If you’re thinking of getting started in real estate, be sure to go into it with your eyes open. Use this guide to avoid the most common mistakes and take the most direct route to career success.

5 steps to getting started in real estate

Take a strategic approach to starting your real estate career by following these steps:

• Lay the groundwork.
• Write your business plan.
• Choose a brokerage.
• Get the right tools.
• Shore up your support system.

Ready? Let’s go!

1. Lay the groundwork

As with any new venture, doing your homework before you dive in will put you in a stronger position for success. Real estate is sometimes referred to as a “game,” but this is a serious business that requires a bit of preliminary research and legwork.

Learn the difference between a real estate agent, broker and REALTOR®.

Decide which career path you want to pursue over the long term, as this will affect requirements and fees. Gain insight here.

Find out what’s required to sell real estate in your state

Requirements vary from state to state, so be sure to check your state’s licensing requirements. Then:

• Fulfill pre-licensing requirements. Coursework can take 60 to 180 hours to complete, depending on the state.
• Pass the real estate exam.
• Submit your license application to your state real estate board (fees vary by state).
• Pay for membership in your local Multiple Listing Service (MLS).

Identify learning opportunities

When you’re getting started in real estate, the pros recommend classes or workshops on lead generation, lead conversion, contracts, negotiation, and listing and buyer skills. Check out Kaplan Real Estate Education for an overview of topic areas.

Start building your network

Real estate veterans say personal contacts are the most valuable asset a new agent has. This isn’t a career for introverts (but shy people can still network). Use these tips to build your network as you’re getting started in real estate:

• Let your personal networks know about your impending career change.
• Join and/or follow professional organizations like the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, National Association of Realtors® and your state’s real estate association.
• Get involved with local / civic groups like Rotary and BNI.
• Participate in online groups for real estate professionals, like the Agents Online forum and Raise the Bar in Real Estate Facebook group.

2. Write your business plan

Improve your chances of success with a solid business plan. Follow these steps to create a business plan for your real estate business (a must for anyone seeking a business loan).

Set short- and long-term business goals

Make sure these goals fit with SMART model — specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.

Set financial goals and targets

Be sure to include these financial projections in your business plan.

Estimate expected expenses and income

Depending on your market and cost of living, you need at least 35 to 50 percent of your annual budget already reserved in savings before your first year in real estate. Many agents report working for one to two years before making a profit.

• How much money do you have saved?
• If less than 35 to 50 percent of your current annual income, how will you come up with the difference? Options include loans from family, friends or your local bank, a part- or full-time job (while building your real estate career), and a working partner who can make up for the missing income.

Define your ideal clients

You can’t be everything to everyone — and defining your ideal client will help you create the segmented messaging and marketing campaigns that lead to higher conversion rates.

3. Choose a brokerage

New real estate agents are required to work under a broker for a period of time. Ideally, this will provide you with a mentor who can show you the ropes in your local market. A few things to ask about while shopping around for a brokerage:

• Commission split (expect to pay more for better mentoring)
• Training provided?
• Office space provided?
• Support staff provided?
• Advertising provided?
• Team structure

Need help choosing the right real estate brokerage? Find tips here.

4. Get the right tools

There are a few key tools that all the best real estate agents swear by. You’ll need all of them when getting started in real estate — and to keep your business growing.

A website with a blog

First, get an industry-specific domain name like .house or .forsale. You can attach that custom domain to a professional email address, website — even your Facebook page!

Learn more about domain names that are perfect for real estate pros.

Next, build a website.

While real estate is still a face-to-face transaction, clients will want to search for houses on their own before reaching out to you. Make it easy for them by including an easy-to-use search tool on your website. Read these articles to learn more:

• Overview of real estate website builders
• Tour of the best real estate website designs
• WordPress real estate plugins
• WordPress real estate websites that work

Finally, add a blog to your website. Long before they actually call a real estate agent, buyers and sellers look online for helpful articles. Blogging on topics related to buying and selling puts you squarely in their path.

Active social media accounts

Social media is an invaluable tool for building your networks and getting the word out early and often about your listings. Set up profiles on networks including:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Pinterest

Pros say Facebook can be especially useful when getting started in real estate.

A large personal network

Yes, we’re back to the network. That’s how important it is.

• Create a list of close friends and colleagues who trust your work ethic. Aim for 200 contacts, including their physical addresses and emails.
• Come up with a plan for communicating your real estate news and opportunities, including email marketing using a professional email address.

Newsletters can be an effective way to communicate with clients and prospects. Find an easy-to-use email marketing tool that works well on mobile (may I suggest GoDaddy Email Marketing), and start creating share-worthy real estate newsletters.

Local knowledge

Veteran real estate agents say this is one of the most important skills you can develop. Drive through the neighborhoods in your town, looking at available homes and the neighborhoods they’re in. The more you know, the greater your value to buyers and sellers.

5. Shore up your support system

When you’re just getting started in real estate, you might need to put in some long hours to get your enterprise off the ground. If you’re a parent of young children, that means a strong support system will be critical. Make sure you have reliable help at home so you can give your all in the evenings and weekends when you’re called to show houses or write offers.

Real estate agents who are willing to put in the work can make a comfortable living. What’s more, they really enjoy what they do. According to REALTOR® magazine, real estate ranked №2 in a 2016 study that examined employee satisfaction across 13 industries. Isn’t it time you loved your job?

Feature image by: Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash

Originally published at Garage.

Until recently, most art sales took place in person — either in a gallery, a studio or at an auction house. No longer. More and more, art buyers are turning to the internet to search for and buy works of art. Here’s your step-by-step guide for how to sell art online and take the virtual scene by storm.

How to sell art online in 4 steps

Ready to bring your artwork to the virtual world? Follow these four steps to get started.

• Make a plan.
• Use your own website.
• Start relationships with future buyers.
• Sell art online at a marketplace.

Art sales aren’t limited to in-person interactions. Create a strong online presence to showcase your work, and your beautiful designs could find a new home.

1. Make a plan

OK, this might not be your strong suit, but a little planning will help you choose where and how to sell your work online. Knowing the who, what and where of selling your art will inform every other decision you make. Skip this step at your own peril.

• Decide what you’ll sell — original work only, limited edition prints, print-on-demand or commissions?
• Define the type of people most likely to buy your work — including age, income, aesthetic and favorite social media platforms.
• You’ve already done most of the work — now just pull it all together into a business plan. You’ll need this if you ever apply for a business loan or grant.

Once you’ve nailed down these details, it’s time to talk platform.

2. Use your own website

Having your own website takes more effort than creating a listing with an online marketplace or POD company. But for the serious artist, this isn’t an either/or situation — it’s a both situation. If you hope to build a loyal following, you’ll need your own website to sell art online. You can use your marketplace listings as a way to bring people to it.

The process for launching a website to sell art online is fairly straightforward:

Name it

A domain name becomes your web address and anchors your public image.

