if they have
a child, I'm happy that.
I'm happy that they brought achild to the to the call.
Or somebody apologized foreating her lunch and I was like
I understand, like if that'slike your moment that you have
to eat lunch, like it's notgoing to bother me, those things
don't bother me.
And so I know there's peoplelike me out there that are okay
(26:52):
with what's going on in my life.
Then that's just how we do it.
And now that they're all homefor summer, it might be, you
know, a little bit of weekendwork here and there.
Or you know after bedtime typeof thing, or when husband comes
home from work that you know hemight have to take over with the
kids here and there.
But it's just looking at whereare my pockets of time, what can
I fit in and what is criticalin that day or in that week?
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Yeah, I think, and I think that's the best way to do
it.
I remember, you know, pre COVID, where it was, I guess, a
little bit more frowned upon.
It's almost like we tried tohide the fact that we had our
kids at home while we wereworking.
And now it's like everybody'slike I don't care, like.
I've actually done interviewswith moms, not only with their
(27:38):
kids on their laps.
I've done one where somebodywas breastfeeding and it's not a
problem for me, I don't mind,you know, as a mom it's, you
know, it's not an issue, youknow, and even if I wasn't a mom
, I wouldn't mind, because youknow, like I support anybody in
their thing, but I just lovethis more accepting we are now.
(28:02):
So I'm with you on that.
Okay, so I have two questions,two wrap up questions.
If another mom came to you andshe wanted to start her own
business, what would your advicebe to her?
Speaker 2 (28:18):
I would say go for it .
I'm not sure that that's likethe right advice or helpful
advice, but if you have a driveto want to do something like I
had a passion to be home with mykids, some days I'm like I'm
not sure what I was thinking,because they're loud and there's
been extra ones since I'vestarted my business, so it's a
(28:39):
little bit more chaotic than itwas when I first started, but I
don't regret having this timewith them.
I know that my oldest is goingto kindergarten next year and
I'm like, what am I going to do?
He's not going to be around.
What's?
What does that look like, youknow?
And I'm like, okay, now myyoungest, who just turned one,
is still like full-fledged baby.
Right, she'll be in likefull-time school in four years.
(29:02):
Like in four years they're allout of the.
You know, I can't even begin tosay how thankful I am that I
get to be here for those yearswhere they are developing and
learning so much and they'reinteracting with each other and
I just I don't have to miss itbecause I'm here.
So if you have the drive to wantto be home with your kids or
(29:25):
continue to send them somewhereelse, I get it, but you have a
drive to do something foryourself, because now I feel
like this business is for me.
This is something that I wantto grow for me.
I spent the last five, sixyears growing humans with my
body.
I want this business for me.
I want to grow it to bigger andbetter.
Now that I feel I'm good ongrowing the family, this is now
(29:48):
my turn to grow something else.
So if you have a passion, ifyou've got the drive to want to
do something like that foryourself, just go for it.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
Yeah, I feel that same way and my kids are all
teenagers, but I still feel thesame way as you.
Even though they're teens andthey're off, they're doing their
things, I can still beavailable to them.
Yeah, when they need me, whenthey need me, I'm here and I
have that flexibility for them,and I think that that's the one
(30:20):
of the most, the thing that I amthe most grateful for, you know
absolutely.
Yeah, being able to be therefor them and not having to ask
somebody.
Can I go to my kid?
Speaker 2 (30:33):
Yeah, I mean, I was a teacher before this and there
was no like, oh, I want to go tomy son's you know pre-K
graduation, like it would havebeen in the middle of finals and
I would have had to been atwork.
You know, I didn't have to misslike the that seems like a
little thing like a pre-K youknow whatever, but I didn't have
(30:58):
to miss it and I was able to bethere and I was able to be the
mystery reader in his class.
And, for goodness sake, therewas so much sickness that went
through here this year that I'mnot sure how we would have even
survived with the amount of dayswe would have needed to take
off between the two of us to beable to be here for sick kids.
But I was.
I mean, they were sick for liketwo months straight.
It was bonkers Right when onewas yeah exactly.
They took turns with all thedifferent viruses and the
(31:20):
sicknesses and we just didn'thave to worry about it.
The flexibility, the freedom ofthat and coming from a teacher
perspective where I couldn'teven take certain days off of
work because whatever reason tobeing able to do whatever I need
to do for my kids makes me sograteful and it it makes me feel
like the mom that I wanted tobe, instead of like the mom that
(31:43):
people told me I could be orthat I should be.
You know I should be in theclassroom and I.
You know the teacher lifestyleis so helpful with kids.
