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Tuesday Tip – Delegate for Success
Tuesday Tip: Delegate for Success – Trusting Others as Your Clients Trust You In today’s competitive digital landscape, small to medium business owners and non-profit managers are often faced with the challenge of juggling multiple roles, from operations to finance to marketing. While wearing many hats is a testament to their entrepreneurial spirit, it can
Social Media for Business and Non Profit Class Notes
Social Media for Business & Non Profit Class Notes We were invited to lead a dynamic class for the Conifer Area Chamber of Commerce about how small businesses and non-profits can use social media to help grow their business. Although these notes do not cover all the content we discussed, we thught others might find
Tuesday Tip – Website Makeover – See it Through Your Customer’s Eyes!
Tuesday Tip: Website Makeover – See it Through Your Customer’s Eyes! Ever walk past a store with a cluttered window display or a display that is simply too sparse to show you what the store offers and think, “No thanks, I’ll keep browsing”? Websites can be the same! For today’s Tuesday Tip, we’re talking home
Tuesday Tip – Managed Website Hosting
You know the saying, “You get what you pay for.” That is VERY true with website hosting. The managed hosting we offer our website clients can save your website from malware, complete take-over and worse! We see weekly articles about plug-ins that are installed and being used on websites and the plugin has been compromised.
2024 Update –Is New Technology Making Your Email Go to Spam?
Updated for February 2024! This issue is impacting more people now that even stricter email protocols are in place. Bulk mail tools such as Email Octopus, Constant Contact and Mail Chimp are now requiring you make changes to your CNAME record and DMARC record to be able to send messages out. Please note, while this
Kindness Matters… And Can Grow Your Business
I had multiple meetings lined up in Denver one day last week so I was working in a coffee shop between them. As I finished a phone call and started typing away on my laptop, a young lady came over and asked if I was using a Mac. I told her it was a PC
How Do We Work? Wild Iris Marketing Customizes a Plan for Your Business
Wild Iris Marketing works with each client individually. We do not have canned solutions or plans. We do not try to fit your business into a certain “package” of offerings. If you hire a landscaper to make your yard into an oasis, they do not simply offer you two trees, 100 square feet of lawn,
Picture Perfect: Finding Legal Images for Your Marketing
Why is it important to use the right images on your website, social media platforms, and other marketing materials? Thoughtfully chosen and carefully placed, they have the potential to enhance the appearance, increase the usability, and improve the overall experience of your website. Most importantly, the correct images can tell the story of your brand
What are Website Hosting, Managed Website Hosting, Domain Name Registration, DNS Services, and Email services, and how do they all relate to each other?
To run a business with a digital presence (Website and Email at a minimum), you need a number of services, and unless you yourself are an internet company, most of them are services you don’t want to undertake doing for yourself. Generally, you will pay another organization to perform them reliably for you. Here, we
What Does the New WGA Contract About AI-Generated Content Mean for the Use of AI-Generated Content in Various Situations?
Why does this matter to businesses? You might be asking why a marketing company is writing a long-form blog post about AI and intellectual property rights. Quite simply, AI tools are exploding across today’s world, with pundits alternatingly announcing the AI-driven salvation or destruction of all we hold dear. Writers, performers, artists and other creators
Step by Step Instructions for checking for and applying updates in all major web browsers (desktop and mobile)
When a new security flaw or exploit is discovered, browser creators like Google (Chrome), Apple (Safari), Mozilla (Firefox), Microsoft (Edge) and others generally issue updates to correct the problem very quickly. Unfortunately, web browsers don’t automatically check for or download and apply updates continuously, which means there’s a window of time after the flaw becomes
Facebook Account Theft – Warning
“Your account will be deleted.” “Your page will be disabled.” “Your account has been locked.” “Your page has been reported by someone else.” You open Facebook (or other social media channels) and see one of these or countless other dire warnings. What now? We are seeing a record number of attempts to perform account theft,
What is AI and How Can I Use it in My Business? (Part One)
Chat GPT. Google Bard. Bing Assistant. Meta’s LLaMA. These are names that are sending shockwaves through different professional and educational communities around the globe because of the potential they have to “turn the industry upside down.” But here’s the thing… As powerful as these tools are, we have to remember that they are only as
“My website is down! Can you fix it?”
“My website is down! Can you fix it?” The answer is, it depends. Long story short, this morning there was an Internet outage in Silicon Valley. Our Silicon Valley datacenter provider an update immediately: We are currently experiencing a partial outage. Our network engineers are actively working with our upstream providers to restore connectivity as
Do I Have to Pay for Facebook and Instagram?
We are hearing questions from our clients about the rumors, speculation and concerns about Facebook and Instagram starting to charge for usage. We wanted to take a few minutes to explain what it might mean for you and why it is happening. The short answer is No, you will not have to pay for Facebook
#ShareTheLove 2023
We are one week into February, so it is time for our annual #ShareTheLove campaign. This is when we encourage you to support businesses you appreciate with a review on their Google My Business, Yelp, Facebook, or other online platforms. Did you know online reviews are more important right now than ever before? Google and
Managed Hosting to the Rescue
Article written by Wild Iris Marketing team member Chris Hanson. Why do you want Managed website hosting from Wild Iris Marketing? Because when things go wrong, we are here to help you make them right. Recently we repaired a large, Colorado nonprofit organization’s website (who has Managed Hosting through us) that had inadvertently had all
Wild Iris Marketing — Announcement
Article written by Wild Iris Marketing team member Mindy Hanson. Wild Iris Marketing grew out of the company known as AlphaPixel Reach. AlphaPixel Reach founder Mindy Hanson settled on the original name when she started doing client work, however, it was intended to be a temporary name until the perfect brand was decided upon. Well,
Should I Use a QR Code for My Business?
Article written by Wild Iris Marketing team member Mindy Hanson. Should I be using QR Codes for my business? If so, how can I use them efficiently and effectively? Think about how people will interact with your QR Code and decide if it will actually be easy and beneficial to them or if you are
SEO and Keyword Ranking on the Playground
Article written by Wild Iris Marketing team member Mindy Hanson. I tend to see analogies to digital marketing all over the place. Recently I was at a park watching kids play on the merry go round and teeter totter and realized that they reminded me of clients trying to manage SEO and keywords. I know
What Happened to My Facebook Posts from SEMRush?
Article written by Wild Iris Marketing team member Chris Hanson. Over the past few months, Facebook (now called Meta) has been testing a new Business Manager upgrade that they promise has all sorts of wonderful improvements. Rumor in the industry was that the upgrade would have been completed last night, May 8th, 2022. Interestingly, this morning,
#ShareTheLove 2022
February is here. That means lots of chocolates, flowers and other Valentine’s Day goodies for your loved ones. We are excited to begin our annual #ShareTheLove campaign and encourage you to support businesses you appreciate with a review on their Google My Business, Yelp, Facebook, or other online platforms. But why are online reviews more
One Message, Many Platforms
Article written by Wild Iris Marketing team member Mindy Hanson. Your time is valuable. When you sit down to write a blog, newsletter or social media, you want the content to reach as many people as possible. Have you considered that the topic you choose to write about can serve multiple purposes and be used
New Year Digital Marketing Check Up
Article written by Wild Iris Marketing team member Mindy Hanson. The start of a new year is full of new possibilities and opportunities. Resolutions to eat healthier, exercise, get more sleep, and spend time with family are all high on our lists of personal priorities. We buy more produce, join a gym, make a doctor’s
What Makes You Stand Out?
Article written by Wild Iris Marketing team member Mindy Hanson. Today I gave a presentation to a large client group office about ADA Compliance. (Yes, your website has to be ADA Compliant! Want to learn more? Read this blog.) After my presentation, I asked if anyone had questions. One of the gentlemen in the group
Apple’s New Privacy Practice and What it Means to You
Article written by Wild Iris Marketing team member Chris Hanson. By now you’ve probably heard about new privacy changes Apple is making, and how they will drastically impact digital advertising and even the whole Internet. There are a lot of opinions being thrown around about the situation, and it’s not a simple situation to explain.
Protecting Your Brand’s Intellectual Property from Theft and Infringement
Article written by Wild Iris Marketing team member Kelsey Johnson. With the rise of technology in today’s society, digital marketing is, more than ever, at the forefront. As new technology is being adopted by consumers, digital marketing is thriving exponentially. Let’s face it, building a brand is no easy task! It takes hard work, dedication,
What is the Facebook Distribution Score on My Business Posts?
