Small business websites must have an eye-catching design and compelling copy to make a positive first impression on visitors. Small business owners may not have the budget, skills or resources to make a website that stands out. With the right tips and tricks, however, you’ll be on your way to building stunning landing pages that make people stop and stare.
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WordPress Web Help is a 900 member San Diego-based Meetup.com group that offers a “a friendly and easy way for folks to get help with their WordPress website where we can share questions and answers, make progress on your ideas or goals, and have fun in the process.” Brass Ring CEO has taken on the role of organizer…
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As appealing as working for yourself sounds, there’s a reason why not everyone owns their own business: It’s hard…In this guide, we’ll help you sort out the main steps to starting a business., including how to write a business plan, get funding, figure out your business insurance and legal requirements, and more.
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Worrying about money can affect you in more ways than you may realize. New research has found that the risks of several significant health problems increase when people are worried about their financial situation. If you find yourself stressing about money, follow the tips in this guide to help reduce the impact on your well-being.
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Whether you’ve been in business for quite some time or your endeavor is relatively new, preparing for revenue ebbs and flows is key for long term profitability and growth.
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Updated Sep 22, 2022 Hiring outside marketing and advertising expertise can take your business to the next level – just be sure you’re choosing the right partner. Marketing companies take over a labor-intensive process while bringing a consultative approach to devising your marketing strategies. Determine whether or not a marketing company can handle the services you need before deciding if they’re a good fit for your small business. Identify your goals, secure references, and request a detailed written proposal before moving forward with any marketing company. This article is for small business owners considering outsourcing their marketing efforts to a
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Hootsuite has shocked their longest-serving customers with the kind of price increase that makes Martin Shrekli look benevolent. We look at what is driving the staggering 10x price increase for long-serving customers and the alternative tools available to social media managers and agencies
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What is SEO in 2020?
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) in 2020 is a technical, analytical and creative process to improve the visibility of a website in search engines. The primary function of SEO is to drive more unpaid useful traffic to a site that converts into sales.
We’re Constant Contact partners! If you’ve never created a newsletter email template, or are starting to wonder if your current newsletter needs an overhaul, this post is for you.
Whether you’re an old pro, or completely new to writing newsletters, the idea of creating a new, modern newsletter email template can be daunting.
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Are you intimidated by copywriting?
If your answer is yes, welcome to how 99% of marketers feel.
If your answer is no, are you some kind of wizard?
Copywriting is the reason why people buy something.
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Do you want to add push notifications to your WordPress site? Push notifications allow you to send notifications to users even when they are not visiting your website.
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These marketing strategies can help small businesses gain new customers and increase repeat business. Image credit: Shutterstock Kimberly de Silva Marketing is important to every business’ survival, whether it’s for the local business up the street or the mega-corporation that spreads across all continents. Unfortunately, for the former, marketing is often put on the back burner, as a small-business owner has so many other things to deal with. 1. Learn from your competitors As a small business, you should start by looking at what your direct competitors are doing in the area. Find out how they are attracting customers and, more
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(SSL’s have become more than a good idea…they’re just about “musts” with SERP implications. Here’s a good article from 2017 that still holds up. – Edward) By Colin Newcomer – Jan. 9, 2017 – Elegant Themes Blog Does the idea of improving your search engine rankings and offering your visitors better security sound like something you’re interested in? What if I upped the ante and told you it wouldn’t cost you a penny? SSL certificates secure your website’s connection and boost its rankings in Google. And now, thanks to services like Let’s Encrypt, you can actually get a free SSL certificate
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LAST UPDATED: JANUARY 9TH, 2018 | By Shaun Anderson What Are Meta Tags? Meta Tags are used by Google and other search engines in some not-so-obvious ways. QUOTE: “Meta tags are a great way for Webmasters to provide search engines with information about their sites. (They) can be used to provide information to all sorts of clients, and each system processes only the meta tags they understand and ignores the rest. (They) are added to the <head> section of your HTML page.” (GOOGLE) How Can I Check The Meta Tags On A Site? You can use tools like SEMRush (specifically the SEMRush Audit Tool), SiteBulb Crawler, DeepCrawl, Screaming Frog or SEO Powersuite Website
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THANK YOU! to the readers and good folk at La Jolla Village News for Brass Ring Multimedia’s FOURTH (2014, 2015, 2016 & 2017) Reader’s Choice Award for Best Web Design. It’s a great honor to be recognized by my home town’s newspaper for my work with small businesses in and around La Jolla. I grew up here and have raised my daughter in the beautiful town of La Jolla. La Jolla gets into your heart. I love that it remains my home as well as business home base. Getting to provide my services to clients here and throughout Southern California
