Why Your Family-Owned Business Needs a Website

Your family's story deserves a stage that never sleeps. Every family business has something that sets it apart—heritage, values, and a personal touch that big corporations can't replicate. But without a website, you're keeping that story to yourself when potential customers are actively looking for businesses just like yours. What's stopping your family business from having the always-open, always-professional online presence that your competitors are already using to win over your potential customers? The Reality Check: Where Your Customers Are Looking Here's what's happening right now: 76% of consumers research a company's online presence before visiting in person. Even if they plan to visit your physical location, they're checking you out online first. Think about your own behavior. When you need something fixed, a service performed, or want to try a new restaurant, where do you look first? Exactly. Your family business needs to be where your customers are searching—and that's online, 24 hours a day. Why Family Businesses [...]

2000domain(.net)-When Registrars Go Bad

If you've ever registered a domain, there is a high probability that you're dealing with folks in a far off, perhaps even exotic location. Australia, India or perhaps even as far off as Philadelphia. Allow me this short history: I don't know if this makes me "old school' (I'm not "OG"...you know, "Original Geek"), but while I didn't begin my internet experiences on a hacked Commodore 64, I do recall the painstaking days of domain registration and management that involved returning delicately prepared text-based emails. It was a nerve-wracking process where a misaligned "X"  could result in an error of some sort. And worse, the edits that can now be seen in minutes, really DID take 24-48 hours to propagate. Beyond that, domains were a whopping $100, and then finally down to $50 a pop. Only after some sort of "ICANN deregulation" was put in place were there options beyond what is now Network Solutions. For some time--that was [...]