Sep 24
Y’know what really burns my butt (besides a flame about 2 feet high)? It’s when web designers employ tactics that essentially intimidate small business owners into using their services. Or, worse yet, hold them hostage through their domain and hosting accounts. So I’d like to share these tips on how to protect yourself from having that happen to you.
Here are three ways you can ensure you won’t be pushed around by a web designer:
Aug 27
Earlier this year, I encouraged small business owners in my area to share their tales of success with me and my community LIVE at Journey to Success 2014, a charity networking event that also happened to commemorate my biz anniversary. About a dozen stories were submitted; many will appear as articles here on YourWebChick.biz. Here is the second of three storytellers who were chosen for Journey to Success, Dr. Steven Greene of mAke the grAde:
The journey to success… it’s a process, that’s for sure. And the process has layers…heck, the layers have layers…but in the end, I learned that there is outward success and there is inward success.
I was trained as an educator; in addition to classroom teaching, I started tutoring privately. As a result, my company – mAke the grAde – emerged. My mission was simple: to help as many people as I could to learn and succeed. Initially, my journey created a great deal of success for my clients in a variety of ways. Some got better grades or simply felt better about themselves. Others were able to get into competitive colleges, experience less stress at home or achieve a greater sense of self-confidence. I was enjoying that “outward success” – the business was lucrative and my clients were all very happy. In fact, 100% of my new business was referral-based. By all measures, everything was going according to plan.
Aug 04
It begins and ends with YOU. What makes YOU valuable? Most assessments show you how you see the world – this one shows how the world sees you…am I tickling your fancy yet?
Sally Hogshead, branding expert and leading authority on the science of fascination, launched her new book How the World Sees You on July 1.
To celebrate all of the new insights she’s collected over the past decade of research, she started Project Fascination, with a goal to show 100,000 people the value of their personalities.
To help accomplish this, she has given me a special code to share with 100 people – a code that will get you into her Fascination Advantage® assessment (a $37 value) for free! This has never been done before, and will only last until we reach 100,000 assessment takers!
Jul 25
I invited local small business owners to share their entrepreneurial tales with me and my community LIVE at my event, Journey to Success 2014. I received about a dozen submissions, many of which I will be sharing with you. Here, the first of three who were chosen to speak at Journey to Success, Kathy Dickson of Vital Body Wellness:
You could say my journey has been a circuitous one. I’m really an artist at heart, purpose-driven…but at age 20, I found myself a single mom with no marketable skills. So, I went to college to study Industrial Engineering (really?). Hey, it was the 80s — women in technical fields were in high demand, and baby needed a new pair of shoes (not to mention, we both needed a roof over our heads)!
Once I got my degree, I pursued a career that paid well but led to numerous health issues because I was doing work that I didn’t love. Pain is a huge motivator for me, so I sought out natural solutions: exercise, massage, herbs, nutrition, and mind-body modalities. As my symptoms began to fall away, I became more resilient and vibrant again. I shared the things I learned on my journey back to health with whoever would listen.
Fast forward 25+ years…I found myself in a development and leadership role for a corporate wellness program that was dramatically changing employees’ lives. This incredibly rewarding, meaningful work changed the trajectory of my life. I became certified in Thai Massage, then went to school for holistic nutrition and became a Certified Health Coach. I started Vital Body Wellness – Holistic Health and Nutrition in 2012. Now I live a rewarding, purpose-driven life helping people create vital bodies so they may live vibrant, and healthy, happy lives.
Kathy Dickson founded Vital Body Wellness in 2012 because she is passionate about wellness and helping others create healthy, happy, balanced lives. She is a Certified Holistic Health & Nutrition Coach as well as a Certified Thai Massage Practitioner who received her training at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in NYC and the Institute of Thai Massage in New Jersey.
Read more about Kathy’s journey, connect with her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter and check her out on LinkedIn!
Jul 09
So, I’ve been doing what I do (web design, social media & e-mail marketing for small business) full time for two years. I didn’t get here without tons of support from my community (not to mention my clients!). So, I wanted to show my appreciation by throwing a party. To celebrate my one-year anniversary, I did a small little something out of my home and only my clients were invited. This year, I wanted to go BIGGER. I wanted to celebrate my community and THEIR accomplishments. I wanted to support other small businesses. And I wanted to give back. And so, Journey to Success: Two Years in the Making, a charity-networking-storytelling event, was born!
It was a nearly sold-out shindig (not too shabby for my first bash at this type of…bash…if I may say so myself!) and I had a great response when I put out the call for storytellers who wanted to share their entrepreneurial tales at my live event. It wasn’t easy, but from the dozen or so submissions I received, I selected three to share their personal Journeys to Success live. (For those of you who missed it or are not local, the three live storytellers’ narratives will be published here over the next several weeks, along with some of the other submissions.)
How I Supported Other Small Businesses and How You Can, Too!
In addition to putting some of my fellow small business owners in the spotlight as storytellers and giving others the opportunity to network, I tried to find a variety of ways of supporting other small businesses in the process. Here’s what I came up with:
I firmly believe that by supporting one another, small businesses and entrepreneurs are able to compete more effectively with our larger counterparts. Now more than ever, it’s essential that we work together!
Award-winning web professional Bonny Clayton, aka Your Web Chick, offers web design, support and maintenance for small business, with a specialty in WordPress.
A Tech Geek with a Creative Streak℠, she helps small business owners and entrepreneurs everywhere establish and maintain their online presence. She is committed to serving them according to their needs, whether that means “giving them a fish” or “teaching them to fish”.
How do you, in ways large or small, support other small businesses in your community?
Please share in the comments below!
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