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Greetings, all… One of the most popular WordPress forms plugin, the Fast Secure Contact Form plugin (which has been the standard for all Brass Ring Multimedia websites for years) has been removed from WordPress’s favorable status and listing quite suddenly and unexpectedly. Unfortunately, this was due to the actions of a nefarious individual who recently purchased the plugin from its creator…a fine developer who created, supported and evolved it for many years. We have been at risk since June when ownership changed. WordPress has now removed the plugin from its downloads and issued a “clean” version. The clean version will
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Today I want to talk to you about some ways small business owners almost always fail when it comes to their marketing because they don’t do three specific things. By Brad Swezey First, they don’t have a systematic plan in place to get new business. Second, they don’t have a systematic plan in place to stay in contact with the clients and customers that they do get. And third, they treat marketing as an afterthought. They spend all their time and energy thinking about their product, or maybe their office furniture or other things, but they don’t think about their
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Your stomach ties itself into a knot and your heart races nowhere as your mind sorts through every conceivable worst case scenario. We call it “fear” and our instincts scream for us to avoid whatever source it stems from. But as irrational as it often is, as silly as it sometimes seems when you witness it in others, fear is something we have to continually confront throughout our lives. Entrepreneurs especially—so steeped in uncertainty as they are—have to learn how to live with fear if they want to go far. Because perhaps the scariest thing about fear is how it
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Building a universally loved brand without engaging in price wars against competitors is not easy. But one brand that has achieved this seemingly impossible feat is Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). Behind Apple’s phenomenal success lies its strong product portfolio and design standards. But the company’s unparalleled marketing strategy has also played a crucial role in ensuring it stays on top of its game. According to an infographic created by web design company, The Website Group, Apple’s winning marketing strategy provides lessons for small businesses. by Shubhomita Bose In Marketing Tips You may READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE on Small Business Trends website The company created the infographic
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TOPICS IN THIS ISSUE: How Healthy Is Your Website? 27 Amazing Online Marketing Tactics for Small Businesses With Low Budgets, by Neil Patel How to Create a Social Media Marketing Content Plan in 7 Steps Copywriting: Text Structure Featured Small Business: TaxRelief.Info Download as .pdf
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I love small businesses. As a small business, there are many opportunities for growth with a smart marketing strategy. But you’ve probably noticed a problem. Most of the marketing tactics out there are expensive! A simple Facebook or Google ad campaign can cost tens of thousands of dollars. So how can a small business use online marketing without the massive budgets of multinational corporations? I’ve launched a few startups of my own, and I can tell you exactly what works. Here are 27 free or very inexpensive ways to market your small business online. By Neil Patel…you can read the
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Neglecting your website health means lost customers and lost income. Just like ignoring your body’s health is very risky and can result in you feeling lousy, ignoring your website health is something that risks your business success….that also feels bad.
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By Thomas Kragelund, CEO & founder of Pixelz High quality product photography is essential for apparel ecommerce. For many customers, your product images will determine whether or not they buy your product. But essential doesn’t have to mean expensive. The difference between professional and amateur is talent, equipment, and experience. If you have an eye for photography and a modest budget, follow these 7 steps to benefit from our experience and create beautiful apparel product images. Continue reading or you can read the entire article HERE at Shopify.com 1. Prepare Your Garment Your products should look their absolute best in your
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Take advantage of a limited-time opportunity to find out what’s really going on with your website.
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Want to connect more with your target audience? Wondering how to deliver relevant social media content consistently? Planning your social media content delivery keeps your marketing on-message, making it more likely that you’ll reach your business goals. In this article, you’ll discover how to create a social media marketing content plan for your business. By Warren Knight (You can read the entire article HERE on Social Media Examiner’s website.) #1: Understand How Your Ideal Customer Moves From Awareness to Conversion Whether you’ve been in business for 24 hours or 10 years, defining your target customer is a crucial part of
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It really pays off to think about the structure of your piece before you actually start writing. The structure is the skeleton of your text: it will help the reader grasp the main idea of your text. In this post, I will give practical tips to help you set up a nice and clear text structure. Read more: ‘why text structure is important for SEO’ » By Marieke van de Rakt, Dec. 12, 2016 How to set up your text structure Think before you start writing. Take a piece of paper and write down what you want to write about.