Build it

To create your own independent store and sell art online:

• Choose an online store builder like GoDaddy GoCentral Online Store. Look for a site builder that’s mobile-friendly, accepts all major credit cards and has an SSL certificate, search engine optimization (SEO), social media and email marketing built in.
• Buy an SSL certificate to safeguard payment information (free with GoCentral Online Store).
• Set up a merchant account/payment gateway (included with GoCentral).
• Figure out how to offer shipping (takes two minutes with GoCentral).
• Link your new site to your social media pages (yep — built into GoCentral).
• Select an email marketing tool (also included with GoCentral).

Fill it with work

This is the important part, so take your time. Like in a gallery, how you present your work affects how you sell art online:

• Create a killer header image, along with some text about what makes your work special. Google loves words, so be your most outgoing self.
• Write About content that tells your story in the first person, describing what experiences or beliefs drive you to do what you do (and sell art online).
• Add high-quality photos of work for sale. Fully describe each piece, using words that can be understood by anyone — even those without any art understanding.
• Set your prices. Not sure what to charge when you sell art online? Get insight on using prices of comparable works by other artists to set your prices.

Bring art buyers to it

Don’t wait for buyers to stumble across your website. To sell art online, make sure your site is easy for search engines to find and read. You can do this yourself or let GoCentral’s built-in search engine optimization wizard do it for you.

• Add keywords to your web pages.
• Prepare your images for search engines.
• Keep buyers on your site by making sure your images load quickly.

Editor’s note: Get to the fun part faster with GoCentral Online Store’s pre-built templates. Your art will be beautifully displayed in no time.

3. Start relationships with future buyers

Although the tools to sell art online have changed, it’s still very much about relationships. The better you are at starting and nurturing relationships, the more loyal customers you’ll attract.

Here are some tips on using social media and email to strike up new friendships online:

• Start collecting emails. Actually getting people onto your site is hard, so you don’t want to let them slip away without leaving an email address. Most good online store builders come with a signup form already built in. Get tips on how to get visitors to leave you their email addresses.
• Get active on Instagram. This is possibly the best way to be discovered by collectors, followed by Pinterest or Facebook. Don’t think you need social media? According to a recent Artsy survey of collectors on Instagram, more than half have bought works from artists they first discovered there.
• Start a blog. Posting articles of interest to collectors and other artists is a great way to widen your reach. Not sure what to write about? Get ideas here.
• Set up a series of automatic emails. With a product like GoDaddy Email Marketing (this tool is included with GoCentral Online Store), you can set up a campaign to keep your customers in the loop.
• Consider doing podcasts. (If not your own, ask to be interviewed on someone else’s.)
• Film some YouTube videos. (Same as above.)
• Participate in art groups on Facebook and LinkedIn.
• Do Facebook Live broadcasts at gallery openings.
• Ask to be featured on art blogs. From interviews, to guest posts, to featured artist and more, these are just more ways to get your name out there.

Relax. You don’t need to do all the things on this list. The important thing is to pick one network and dive in. The artists who sell art online the most will post regularly, telling readers about their lives, as well as their art. When fans comment, they respond. Consider it the Friday night gallery opening of the new millennium — a cocktail party that never ends.

4. Sell art online at a marketplace

Selling through an online marketplace ‎is a little like selling through a gallery, in that the site owner gets a cut of the profits. How much of a cut depends on the level of service the marketplace provides, as well as their reputation and client list.

There are three broad categories of online art marketplaces where you might be able to sell your work — uncurated, print on demand (POD) and juried.

As mentioned above, it’s best to consider your listing in these marketplaces primarily as a way to drive traffic to your own website.

Uncurated open marketplace

Open to anyone, these sites often charge a commission or listing fee. The downside? It’s easy to get lost in the crowd, or for customers to get distracted and drift away from your listings:

• Saatchi Online. Anyone may list paintings, collage, photography, drawings, sculptures, mixed media, prints or installations for sale. Opening an account is free, although artists pay for packing. Saatchi keeps a third of every sale.
• Abstract Art Gallery. Abstract artists who list here receive a big chunk of the price when their work sells. You’re responsible for driving buyers to your page and shipping. Open to artists anywhere in the world.
• Amazon Art. Setting up a shop is free if you expect to sell fewer than 40 items per month, but costs a monthly fee if you sell more than that. Currently only open to 2D artists (sorry sculptors, potters, and glass or wood artists).
• eBay Collective allows artists to open stores, choosing from three plans with three different monthly fees. You’ll also pay listing (insertion) and sales (final value) fees.
• Etsy allows you to build a store for free, although there are listing, transaction and payment processing fees when you sell something.

Print on Demand (POD) providers

These services allow you to make money by selling selected images printed on paper or a variety of other objects, ranging from mobile phone cases and mugs to pillow cases and T-shirts. Might pay the electric bill.

• DeviantArt. An art-centric social network where artists working in all media can create free galleries of their work, earning most of the price on digital downloads through their Premium Content plan. Includes a POD service that handles printing, framing and shipping of prints, posters and canvases.
• ArtPal. Artists in all media can sell art online with free galleries (but unless you drive people to it, few might find it). ArtPal also offers a POD service where they handle the order, printing and shipping. You’ll pay a modest commission on any original work you sell here.
• Fine Art America. This POD provider has a premium plan that allows you to set up your own website for print on demand sales. You set prices. Open to visual artists and photographers only.
• ImageKind. Sell framed giclee prints at markup prices you set; ImageKind handles all the ordering, printing, framing and shipping. Memberships start from free and go up from there. In addition to your printing markup, you make a commission when a buyer orders matting and/or framing.

Curated online markets

Curated marketplaces are selective about who they represent, so many don’t accept submissions to sell art online. Just like a real gallery, these marketplaces help prepare your work — set prices, post photos, and write descriptions of the work, as well as the artist’s biography.

• Daily Painters. The “first and largest juried gallery of daily painting artists,” Daily Painters offers two membership options, with the more exclusive option reserved for those with a unique painting style, an active blog and two to three new paintings “most” weeks. Works are linked to the artist’s website or blog, where buyers can make their purchase.
• Minted. Getting in requires winning one of Minted’s monthly art and design challenges, which are crowd-judged by Minted’s international community of artists. Winning designs are produced and sold as art, home décor and stationery, with the artist receiving a portion of each sale.

Sell your art online

Selling art online isn’t simple, but it isn’t a mystery either. Just follow the above steps to sell art online (or anything, for that matter). Make yourself visible — on social, on art marketplaces and on your own website. Respond when people reach out to you. Keep checking things off this list — a website today, Instagram tomorrow, an art marketplace listing next month — and in time, the world will be yours.

Originally published at Garage.

If you’re someone who sells to local customers — such as a coffee shop owner, dog walker, or beautician — there are a few easy ways to get more work. Most are simple — some are even free.

How to get more local customers

These five strategies can help your business attract more customers in your geographic area:

• Get listed online.
• Review your website.
• Get busy on social media.
• Put decals, magnets or vinyl wraps on vehicles.
• Buy online ads.

Now, let’s tick through the checklist for finding more local customers.

1. Get listed online

Most local shoppers look online for everything from pedicures to carpet cleaning. Make sure your business appears in all the major web listings — or claim the listing they already have for you. Remember to update your listings whenever your address, phone or hours change.

