Throughout my childhood my dad was an avid hiker. He and my brother likely hiked literally 1000+ miles over the years of weekend ventures. Dad impressed upon us the importance of always carrying the “ten essentials” – which he taped as a check-list in our camping gear room. These included a compass, sun protection (glasses/sunscreen), extra clothing, flashlight, basic first-aid supplies, fire starter, matches, knife, and extra food. Since then, REI has updated this list into

On February 26, 2020, I celebrated my 60th birthday by inviting my closest friends and associates to join me for an evening filled with laughter, optimism, and hope. An amazing poetry writer spoke privately with all guests and wrote each a personalized poem. It was my gift to my friends. A gift that was meant to be personal and lasting. In spending time with my friends, they all shared their hopes and visions of the future. Everyone was bright-eyed and excited about the amazi

The first two blogs in this series have mostly concentrated on how to improve SEO – Search Engine Optimization, which is really about improving your attractiveness to search engine algorithms. This final blog is about improving your web-appeal to humans, which in turn makes your website “sticky,” which in turn improves your web’s SEO. What is the user experience when they visit your site? Is it a slow download? Can the user easily find what interests them? Do they poke around

It's Not Sexy Part two of SEO Made Simple is not sexy, but it is worthwhile understanding. Think of this as the vegetables you know you need to eat but detest doing so. To recap from the last blog, SEO typically has four components: Content, technical SEO, on-site SEO, and off-site SEO. But we will again refer to Leanne Wong’s approach: Content (keywords, relevance); authority (backlinks, guest posting, social links, outreach); technical (indexing, crawl-ability, broken links

Spoiler Alert: There is nothing simple about SEO. There. I said it. For those of you who are artists, bakers, and candlestick makers, this may provide some relief to hear that the struggle is real. But wait! Don’t skip this blog. It is still important to understand what SEO is, the components, and how it benefits you or your business. SEO is more than finding those magical key words that fertilize your website to make it bloom and grow. SEO is shorthand for Search Engine Opt

Many small and micro-business owners experience website fatigue and question maintaining their domain name and paying the annual hosting fees. After all, social media is easy and free, which makes it even more difficult to justify the cost of having a website. Besides, websites are more involved than most business owners can manage on their own so often requires contracting a web designer to do updates and it just gets too costly. Why even have a website when social media pag

June Stoyer, host of the Organic View radio show, was quoted as saying, “In a world full of roses, stand out like a dandelion in the middle of a green, plush lawn!” Be fearless to be yourself, even when your competitors seem to be stampeding toward the latest new hot thing in social media, advertising or product creation. Too often, entrepreneurs small businesses and non-profits look toward the giants for inspiration and direction for how to grow, brand, or promote themselves

When you see a dandelion do you see a weed to be eradicated or an opportunity for making a wish? My branding image of the dandelion was painted by Astoria artist, Catherine (Cat) Lloyd. Since adopting it as my logo, some well-meaning people have occasionally questioned why a business focused on marketing would choose a weed for its branding. While some see a weed, others see a field of opportunities. While some see an ugly prolific toxic plant, others see a beautiful flower

The baggage we carry in the stuff we own, the memories that weigh us down, and the guilt over all those un-finished dreams. Downsizing has been an emotional journey. Some days freeing. Other days an anchor dragging the soul into a deep hole. Recently, it feels unsettling and the task at hand impossible. This art is by Maren Gainey and perfectly illustrates where I'm at today and suspect many of you have also felt the weight of too much stuff in our lives. Physical stuff,

For those paying attention (which is likely only me), it has been nearly two months since my last Blog on June 15. Many of us have experienced periods where we become sidetracked from daily or weekly goals and sometimes those distractions completely derail our journey toward success. Looking around at the wreckage, it may seem impossible to figure out how to get back on track. That is ok! Maybe we were on the wrong track anyway. Or maybe the distractions had other benefits. O

This past year has been one of reflection for many. We are each experiencing the “stay home” mandates differently. Some are busier than ever while others have spent this time pondering their future and the changes they want to make or those that are being forced upon them. Whether overwhelmed or underwhelmed, one way to bring focus to your business and the decisions that lay ahead is to develop a mission statement. The process of writing one helps identify those things that a

My dad used to say, “The hardest part of any journey are the first two feet out of bed.” The older I get, the more truth there is to this statement. My blog has been neglected the past few weeks as I was finishing a journey of my own that was literally decades in the making:The completion of my bachelor’s degree in marketing. This particular journey began in 1978. Work, marriage, divorce and an assortment of other obstacles created a lengthy detour toward my goal. Along this

Is teaching an online course part of your pandemic revenue plan? If you have a specific skill or expertise to share, online courses are trending, especially during this era of stay-at-home learners. Even before the pandemic, online courses were becoming a popular way to learn a new skill or hobby. While teaching an online course may not replace your full-time income it can become a means for supplemental income and as a marketing tool that drives people to your website or

As the nation continues to shelter at home in order to flatten the curve for the COVID-19 virus, now is a great time to be creatively quarantined. Many artists and small businesses are using this time to find new ways to earn income. In many cases, it means learning social media and other digital skills you never had time to do before. Well, you now have the time! The next few blogs will focus on different options to expand ways to reach new and current fans or customers. We’

Is your goal to sell product? Find new clients for your services? Attract attendees to your event? Offer expert advice? If you answered yes to any of these questions than social media is right for you. But as a small business owner it is often hard to determine where to focus your energies and resources. To help narrow your focus, here are the top social media sites by the numbers. Facebook is clearly the champ by the numbers but a lot also depends on who you are trying to r

Good quality images sent with a news release can increase your chances of getting your news story published. If given a choice, I'd rather have an image with a caption published than a lengthy article. Why? Because an image truly is worth a thousand words. An image is memorable, attention-grabbing, and tells the story best. With this in mind, every small business or entrepreneur should strive to maintain an image library that can be used for inclusion with news releases, so