You may soon see a new datapoint on your Facebook business page. Distribution Score is rolling out for all posts (not just for videos where it has been available for longer) over the last few days so you can probably see it on each recent posting to your business page. According to Facebook, “The Distribution
Stand Out But Not TOOOOO Far Out
Written by AlphaPixel Reach team member Mikayla Dudek. Creative and out of the box is okay but only if it fits your message and brand. The family whose patriarch brought us the Nintendo game console have a very creative site! https://y-n10.com/ Websites: How Out of the Box is Too Out of the Box? Today, websites
When it Comes to Followers, Think Quality Over Quantity
Written by AlphaPixel Reach team member Mikayla Dudek. In today’s world, one that seems to revolve more and more around social media as time goes on, it’s easy to get caught up in what our social media says about us online- and more often than not this means focusing heavily on the number of followers
Is New Technology Making Your Email Go to Spam?
This is a new issue that we have been called on by multiple people to fix in the last week. Your emails may well be going directly into the spam filters of people you are trying to communicate with. Although this may feel like a technical blog, we want you to have the important information.
#ShareTheLove
If nothing else, 2020 has shown the world just how important it is to care for each other. It showed us the necessity of being concerned for each other’s welfare. And most importantly, it taught us just how fragile our local businesses can be, and just how much they contribute to our well being. I
You Get What You Pay For – Discount Web Hosting
You are currently happy with your website host because they only charge you a few dollars a month. Great! You save money and we all want to do that in business. But, what is it REALLY costing you? Although many of the economy hosts are fairly reliable they are known to be quite slow. This
Social Media Audits: Why They Really Matter
Blog is written by AlphaPixel Reach tem member Mikayla Dudek. You’ve probably heard of a social media audit, and you’ve probably been recommended to get one performed for your business, but do you really understand why they are so valuable? A Social Media Audit is composed of several elements, but we’ve outlined a few to
A New Way to Look at a Drip Campaign
Toss a stone into a still pond, and you can watch the resulting waves propagate out from the point of impact until they silently reach the shore. This is how a lot of businesses look at the internet. Specifically, at digital marketing. Every single one of us has a glassy still pond into which we
Stop! Drop What Isn’t Working! Roll Into the Future!
As COVID continues to impact our business and our daily lives, it is becoming more and more essential that your digital marketing efforts are working to boost your business. When this all began in March, many restaurants did not need online ordering systems in place because the vast majority of their clients were dine-in. Now,
7 FREE Things YOU can do NOW to Improve Your Digital Marketing
This article appeared in a recent Chamber of Commerce newsletter and we thought you might find it helpful even if you are not a member of you local chamber. Read through all 7 steps and see how many you can take care of this week. If you need guidance or assistance, please do not hesitate
Change is in the Air — Time for a Digital Marketing Change?
“Autumn asks that we prepare for the future —that we be wise in the ways of garnering and keeping. But it also asks that we learn to let go—to acknowledge the beauty of sparseness.” ~ Bonaro W. Overstreet It is the first day of Fall. Leaves may have already started to change color around you,
Do Not Navigate without a GPS – On the Road or in Digital Marketing
When you are traveling from one place to another, there are multiple ways you can try to navigate to your final destination. You can drive randomly hoping that at some point you’ll end up in the right place but that’s usually not the best strategy. You may encounter traffic, run into special events that have
Is Your Website ADA Compliant or are You at Risk?
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law in July 1990 and remains one of the nation’s most comprehensive pieces of civil rights legislation. It prevents discrimination and guarantees that people with disabilities are granted the same opportunities as everyone else in terms of participating in day to day American life. Most of us are
Help Others Out — Leave Them a 5 Star Review
It’s easy to dismiss Google and social media if you don’t consider yourself an on-line business. The problem with that line of thought, however, is that you’re missing out on the digital word of mouth that can occur from your clients who ARE on-line. That’s why so many brick and mortar businesses focus a portion
Be Heard Over All the Noise
Right now, everywhere you look, there is a firehose of information streaming at you. Television, radio, newspapers, and the Internet are all awash with news and updates and warnings and, unfortunately, hoaxes. But the fact remains that, as a business, it is of the utmost importance that you maintain an up to date source of
Venti Digital Marketing Menu
This blog was inspired by a conversation with a barista at Fluid Coffee Bar in Denver. If you go by, let them know I sent you. Everyone loves to go to their local coffee shop and order a coffee, just the way they want it. Digital Marketing is similar to a coffee order. Do you
SCAM – Link Farms do NOT Bring You Clients
We wanted to share an email a client received recently. We felt it was important to bring it to the attention of our clients, friends and followers, because it’s like so many other “too good to be true” emails and offers that are out there. You know, those things that people desperately want to be
Business Growth Planning for 2020
Happy 2020! I am not big on New Years Resolutions for myself but I do like to set goals for my business for each year. This morning at the Conifer Chamber of Commerce meeting, President Jodi Dolph gave a presentation about growing your business. She talked about how you have to really think and plan
What is Digital Marketing? Presentation for Conifer Chamber of Commerce
AlphaPixel Reach works with small to medium businesses ad non-profits to enhance their digital marketing and expand their Reach. Thank you to the Conifer Area Chamber of Commerce for inviting us to present at their October breakfast meeting. The slideshow here is from the quick overview talk Mindy Hanson gave at the meeting. We look forward
How is Digital Marketing Like the Autumn Landscape?
