Pacific Northwest Web Works

I strongly believe that no matter how small the business, everyone needs a website. But there also seem to be many things keeping small businesses from having a website, never mind a great one.

Is your business afraid of change, worried about cost, or something else? Shoot me a message and let's talk about what is holding your business back from a great website and see how I can help you get to where you want to be.

Schedule a call with me today: https://www.pnwwebworks.com/get-started/

Having a website is critical for small businesses. But many businesses do not even have one. Check out these excellent reasons why you need a website.

https://www.pnwwebworks.com/blog/small-business-needs-amazing-website/

You started your small-town business with a dream. You shared that dream with your family, friends, and neighbors. You brought success through way more work than you ever thought it would be. Is your website telling the story and sharing your dream?

Have you ever imagined the story of a business that started in 1908? It's fun to behold what stories can be told and dreams shared. Let me build you a website that shares your dreams and tells your story now and into the future. No matter if you opened in 1908 or 2023.

Get started today for as little as $125 / month.

https://www.pnwwebworks.com/design-care/

When was the last time you tried to get some new clients? Did you have to pull out your checkbook and sign your life away? Not all marketing has to cost you your first-born child. Here are 9 simple ideas that you can do to find clients without the huge costs.

https://www.pnwwebworks.com/blog/9-ideas-to-market-your-business/

I wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving. Don't go too crazy on the turkey or Black Friday deals.

I love helping other small business owners and enjoy hearing how my service helped your business grow.

If your small business needs some help, let's talk and see how I can help you achieve the same results.

https://www.pnwwebworks.com/get-started/

One thing I have struggled with over the years is photos. A photo is worth a thousand words, but the camera is forgotten in my pocket.

People love photos of a business behind the scenes. Photos of the staff having fun. Photos of the process of you making the product they love. It brings them into the story and makes them feel part of the team.

And the cool thing is, technology has come so far. The smartphone in your pocket can easily take photos for your business to share on social media. But it's not something we as business owners always think about all the time. Yet a photo today could give you the content you need tomorrow.

So join me in stepping outside the box, and starting to take more photos of our businesses in action. Post something and let me know in the comments your profile, and I will check it out and give it a like.

Growing your page is not always easy to do. It takes time and effort on your part. But by following some of these tips, it can be a little easier.

Read the article: https://www.pnwwebworks.com/blog/gain-likes-grow-facebook-page/

It seems everything is going up in price. So, I was shocked when I saw gas prices go down a little.

And through all this mess of raising prices, it got me thinking about how expensive everything is. Then I was at the bank the other day, and the business owner in front of me was talking about how she had to take money from her personal account to put into her business because the prices were going up so fast, that she could not keep up.

Back in 2020, we moved to a subscription model for our design process. And while it seemed like a perfect offer, it was still hard on some small businesses because the price was still too large monthly. So, starting in October, I shifted some things around.

I rolled out our lowest monthly plan, at only $125 a month, and combined some services. This means that for that low price, you get our care services so you know your website is always taken care of. You get the design service, with the built-in option to get a free redesign every 36 months. And now I have added my marketing services, so I can help you get your new website out to the world, and help you sort out keeping in touch with your customers through a regular newsletter.

Getting the basic tools to run your small business should never need a bank loan or some huge up-front payment. Want to see how I can help your business? Let's talk.

Book a call today: https://www.pnwwebworks.com/get-started/

I don't care who you are, there will come a day when you get rained on. It's inevitable that something goes sideways. Not everything will always go your way.

Things break. A meeting does not go as planned. Sales are down for the month. Having things go sideways is a fact of life. But how we plan and react are choices we get to make.

When we get ready to go to a market for my wife's candle business, there is a whole list of things that we need to gather. Sometimes we forget something. This last spring, as we got ready to go, a part of our tent broke. But we have a backup plan for those kinds of situations. I was able to pull out our repair parts and get it fixed. Crisis averted.

If we never planned for things to go sideways, we would not have had the spare parts to repair it. This would have led to last-minute scrambling to find a replacement tent or skipping the market altogether.