Well, it it is, in some senseof the matter, like you're off
for summers with them and theschool day kind of ends about
the same time, but during theschool day is so rigid in the
structure of it that I wouldn'thave been able to do any of it
(32:04):
Right, and I think that in somecases, having your own business
helps you create your own senseof identity, whereas having a
job doesn't really create thatum, it creates security.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
it does create a sense of security, right,
because you have that, um, thatincome, that's consistent and
and all of that, but you give upsome other things for that
security, yeah.
And it was worth it andabsolutely you know.
So I value that.
So one thing that and one ofthe reasons why I started this
(32:39):
podcast was to talk about howother moms were able to take
care of themselves, because whenI started, I was struggle
busing on taking care of me.
I was, you know, wondering howother moms are able to run a
business, raise their family andremember themselves.
(33:00):
So I want to know how are youtaking care of yourself, kelsey?
Speaker 2 (33:06):
You know it depends on the day Because, like I said,
the kids have different moods,so it's really dependent.
But I try not to overworkmyself.
I'm not the person that's, youknow, putting in all hours of
the day.
That it's just not going tohappen at this stage of my life
and where my kids are at, whichis why, you know, I only take on
(33:29):
so many projects at a timebecause I need to have that
balance.
So I also kind of holdboundaries work-wise of when I
work and how much I work andthings like that.
So I try not to work too much.
In evenings I take that time foreither myself or to sit with my
husband and we watch TV or Iwill read a book.
(33:50):
I also try to get some sort ofmovement or exercise or
something in.
We try to get outside withthese kids as much as possible
because I know how good sunshineand weather and just being
outdoors is for all of us.
That it I know it helps my moodtoo.
I try to get enough sleep.
We'll say that, but just it'sthe little things I guess at the
(34:14):
moment.
But I like having the businessside as also something that's
for me and it takes care of thatpart of my brain that has the
drive to do something other thanbeing with my kids all day.
People can be with their kidsall day and be so, so happy.
I like having that, that otherpiece.
So in a sense my business isalso supporting me in a, in a
(34:38):
mental capacity.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
I've had other other moms say that too, that their,
their business is a form oftheir self-care, and I think
that that's, that's good Causeto me.
I love, I love my business, Ilove, I love doing it.
I think, though, that sometimesI could get to I'll do too much
, you know.
So it is about finding that,that balance, and turning it off
(35:03):
, you know, sometimes, but onething that I used to always do
when my kids were younger and Iwould consider this a form of
self-care it's, you know, goingto the bathroom by myself.
Like shutting the door and justbeing there by myself or sitting
in my car for an extra fewminutes just alone, you know?
(35:25):
Yeah, you know what?
Speaker 2 (35:27):
Even if not alone, if they're still just like
strapped in and quiet, runningaround.
It's like a calming moment.
I'm like, oh, everyone's quietand just looking out the window.
We're just going to sit herefor a minute.
It's, it's small things for now, like that, you know.
Like, oh, I'm going to take ashower, please, nobody bother me
, you know.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
And and I'm surprised with a one-year-old that
you're- able to do that withoutdistractions.
So, um, yeah, so that is ablessing in itself.
So where can everyone find you?
Where are you online?
Speaker 2 (36:02):
Um, you can always find me on my website, kelsey
Rominecom, and I am most activeon Instagram at Kelsey dot M dot
Romine, but you can also findme on Facebook and LinkedIn.
I even started Pinterest.
Could join my email list.
All the things you know I'm.
I've got all the differentmarketing tactics, um, but I'm
most active on Instagram for youknow, balancing work and family
(36:26):
and all the things.
Mom business owner.
Speaker 1 (36:29):
Love it.
Thank you so much.
It's been such a pleasurechatting with you.
Thanks for having me.
If I do, I'll share it with you.
Okay, hi, this is Mom Owned andOperated.
I'm Rita, suzanne, and today Ihave my guest Kelsey with me.
Kelsey, I'm so excited to chatwith you about all of the things
.
Please tell us all about you,your family and your business.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Hi, thanks so much for having me.
So I am a WordPress websitedesigner and I specialize in
working with coaches and serviceproviders, focusing on strategy
first before even designing, tomake sure that the website is
optimized to attract your targetmarket and actually do work for
you, even when you want tospend time offline with your
(00:40):
kids or by yourself, whateverfloats your boat at that moment.
I know that very well because Ihave three littles also.
I have a five-year-old, athree-year-old and a
one-year-old, so I know how busymom life is.
I know that you don't haveevery second of the day to spend
marketing your business or tospend in your DMs, on social
(01:00):
media, et cetera, and neitherdoes your target market.
If you are trying to talk towomen or moms especially like we
just don't have the time to belooking at websites that have so
much content on it that I amreally passionate about
optimizing them for the busymoms in in life.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Oh, you're speaking my language.
I love talking strategy overpretty, and so let's talk about
how do you design strategy first.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Oh, there's so much that goes into it.
