Mike is the CEO and Owner of Sperling Interactive with over 15 years of website design, photography, marketing, and e-commerce experience. He built Sperling Interactive with his wife from the ground up, starting as a small office in his home with only a few employees and clients to one that has 20+ employees and more than 600 clients served all from our headquarters in Salem’s Historic District.
Mike grew up in Baltimore, Maryland where he went to a magnet school for the arts and began his study of photography. From there he went on to Rochester Institute of Technology in New York where he got his degree in Photojournalism and Communications. Before founding Sperling Interactive, Mike worked his way up from staff photographer at the Eagle Tribune Publishing Company to the lead operator and manager of multiple websites for daily and weekly publications.
Mike has a deep commitment to community involvement and civic engagements. In the past few years he and members of our team have become involved in programs that assist the youth, homeless, food insecure, and families at risk through programs at Lifebridge, Paddle for Plummer, LEAP for Education, Harborlight, Bridgewell, and the Enterprise Center at Salem State.
Ever the optimist, Mike believes that there is never a problem that can’t be solved with a bit of ingenuity and perseverance. It’s this positive, can-do attitude and know-how that allowed Mike to be recognized as Small Business of the Year 2019, by the Greater Beverly Chamber of Commerce.
Workplace conflict is an unavoidable consequence of dealing with differing personalities and work habits in a workplace. Effectively managing conflict is arguably the hardest thing a manager has to do. Unfortunately, as a manager, if you’re going to do your job, you have no choice. Since avoiding workplace conflict is a near impossible feat, be prepared for how to handle these...
Are you about to be promoted to a leadership position in your company, or have you just gained employment in your first management position? First of all, congratulations! Being in charge of a team is exciting and requires juggling many things at once. If you have never been in a leadership position you may be a bit intimidated at the...
Is your company active on social media? Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram are quickly becoming not just a place to chat with friends and find out the latest gossip, but to do some serious marketing for business. Unfortunately, the growing number of social media platforms and the millions and millions of posts daily can be more than...
Every entrepreneur makes mistakes along the way when making their business dreams become a reality. Some rookie mistakes may be easily overlooked and may not be more than a blip on the radar. Unfortunately, other mistakes may be costly both in a financial sense or may harm your reputation as you attempt to make your business grow and mature. Knowing...
Being an exceptional speaker is a wonderful skill, but sometimes even that skill does not engage the audience the way planned. Business speakers giving their “pitch” have limited minutes to gain the audience’s attention and hold it. Getting an audience interested and listening can be a struggle unless you put into practice some of the tried-and-true speaking tips from expert...
Owning a small business can be a major juggling act. Being a leader, chief financial officer, office manager and all the other roles that go into making a successful business can be hard. Keeping all the “balls in the air” can be a tough juggling act, which can cause mistakes – sometimes serious ones. Mistakes in the human resources area can...
When was your business website designed? Was it the late 1990s or possible the early 2000s? Websites built and designed even just a few short years ago may not have the capabilities and look of a modern website. Your business website is a window into your company where clients, consumers, employees, and vendors can learn about you and interact with...
Starting a new business can be exhausting with the intricate planning, making financial decisions, and filling out the appropriate legal paperwork and licenses. But, embarking on a new business venture can be exhilarating as well. How do young entrepreneurs walk that fine line between being exhilarated and exhausted? Experts say that they kick off their start up with some common...
Growing a successful business is dependent on so many components from securing adequate financing to providing excellent customer service. On top of the priority list for a first-rate company should be hiring and retaining a great team of employees. Attracting the right talent to your business can be a challenge, but there are certain techniques that can be employed to recruit...
A large part of being a successful small business owner is managing the financial accounts including: invoices, billing, expense reports, financial reports and reconciliations. For many business owners this part of the job can be stressful and may cause you to want to ditch the confusing spreadsheets and financial reports in search of something better. What you may be looking for is...