It is autumn. That means the leaves are changing, the temperatures are cooler, the holidays are approaching faster than we may want to admit and soon the snow will be flying. But what does the autumn mean to your business? For some of you, business will soon increase with holiday shoppers. For others, things may
What is Facebook for Business? Evergreen Chamber of Commerce Presentation
Thank you to the Evergreen Chamber of Commerce for inviting us to present at their September breakfast meeting. The slideshow here is from the talk Mindy Hanson gave at the meeting. Please feel free to contact us for a free consultation on your business’ digital marketing.
Tuesday Tip, April 9, 2019
Don’t “fall” for the sales pitch from a big agency. Work with a smaller firm who takes the time to get to know you and create custom content for your business.
Tuesday Tip, March 26, 2019
Let your digital marketing blossom this spring. New and fresh ideas are all around you! #TuesdayTip
2nd Annual Share the Love Campaign
One of the more popular meme themes of 2018 was taking ANY problem and having a 40-something year old woman named Karen demand to speak to a manager about it. That really got me to thinking about how people rarely, if ever, demand to speak to a manager when something GOOD happens. The same is
Organic Isn’t Just For Groceries Anymore
One of the hardest things to do, especially when your business is just starting out, is to build your online credibility. These days, people seem to only speak up when they are unhappy, so the only time managers get called over, or reviews get written is when someone has a complaint. Getting your happy clients
What Can You Learn from Website Analytics?
In the early days of the internet, when “Under Construction” gifs and the < blink > tag were in full use, at the bottom of most web pages you could find the earliest form of website analytics: The Hit Counter. This simply counted how many times the page was loaded by anyone. With the
How Large is Your Pebble? How Far Reaching is Your Ripple?
As young children we each dropped pebbles into water and watched the concentric circles work their way out. Growing larger and larger. Maybe the pebble would make a twig move or give a water bug a short ride. Maybe the rock would be large enough that when you dropped it in, it splashed you and
Remotely Speaking
There was a time in my career when I was working with a group spread out between seven offices in five countries. Even the small team I managed sat in two corporate offices and two home offices. So even on those days when I went in and sat at my assigned desk, I was pretty
Tuesday Tip, August 21, 2018
How can your newsletter reach a wider audience, save you money on postage and printing and be greener all at once? Find out in today’s Tuesday tip. Tuesday Tip from AlphaPixel Reach How can your newsletter reach a wider audience, save you money on postage and printing and be greener all at once? Find out
Following Your Navigational Charts and Avoiding the Dangerous Winds of Scope Creep
During the early 1620s, the King of Sweden started a war with Poland-Lithuania. He commissioned a ship that would become the flagship of his navy, the Vasa, which was to be one of the most powerfully armed vessels in the world. While the King was away at war, the keel was laid, and modern mythology
The Social Media High Wire
Starting your own business is an amazing balancing act. Investments of your own time and money towards the eventual payoff can be overwhelmingly intimidating. You have the skills and the know-how, but how do you let people KNOW that you know so they know to use your services? The Internet has changed and shaped the
Message in a Bottle
I’ll send an SOS to the world I’ll send an SOS to the world I hope that someone gets my Message in a bottle “Message in a Bottle” – The Police Just like you can’t intentionally create a “viral video” despite demands to the contrary, you also can’t take a message, put it into a
Two Minute Tuesday Tip, May 20
Find what inspires you! Find what inspires you! Use that inspiration to drive your marketing efforts. This short video is from Friday but Yellowstone does not have sufficient cell signal to post. Posted by AlphaPixel Reach on Sunday, May 20, 2018
Two Minute Tuesday Tip, May 9
Diversify your messaging! Posted by AlphaPixel Reach on Tuesday, May 8, 2018
Coffee vs Houses
Great perspective from AlphaPixel Reach writer Clay Robeson. The goal of every business is to stay at the top of the “go-to” list that clients (and potential clients) think of when they need your services. Being on the tip of someone’s tongue when they or someone they know needs what you provide is the whole
