Sally Kuhlman is a blogger, writer, and social media sage. The more I read stuff on her websites, the bigger a fan I become.
I recently met Sally at a deep writing workshop in San Francisco as we’re both working on book projects. She’s a smart and friendly person who has a lot of wisdom to share with writers, musicians, and other artistic people looking for a boost on the business and online side of things.
Q: What kinds of services do you offer for businesses and entrepreneurs?
I provide consulting services to businesses and nonprofits in marketing and social media. When necessary, I start with getting organizations set up on social media, I then teach them how and why to use it. I work with them to build awareness, create and manage online communities around their businesses, organizations and causes. I also offer project management services for newsletters, blog updates, and social media management. In addition, I offer business brainstorming services where I meet with business owners and brainstorm ideas to build more awareness around their business and to help them determine and stay focused on their goals. I also wrote an ebooklet for stressed out, busy people called The ABCs and 123s of Getting Stuff Done.
Q: How did you get started in this work?
Years ago I was working as a virtual assistant providing project management and marketing support to small businesses and nonprofits. As social media emerged I jumped on the bandwagon and brought my clients with me. Over time my business evolved in to a full time social media consulting business.
Q: Do you work much with creative and artistic people?
Yes, I have worked with many creative and artistic types. I’ve worked with jewelry designers, artists, coaches and authors.
Q: What are some common struggles you see with the business side of the artistic life?
The main struggle I see for artists is their lack of desire to focus on the business side of things. Artists love to make art and be creative, they often don’t love bookkeeping and marketing so much. I recommend creative types in business to either schedule in a few hours a week to focus on their business or if they can afford it to outsource the administrative and marketing side of their business so they can focus on what they do best. There are some wonderful virtual assistants out there that can be incredibly helpful and affordable.
Here are some VA sites:
- Virtual Assistants League
- Virtual Assistants Networking Forum
- International Virtual Assistants Association
Q: What tips do you have for artistic people to make the most of their online presence?
I say go for it! Create a public Facebook page and a Twitter page, put your stuff out there and get to know people. An artist who does an excellent job at this is Tamara Holland, author of How To Start Making Your Art Your Business.
Tamara is the owner of Bean Up The Nose Art and is very active online:
Facebook and Twitter
q: What do you write about in your blog, “Sally Around The Bay?”
I originally started the Sally Around The Bay job to get myself out of the house and on adventures. Sally is a play on words. The definition of sally is to go out on an excursion or adventure, it also happens to be my name. My blog was my own personal Yelp! in the early days, now it has become more of Sally’s rambles. I often blog about tips and tricks for social media but I also use the blog to ponder my thoughts on life about things such as marriage equality, homelessness, commuting by bus, etc.
q: You’re writing a book on the topic of “other mothers.” What is the book about? What has been the most exciting part for you writing this book?
The book is about a common thread of feelings found among women who feel they don’t fit in the “traditional mom” box and often feel like outsiders in the world of motherhood. Whether stepmothers, adoptive moms, lesbian moms or other, these moms have unique feelings when it comes to raising children, which very few people talk about. The most exciting part of writing the book has been connecting with other women and hearing their stories. I have been blown away by some of the amazing women I have interviewed.
Where to find Sally: