My mom would have been proud of me today. Our softball team won the Championship Tournament this afternoon.Yes, I know it was a Church league. Yes, I know it was slow pitch. However, this 44-year-old recently-injured player pitched two games in the heat and we came out on top. Bet your bippie I kept the game ball.
We had such a good team this year. Many women showed up each week to play (we are required to have two playing each game) and our regulars really had a great reason.
When my mom died a few years ago, many (almost all) of her friends showed up to the wake in their softball uniforms. I should explain that. She had been in high school at the time Title IX passed, allowing girls to play in league sports. So she was one of the first to sign up. Many years later, she started a women's softball league in her retirement community, The Villages, in Florida. She even took that team to the Senior Olympics! Most importantly, to me, she was my first softball coach in 4th grade.
So even though today was Church league slow pitch, I am pretty happy to be continuing the tradition of kicking butt in softball. Did I mention my daughter was on the team this year? The tradition continues.

I played a game once called red black. When the game was over I learned that I had been quitting things in my life when they became difficult. The game taught me to not be afraid of success and to work through those difficulties. At first it was easy to see some of the smaller difficulties that I had been allowing to stop me from moving forward. As those difficulties disappeared, however, I  found that difficulties were still there and looked differently than before. 

Sometimes they catch me offguard and I am not prepared. I find myself sometimes feeling like I want to quit. But I know it is just those old programs coming to the surface. There may come a day when I decide to quit. But today is not that day. Tomorrow looks pretty good too.

Notes from the Field: Leap Year Marketing

Notes from the Field: Leap Year Marketing

I often get asked, "How much does it cost to build a website?" Here is a very good general rule of thumb. The cost of a website is directly proportional to the amount of time it takes to build it. The amount of time it takes to build a website, is directly proportional to the amount of functionality a business owner wants or needs in the website. If you need a simple, basic, but attractive and functional website, you will not pay as much as someone who needs, for example e-commerce, videos, and many other dynamic characteristics.

Other costs to consider are, purchase of URL name, hosting, and general managementof the website. A good website person can offer any or all of these services as part of a website package.

Websites have replaced the Yellow Pages and customers expect a credible businessto have an online address, or website. I am happy to consult with that small business owner, who needs some advice about what functionalities he or she may want and need in their website. Our packages are flexible and affordable. We also refer larger clients to other website companies if the functionality is beyond our level of expertise. But don't take my word for it. Shop around and ask a lot of questions. There are some bad eggs in the carton, so to speak, so make sure you check up on your website company's reputation and history.

How Much Should I Pay (If Anything) for SEO?

I get SEO guys calling me all the time.

Here is the deal. As a business owner you have to decide how much money one new paying customer brings in for you on average. This will be your gauge to compare value of SEO, advertising, or any marketing expense, including the cost of hiring someone like me. If you feel the expense has or will bring in enough paying customers times the value of  new paying customer, then do it. OR if utilizing a marketing program, like Leap Year Marketing, saves you time and/or money because you are not trying to do it yourself and can now focus on income-producing activities, then it is worth it. If it isn't saving you time or money in this fashion, then you shouldn't be using it.

With that said, SEO is very effective, but only if your business is something people search for. If you are and you have competition, then SEO is a good idea (this is most people). If people are already finding you or there is limited demand (and therefore not a lot of searching going on) then don't pay for it. SEO can be expensive, but you need to compare it to the value of a new paying client. 

SEO will drive people to your website, so make sure the site is something worth looking at where willing people can make purchases or find the information they need to make the next move toward purchases. 

If you have questions about SEO, websites, or Marketing Strategy, contact us at Leap Year Marketing, 724-603-LEAP, or joanne@leapyearmarketing.com.

For decades, small businesses have had to scratch and claw their way to be even a little competitive with their larger counterparts. Countless contracts have been lost to competitors due to marketing proposals that were less than stellar. Most small businesses never even got the chance to submit proposals. Even if they were the best fit for the client.

Those days are gone. Thanks to numerous effective social media networks, small businesses can market themselves against the best of them. Platforms such as Facebook, Linked In, and Twitter allow business owners to communicate with current and potential clients, and create a sense of community around their business. The little guy can now build on the “buy local” trend by highlighting (read: capitalize on) the fact that they are small and local. For once, it is working for them instead of against them!

Two of the most attractive features about most social media networks are cost and control; two things near and dear to the hearts of small business. The major (and most, if not all of the smaller) networks are free. Free to start, free to use, free to share, free, free, free. In addition, the Administrator of the networks for the business has 100% control over the content posted and interaction in and around the content. It is easy to set up notifications on email or smart phone to alert if there is activity on the account. Some businesses choose to limit or eliminate the option for others to post on their business pages.

You have three choices: You can work these networks yourself. You can hire your cousin’s sister-in-law’s new boyfriend who is in college to do it. Or you can hire a professional to manage the networks for you at a reasonable cost. Notice you do not have the choice to NOT do it.

850 million people on Facebook are not a fad. The train is leaving, time to get on board.

366 Days

The most difficult thing one has to face when working for oneself, is the daily, sometimes, hourly, emotional roller coaster ride that is self-employment. One moment might be spent rejoicing in the freedom of not having a structured schedule, and the next spent going through the checkbook, realizing there is approximately $5 left for the week. And it is only Tuesday. Or doing a victory dance because a client is thrilled with the work that was just produced, only to receive a phone call a few minutes later that you lost an account for what appears to be no reason at all.

There have been times in my first full year of self-employment that I considered changing direction, even taking a job to help pay the bills because nothing was coming in. But my husband repeatedly has said he would not want me to go back to work for someone else. He's right. I don't think I could do it.

People told me it would take a year to just figure out what I am doing. I didn't believe them but they were right. They also said I wouldn't make any real money for five years. God, I hope they are wrong on that one.


This May, I celebrate one year of full-time self-employment. It is not for the faint of heart for sure. An incredible support system has kept me in the game. Many mistakes and bad decisions have been made. I have also done a few things right. Like ask for help when I needed it.

Thank you everyone who has been there in front, behind, or beside me this past year. I thank God every day for my family and friends, because when things are tough, it only takes one person to say, "I believe in you".

When you have marketing materials made for your business, such as business cards and brochures, I expect that they are branded in a similar way; the same logo, same color scheme, same photo of you.

So why wouldn’t you also brand your social media? The answer is: you should be branding it to match everything else. As social media become more mainstream venues of marketing, people expect everything to be branded the same. Your Facebook, Twitter, and Blog should quickly and easily represent your image in the same visual manner all your other marketing does. If it does not, customers may be confused, wondering if they are looking at your information or someone else’s information. When everything transitions from media to media smoothly, it gives a professional look to potential customers. Social media is not going away, so pull your head out of the sand and let’s get moving.