Joe Sernio owns Shoreline Media Marketing, Asbury Park.
Question: When did you decide you wanted to be an entrepreneur?
Sernio: I think deep down inside I have always been one. I did a lot of acting/producing in my past and having that control of where you can take yourself was always an amazing feeling. Now having the control on where you can take a company is even more exciting. When I opened Shoreline I had the chance to build something special, the chance to brand something on my own. I could brand and build Shoreline from scratch. From day one I knew what I had to offer and what clients needed.
Q: Why did you start this business?
Sernio: I started this business in Belmar out of my living room. Later I moved to Brielle later still built my first office in beautiful Asbury Park. Since then I have moved two times. The latest is where I built my own custom-designed office. The office is fully updated with state-of-the-art tools for meetings, webinars and more. I went from 300 square feet to over 2,500 and one amazing team.
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Q: Were there any challenges that made you think twice about striking out on your own?
Sernio: Everyone is going to face challenges. Sometimes we fail. It is what you do after that that counts. Failing for me is school. It teaches me what to do, what not to do and how to grow. I have won eight acting awards and none of those would have been possible without failing a few times. Shoreline is an award-winning company. It would not be if we did not strike out and learn from our mistakes. Now we are the most recognized web and search-engine optimization (SEO) agency out there. It has helped me provide the best service for all size businesses. Those people that say, “I never failed” need some new teachers.
Q: If you could do it again, what would you do differently?
Sernio: Nothing at all. Everything that has led up to this point has taught me how to grow, be honest, respect and deliver quality work.
Q: What’s the best business advice you have ever received?
Sernio: A very good friend/entrepreneur once said “I would rather be completely exhausted from the hard times which breed success than well rested from achieving nothing.”
Q: What personality trait helps you the most?
Sernio: Honesty, quality and trust. It is our tagline and I use it daily. I will never not be honest with someone. If I cannot help, I will tell them. If I do not want to help, I will tell them. My team delivers quality work, some of the best around and you can trust everything that we do. We know what people need to make that return on their digital investment.
Q: What’s the hardest part of the job?
Sernio: Trying to please everyone. We can get you results, but sometimes it takes a bit for clients to understand the time-consuming process and work that goes into each and every single account. Some want results overnight. We can guarantee certain things but some things we can’t. That is where the honestly, quality and trust comes in. We need them to know that we are being honest and the only thing we want to do is deliver quality services so they can trust they will get a return on their investment. At the end of the day I know that our team is the best and will deliver the best. Some things may take time, but for the clients and their businesses, it’s all worth it.
Q: The easiest?
Sernio: The work and services we perform and making clients extremely happy are easy here. I take pride in both of those. I did endless amounts of research on what were the best tools, best practices, best anything and I implemented it even better. We perform weekly calls, mailings and more. We even require monthly meetings, whether on phone or video. We encourage our clients to stop in if they are in the area. We have built this for them.
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Q: What surprised you the most about running the business?
Sernio: How easy it would be to fail if you were not honest. In only seven years I have watched a number of companies go under because of poor management and poor services. It surprises me that there can are companies out there that take someone’s business or money and do not perform the services they were hired to do. We interact with a lot of businesses that have gotten burned in the past, at times by extremely large companies. It’s about the quality of work, not the quantity.
Q: Describe your most unusual customer, job or work experience.
Sernio: We have some people just stop in the office with an invention or idea that they want to market. Those are the best. The latest was a self-cleaning toilet seats and an app that they wanted to build that detected mood swings.
Q: How would you like the business to grow and change?
Sernio: I would like to show more franchises what we offer for the franchise industry. Right now we can build and optimize any website, whether a small or medium business or a franchise with multiple locations. I would like to help brand and build those new franchises.
Q: In one sentence, tell us why customers should go there.
Sernio: Honesty, quality and trust 24-7.
Q: What do you love about the community where your business is located?
Sernio: Asbury Park, “where everyone knows your name.” It’s the greatest spot on the Jersey Shore.
Q: When you leave work, do you leave the office behind, or are you always in contact?
Sernio: I’m 100 percent always in contact. You can get me on my email or cell any day anytime. Every single client will tell you that. It wasn’t me who built this business, it was my clients. They are the driving force behind Shoreline, along with my amazing team. On Sundays I love my macaroni time with mom, but I can step away.
Q: What do you do in your off time?
Sernio: Work. if I am not working, I usually try to take my summer weekends and head to Lake Wallenpaupack in Pennsylvania with my family and friends. If not, I travel to the West Coast. As crazy as this sounds, I use California to clear my head. Whether it is a hike up to the Hollywood sign or just relaxing by a pool, it’s my go to place. I do like to travel as much as I can. Family, friends and keeping busy are all very important to me.
Q: When you leave the business behind some day, what will you do?
Sernio: I think I would always fall back to my acting/producing. It’s a true passion of mine aside from building websites and ranking on Google. It’s what my heart loves. You can wake up and be anyone you want or produce something that tells an amazing story. My one goal in life is to have a book of my own — my life, my struggles, my journeys. Other than that I have a few businesses that I am branding and building for future plans.
Small Business Spotlight runs Mondays; visit www.app.com/smallbusiness. If you’re a small-business owner in Monmouth and Ocean counties interested in taking part in this Q&A, contact business producer Dennis P. Carmody at dcarmody@gannettnj.com.
SHORELINE MEDIA MARKETING
Describe your business: Shoreline offers professional and award winning SEO (search engine optimization), website development and social media marketing services.
Owner: Joe Sernio
Location: 607 Lake Ave., Asbury Park, and a Los Angeles office in Hollywood
Phone: 888-591-8205
Website: www.ShorelineMediaMarketing.com
Hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays; 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekends
Founded: 2010
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