First, I want to know a targetmarket.
I want to know who are youmarketing towards.
Now I do work with a lot ofpeople who also work with moms,
because we all get each other,we understand it, and so I am
always like let's not have athousand million words on a
website.
No one's going to read it,they're not going to spend the
(01:54):
time to do it.
We don't have the time to do it.
So I'm also like I'm alwaysabout making sure you're concise
with your wording, making sureit's clear.
It's okay to be clever incertain places, but making sure
that people know what you do,who you serve, what your
transformation, that you canhelp them.
They need to know all of thatfront and center on a website.
(02:14):
So some of it is copy-based.
I don't write the copy youdon't want me to, I can promise
you, but I will like direct youthrough the copy, right?
So some of it is that.
And then even how you displayit on a website matters If it's
all in the same text, like thesame color.
It's all black, normal bodyfont.
Everyone gets overwhelmed withthe amount of words on a website
(02:37):
and they'll just stop reading.
You've got to break it up.
Think about like a social mediacaption.
Right, we're not making it onebig paragraph on a social media
caption, we're breaking it up.
We're putting emojis.
Now you don't need emojis on awebsite, but can you use images
to break up content, can you usebullet points, can you use
icons, can you use differentcolors with your font, or even
(02:59):
style it with italics or bold orsomething like that.
So I think about all thosethings when I'm putting it on a
website.
I'm also passionate about mobileoptimization.
Like if you are attracting amom, I can almost promise you
we're on a phone all the time,whether we're like sitting in a
pickup line waiting for a kid,or I mean, it's summer, maybe
(03:20):
you're like at the pool withyour kids, not that we're like
not watching our children, butlike you're.
You're on your phone so muchthat it needs to be so mobile
optimized, otherwise thosepeople are gone.
They're not going to stop andjump to a computer unless it's
like super vital, right?
So things like that.
I'm always thinking about howpeople are going to interact
(03:41):
with the website, the interface,the navigation, all those types
of things.
I don't want anybody to come toa website and feel confused or
lost or overwhelmed.
It needs to be easy, it needsto be user forward.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
I love that and I always tell my clients that,
especially about the menus.
I stinking hate sub menus and Ithink that oftentimes clients
want to put every single page ona sub menu instead of guiding
their their visitors through thewebsite, as they should, or
(04:17):
utilizing the footer for thoseextra spaces.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Yeah, yeah, the top menu, just like hit the top
highlights.
Hit the highlights.
You know like we need easy andclear and focused, instead of
there's a million things to sortthrough it.
I don't know where I'm supposedto go.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Yeah, and I think that they think if I put
everything up here, then peopleare going to go to it initially.
And you know, if you look atyour analytics, your top places
that they're going to visit islike about and home Typically.
Maybe you're going to getsomebody to click on your work
with me page, but you know, it'sjust they want to go to your
(04:57):
about page, so, or if you have astart here page, but yeah, so
I'm with you, I I'm.
I'm all about making sure thatyou know.
And one thing that I couldn'tstand or I can't stand is when
people try to rename things inclever, especially for their um,
their menu, like rename inclever ways, like, um, a
(05:24):
different name for their blog orsomething like that.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah, yeah, I'm with you, I'm with you.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
I can't think of anything like right now off the
top of my head, but somethinglike Like.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
I know we want to be cute, but also we want to make
sure people know where they'regoing.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Cutesy Chronicles or something like that.
What the hell does that even?
Speaker 2 (05:45):
mean yeah, yeah, the more confusing you are or the
more there is to sort through.
Like if there's so manydifferent pages even though you
want people to go to those pages, they just get overwhelmed and
they're just like no.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Yeah, I always tell my clients that too, like, and
if there's too many options, toomany links, too many things
going on, it's just.
It's just, you know, too manycolors, too many fonts, too much
?
Yes.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
The fonts and colors are another thing.
Like we, I get that you want touse color.
I'm good, I'm happy to usecolor and I'm happy to use fonts
, but also too many is thenconfusing and it's it's like
what's going on?
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Yes, we are on the same page, you know.
So I you know, sometimes it canbe really challenging, I guess,
to convince the clients thatthat's the way to go.
So what is a strategy that youuse, I guess, to help them
optimize their websites?
Speaker 2 (06:48):
I mean a lot of those things.
I am also very big on liketesting.
You know like, but then youactually go to a mobile device
or a different size monitor andthings look different or they're
(07:09):
a size slightly different andyou want to fix that.
The other thing, oh my gosh,the thing that drives me crazy
when I go to like a mobile pageor even, I guess, a regular
desktop page, but especially onmobile is I'll try and click
something and I know what'shappening when it's not
clickable.
But not everybody does.
I'm like.
