The core of The Virtual Writer is Kathleen Haak. Kathleen started working on e-commerce sites as a Barnes & Noble College Div. employee. Her manager saw the work that Kathleen did at her local store and picked her to travel throughout the region, working with individual stores, adding local flare to the ‘cookie cutter’ e-commerce sites that corporate provided.
In 2005, Kathleen moved to Dorrance Publishing where she taught authors how to use social media to promote their books, eventually writing “The Next Chapter: How to Be an Effective Partner in the Merchandising of Your Book.” Her use of online tools helped lead them to a 1 1/2 star increase in Yahoo customer service rating over a two year period. Kathleen also maintained daily posts to three blogs, supported multiple sales websites, and created monthly newsletters and webinars. Creating relevant content became not only a habit but also a passion.
The online world is ever evolving and in 2012 The Virtual Writer evolved out of a desire to provide affordable online services to small and medium sized business around the country. Kathleen’s experience in the book industry combined with her love of horses and history have led the company down some unique paths – partnering with another agency to work on a virtual museum, helping niche businesses find their online presence, and creating well-attended online events. While we are based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania we’ve worked with companies in New York, Florida, and Kentucky in just the past year.