Karen Tiede from Red Tuxedo

Karen Tiede

Red Tuxedo

Moncure, NC
Highly Recommended (6)
Advertising & Communication Artistic Web Designer
Advertising & Communication Artistic Web Designer
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About Us

Shopify training and websites for small ecommerce businesses; social media marketing education and done-for-you services.
Textile artist making flowers and rugs from abandoned fabrics; participatory hula hooping at street fairs and outdoor events.

How We Got Started

I've been a textile artist since forever. When I got laid off in the 2008 Great Recession, I took the opportunity to move further into art. Pinterest was taking off at the same time and turned out to be a fantastic marketing platform.

I started teaching other artists and local businesses how to use Pinterest, and from there, moved into teaching social media with my associate Martin Brossman.

More recently, I created a small store with Shopify and loved how easy it was to sell on all of the social platforms from a common base. This led to teaching local businesses how to create Shopify websites.

The products and services we offer

Marketing Consultant Seo Boards Artisan Artistic Design Web Designer Newsletter Writing Show all 9
Products & Services
Social Media Marketing Education
Social Media Marketing Education by Red Tuxedo
I offer classes through NCSU's Technical Training Unit at the McKimmon Center in Raleigh: Social Media Management Certificate Program, Social M...
Social Media Strategy
Social Media Strategy by Red Tuxedo
I work with privately held businesses to evaluate their current online marketing program and suggest ways to use their time and advertising budget ...
Social Media Done-for-you
Social Media Done-for-you by Red Tuxedo
I support a small number of local clients by offering done-for-you social media services, including (Wordpress) website maintenance.
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Recent Activity
How much did/do you save by building/managing your own website?
Karen from Red Tuxedo Answered this on June 26, 2018
Probably, not a dime. I remember very clearly when a friend told me she spent $700 on her first website. I thought, "Dang, that's a lot of money." I proceeded to spend two weeks' of free time building my own. I bet I cleared about $10/hour. Now, I build tiny sites for other people, and when I... (more) Probably, not a dime. I remember very clearly when a friend told me she spent $700 on her first website. I thought, "Dang, that's a lot of money." I proceeded to spend two weeks' of free time building my own. I bet I cleared about $10/hour. Now, I build tiny sites for other people, and when I get an easy site, it's good money. If something goes wrong, though, it's hard money. I don't manage sites that take money. Too many headaches. I use myself and send e-commerce clients to Shopify, so that they can manage all the security headaches. Worth the money.
If your social media connections never communicate, comment, post, or engage in any way, do you keep them?
Karen from Red Tuxedo Answered this on June 26, 2018
The internet is a 1/9/90 game. 1% of us create pretty much all of the content you see; 9% like-comment-share, and 90% do nothing but read, most of the time. I cannot afford to cut off 90% of my potential client base simply because they do not know how or care to like a post. If you drop your... (more) The internet is a 1/9/90 game. 1% of us create pretty much all of the content you see; 9% like-comment-share, and 90% do nothing but read, most of the time. I cannot afford to cut off 90% of my potential client base simply because they do not know how or care to like a post. If you drop your 90% of lurkers, do you mind sending them to me?
What tasks would you delegate to a Virtual Assistant?
Karen from Red Tuxedo Answered this on April 19, 2018
First, figure out the dollar value of your time. Ideally, I bill at $1.60 / minute. Then, anything that a) I don't like doingb) takes longer than 3 minutes to doc) can be done by someone else, given permission & client relationship considerations,d) can be taught, or already knownshould be done... (more) First, figure out the dollar value of your time. Ideally, I bill at $1.60 / minute. Then, anything that a) I don't like doingb) takes longer than 3 minutes to doc) can be done by someone else, given permission & client relationship considerations,d) can be taught, or already knownshould be done by a VA you are willing to pay $5 to do the task for.Fiverr is often unreliable, unless you can find someone who can regularly do a certain set of tasks. I have someone who uploads a set of plugins into new WP sites, for $5. Someone else takes the background out of my pictures, for $5. You will lose time shopping, but once you find a provider who does a good job, stick with them.I use Upwork for ongoing contract work, doing email updating, formatting, uploading blog posts, pinning new stuff to Pinterest, doing some Instagram work.

Our Recognition

We're highly recommended by locals on Alignable

Highly Recommended

By 5+ Local Business Owners!