I know it's like not layeredcorrectly or maybe it didn't
(07:32):
even get like a link associatedwith it.
So I'm big on testing.
I'm big on color use, breakingup sections, like all those
different things that can factorinto how people will actually
interact with the website,making sure that your call to
action is obvious.
We want to make sure thatpeople know what step you want
(07:54):
them to take and offer it morethan once.
We don't need to just put itlike one spot in the header at
the top of the page.
Give them more than oneopportunity to say yes, type of
thing.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Yeah, heat maps are good too for sales pages,
especially if it's a big programthey're good for, like a, you
know.
But let's talk about call toactions too, because I love
talking about that.
And do you like changing up thetext and the button colors, or
what is your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Like meaning throughout the same page or in
general.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
On the same page if it was a sales page.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
I tend to like to keep it as consistent as
possible.
I know that not always is thatpossible and every now and then
you might need to change it, butI like using a color that's
going to stand out.
That accent color is perfectfor buttons.
Make sure it, you know, popsoff of all the different
background colors.
So that's where I can see wheremaybe you might need to change
it, like if the background colordoesn't quite work with that
(08:58):
particular button.
But I like it to stayconsistent throughout the page.
Just to make it obvious and youkeep pointing it out.
You know this is the thing thatwe want you to do and you keep
offering it.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Yeah, I'm with you.
I like my buttons to berecognizable throughout the
whole site.
Really I want them to be thesame, unless they were two
buttons on the same page goingto two different things, and
then I might use two differentcolor buttons, but most likely
I'm going to use the same ones.
However, I will change the text.
(09:32):
I do like to change up the text, do you do?
Speaker 2 (09:35):
like what it says.
Yeah, copy of the text.
Yeah, yeah, I'll keep the samefont, but the the wording on it.
Yes, I will change, and it itdepends on where you're sending
them to right it.
You might actually have tochange it based on where you're
sending them with that specificbutton or whatever, but I almost
always change it.
I'm not super consistent withstaying the same wording because
(09:58):
some people might be attractedto different words and and
understand what they meandifferent ways.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
So plus, I think, like different sections call for
different.
Yeah, call for action, right.
And yeah, I think that's aplace where you can actually be
cute and like actually emphasizesomething you know, but being
clear and cute, yeah not onlycute, not confusing cute.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
It's a fine line.
It's a fine line.
But yes, I think you have alittle bit more playful aspect
there.
And even if you have like aline above the text that kind of
is cute, leading into the callto action button text, you know
there's ways to play with thebuttons.
I think yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Yeah, so one thing that I do like to talk about is
like and we kind of briefly hiton it but we didn't really talk
about it is like the journey ofthe visitor on the website.
Like what are your thoughts onthat and do you have any
specific like things that youlike to do in order to kind of
guide visitors through thewebsite?
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Yeah, there's a few things and we talked about.
One of them is making sure yournavigation is simple.
Not having, you know, 17,000pages linked in your menu is
already one way to like guidethem through the important
aspects of your website, thecertain pages you want them to
hit your about page, yourservice page, maybe your contact
or your book, a call orwhatever call to action you have
(11:24):
there.
I also like when you're like onyour homepage you know you have
, you might have like, a smallabout section somewhere lower on
the homepage.
That's a perfect opportunity tosend them to your about page.
So there's that where thatbutton can lead to a different
call to action.
You're inviting them to learnmore about you while leading
(11:46):
them through your website.
But then, once you lead them toyour about page, do you offer
them again your main call toaction of book, a call or
purchase, this program orwhatever your main call to
action is.
So when you guide them todifferent pages, making sure
that you offer that main call toaction again, type of thing,
even if you have a blog, youknow, are you linking somehow
(12:09):
what you do to your servicespage or contact or are you doing
something on your blogs or evenleading them to another blog
post, that's, taking themthrough the website in the way
that you want them to.
Are you just or are you justleaving them hanging type?
Speaker 1 (12:22):
of.
Thing.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
So kind of just letting them flow through the
website, guide them through withyour, your buttons, with your
links and things like that.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Yeah, I think it's important for people to do that,
and and also is to change upyour texts on your website
regularly, because, one, it'sgood for your SEO, but two, you
need to see what's working,what's not working, and I think
(12:50):
that a lot of times, people willhire somebody to do their
website and then they just ghostit and they leave it alone and
they don't make any changes toit, and that's probably not the
best thing to do.
So what are your thoughts onthat?
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yeah, I mean, I'm even passionate about offering,
like off-boarding, videotutorials to make sure that they
know how to make those changes.
I don't want them to have tocome to me, you know, three
years later and say I didn't doanything.
I don't want them to have tocome to me, you know three years
later and say I didn't doanything, I didn't know how you
know, or to feel like they haveto pay me to do things or pay
somebody else to do something.