Tue Minute Tuesday Tip, On a Saturday
Expand your reach by being an active and involved member of your community! Two Minutes Tuesday Tip, On a Saturday Networking is a key element in building your small business. Today we worked with fellow members of the Conifer Area Chamber of Commerce to clean up our community! Posted by AlphaPixel Reach on Sunday, April
Paying it Forward to Non-Profits
We love working with non-profits! We work with many organizations to enhance their online presence, update (or start from scratch) their website, expand their social media, grow their event attendance and increase fundraising! We are coming up on our two year anniversary of AlphaPixel Reach, although everyone on our team has been in the industry
The Future for Facebook and Business
We have all seen the headlines. Facebook made some decisions about releasing user data that have come into question and have the social media giant under close scrutiny. So, do you need to leave Facebook personally or as a business? We say NO! As a platform, Facebook is not going to go away. There
Tuesday Two Minute Tip, April 3
I am stepping out of my comfort zone to bring you Tuesday Two Minute Tips! Coming to you from Bean N Bakery Bistro in Conifer with a Tuesday Two Minute Tip about expanding your reach using Facebook Groups. Tuesday Two Minute Tip, April 3 Coming to you from Bean N Bakery Bistro with a Tuesday Two
Grammar in Social Media Presence
Welcome to S. Brett. Johnson, our guest Blogger. Brett has a passion for all thing grammatical and is a valuable member of the AlphaPixel Reach writing team. —– Grammar. There aren’t many subjects that make people’s eyes glaze over and roll back in their heads like grammar – tax law being the exception. Nonetheless, our
Question from a Reader
We love it when someone asks a question that we can answer as a blog. In this case, Matt J. asked us, “Who are your clients? What kinds of businesses do you work with? Can we work together even though I am in another part of the country?” The answer is, we work with small
Tuesday Two Minute Tip, Negative 6 Degrees!
I am stepping out of my comfort zone to bring you Tuesday Two Minute Tips! Today, we talk about how to stand out in the crowd! Two Minute Tuesday from -6 Degrees Coming to you live with this week's Two Minute Tuesday Tip. Be creative to stand out from the crowd. Brrrrrr! Posted by AlphaPixel Reach
Share The Love
As a small business owner, I can tell you, online reviews are a phenomenal asset when it comes to recruiting new clients. People can read what others say about my business and get a perspective from people I have worked with on how I work and what I do well. When someone posts a review
Navigating Facebook Changes
Facebook is making changes. You are hearing talking heads in the media tell you how it is going to impact your business and personal newsfeeds. But what does it all REALLY mean? How can you continue to reach your Facebook audience? We have some tips and tricks to share. Provide GOOD content. It is more
Building Your Online Presence From the Foundation Up
Imagine you are at home, preparing a delicious meal and it is cold and snowing outside. You may not think about how the foundation, walls, doors, windows and roof are not only keeping the elements out but also allowing you to be productive and accomplish something indoors. If even one element in the house is
2018 Business Resolutions
At this time of year, people are talking about their resolutions for the New Year. Eating healthy, exercising, making time for others and saving money are all common themes. But what resolutions do you have for your business and how are you going to take them from a resolution to reality? We can not tell
Small Business Saturday
Many of our clients are small businesses whom we have helped them put together promotional campaigns to reach potential and current clients as we enter the holiday season. Many of our campaigns kicked off with announcements about today, Small Business Saturday. As I sit here contemplating what Small Business Saturday means to my clients, I
Well Over One Million Dollars Raised!
Ten years ago I attended a fundraising event for my son’s school. I enjoyed the evening and greatly appreciated all of the work the volunteers were putting in that night. However, when the final tally was announced, I was shocked and saddened to know that all of that work had yielded such low revenue. I