• Google My Business
• Bing
• Yelp
• Better Business Bureau
• Angie’s List
• Merchant Circle

You can find a complete list here.

Get your business listed everywhere, all from one place, with GoDaddy Local Business Listings.

2. Review your website

Make sure it works on smartphones and tablets. More people are using their mobile devices to search for local services like shoe repair, dry cleaning, restaurants, and even attorneys. If your website won’t work on their smartphones, they’ll move on to one that will.

Copy and paste your site’s URL (the whole string that shows in the browser window at the top of the screen) into Google’s Mobile Friendly Test tool. Fail the test? Next steps:

• Hire a web developer to change your website’s code, if you are unable to do it yourself. How much this costs will largely depend on your website’s platform (e.g. WordPress).
• Build a new website that’s responsive (it “responds” to the user’s device, whether that’s a laptop or a smartphone). Bonus points if the site can be built on a smartphone.

Make sure it speaks Google’s language. Search engines like Google are your friends, since many of your future customers will use them to find your shop or service. Learning how to make search engines pay special attention to your website is well worth the time and effort.

Use WordPress for your website? Add the Business Profile plugin. Business Profile is a free add-on that helps Google find and display your business’s name, number, directions, hours and more. Download this free 5-star plugin to get your WordPress site in front of more clients.

Don’t have a website? Get one in less than an hour.

3. Get busy on social media

If your target customers are spending their time on social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, you and your business have a great opportunity to connect with them.

Create business accounts on Facebook, Twitter and, especially if your products or services play well in a visual format, Instagram.

Start sharing useful tips, photos and links to helpful articles your clients might like. Include a photo and a link back to your website with every post.

Add the Facebook logo and your Twitter handle to your website and blog, business cards, shop window — everywhere.

Respond to anyone who mentions, direct messages or “tweets at” you. This is a good way to keep happy customers coming back and unhappy ones from writing negative reviews of your business.

Learn how to use Twitter hashtags.

Try Facebook’s Instant Articles to create fast articles on Facebook. If you have a WordPress blog, install the Instant Articles for WP plugin to speed up your post load time on Facebook

Get TweetDeck or Hootsuite. These apps make it easy to see what your customers are saying about you on social media. Read and respond to all your mentions and messages from one dashboard.

Start using Buffer — it allows you to write posts in advance then schedule them for automatic posting on Twitter, Facebook and more.

4. Put decals, magnets or vinyl wraps on your vehicles

Whether you cover the whole vehicle or opt for a 10-by-20-inch magnet, this kind of advertising can be very effective. Everyone who sits near you at the stop light will see your business ad.

If you use a truck for business, have your business name, logo, phone and web address painted or wrapped on it and park the truck near the road when it’s not in use. It will act as a mobile billboard. Be sure to check state, city and Homeowners Association rules (if you’ll be parking the vehicle at your home) before you place an order.

Get a great-looking logo for your business.

5. Buy online ads

Facebook ads. Show ads to likely customers whenever they are physically close to your business. Create an ad right from your Facebook Page via the Promote button, set a budget, choose a photo and create an engaging message for the people in your area. Own a restaurant? Learn how to use Facebook advertising for restaurant marketing.

Twitter and Instagram ads. Buy ads or “sponsor” content on Twitter or Instagram.

YP online. Formerly known as Yellow Pages, this online business listing service works just like the old-school printed books. Only faster.

The key to more business is knowing how/where customers look for your services and making sure your business shows up in those places. Work through this list, checking off the freebies one by one. In six months’ time, you should see an increase in the number of customers who are finding you. You can take it from there.

Feature image by: Yong Chuan on Unsplash

Originally published at Garage.

Little did CaShawn Thompson know when she tweeted #BlackGirlsAreMagic back in 2013 that she was starting a nationwide conversation. She was just one black woman responding to what she saw as a disturbing trend. Five years and lots of press later — including posts on HuffPo, CNN and the LA Times — she reflects on where the #BlackGirlMagic revolution began.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I am a Generation X black woman who was born and raised in the District of Columbia and I still live here. I come from a huge family that is very closely connected. I am the mom of two young adults and recently married, through which I gained five stepchildren and two grandbabies.

Family is everything to me.

I work as a caregiver for infants and toddlers and am currently studying Early Care and Education at the University of DC.

What prompted you to create #BlackGirlMagic?

Sometime in 2013, I noticed that there were a lot of negative things being said about black women online and through other media outlets. It bothered me to no end to hear/read it said that black women were unmarriageable and that we were the least attractive of all the women on the planet.

I felt like it was deeply rooted in racism and sexism and it made me so angry.

I felt like there was something that I needed to say to make myself and other women that looked like me to feel better. So I pulled “Black Girls Are Magic” from the understandings of my childhood as to how I believed black women existed in the world.

I tweeted #BlackGirlsAreMagic one day and it basically just took off from there.

I had grown up and been raised by dynamic black women. Before I could understand anything beyond my favorite fairytales, I had decided that they were all magic. So many of my fellow black women felt loved and validated by that hashtag. #BlackGirlsAreMagic and later, the truncated #BlackGirlMagic, became a rallying cry and affirmation for black women all over.

ESSENCE on Twitter

History is about what's happening, what's coming and what was. #BlackGirlMagic IS history in the making. Just a friendly #BlackHistoryMonth2018 reminder 🤗 Here are a few of our favorite modern history makers & shakers: https://t.co/s7PJoYfe8K

What did you hope would happen when you created the hashtag?

“I had absolutely no expectations, but I am thrilled with the outcome.” ~ CaShawn Thompson, creator of #BlackGirlMagic

I had no specific hopes when I created the hashtag. I have to say, it was a very emotional moment for me. I was 100 percent in my feelings when I created it. I was hurt and angry and I knew that others were as well. I just felt like I needed to do something to counter the negativity that black women were being inundated with at the time. I had absolutely no expectations, but I am thrilled with the outcome.

Did you expect for it to lead to articles in the LA Times and your own Wikipedia listing?

I had no idea that #BlackGirlsAreMagic would become the phenomenon it has. I decided to put the words on a T-shirt and sell them, thinking that just my friends and online acquaintances would buy them.

I thought I’d sell about 30 of them. But the hashtag has resonated so much with people that I actually sold 330 that first time around and thousands since then.

When I was contacted by the LA Times for an interview, I was flabbergasted. While I knew people were into the hashtag, I didn’t think anybody actually cared about who had created #BlackGirlsAreMagic. When the Wikipedia entry popped up, I was honored.

I am very proud of myself for bringing so much joy to my community.

For you personally, what has come out of this — from the moment you created the hashtag to now?

Since the creation of #BlackGirlsAreMagic, I feel like I’ve found my voice.

I feel empowered and strong.

People listen to me. The support and encouragement I get on a DAILY basis from people who love the hashtag really shores me up and keeps me going. I’ve been recognized on the street because of #BlackGirlsAreMagic. I’ve gotten shoutouts from celebrities and other notable folks because of it. I’ve heard it in TV shows and seen it in countless articles, being both lauded and critiqued. I’ve been interviewed by bloggers, invited on podcasts, and I even participated in a research project about hashtags conducted by BET and Twitter.