It pays to plan ahead. But don't just plan for the good things you want to happen. Step back and think about what could go wrong and how you can handle those issues before they stop you dead in your tracks.

Plan for rain in your business and in life.

In business, it always pays to keep your eyes open. And when it comes to competition, it’s even more true. This article goes over how to find your competition and gives you some ideas on how to handle others in your field, so you can continue to grow your business.

Read it now: https://www.pnwwebworks.com/blog/keeping-your-customers-from-competition/

It's been a while since I did an intro, and I have gained a few new followers.

I'm Alex, owner of Pacific Northwest Web Works. I specialize in helping small business owners in North Idaho and Eastern Washington get the website of their dreams without all the headaches of DIY.

I have been building websites for over 13 years. Over the years, my family has moved from Battle Ground, WA to the coast, back to Portland, and over to Priest River, ID. No matter where we have moved, my focus has always been on helping the little shops get seen on the web.

One thing most small businesses have in common is a lack of time. The time it takes to build a website is not small, and throwing "do it yourself" into the mix where you have to learn the tools first makes it even longer. My affordable Design + Care plans take the tech and guesswork out of getting a new website. One you will love sharing. One that produces results, not costs.

I love hiking and spending time outdoors with my family. In addition to my web design business, my wife owns a candle and soap business and our family lives on a small homestead.

Want to know more? Check out my website: https://www.pnwwebworks.com

It may seem kind of stupid, but there always has to be a place for fun.

I don't have any research to back this up, but here are my thoughts on this.

When you are in a bad mood, sales will dip. You project that emotion, even when you try to put on a face. When you are stressed and bring that into your business, it will affect everything and everyone you interact with.

When you bring joy and fun to your business, it will run better. People will feel your positive emotions and be drawn to you. They will want to support your business because you share a little joy in their lives.

It's a win-win for everyone. And while I don't expect you to have a perfect day every day (heck, I have had my share of really bad days), those days you bring joy and fun will go way better than those that you don't.

So go have a little fun today. Kid around. See what happens. Enjoy Life!

As we head into the cold winter months, now is the time to catch up on some reading.

Back in 2017, I wrote this article with five of my favorite marketing books, and I think these books are still just as relevant today as they were 6 years ago. While I have found more books that I love, a few of these I still read or skim through again and again even now. So many nuggets of good info.

Click the link to see what five books you should give a try this winter: https://www.pnwwebworks.com/blog/awesome-marketing-books-need-read/

I'm not opposed to big business. And sometimes you can't get what you need locally.

But I feel strongly about supporting your local businesses. They are the pillars of your community. Find small ways to help them. Order your business cards from the print shop down the street. Shop at your local grocery store.

When I chose to open a web design business, I knew I wanted to help my fellow small businesses. As Covid hit, things fell apart, and everyone's business suffered. The big box stores were okay, but the small ones had to bootstrap and improvise.

To help those businesses local to me, I switched from charging for an entire website at one time to a monthly small payment model. The plan was to help with cash flow for those small businesses. And here we are years later, and I still offer monthly plans.

Every small business needs a fantastic website. And it should not break the bank to make that happen.

If you are tired of DIY options and are looking for a fantastic website for your small business, let's talk.

https://www.pnwwebworks.com/get-started/

There has to be a reason for doing what you do. What brought you to want to run your business?

Your core "Why" is the driving force behind your business and is often one of the key reasons your customers choose you. For example, the core "Why" of my wife's candle business is to bring clean and safe candle and soap products into the homes of our customers, who just so happen to care about how clean those items are. They have tried conventional items in the past and can't deal with the health challenges that come from them.

By having a strong "Why" in business, you take much of the guesswork out of marketing. You know how you want to speak to your customers. You know who those customers are and where they hang out. And in turn, your customers get you and become devout followers of your business because they understand you.

So what is your "Why"? Let me know in the comments.