It's their presence on the web,on online, not mine, right?
(13:31):
So while I helped you get there, it's now your presence and I
want you to feel confidentrunning it.
So even I mean at least updateyour pricing.
At least update, you know, somereviews or testimonials, even
if you started serving like adifferent market, like, at least
keep it updated, absolutely,it's not out of date.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
At the very least, I think if they understood, if
more designers educated them onthe importance of updating their
text in their website, if theyunderstood the value of updating
it, then they would be moremindful of updating their
website.
I think that oftentimesdesigners don't do that because
(14:14):
then they do want their clientsto be dependent upon them.
In fact, empower my clients tomake, like you, make their own
changes, but some clients don'twant to do that Right,
absolutely, and so therefore,you know I've trained many of
the A's for my clients to makethe changes, but it's them
(14:36):
knowing the importance of beingable to do that in order to like
in, like you.
Like, if we're educating them,then they understand the power
of the website, because thewebsite is powerful.
So what do you?
How do you feel, like in themarket nowadays, how important
it is to have a website, becauseyou know some people will say
(14:58):
you don't need a website, youcan still make money.
What are your thoughts?
Speaker 2 (15:03):
I don't think they're wrong.
I think that you can stillmarket in other ways and you
don't have to have a website.
To a point, I think therebecomes a point, don't?
I don't think you need to likestart off making a website or
investing in a website If youfeel like this might not be
something you stick with oryou're just kind of testing the
waters.
But if it becomes a businessthat you really want to see go
(15:25):
further, you're going to needone, and I feel like it depends
on what market you're in.
If you're a brick and mortar, Ialmost won't show up at your
Google address or whatever,because I'm like are you real?
You don't have a website.
I just don't know what'shappening.
You know, versus someone in theonline space could maybe get
away with it for a little while.
(15:45):
So I think it really depends onwhat you're doing.
If you're, you know, sellingsomething online, even it almost
it's seen like more than just aservice provider.
If you're like an online shop,you have e-commerce or something
, it almost feels a little bitmore important to have one, also
because where are you sellingthose products?
If you're just doing it aroundyour area or something, then
(16:09):
maybe you can get away with it,but if you want to go bigger and
be able to ship, then you needa website.
So I think it really depends onwho you are, what your goals
are, who you're marketing to.
There's so much that factorsinto it, but I do think that
most businesses, especially now,it just builds the authority.
It makes you a real person, itmakes it seem like you're a
(16:31):
business, it makes you moretrustworthy to have a website.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Right, I agree, but I don't think that it's something
that you need to invest instraight out of the gate.
I've had so many clients cometo me in the past when they were
first starting their businessesand want websites and then in
two years they pivot and theirwebsite it needs redesigned
again and they've completelychanged and everything needs to
(16:58):
be redone, and so it feels likemaybe it was a waste of money
for them to do and so, yeah, Ido think it's important, though
I feel like in today's market,you know, marketing is a lot
different online than or, ingeneral, than it used to be.
Now I feel like there has to belike a three tiered approach.
(17:19):
Like you have to market locally, I, you just have to um.
In the past I never did becauseI had was at home with my kids,
um, but um.
You have to market on yoursocial media, but also if you
have a website, you need to havethat online presence.
(17:41):
You need to have your SEO gameneeds to be on point because
that's your long game, right,that's your long term stuff and
you know that's not somethingthat you're going to build like
overnight, just like your emaillist, Like you need to be
building your email list, butalso that's not going to happen
overnight Like you need to bebuilding your email list, but
also that's not going to happenovernight.
(18:05):
So you know, these things arelike they take, they take longer
time to develop and that's whyyou need to have these other
things that could happen moreimmediate your local connections
, your social media connections.
But for your long-term strategy, like you mentioned, like your
online presence is your longerterm.
You know, marketing strategy inmy point, in my opinion.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Yeah Well, and it's like you have more control over
a website, too, than you dosocial media.
I'm not going to say you like.
I mean you have to pay for ahost.
You know you have to do certainthings that are a little bit
outside of you, but for the mostpart, it's your presence.
You own it instead of you knowsomebody else kind of owning it
for you and you're relying onthat.
So it's it almost feels saferto me to have a website that is
(18:49):
always there than it would be to.
You know, grow my Instagramfollowing or something, not to
say I throw out Instagram.
I am active on there, but it'sit's diverse, it's diversifying,
you know, it's making sure youhave a few different areas.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
Yeah, and you can do whatever you want with it.
Right, it's yours, and that'sthe thing and this is the reason
why I also am a lover ofWordPress is because you own it,
it's yours to own.
And my thought on, oftentimeswhat I see happening is people
(19:23):
are intimidated by WordPress andthey feel like it is too
complex.