#BlackGirlsAreMagic is officially my brand now.

I have many plans for expanding it, including more merchandise and a website where the voices and “magic” of black women will be amplified. It’s become so much more than a hashtag — it is an iconic movement to celebrate ALL BLACK WOMEN. #BlackGirlsAreMagic is what we are and what we will become.

Thanks for chatting with us, CaShawn. You can find her online at Twitter, where she is followed by President Barack Obama, among 11,000+ others.

Feature image by: Melanie Magdalen on Unsplash

Originally published at Garage.

Starting a business is exciting. Regardless of your field — landscaping, tax accounting or printing — there’s so much to learn once you decide to open your own place. In addition to creating and delivering a product or service, you might need to rent space, hire staff, possibly line up subcontractors or suppliers, promote and bill for that product or service as well. Don’t forget to add business domain names to your list — without one, it’ll be awfully hard to succeed in any business.

Why you need a domain name

HumbleMechanic.com is a domain name. So is MaryJanesFlorist.com. You’ll need a unique domain name of your own if you:

• Want to have a website.
• Want a custom email address (e.g. you@yourbusiness.com).

HumbleMechanic.com is owned and used by Charles Sanville, a GoDaddy customer and mechanic extraordinaire out of North Carolina. As long as Charles continues to pay the registration fee for this domain, no one else can use HumbleMechanic.com. It’s his and his alone.

HumbleMechanic.com is now a business asset, one Charles could sell, should he ever choose to sell his business.

Charles has been producing YouTube videos for six years. In that time, “The Humble Mechanic” has become synonymous with free, reliable auto advice. In fact, his podcast is listed on Feedspot’s “Top 100 Auto Blogs Every Car Enthusiast Must Read.”

Tips on finding great business domain names

Not all that long ago, if you said “google” to a random stranger, they’d likely think you were speaking Klingon. A play on the mathematical expression for the number 1 followed by 100 zeros, Google.com is now one of the most famous of all business domain names. Like kleenex and xerox, the word “google” has even reached that most hallowed of all branding milestones: it’s widely used as a generic term for searching the web. As in “Would you google that for me please?”

It takes years for even the savviest business owner to reach Google’s level of brand domination, but you should be aiming for this level when you choose your business domain name. Below are a few tips.

If you haven’t chosen a name for your business yet

This is the best approach to business naming, since the zippiest, most unforgettable business name in the world is useless if someone else already owns the matching domain name and social media handles (search available handles here).

For example, I have a freelance writing service called Lastword Productions that I registered with the Linn County Recorder back in 1992. Sadly, someone else beat me to registering lastword.com. Now lastword.com is listed as for sale at $50,000. Sigh. Live and learn.

Follow these tips as you explore options for your business name:

• Keep it short and don’t use numbers or hyphens (just trust me).
• Think about what benefit you offer clients, listing words that describe it.
• Do some keyword research and include a keyword in your domain name.
• If you cater to a local audience, consider including your city in your domain name.
• Get creative and use a word from mythology, art or philosophy for your name.

• Combine parts of two or more words to make a business name.
• Use a naming tool to generate ideas.

Pro tip: Once you have a short list of names you like, do a Basic Word Mark Search of the U.S. Patent Office database to make sure no other company currently holds the trademark on any of the names you’re considering (click the button for “live” before searching). Cross off the names on your list that are already registered.

For more tips on how to use GoDaddy’s sophisticated search engine to find available business domain names, read this helpful post.

If you have chosen a business name

For some startups, the business name is a given. Perhaps you’ve inherited a family business and are just now putting it online. If your company has been in business for a while and has name recognition, it would be a mistake to change the name just to get a cool web address. All that name recognition would suddenly disappear overnight — even long-time customers would be confused. You don’t want this.

In cases like these, your best bet is to first check and see if the exact spelling of your business name is available as a domain. It only takes a couple of seconds to check. If the domain you want is already registered to someone else, you have several options:

1. Find out who owns it by entering the domain name in the WhoIs database search box, and then ask that person if they’d be willing to sell it.
2. Hire a broker with a domain buy service to reach out to the owner and negotiate a sale if possible.

Can’t find your business name in .com?

There’s no denying that .com is the most popular and widely recognized domain extension in the world. No wonder so many startups begin their naming process here.

What happens if someone already has the .com you want and isn’t willing to sell it — or is asking an outrageous price for it?

We’ve got you covered. Over the past few years, your naming options have exploded. Now you have many more options than before. Work in real estate? Try registering your business name with the .properties extension. Opening a nail studio? Check out .salon. There are literally hundreds of domain extensions to choose from. Many are still fairly new and haven’t been picked over yet.

Find your business domain now

To save you some time, we’ve assembled this list of links to new domain extensions relevant to various fields. Scan the list and find yours for a quick look at your naming options.

• Real estate and real estate investing
• Developers & web pros
• Restaurants and bars and food/hospitality
• Property services
• Pet services
• eCommerce
• Photography
• Artists, designers & writers
• Consulting
• Salons, spas & gyms
• Law firms
• Technology
• Education
• Natural food stores
• Management, finance & insurance

Naming FAQs

Just in case you missed that day in class, here are some answers to basic questions about business domain names.

Who can register a domain name?

Anyone in the world can register a .com domain name, assuming it hasn’t already been registered by someone else.

To find out if the domain you want is available to you, enter it in the box below:

SEARCH

Some domain extensions, like .edu and .gov for example, are restricted. The first may only be used by U.S. colleges and universities, while .gov is reserved for U.S. governmental agencies. Still others have different requirements. In order to register .eu, for example, applicants must live or work in a country belonging to the European Union.

How much do they cost?

Domain names range in price from 99 cents to thousands of dollars per year. Generally speaking, the more valuable they are, the higher the price. Read more about how much they cost here.

How long can you own them?

The minimum registration is one year, although some domains can be registered for as many as 10 years at a time.

Starting a business? Do this first

Years from now, you’ll remember the moment you decided to start your own business. Take a moment to savor it. But before you consult an attorney or rent space — before you even settle on a business name, take my advice and search for a business domain name. Ask around, do your homework and then register a name that will stand the test of time. Welcome to the 21st-century workforce!

Originally published at Garage.

I met the owner of Pat Scheurich Designs on the Hidden in the Hills Studio Tour 2017 in Scottsdale, Ariz., where every year artists open their studios to art lovers. I asked Pat if she’d share her story with our readers.

The beginning of Pat Scheurich Designs

How did you get your start, Pat?

I have always been part of the art world. Since my parents dabbled in painting and photography, it was natural for me to explore artistic mediums. I started with sketching in grade school. I liked drawing cacti and still life compositions. I took every high school art class available and received a degree in fine art and design in college.

I originally wanted to be an archaeologist but realized after the first class that I really wanted to draw the pots, not dig them up!

That was a realization that art would be a significant part of my life. I chose commercial art, as it used to be called, with an emphasis in design because I thought I would be more employable. I chose design rather than illustration because there were many more illustrators out there trying to make a living. It turns out that my choice was the better one because a broader scope of jobs was available. And every good painter, no matter their skill in illustrating, needs solid design work.