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Is your website ready to make you look great online? If you’re waiting to go “mobile-ready,” you’ve waited too long. Brass Ring can help! – Edward Increased traffic plus Google search rankings stress importance of mobile friendly websites Post-Brexit implications for UK business San Francisco, CA and Dublin, Ireland; 1st November, 2016: Internet usage by mobile and tablet devices exceeded desktop worldwide for the first time in October according to independent web analytics company StatCounter Its research arm, StatCounter Global Stats finds that mobile and tablet devices accounted for 51.3% of internet usage worldwide in October compared to 48.7% by
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A great big THANK YOU! to the readers and nice folks at La Jolla Village News for Brass Ring Multimedia’s THIRD (2014, 2015 & 2016) Reader’s Choice Award for Best Web Design. I grew up in La Jolla, went to Muirlands & La Jolla High and my daughter Amethyst (also Muirlands & LJHS alum) and I live here still. Our town is very special to me and recognition like this is a thrill and an honor. I consider myself very fortunate and am grateful that I get to continue to live and serve my small business clients from our lovely piece
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Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve. – Napoleon Hill. Napoleon Hill’s Twelve Great Riches of Life 1. Positive mental attitude 2. Sound physical health 3. Harmony in Human Relationships 4. Freedom from fear 5. The hope of achievement 6. The capacity for faith 7. A willingness to share one’s blessings 8. A labor of love 9. An open mind on all subjects 10. Self discipline 11. The capacity to understand people 12. Financial security (Note that the financial part come the last. As it is basically a reflection of what a person has become.) 12
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60 day warranty (we take care of changes, fixes, etc. while we coach you to work on your site.)
*Not included. (Typically $40-60, we’ll discuss that before you purchase)
| By purchasing from Brass Ring Web Design, you confirm that you (the client) agree to adhere by these terms and conditions of these terms of service. These terms of service represent an agreement between you (the client) and Brass Ring Web Design (the developer) |
| 1. Time for Payment – All invoices are payable upon receipt. The grant of any license or right of copyright is conditioned on receipt of full payment. Any extras must be paid prior to website launch. |
| 2. Default in Payment – The Client shall assume responsibility for all collection of legal fees necessitated by default in payment. |
| 3. Estimates – If this form is used for an estimate or assignment confirmation, the fees and expenses shown are minimum estimates only. Final fees and expenses shall be shown when invoice is rendered. The Client’s approval shall be obtained for any increases in fees or expenses that exceed the original estimate by 10% or more. |
| 4. Expenses – The Client shall reimburse the Developer for all expenses arising from this assignment, including the payment of any sales taxes due on this assignment and shall advance $TBD (if any) to the Developer for payment of said expenses. |
| 5. Progress Reports – The Developer shall contact or meet with the Client on a mutually acceptable schedule to report all tasks completed, problems encountered, and recommended changes relating to the development and testing of the digital media. The Developer shall inform the Client promptly by telephone upon discovery of any event or problem that may significantly delay the development of the work. |
| 6. Changes – The Client shall be responsible for making additional payments for changes requested by the Client in original assignment. However, no additional payment shall be made for changes required to conform to the original assignment description. The Client shall offer the Developer the first opportunity to make any changes. |
| 7. Designee -The Developer shall designate (Edward A. Sanchez) and the Client shall designate one individual as the only designated persons who will send and accept all deliverables and receive and make all communications between the Developer and the Client.Neither party shall have any obligation to consider for approval or respond to materials or instructions submitted other than through the designated persons designated in “website planner form”. Each party has the right to change its designated person upon 5 days written notice to the other. |
| 8. Hosting – The Client authorizes the developer to access their website hosting account for purposes of ascertaining status, settings along with making any necessary changes needed for purposes of this project. |
| 9. Website Maintenance – The Developer agrees to provide the Client with reasonable technical support and assistance to maintain and update the Website after launch during the Warranty Period of 60 days at no cost to the Client. Such assistance shall not exceed 1 hour per calendar month. After the expiration of the Warranty Period, the Developer agrees to provide the Client with reasonable technical support and assistance to maintain and update the Website on the Internet for an annual fee of N/Afor a period of N/A years after the last day of the Warranty Period payable thirty (30) days prior to the commencement date of each year of the Maintenance Period. Such maintenance shall include correcting any errors or any failure of the Website to conform to the specifications. Maintenance shall not include the development of enhancements to the originally contracted project. |