And I feel like, with the rightdesigner, it's not going to be
because I'm going to show youhow to use it, kelsey.
I'm sure you're training themhow to use it and it's not as
complex as they may think it'sgoing to be.
(19:44):
I think there's an initialupfront investment versus some
of these other platforms whereyou're paying, you know, $300,
$200 a month, every single month.
You're not going to have thatwith WordPress, especially over
time.
And you have a blog on there,you have e-commerce on there,
you can have a learning platformon there, you can have
(20:04):
subdomains, all of these thingsthat you don't have to pay for
outside of WordPress.
And then what happens is theyget on these platforms and then
somebody else you know thingsdon't work.
And then somebody else is like,hey, look over here, I have
this other shiny platform overhere, switch all your things to
this one and then they switch tothat one and then they go
(20:27):
through the whole process again,and it's just really
discouraging for me to see themdoing that.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Yeah, it's frustrating, yeah, and.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
I'm like I wish I could just you know help you,
come here, let me show you theway.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
I know, I know I had somebody that come to me oh my
gosh, a couple of years ago nowthat wanted to do something on
this other platform, and I'mlike it's just, it's just not
going to do that, it's not goingto do like I don't know what
else to tell you and we had toswitch.
We had to and then now it'sbeen working for several years
and it has helped her businessgrow and it feels like a pain in
(21:07):
the butt at the moment, butsometimes it's just easier to
pick up and move, but be logicalin your move.
You know like WordPress is justso flexible and customizable
and you can do so much with it,and it's been around for so long
that there are so manyresources about it.
So even if you want to dosomething and you don't want to
like call back your web designer, there are so many different
(21:29):
resources that you can find.
I would say you can almost findanything about WordPress on the
Internet.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
And you know, and again, it's better for your SEO
than these other platforms andyou know you're just going to
get more traction than movingyour your site.
I just think, overall, likeyour investment is just going to
be better to just just pay thatinvestment upfront.
Get onto a platform that youlove with a good host, don't go
(21:57):
on shitty hosting.
You know, like, please, that Iwill die on that sword forever.
And you know, like you, you pay, you get what you pay for.
Um, you know, and also, like,if I also want to get on my SEO
horse again SEO is impacted byyour hosting.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
How fast your your website runs, you know, yep, not
all hosts are created equal.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
They're not, and so you know, just because something
is affordable doesn't mean it'sthe best option for you.
And so you know all of thethings and so, yes, we will talk
.
I will sit here and talk aboutyou know websites all day.
Let's day, let's pivot a littleand talk about branding a
little, because that's notsomething that we talked about.
Do you do branding also, andhow in depth do you go?
Speaker 2 (22:49):
I do.
It's not something that mostpeople are coming to me needing,
so it's not something that Ihave been pushing my marketing
towards.
But when people come to me andthey're like I need a website,
I'm like, okay, do you havebranding?
Because we kind of need thatbefore we can really move
forward.
Like you want a logo, you wantcolors that speak to your target
market.
That also, you know, representyou as a business.
(23:12):
We at least want to be able touse fonts consistently.
So we need to, like, decidewhat fonts we're going to use on
a website and then please usethose in your other marketing,
you know.
So when I do branding, I willwork with colors, I will work
with topography and you get atleast three different logos from
me.
I usually end up doing morebecause I find them fun to mess
(23:35):
around with.
But you'll get a primary logo,a secondary logo and at least
like a sub mark of some kind.
But every now and then, youknow you might have something
else.
Like you might have a programthat you want a specific logo
for or something.
So we'll throw that in type ofthing.
But all of that also comes witha strategy making sure that
your colors actually speak toyour target market, right?
(23:57):
If you were marketing towardsmen, you probably wouldn't
choose pink, right?
Like, even though you love hotpink, like we might not use hot
pink.
You know there's differentthings that factor into the
colors and how people react tocolors.
That you want to make sure thatyou are putting out the vibe
that you're trying to go for,type of thing.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Yes, oh, and I was gonna say, like even what you
mentioned initially, it soundslike you're doing branding
anyways, because you're talkingabout their target audience and
market.
You know that's part of theirbrand too.
So so, yeah, like all of thosethings work together and I don't
think that people reallyunderstand, like how, like we
can't design websites if wedon't know your target audience.
(24:39):
Yep, it matters.
It matters, yep.
So how are you able to manageall of the things you know,
building all these websites withthese three beautiful littles
running around and you wranglingthem at the same time?
How did?
Speaker 2 (24:58):
how is that?
You know, it's kind of just aneveryday adventure.
I'll just say that, like,certain days, you know, they
behave better than others.
Um, certain days I might havemore calls than others.
Um, they were doing preschooland now they're not.