What did you do after completing your education?

I entered the workforce with a degree in design and worked for a variety of advertising agencies as a freelance designer (I also taught design at a community college). I kept up the freelance work while starting a family, moving to part-time work for several years while raising the children. After having twins (four kids now), I took a few years off.

Mural work was something that always intrigued me, especially the trompe l’oeil, so when grade school started for my youngest, I started doing a few painted murals on walls for friends. I got very busy, primarily through word-of-mouth. I did outdoor scenes for businesses, many interior homes, and I traveled out of town to do some mural work as well. Faux finishing was an offshoot of that, and it kept me busy, too. Both paid well and were fun besides.

Painting murals and faux finishing walls was hard work, though, so I chose to transition into studio painting around 2005. After taking several interesting classes in painting, I was ready to go at my exciting new studio work.

Did you face any challenges?

Becoming a working artist has many obstacles. The greatest is your own inner critic!

As a freelance designer, I compared myself to every designer out there. Painting murals was most difficult at the beginning because I would say to myself, “What if they hate it?” and I was afraid to start! I finally told myself that I could always get a can of house paint and paint over it.

Choosing to make myself into a “studio artist” created more obstacles for me internally. One of the hardest was deciding what I should paint. When you don’t have an art director telling you what they want or a client asking you to paint this or that on their wall, you have to rely on your own ideas, which can be scary. The other thing about being a studio artist is that many do it right out of art school and have contacts in the world of galleries and shows that I didn’t have.

The right digital tools

What tools do you use for your business?

My domain name, PatScheurich.com, is registered with GoDaddy. I added Privacy and Business Protection to protect against SPAM and keep my domain safe. I rely on my website for a portable portfolio.

It’s very helpful to have most of my work in a form that can be sent to galleries, agencies, clients, show entries, etc. I also more recently have an Instagram account that I try to post on regularly to grow a following.

I can’t imagine not having a website.

I use Dropbox to send large picture files and also use Adobe Photoshop to manipulate and enhance images of my work. All of these tools have become indispensable to my business and have helped me become much more efficient. I also use Skillshare to access a variety of classes that can help me over some hurdles in my work. For instance, I might need a Photoshop lesson, want some ideas on calligraphy, or need some marketing help. I also find help on YouTube.

Words of advice

Do you have any advice for budding artists?

I think taking some classes in the art forms you’re interested in can be very helpful. It can jumpstart your ideas, and most likely the instructor will be a good source of contacts and direction. Keep in mind, if you have to pay your mortgage every month, your path will be different than someone who doesn’t have that pressure.

If you can, join an art guild.

You will come in contact with artists in every phase of their careers and learn all sorts of things. Plus, art guilds have art shows to showcase your work, as well as critiques which can be valuable. I joined one when I decided to focus on studio work and met some wonderful people and great instructors who helped me get started.

Applying for art grants and shows became easier after learning some of the ins and outs from members of the guild. All of them have many volunteer opportunities, which can be another learning experience in itself.

As I joined each art guild and applied for shows and met people who helped my career, I realized that I wouldn’t be where I am today without all of their guidance and encouragement. It’s difficult to make a living as an artist. Many who became my mentors gave me advice along the way.

It’s also important to diversify your work.

Consider painting for galleries, teaching art classes, writing a blog or book about your processes, licensing some of your images or products, painting murals, having an online store or working with interior designers. I have done a little of all of these.

How do you stay inspired?

I took one art class in collage and mixed media in 2005 that fired my imagination. I was charged up with all of the possibilities and how I could integrate all that I’d previously learned and created. That was the beginning of all the rest. And each new interaction with a person, or class or event has helped shape what I do every day. Three years ago the journey took me to a place where I chose to focus on drawing in my work. I haven’t looked back and now draw every day.

Thanks for sharing your story with us, Pat. Stop by Facebook or Instagram to see more of Pat’s work and connect with her.

Originally published at Garage.

You might have already decided to get serious about a singing career, but do you know what’s next? We asked four rising young artists for their tips on branding, standing out and first steps.

Daphne Willis

Daphne Willis is a singer/songwriter and mental health advocate from Chicago, Ill. She has a fan base of nearly 100,000 and an EP out called, “Freaks Like Me.” Daphne now has a publishing deal with Sony/ATV. Read on for insider advice directly from her.

How did you choose your domain name?

I chose to use my name as my domain name because that is what I use as my artist name for releasing my music.

When did you register it?

I registered it 10 years ago when I split from my band and began a career as a solo artist. I wanted a place to send fans where they would be able to access any and all information they could about me.

Any advice on branding yourself in such a highly competitive industry?

I think it’s important to know what kind of experience you want people to walk away with when they visit your site. What are you telling them? What are you offering? Keep it simple and true to you.

Payton Smith

Payton Smith is singer/songwriter from Louisiana with a rapidly growing fan base of more than 14,000. He’s worked with renowned producer Buddy Cannon and has a new single out, “Let Me Help You With That.” Read on for insider advice directly from him.

How did you choose your domain name?

I chose my domain name after I created my social media accounts after the same name! It was important for me to have my first and last name.

When did you register it?

I registered it the minute I decided to go into the music business! It was important to me to secure it once I found it was available.

Any advice on branding yourself in such a highly competitive industry?

My advice would be to stay original! Be creative, and don’t be afraid to do something a little different to make you stand out when it comes to social media and branding!

Caryn Lee Carter

Caryn Lee Carter is a singer/songwriter from Georgia whose sound is reminiscent of country throwbacks such as Shania Twain and Dixie Chicks. Her social media fan base of nearly 5,000 continues to grow with the release of her debut self-titled EP, Caryn Lee Carter. Read on for insider advice directly from her.

How did you choose your domain name?

I chose my full name for my domain. From a branding standpoint, it was really important to me that my fans be able to find me easily, and the simplest way to do that was to use the name that they know me by! Plus it helps with search engine optimization and all that fun stuff.

When did you register it?

I registered my domain name pretty much immediately after deciding to pursue music. It was super-inexpensive and easy to do, so I figured even if I didn’t end up using the site, it wouldn’t hurt to have the domain claimed and in my back pocket. Didn’t want anyone else to snag it before I got a chance to! I also wanted a hub with a clean URL that I could customize, and a website allowed me to do that much more effectively than my social media channels.

Any advice on branding yourself in such a highly competitive industry?

It can be really difficult to stand out, but I think that making certain your web presence looks legitimate helps give you a lot of credibility and makes your audience want to stick around and look at what you have to offer.

We live in a world of people with really short attention spans, so taking advantage of every second you have their attention is crucial.

For a musician, that means drawing them in with the first few seconds of a song or creating interesting visuals that match your sound and vibe so that they can see what you’re all about at a quick glance! It’s tough to do, but it’s worth the effort.

Melanie Meriney

Melanie Meriney is a Pittsburgh, Pa. native with a sound that mixes a little bit of everything from country to pop and rock. She has a new video out for her single, “Lifeboat” and a rising social media fan base of more than 5,000. Read on for insider advice directly from her.

How did you choose your domain name?

