Fri Feb 03 2012
by Jeff Saunders
Reporter
Nordonia Hills -- When Julie D'Aloiso was laid off in spring 2009, it did not take her long to bounce back.
"It took me like an hour to adjust and then I was OK," she said.
Laura Sparano, Chamber of Commerce chief executive officer, said this attitude is a big reason why D'Aloiso is this year's winner of the Small Business of the Year award.
"Instead of letting it get to her, she went out and started a business," said Sparano.
D'Aloiso said she started SpiderCat Marketing in June 2009, shortly after she was laid off from an area business technology firm after 18 months. Prior to that job, D'Aloiso had owned another business, D-Web Jazz Web Design, which she started in 2000. Like that business, SpiderCat is also involved in website design, but D'Aloiso said she is now also helping businesses with using such marketing tools as Facebook.
"My mission is to teach businesses about the new social media, especially in this economy," said D'Aloiso, adding that she also has given free seminars to area residents on using social media to connect with businesses.
But Sparano said that bouncing back from her setback and starting a business is not the only reason why D'Aloiso is receiving the award.
"Julie is out there promoting her business," she said.
D'Aloiso estimated she now has about 100 clients, mostly Northeast Ohio based, although a few are out of state. Many of them, she said, are either clients that her former employer agreed to let her take with her or former D-Web Jazz clients.
"I really was not starting from scratch," she said.
D'Aloiso said that technically, SpiderCat Marketing is a home-based business, but she spends most of her time either meeting with clients or ensconced at various locations that have Internet access. She can often be seen with her laptop computer, she said, at Cyrano's European Coffee House in Northfield Center.
D'Aloiso said she was surprised when she learned she was receiving the award.
"I was shocked. I didn't even know I had been nominated," she said.
E-mail: jsaunders@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3169
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