You hear it all the time. Each business calls itself unique. But how many of them actually are? And for that matter, is yours actually all that unique? Let's discuss some myths about being unique, and why these ideas are not unique.

https://www.pnwwebworks.com/blog/is-your-business-truly-unique/

Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas... The holidays are almost upon us.

Is your business prepared with enough products? Got your sales planned and ready to go live?

There is still time to get your business prepped and ready for the holiday season. Make a little time today to work out some of the details so you are ready to take advantage of the hype. No matter what type of business you run, there are opportunities available.

We have all been here before. You grab your phone and google a topic. Click on a site, hoping to find the answer, instead, you cannot find it. Google listed the relevant content in the description, but the page is a mess. You can’t click on things and parts are overlapping. Before long you are pressing the back button, and that site’s chance is over. It can be very frustrating trying to browse a site that is not built for mobile.

In this blog article, I discuss mobile readiness and how every site should be ready for the mobile world.

Click here to read the article: https://www.pnwwebworks.com/blog/website-ready-for-the-mobile-world/

Your website is not all about you. Instead, it should focus on your audience.

What do they care about? What are they looking for?

Take the time to research who you are talking to and focus your energy on making them feel right at home. Invite them in and speak to their needs. By doing this simple thing, you will make them feel comfortable and encourage them to want to do business with you.

Take a few minutes and review your website to see if it's speaking the right language.

Everyone has something they know about marketing. But some of the things that you may ‘know’ about marketing couldn’t be more wrong. Let’s uncover some of these myths and get you on the right track.

https://www.pnwwebworks.com/blog/9-myths-uncovered-marketing/

Does your website need one page or a thousand pages?

The truth is there is no set number of pages that any given website needs. What it really needs is the exact number it takes for you to convey the product or service, build trust, and provide a way for potential customers to connect with you.

Want to know more about the number of pages your website needs? Jump on my newsletter and read the full details in my Friday Thoughts: https://www.pnwwebworks.com/bio/newsletter/

We all assume that we have put together this perfect business. We also assume our customers will love purchasing from us. Those are incorrect assumptions. We also think the checkout or sale process is easy for any potential customer to navigate. But is it actually easy?

Our websites can be a huge problem or an easy road for potential customers to purchase from us. Walking through your website in your customer's shoes can help you fix little bumps before those bumps push that customer away.

So I encourage you to read this article and walk through your own business and website.

Tap the link in our bio to read the article.

You have a business to run. And your valuable time should be spent doing just that.

We'll handle your website and keep the leads coming. Without stress, large bills, or other worries required.

Learn more about our care services today: https://www.pnwwebworks.com/services/

One of the biggest problems in small business is feeling like you have to be like everyone else. All your competitors are on Facebook, so you need to. It's just the same with a website.

Yes, I think every small business should have a website. But the truth is a website might not be the right thing for your business. Before you start the process of getting a website, you need to plan out what your website is for. What will it do for your business?

Having a plan allows you to get the website you need to grow your business in the online space. Diving in without a plan means lost time and money that would be better utilized on other marketing efforts.

So what's the plan for your website? Does it have a true purpose, or is it just icing on the cake looking pretty?

Growing a blog. There are hundreds of ideas out there on how to grow your blog. It does not have to be complicated, but with so many options, people often freeze up from overwhelm.

To lessen the overload, this post covers seven of our favorite ways to grow your blog, engage customers, and expand your business. Connecting online is critical to continued growth, so creating content that others can engage with is necessary.

https://www.pnwwebworks.com/blog/7-tips-growing-business-blog/

Your domain name is key to your business. It's part of your brand identity.

Way too often, I run across companies that have lost control of their domain. They lose control because the person assigned to handle it has left the company. Or they had another development company who "purchased" the domain on their behalf.

The problem is when someone else takes care of your domain, they are the ones who own it. And should another company go out of business, you lose it. Recovering it is never easy, and sometimes it's downright impossible.

In this week's Friday Thoughts, I talk about domains and the importance of keeping your domain, and in turn your brand identity safe. Sign up by tapping the link in my bio and joining the weekly newsletter to learn more.