My domain name is my first and last name — it was very important to get my name for my domain. As an artist, your name is your branding. Luckily, my name is not too common, so reserving it wasn’t difficult. GoDaddy is awesome because it checks availability of the domain right away.

When did you register it?

I registered it soon after I moved to Nashville to pursue music. In order to build a good online presence and market yourself successfully, people need to have the perception that the product is professional. In my case, they need to see that, as an artist, I am legitimate and have a homepage with links to wherever else I am on the internet. It was a natural next step to get a website.

Any advice on branding yourself in such a highly competitive industry?

My advice is to make your brand uniquely you. If you’re a lace, cowboy boots and sundress kind of artist, do it up! My brand and sound is more urban-edgy country, so my photos, recordings and website style represent that.

Some singing careers never end

A big thanks to Daphne, Payton, Caryn Lee and Melanie for their advice! And if you want to see how ’80s rock icon Greg Kihn is still rocking (and writing) in his 60s, then check out this post. Once you’re inspired and ready to get started, register your domain name so it’s yours to use when you’re ready to launch your singing career.

Feature image by: Jesse Darland on Unsplash

Originally published at Garage.

You ever get the feeling something’s off? Like the things that used to bring you satisfaction just aren’t doing it for you anymore? I have. The first time I felt it, I was a work-at-home mom with school-age kids and a half-time gig as a freelance writer. I was making good money and had a network of clients who trusted me, but I was bored. I needed a fresh start.

The second time I felt that itch, our youngest child was finishing high school.

With her friends dispersing to colleges across the country, I thought, my husband and I could actually pull up stakes and go somewhere new. So after talking it over, we decided to sell our house and move across the country to a whole ‘nother state.

There were other reasons, too. My husband had left his job as artistic director at Theatre Cedar Rapids to start his own digital art business. And I wanted to be closer to where decisions were being made in my company, which was under new management. Our daughter’s choice of Arizona State University for college sealed the deal: Arizona.

So we loaded what we could fit into one big truck and drove 1,500 miles to Scottsdale, Ariz. It was November and, winter-weary Midwesterner that I was, it felt like a chill wind nipped at our heels as we drove out of town.

3 steps to a fuller, more satisfying life

One thing’s for sure: change is as constant as death and taxes. The trick is to know when it’s your turn, then have the courage to set a new course. Here are some pointers.

• Do a system check.
• Feel the feels.
• Envision the life you want to lead.

Now let’s talk about each of these steps one by one.

1. Do a system check

You can’t fix something you don’t know is broken, so the first step is to decide if something’s out of whack. Here are a few signs it’s time for a change:

• You turn down new opportunities out of fear.
• You feel numb or often not well.
• You start lying to yourself and others.
• It feels like you’re banging your head against a wall.
• You find it hard to get out of bed in the morning.

Think about the last time an opportunity presented itself — a friend offered you free tickets to an event or a colleague asked if you’d help with a project she was stoked about. What did you say? More importantly, why? Be honest. Did you turn down those tickets because you really had a conflict, or did it seem like too much trouble to drive from work to the theater on a Tuesday night?

Find more signs you’re ready for a fresh start in this post from mindbodygreen or this one from Huffington Post.

2. Feel the feels

This is the part of starting fresh many of us would rather skip: actually letting that feeling of wrongness wash over us. It’s so much easier and less uncomfortable to jump directly to Step 3.

But here’s the thing: we all need to have our emotions recognized as important. Not just by others, by our very own selves. This requires actually admitting three things:

• What happened.
• How it felt.
• That it sucked.

Depending on the level of disappointment or damage, it might take days, weeks or months of carrying that emotion around before the edges begin to soften and it doesn’t hurt so much. As Emma Johnson writes in her post, “How to Know When It’s Time to Change,” in order to move on you must:

• Embrace the anger, fatigue, resentment or fear that plagues you. There are no wrong emotions.
• Identify exactly what is wrong. Acknowledge that you are the common denominator.
• Let go of ideas about how your relationship, job and lifestyle should be. Accept how it is.

To do this, you have to look straight at whatever’s bothering you. Yes, it might be painful — who wants to admit their job is no longer fulfilling or their marriage has run its course? Ugh. Who wants to remember unhappy events? But you have to do it. Then give yourself time to feel afraid, mad, abandoned, sad — whatever. Because you will wake up one day ready to move forward.

3. Envision the life you want to lead

The final step in making a fresh start? Figuring out what to change. After all, you might easily fix what’s bothering you with small changes in your daily routine. Or it could require something more — leaving a relationship, finding a new roommate, or taking a pay cut for more meaningful work.

Borrow from business

Corporations use a process called “envisioning” to identify new opportunities and brainstorm new products and services. The problem, of course, is that all of us are so rooted in what is, we can’t see what could be. In “4 Strategic Thinking Exercises to Envision Future Strategy,” Mike Brown uses the example of electric cars to illustrate this universal human tendency.

Those of us who’ve been stopping at gas stations all our lives, says Mike, assume that there will need to be EV charging stations on every corner, just as there are currently gas stations on every corner. But the reality is, electric cars take longer to “refuel” than gas-powered ones, so charging stations will need to be located near places where we spend several hours — shopping malls or movie theaters, for example. Not on every corner.

Adapting the model for personal use

If we’re biased by the present reality while dreaming up new products, we’re even more biased in our personal lives. We get comfortable with our routines and relationships and are often unwilling to admit there’s anything lacking. We simply can’t envision a different, happier, more hopeful future.

Some practical tips

Many people find that stepping away from the distractions of their day-to-day lives helps open their minds to a future they haven’t yet imagined. You might try:

Meditation

Find a quiet space where you won’t be interrupted. Take a comfortable seat (these are great), and close your eyes. Focus on breathing slowly in and out through your nose. When your mind wanders, gently bring it back. Then silently listen for an answer to, “What do I really want?” This works to find direction in personal areas, as well as professional ones. Read this article for more ideas on what to ask.

Getting active

MJ, my friend of many years, finds it easier to meditate when in motion. If you’re like her, pick an activity — hiking, trail riding, kayaking — that makes you feel calm and removed from the hustle and bustle. My husband and I watched the moon rise from the 2,300-foot Dobbins Lookout in Phoenix a few nights ago. Watching the lights of America’s fifth-most populous city wink on makes my mind float free of worries and to-dos. A perfect spot to find direction.

Paying closer attention

You’re actually full of clues about what’s not working and what you want to do next. It’s just that most of us don’t listen to ourselves. Notice (or ask your partner or friend to notice) when you get most excited about a cause, project or idea. This is a sign that you’re passionate about whatever you’re talking about. When you see someone else get flushed and excited in conversation, tell them to pursue this, as it’s obviously a passion of theirs.

Going back to nature

If meditation or cycling can’t put you in touch with your true feelings, try a wilderness adventure. Sarah Grace Nadler, a licensed Mental Health Counselor and adventure therapist in St. Petersburg, Fla., says that human development peaks during moments of physical challenge and meaningful experience. If you have the time and money, try an adventure trip like Outward Bound for Adults. Testing your physical limits can have a freeing effect on your emotions and willingness to take risks.

