When Deana Goldasich of Tampa was laid off in June from her job as director of account management for Web design firm
Magnetic, she found herself with choices. Job offers were on the table, she said, but she wasn't inclined to jump at the first chance to rejoin the corporate world. Instead, she decided to found her own company,
Well Planned Web LLC.
"I've wanted to go out on my own forever, and for me this was the final push," says Goldasich, who took an interest in Web design in 1998 and whose employment past also includes Home Shopping Network. "I was climbing the corporate ladder, but I was climbing the walls."
Goldasich's original vision for Well Planned Web when it launched in August involved traditional Web design and support. Quickly, she realized there was a more effective way to carve her niche in the Tampa Bay region's evolving Internet industry.
Her concept: Help businesses, large or small, maximize their online potential through the use of social media, with a particular emphasis on blogging as a way to portray a company's personality and vision in order to connect with potential customers.
"The real difference is I do a lot of education, coaching and training to help people understand the stuff from top to bottom, rather than build a blog and toss it in your lap," Goldasich says. "It's all focused on how to build a following online and build an audience."
She landed her first client, Devine Communications, on Aug. 3. Accounts with Tampa software company ConnectWise and interior designer Barbara Krai quickly followed. This week, she coordinates the launch of Ocala author and speaker Beth Ramsey's new site focused on workplace relations.
Goldasich said that in less than six months, her new business has generated as much net revenue as she made in salary during her final year with Magnetic.
"I think what's next for me is constantly what's on my mind," Goldasich says. "Even when I'm doing fine and I'm really busy, you're always looking ahead at what's next."
Writer: Carter Gaddis
Source: Deana Goldasich, Well Planned Web
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