And then they, you know, whenthey were offset in naps and now
they're not.
So everyone knows kids are veryfluid and changing all the time
(25:21):
.
So it's really just looking atthe week ahead what needs to fit
in?
What do I need to accomplish?
Where are my pockets of time?
Um, now they're all napping orresting, reading books at the
same time.
So now I have at least atwo-hour window where nobody's
bothering me.
So that's where I'm fitting incalls and podcast interviews and
(25:45):
that's where a lot of mymarketing and my work time, my
client work things like that.
That's where a lot of mymarketing and my work time, my
client work things like that.
But you know what?
I work with so many amazingpeople that you know, half the
time I show up to a call with achild on my lap and there's just
like no one seems to.
No one seems to care, and it'sawesome.
I love that.
We are in a time of life, Iguess that we're supportive of
(26:11):
one another instead of like, ohmy gosh, how dare you have
brought a child onto a call?
Like that's so unprofessional.
We're just all in it togetherand I, if I've taken it to the
point where I know that mytarget market is supportive of
that and if they don't want tobe, if they don't want a child,
they're like they'll know onthat first connection call of
(26:32):
whether or not we're a good fit,because you know, if they have
a child, I'm happy that.
I'm happy that they brought achild to the to the call.
Or somebody apologized foreating her lunch and I was like
I understand, like if that'slike your moment that you have
to eat lunch, like it's notgoing to bother me, those things
don't bother me.
And so I know there's peoplelike me out there that are okay
(26:52):
with what's going on in my life.
Then that's just how we do it.
And now that they're all homefor summer, it might be, you
know, a little bit of weekendwork here and there.
Or you know after bedtime typeof thing, or when husband comes
home from work that you know hemight have to take over with the
kids here and there.
But it's just looking at whereare my pockets of time, what can
I fit in and what is criticalin that day or in that week?
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Yeah, I think, and I think that's the best way to do
it.
I remember, you know, pre COVID, where it was, I guess, a
little bit more frowned upon.
It's almost like we tried tohide the fact that we had our
kids at home while we wereworking.
And now it's like everybody'slike I don't care, like.
I've actually done interviewswith moms, not only with their
(27:38):
kids on their laps.
I've done one where somebodywas breastfeeding and it's not a
problem for me, I don't mind,you know, as a mom it's, you
know, it's not an issue, youknow, and even if I wasn't a mom
, I wouldn't mind, because youknow, like I support anybody in
their thing, but I just lovethis more accepting we are now.
(28:02):
So I'm with you on that.
Okay, so I have two questions,two wrap up questions.
If another mom came to you andshe wanted to start her own
business, what would your advicebe to her?
Speaker 2 (28:18):
I would say go for it .
I'm not sure that that's likethe right advice or helpful
advice, but if you have a driveto want to do something like I
had a passion to be home with mykids, some days I'm like I'm
not sure what I was thinking,because they're loud and there's
been extra ones since I'vestarted my business, so it's a
(28:39):
little bit more chaotic than itwas when I first started, but I
don't regret having this timewith them.
I know that my oldest is goingto kindergarten next year and
I'm like, what am I going to do?
He's not going to be around.
What's?
What does that look like, youknow?
And I'm like, okay, now myyoungest, who just turned one,
is still like full-fledged baby.
Right, she'll be in likefull-time school in four years.
(29:02):
Like in four years they're allout of the.
You know, I can't even begin tosay how thankful I am that I
get to be here for those yearswhere they are developing and
learning so much and they'reinteracting with each other and
I just I don't have to miss itbecause I'm here.
So if you have the drive to wantto be home with your kids or
(29:25):
continue to send them somewhereelse, I get it, but you have a
drive to do something foryourself, because now I feel
like this business is for me.
This is something that I wantto grow for me.
I spent the last five, sixyears growing humans with my
body.
I want this business for me.
I want to grow it to bigger andbetter.
Now that I feel I'm good ongrowing the family, this is now
(29:48):
my turn to grow something else.
So if you have a passion, ifyou've got the drive to want to
do something like that foryourself, just go for it.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
Yeah, I feel that same way and my kids are all
teenagers, but I still feel thesame way as you.
Even though they're teens andthey're off, they're doing their
things, I can still beavailable to them.
Yeah, when they need me, whenthey need me, I'm here and I
have that flexibility for them,and I think that that's the one
(30:20):
of the most, the thing that I amthe most grateful for, you know
absolutely.
Yeah, being able to be therefor them and not having to ask
somebody.
Can I go to my kid?
Speaker 2 (30:33):
Yeah, I mean, I was a teacher before this and there
was no like, oh, I want to go tomy son's you know pre-K
graduation, like it would havebeen in the middle of finals and
I would have had to been atwork.
You know, I didn't have to misslike the that seems like a
little thing like a pre-K youknow whatever, but I didn't have
(30:58):
to miss it and I was able to bethere and I was able to be the
mystery reader in his class.
And, for goodness sake, therewas so much sickness that went
through here this year that I'mnot sure how we would have even
survived with the amount of dayswe would have needed to take
off between the two of us to beable to be here for sick kids.
But I was.
I mean, they were sick for liketwo months straight.
It was bonkers Right when onewas yeah exactly.
They took turns with all thedifferent viruses and the
(31:20):
sicknesses and we just didn'thave to worry about it.
The flexibility, the freedom ofthat and coming from a teacher
perspective where I couldn'teven take certain days off of
work because whatever reason tobeing able to do whatever I need
to do for my kids makes me sograteful and it it makes me feel
like the mom that I wanted tobe, instead of like the mom that
(31:43):
people told me I could be orthat I should be.
You know I should be in theclassroom and I.
You know the teacher lifestyleis so helpful with kids.
Well, it it is, in some senseof the matter, like you're off
for summers with them and theschool day kind of ends about
the same time, but during theschool day is so rigid in the
structure of it that I wouldn'thave been able to do any of it
(32:04):
Right, and I think that in somecases, having your own business
helps you create your own senseof identity, whereas having a
job doesn't really create thatum, it creates security.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
it does create a sense of security, right,
because you have that, um, thatincome, that's consistent and
and all of that, but you give upsome other things for that
security, yeah.
And it was worth it andabsolutely you know.
So I value that.
So one thing that and one ofthe reasons why I started this
(32:39):
podcast was to talk about howother moms were able to take
care of themselves, because whenI started, I was struggle
busing on taking care of me.
I was, you know, wondering howother moms are able to run a
business, raise their family andremember themselves.
(33:00):
So I want to know how are youtaking care of yourself, kelsey?
Speaker 2 (33:06):
You know it depends on the day Because, like I said,
the kids have different moods,so it's really dependent.
But I try not to overworkmyself.
I'm not the person that's, youknow, putting in all hours of
the day.
That it's just not going tohappen at this stage of my life
and where my kids are at, whichis why, you know, I only take on
(33:29):
so many projects at a timebecause I need to have that
balance.
So I also kind of holdboundaries work-wise of when I
work and how much I work andthings like that.
So I try not to work too much.
In evenings I take that time foreither myself or to sit with my
husband and we watch TV or Iwill read a book.
(33:50):
I also try to get some sort ofmovement or exercise or
something in.
We try to get outside withthese kids as much as possible
because I know how good sunshineand weather and just being
outdoors is for all of us.
That it I know it helps my moodtoo.
I try to get enough sleep.
We'll say that, but just it'sthe little things I guess at the
(34:14):
moment.
But I like having the businessside as also something that's
for me and it takes care of thatpart of my brain that has the
drive to do something other thanbeing with my kids all day.
People can be with their kidsall day and be so, so happy.
I like having that, that otherpiece.
So in a sense my business isalso supporting me in a, in a
(34:38):
mental capacity.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
I've had other other moms say that too, that their,
their business is a form oftheir self-care, and I think
that that's, that's good Causeto me.
I love, I love my business, Ilove, I love doing it.
I think, though, that sometimesI could get to I'll do too much
, you know.
So it is about finding that,that balance, and turning it off
(35:03):
, you know, sometimes, but onething that I used to always do
when my kids were younger and Iwould consider this a form of
self-care it's, you know, goingto the bathroom by myself.
Like shutting the door and justbeing there by myself or sitting
in my car for an extra fewminutes just alone, you know?
(35:25):
Yeah, you know what?
Speaker 2 (35:27):
Even if not alone, if they're still just like
strapped in and quiet, runningaround.
It's like a calming moment.
I'm like, oh, everyone's quietand just looking out the window.
We're just going to sit herefor a minute.
It's, it's small things for now, like that, you know.
Like, oh, I'm going to take ashower, please, nobody bother me
, you know.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
And and I'm surprised with a one-year-old that
you're- able to do that withoutdistractions.
So, um, yeah, so that is ablessing in itself.
So where can everyone find you?
Where are you online?
Speaker 2 (36:02):
Um, you can always find me on my website, kelsey
Rominecom, and I am most activeon Instagram at Kelsey dot M dot
Romine, but you can also findme on Facebook and LinkedIn.
I even started Pinterest.
Could join my email list.
All the things you know I'm.
I've got all the differentmarketing tactics, um, but I'm
most active on Instagram for youknow, balancing work and family
(36:26):
and all the things.
Mom business owner.
Speaker 1 (36:29):
Love it.
Thank you so much.
It's been such a pleasurechatting with you.
Thanks for having me.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.