Ideas for various stages

As in all things, the change strategy that works for one probably won’t work for everyone. As we move through life, our ability to make significant lifestyle changes ebbs and flows. Here are some ideas for various groups looking to start fresh.

Recent college grads

According to the American Psychological Association, millennials are the most stressed-out generation in history. My children are millennials, and they both suffer from stress.

Needless to say, stress makes it hard to tune into your inner voice and actually hear your own wants and dreams. In addition to meditation, you could:

• Get out of your own head by volunteering through VolunteerMatch, Idealist or Points of Light’s HandsOn Network.
• Go abroad to teach or volunteer. Perspective is a powerful thing.
• Enroll in Outward Bound’s 30-day Pathfinder program for help finding your purpose.

Single / first-time parents

Parenting makes it very easy to focus on the demands of your child, putting your own needs on the back burner. It’s even harder for single parents, since there’s no built-in “other” to hand the baby off to. Some tips for creating space to make plans for change:

• Create a support network that frees you to spend time doing something other than parenting — say, taking a class or volunteering.
• Assess your interests and strengths by taking the Strong Interest Inventory, Self-Directed Search, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator or the Career Ability Placement Survey.
• Find one thing that nurtures you and has nothing to do with parenting — a hobby, a sport — and commit to it.

Laid-off or dissatisfied professionals

As bad as it feels, this is an opportunity to move toward a better place than the one you’re in (or just left). The good news? U.S. job openings just hit an all-time high. Here are some ideas on how to start fresh, taken from “Work Reimagined: Uncover Your Calling” by Richard J. Leider and David Shapiro:

• Use the authors’ calling card exercise, whereby you review 52 “natural preferences” or strengths and narrow them down to your top five, then one.
• To pinpoint your passions, review your calendar and bank accounts to see how you spend your time and money.
• Answer two questions: If you could live your life over again, what would you do differently? What would you do if you found out you had just one year to live?

Retirees

Although American seniors continue to work at the highest rate in 55 years (many into their 70s), the search for meaning and purpose is as relevant for them as for any age group.

Here are some tips to start fresh:

• Throw out the title you’ve been using to introduce yourself — marketing executive, finance pro — and replace it with something that fits who you want to be (World traveller? Political blogger? Novelist?).
• Join all the groups you never had time for. Quit the ones you went to out of obligation.
• Adopt the designer’s mindset toward trial and error described by author Ayse Birsel in her book, “Design the Life You Love.”

During the two years I spent teaching English in Thailand after college, I met a ragtag bunch of English speakers from around the world who all happened to be living in Bangkok. Australia, the U.K., India, New Zealand, Canada — among them were a surprising number of retirees and widows. I remember thinking at the time, “I’m going to file this for future reference in case I find myself in the same place one day.”

Our biggest enemy? Inertia.

For some, change is thrust upon them. A marriage dissolves, perhaps, or your company closes and you find yourself unemployed. Or maybe your house floods and the need for action is immediate and obvious (chop, chop! Get that 13 inches of sludge out of the front room!). For others, the dissatisfaction that signals a need for change sneaks up on them.

Some of us can actually go for years without admitting something’s wrong. We are creatures of habit, and many of us put our heads down and continue doing the things that have always worked in the past. We drive the same routes to work, eat at the same crappy food trucks for lunch — long after we realize we’re not having much fun anymore. According to Bernadette Logue of The Daily Positive:

“The problem many people have is that they linger too long in situations when change is exactly what is needed … preferring to stay with what is familiar.”

Maybe this reluctance to take the interstate to work instead of the slower side street is coded deep within our reptilian brains. Maybe it served to keep us from taking life-threatening risks in the wooly world of prehistoric cave life. Who knows? What I do know is that it gets in the way when the winds of change begin to blow.

Create space for a fresh start

Marsha Nieland, my Anusara yoga instructor of many years, says it’s not enough to make up your mind that you want change. You also need to create space for change to happen.

So clean out your closet. Get rid of the things you’ve never liked and aren’t sure why you kept. Move your desk closer to the window. Then use these tips to start envisioning the life you were born to live.

Feature image by: USDAgov on TrendHype / CC BY

Originally published at Garage.

MaryJane’s Flowers & Gifts is a full-service local florist in Berlin, N.J. The business began as a special tribute to Sandra Hooper’s mother, MaryJane. It’s since blossomed into an award-winning shop, including a stint as a featured vendor with celebrity wedding planner David Tutera. Ready to be inspired? Read on.

Meet MaryJane’s Flowers & Gifts

What inspired you to start your business?

Years ago, my mother, father and I talked about opening a flower and gift shop together in the building my father owned. It had housed my dad’s insurance agency before my parents retired to the shore. He didn’t want to sell the property; he wanted to keep it in the family.

Before I had children and became a stay-at-home mom, I’d trained as a florist. In 2003, with my children grown, my mother and I opened Plum Point Gifts (we did just gifts, no flowers).

Then the recession hit.

We were doing OK, but not the best. For some reason, my mother told me to close. We didn’t know why; we thought maybe she wanted more time to get out (her health wasn’t the best). So I closed Plum Point Gifts, donating what was left to an Alzheimer’s group. Within a month, mom fell and broke her hip. Her health continued to deteriorate and she died in September 2009 at age 74.

When the life insurance check arrived, my father knew exactly what his wife of 47 years would want him to do. He called me and told me to open a flower shop in his old office. So, I did just that, and named it after my mother, MaryJane. The business logo is mom’s initials.

I can’t think of a better tribute to the greatest mother of all than to have her name in lights on our building.

Since the Grand Opening on Jan. 29, 2010 (my mother’s birthday), business has been great. I designed a personalized floral arrangement for the opening, featuring family photos tucked among the flowers. The design was featured in the Flower Shop Network’s April 2010 newsletter. The arrangement was a way to honor my mother’s memory, but the shop is even more so. My mom would be thrilled.

Did you face any obstacles as a startup?

Getting our name out there was one of the biggest. It is amazing — people drive by your business every day for years. Finally, they stop in and place an order and then ask, “How long have you been in this location?”

After several years, we still hear this from new customers. We’ve changed signs, we’ve added signage, we’ve put up flags, we painted the building — but we still hear this statement. It is getting a lot less, but I will say this one obstacle has taken the longest.

It’s important to gain trust within your community.

Not everyone can make a floral arrangement, but most will judge the product you put out there. We have gained their trust by providing the best quality product we can and standing behind it with a full guarantee.

Does MaryJane’s have a particular claim to fame?

A wonderful attribute to have linked to your name is quality. The length of time a floral arrangement lasts is important, along with the appearance of the flowers. This has been one of our goals — we have had customers praise us on how long our flowers last. I have spent a lot of time researching different flowers and methods for keeping them hydrated and staying fresh longer.

What’s your business philosophy?

Complete customer satisfaction is truly the only way to run a floral business. Just think: the prom flowers you do today, may be the wedding flowers in two years, then the anniversary flowers, and the baby flowers of tomorrow, and so on. Make the customer happy, because word of mouth can help you as well as hurt.