| 10. Confidential Information – The Developer acknowledges and agrees that the source materials and technical and marketing plans or other sensitive business information, including all materials containing said information, which are supplied by the Client to the Developer or developed by the Developer in the course of developing the digital media are to be considered confidential information. Information shall not be considered confidential if it is already publicly known through no act of the Developer. |
| 11. Return of Source Information – Upon the Client’s acceptance of the Golden Master, launch of website or upon the cancellation of the project, the Developer shall provide the Client with all copies and originals of the source materials provided to the Developer. |
| 12. Ownership of Copyright – Client acknowledges and agrees that Developer retains all rights to copyright in any original artwork created by developer. |
| 13. Ownership and Return of Artwork – The Developer retains ownership of all original artwork, in any media, including digital files, whether preliminary or final. The Client waives the right to challenge the validity of the Developer’s ownership of the art subject to this agreement because of any change or evolution of the law and will return all artwork within thirty (30) days of use. |
| 14. Cancellation – In the event of cancellation of this assignment, ownership of all copyrights and the original artwork shall be retained by the Developer If, for any reason, client should decide to cancel this order, 15% of total shall be retained by designer until such point as work commences. Once work commences, if assignment is cancelled, fee owed will be based upon actual work completed. (See rates above) |
| 15. Ownership of Engine – The Developer retains ownership of all engines used in the production of the product unless those engines are provided by the Client. |
| 16. Credit – The Developer shall be given credit in footer of site in this form: WordPress Website by Brass Ring Web Design (incl. Link) |
| 17. Alterations – Any electronic alteration of original art (color shift, mirroring, flopping, combination cut and paste, deletion) creating additional art is prohibited without the express permission of the Developer. The Developer will be given first opportunity to make any alterations required. Unauthorized alterations shall constitute additional use and will be billed accordingly. |
| 18. Limitation of Liability – Client agrees that it shall not hold the Developer or his/her agents or employees liable for any incidental or consequential damages which arise from the Developer’s failure to perform any aspect of the Project in a timely manner, regardless of whether such failure was caused by intentional or negligent acts or omissions of the Developer or a third party. Furthermore, the Developer disclaims all implied warranties including the warranty of merchantability & fitness for a particular use |
| 19. Unauthorized Use and Program Licenses – The Client will indemnify the Developer against all claims and expenses arising from uses for which the Client does not have rights to or authority to use. The Client will be responsible for payment of any special licensing or royalty fees resulting from the use of graphics programs that require such payments |
| 20. Delays -The Developer will make every good faith effort to meet or exceed any mutually agreed deadlines. It is understood that this is a collaborative process & client agrees to provide completed questionnaire(s), text & image content within a reasonable period of time. We consult with you throughout this process so you’ll have guidance. A typical website project takes 6-8 weeks. If an excessive amount of weeks pass and content is not received for us to work with, do understand that reopening files & getting reacquainted with aged projects poses an extra challenge &likely increase overall increase in time expenditure. For this reason, a late fee may apply. Understand that delays can also negatively impact our other active clients’ projects. We will discuss creating content for you or hiring out content creation to help you move forward. |
| 21. Excessive Contact – We are in business to be of service & do not apply strict limits to the amount of support we give to our clients. The client understands that the developer must ensure it is able to provide quality service to all its clients, and that no clients should be disadvantaged by the behavior of others. Training time: Typically up to 3 hours of 1-on-1, in person or by phone after launch to ensure designated staff is able to carry out website content management, etc. Coaching time: During 60 day post-launch warranty, we will support trainee(s) to ensure confidence. Typically, 3 total hours but we are dedicated to getting you confident and capable by the end of your warranty period. |
| 22. Dispute Resolution – Any disputes in excess of $5000.00 (maximum limit for small claims court) arising out of this Agreement shall be submitted to binding arbitration before the Joint Ethics Committee or a mutually agreed upon arbitrator pursuant to the rules of the American Arbitration Association. The Arbitrator’s award shall be final, and judgment may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof. The Client shall pay all arbitration and court costs, reasonable attorney’s fees, and legal interest on any award of judgment in favor of the Creator. |
| 23. Acceptance of Terms – Payment for this system indicates acceptance of above terms & conditions. |
