Who can afford to throw away money? That’s why we study our ROI (Return On Investment). And when it comes time to plan our business budget we have to wonder: If I invest hundreds of dollars on my marketing, will I make that hundreds of dollars back – and more – to make a good profit? Or are marketing professionals just taking my money?

Creative people resist having to do “business” and business people are suspicious of anything that sounds “creative.” But the most successful entrepreneurs are creative people who embrace business and business people who think creatively. Are you using both sides of your brain to give your business the best chance at success? Is your website using both sides?

Meineke used that catchphrase years ago for their mufflers, but it’s certainly been applied to many other products since then. You may say the same for your next website—and then be bitterly disappointed. Or completely satisfied. So how can you know what’s “a lot” to pay for a website?

Here’s a quick breakdown of what to consider when planning your website so your budget goes toward the options that are most important to your business.

You know how it happens – you make grand plans on New Year’s Eve to completely overhaul your health, your house, your business. You start out strong but by February, you’re losing steam and by March your grand plans are merely guilty memories.

Improving your website is a goal that will pay you back nicely this year, so don’t sabotage your efforts by biting off more than you can chew. Taking these baby steps towards improvement means you might actually accomplish your goals –encouraging you to take a few more!

This article was updated on 3/13/2019 with the article entitled "Getting Started with Do-It-Yourself SEO."

At 11:00pm last night I was notified that one of my servers was having a problem. I run a couple of site monitoring tools and Simon was the one that picked up the problem first. I got online and started a remote desktop session to the server and it connected, which normally when one of my servers isn’t running properly a RDC will fail. However, it connected and presented me with the “I’ve just had an unexpected reboot problem screen” and wanted me to tell it what happened. Well at this point I had no idea and thought about the irony of that particular screen as I filled in “unknown” into the restart reason box.

This article was updated on 3/6/2019 with the article entitled "Getting Started with Do-It-Yourself SEO."

Paying for Search Engine Optimization?
Getting what you paid for?
Wishing you could afford SEO?
Trying to do it yourself?

Or are you just ignoring the whole SEO discussion entirely?

Read on for a few simple tips that help you figure out what you have, what you need and how to make it happen.

Susan and I get back to the Home Offices of Sprocket Websites every couple of months. We have been on a whirlwind tour of the country the last couple of weeks. Orlando, Phoenix, Chicago… However, it looks like it is going to slow down a bit in December, but November isn’t over just yet and I’ve got a couple of road trips coming up so I’ll keep you posted.

Susan and I attend this event over the last several days in Phoenix, AZ. This was a professional conference for Susan, but for me it was a research exercise to check out the happenings in the pharmacy industry.

I checked out the exhibit hall to see what was going on. There were lots of drug manufactures, companies that produce pill counting machines and blister packs.M/p>

So going from DotNetNuke World 2011 #DNNWorld in Orlando Florida to the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists Annual Meeting 2011 #ASCPAM11 is quite a difference experience indeed. I’m here this year at #ASCP to check out the exhibitors, study marketing trends, and get a feel for what is happening in the world of consulting pharmacists. Susan is here with me at this show as it is really a professional conference for her. Be sure to check back here for more information on how/why Sprocket is interested in the wonderful world of pharmacy.

Ok, so here is a quick tip to small business owners who own customer-facing businesses.