The great beast that is the internet is a tricky business tool to maneuver, especially for those of us who aren’t as computer literate as others.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great asset to all of us; however it can be slightly daunting to sit back and look at the scope of what you’re trying to accomplish with your business.  Where to start?!  - is a common and completely reasonable question.  There are so many paths to take to make sure your business is a success, but figuring out which will have the greatest payoff can take some good old fashioned trial and error. 

By answering "The Five Ws" journalists provide the complete story to their readers. If you haven't discussed "The Five Ws" with your web developer, you may not be providing a complete website to your visitors. And an incomplete website with vague goals won't ever perform the way you want it to.

What are your answers to these five questions about your website?

Community classes, seminars and YouTube webinars say you'll make money with social media in just minutes a day.

Then reality hits.

How can you keep control of your marketing in the face of such disheartening obstacles?

When you hire experts for your social media, web design and other marketing, remember these are partnerships and you’ll need to hold up your end of the deal to get the most out of your investment. Here are a few ways to help your partners help you.

While we certainly don’t advocate turning toward the Dark Side of the web, spammers also employ perfectly ethical techniques that legit businesses fail to use themselves. You’re just as smart as a spammer -- learn from their experience.

You know those teeny little graphics that show up in your browser window next to the title of the web page you’re looking at? Technical and/or graphic folks may already have this covered, but for many of us, creating a favicon for our own website is pretty far down the to-do list. If you haven’t given it much thought before, maybe it’s time to reconsider this little doodad.

Festival and fair season will soon be here. Advertising to catch the tourist’s eye is a must, as are articles in the “weekender” section of the newspaper, radio Public Service Announcements and community calendars. But all of those messages should refer back to one location for complete details – your website.  Keep in mind these 5 points to create your best festival website.

Talk about your low-hanging fruit! Before you spend another dollar on advertising, check to see that your business is listed everywhere it should be. And once you’ve looked into the obvious places, take some time every so often to find the less obvious listings. You’d be surprised at how directories can help boost the visibility of your business – for free!