The shop’s digital tools

What online tools do you use for your business?

We use GoDaddy for our domain name registration. I would have preferred MaryJanesFlowers.com, but it was taken, so we just went with MaryJanesFlorist.com. Our current web page is on BloomNation, an online floral marketplace where anyone can buy and sell flower arrangements. We’re also active on Facebook, as well as Instagram and Twitter.

What difference have they made to your business?

Social media has helped in educating the public about flowers and the difference between florist-grade and grocery store flowers. I have had soldiers overseas contact me and ask if I can get flowers to their wives or girlfriends. Being a military wife for 20 years, I have been there and done that, so I go out of my way to help.

Honors and awards

Has MaryJane’s Flowers & Gifts won any awards?

We won the 2010 Top Designer award from Flower Shop Network. It was a series of challenges over the summer — they would put up a picture on their Facebook page and ask us to interpret it with flowers. Then it was voted among Facebook fans, until it came down to the final challenge which was decided by Flower Shop Network. I had won a few of the individual weeks and then also won the final week!

Were there any turning points for MaryJane’s?

The first big turning point was booking our first wedding.

For advertising, we’d placed a large vase of flowers in the local diner with our business card in them; the owner pushed us like there was no tomorrow. She sent me this couple. I had experience, but no actual wedding to show them, so I was a little leery. But these guys took a chance on me. They stopped in the night before the big day to see everything and were pleased. Neither of them wanted a boutonniere. Being who I am, I made them one anyway.

When we got to the venue to set up, my staff went about setting up and I went looking for the couple who were out having pictures taken. When I showed them what I had done, they both stepped down from the gazebo, gave me a big hug and asked if I would pin them on them.

Tell us about how you came to work with David Tutera.

So we normally close at 2 p.m. on Saturdays, and I would head home to watch David Tutera’s wedding show on the WE channel. I was usually glued to it, looking for innovative ideas and trends.

Then one day I received a postcard in the mail at the shop that he was doing a new type of wedding show and one was scheduled for in Philadelphia, so I applied. They checked out our website and not sure what all else, but it was several weeks before we received an answer back that we were approved to be a vendor at his show.

Working with David Tutera was a dream come true! We got to meet with him and have pictures taken with him — it was a great weekend! We’re now listed as an “approved vendor” on his website. Being able to say we are a David Tutera-approved vendor has definitely helped our business.

Advice for those just starting out

What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned since starting MaryJane’s Flowers & Gifts?

It is my business and I need to be the one on top of things! Don’t assume others are doing what should be done.

If you had to do it over again, what’s one thing you’d do differently?

My first thought would be to say to have not forgotten the flowers up front when we first opened. But really, nothing — my way of thinking is what you do in your life is what makes you who you are.

Do you have any other advice for other entrepreneurs?

If you have the opportunity and means, go for your dreams! Do your research, and follow your heart and your plans! Don’t let others tell you what you want.

Thanks for chatting with us, Sandra, and best of luck! You definitely picked a life-giving profession. Connect with MaryJane’s Flowers & Gifts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Originally published at Garage.

This is a Q&A with Emily Martin, founder of The JetSetting Fashionista lifestyle blog and Emily Martin Communications & Events, a marketing and events firm that works with restaurants and other clients. We spoke with Emily about how restaurants can build better websites and why it’s so important for food businesses to keep their online content fresh and up-to-date. Here’s what she has to say.

How did Emily Martin Communications & Events start?

During the 13 years I spent working in luxury retail, I never stopped thinking about how to explore my other passions: travel, food and wine. That’s why I started the blog in 2009 — so I could share my favorite destinations, travel tips, top restaurants, wineries and fashion inspiration. As my audience grew, I developed the digital skills I needed to pivot professionally toward doing what I loved. In 2014, I transitioned into the food, wine and hospitality space.

In 2014, I founded Emily Martin Communications & Events, which works with restaurants, wineries and tourism partners in Northern California and beyond. In addition to connecting my clients with bloggers and local media through strategic partnerships, I help them throw amazing events and build an online presence that attracts customers and increases brand followers.

How did you end up working with restaurants?

My career began in retail with my first job at Gap Inc., and was followed by positions at Bloomingdale’s, Louis Vuitton and Nordstrom. Throughout the last six years of my traditional retail career, I was curating my lifestyle blog as a hobby.

In 2014, I decided to pursue my passion for food, wine, events and hospitality — leaving the corporate world to start Emily Martin Communications & Events. I also relaunched The JetSetting Fashionista, providing a true cultural connoisseur’s perspective on where to eat, drink and travel.

What lessons did you learn from starting your blog?

I have learned so many lessons about what not to do through trial and error while creating my blog. My top three suggestions that I share with the clients of my communications and events company are:

Build a website

I started with little technical knowledge of how to build a website, but as my website is hosted by GoDaddy, I was able to learn quickly.

With GoDaddy, it doesn’t take a lot of digital skills to put together a great website that your customers will want to visit, especially now with tools like GoCentral Website Builder.

Invest in photography

Have a photographer take high-quality images to use for your website, marketing materials (printed and online) and social media. Even if you are a super-small business, I recommend you spend a little extra money to get great images. Like everything, a session with a professional photographer will range in price, but you can get high-quality professional images for your website for under $500.

Be active online

Utilize social media to reach new customers, remain relevant and share what guests visit you for: beautiful food, atmosphere, guest experience, the vibe of your restaurant, etc.

What’s a common mistake food businesses make online?

A common mistake I see with smaller mom-and-pop food businesses is that they don’t have a professional-looking website, high-quality images, or the proper knowledge of how to use social media. Website builders like GoCentral Website Builder allow food businesses with small budgets to get a great site up and running quickly. When your needs grow and you need more help with your site, there are freelancers you can hire hourly or at a small fee to help manage your website.

If you don’t have a huge budget, you can use photos your guests share on social media and re-share those photos to your platforms, crediting the original photographer.

You can also use images your photographer took for your website and re-share those on social media. If you see other companies doing things that you like, use that as inspiration for what you want your brand’s Instagram and Facebook page to look like. Inspiration is key, because then you can create your own unique style that’s right for your brand. Be sure to have links on your website to your social media channels.

How can restaurants build a following and attract new customers?

In addition to good old-fashioned word of mouth and having a great physical location, digital marketing is really the most critical way to attract new customers, especially in the current landscape. Digital marketing includes email marketing, a business website, social media marketing, advertising, public relations and more.

For a restaurant, the priorities are making sure you have a strong website and a social media marketing strategy that includes Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The majority of my restaurant clients do not use Twitter actively, but I do recommend it if you have the time (even if you use it reactively, since it can be a great way to connect directly with customers). Being active on all these platforms is so important in today’s digital world!

Editor’s note: If you’re a busy restaurant owner and you’re not sure where to get started with building out your digital presence, don’t worry! Your first step should always be to build a website, and that’s never been easier than it is with GoCentral. GoCentral lets you create a simple site in under an hour, while also providing access to tools like email marketing and SEO. The best part is that GoCentral is completely mobile-friendly, so you can build and manage your entire website from your phone or tablet!

Originally published at Garage.