We created a responsive website built as a custom WordPress theme, and customized the dashboard to be a true CMS system to manage information, products, pictures, and information.

Before – Original Website

After – D6 Interactive re-design concepts

Product Category Landing Page

Product Search & Browse

Product Details Page

Responsive Design

Into the Garden now has a fresh website design that isn’t a burden to change information, pictures or details. Additionally, its adaptable to mobile devices and tablets for an excellent user experience. Contact D6 Interactive to get in touch about a redesign for your business today!

Fort Worth Garden Club

 Non-profit Ft. Worth web design.

Fort Worth Botanical Garden

Non-profit Ft. Worth web design.

Junior Canwick Club

Non-profit Ft. Worth web design.

Buffalo Bros 

Restaurant Ft. Worth web design.

• View your project details, contract, invoice, terms of service.
• View our progress on your project – notes, improvements, hiccups - everything to keep you in the loop!
• Track hours and see what we are spending our time on.
• Submit bugs, ask questions, request new features, or get time estimates for new additions on your project.
• Add comments and see availability.
• Much more coming soon! Progress, not perfection.  

 View Screenshots:

If you are a prospective client and would like a tour of the Dashboard, please email yesplease@d6interactive.com.

The D6 brand has been around for over 3 years now, and we have been blessed with great clients and enjoyed growing our relationships in the industry. We look to continue to provide innovative solutions for our clients and continually provide a smooth process to make it as easy as possible.

RIP D6 Marketing.

Hello D6 Interactive

Thanks to friends, family, clients, and everyone for their continued support.

Sincerely,

Ryan M., John J., Mark L., & Staff

The Entrepreneur and Financial Basics

Every small business begins with the hopes and dreams of creating a market to sell their product or service. Since D6 Interactive’s inception nearly 4 years ago, we too, have worked to create our niche in the ever-expanding digital marketing world.  What we have learned through helping our clients create their own unique, custom websites, is that although each is unique in their own right and requires a digital presence in today’s online world, the financial management aspect of their business remains the fundamental mortar for their businesses. We thought it might be useful to present some very basic tips to help the new entrepreneur with the essentials so they can focus more of their time developing their unique dream into a successful enterprise.

Consideration 1: Get digitized! Go online…safely.  

Find a bank with ease of use to set up online transfers, overdraft accounts, bill pay, fund transfers and notifications of deposits. Review the bank’s online website to make sure it is functional and easy to use before you go with them.  Be very cautious as to who has access to your online access and passwords.  It helps to bank with a bank that has an app for your phone, ipad, etc.  Customers can deposit directly into your business account if they have your account name and number. This saves valuable time and gives you access to your funds much sooner and eliminates paperwork.  Use your smart phone to set up emails and your bank app so that your business is completely mobile.  You can be anywhere and still fully manage your business.

Consideration 2: Where is your cash and when it is coming in.

Cash flow.  You hear it all the time. There is even a page within your financial reports from your accountant dedicated to it.  It shows how well your cash is flowing in and out of the business.  It is a priority to bill (invoice) customers as soon as you can. How can you run your business if it cannot pay its bills on time? Whether you invoice clients daily, monthly, or when a project reaches a certain benchmark, it must be done at exactly that time.  For daily, monthly invoices, set aside an actual date/time so it becomes a routine for the invoices you send out. Say, every Thursday afternoon is billing time.  And put a “payment past due date” on your invoices with a consequence if it is late.  Late charge percentages are regulated by law or you cannot collect, so be certain what that rate is and state it on your invoice…ie; “Balance is considered past due within ___ days of the invoice date and an annual interest rate of ___% will be assessed on all outstanding balances” or “due upon receipt, past due 10 days from invoice date”.

Consideration 3: Now that you know where your cash is how do you know if you are actually making a profit?

Keep up with your financial reports!! There is no other way to know unless you keep this information current.  It does not have to be tedious nor time consuming. There are 4 ways to track your money.

• Hire someone.
• Do it with paper and pencil
• On your computer accounting program
• Online Accounting Program integrated with your Bank account.

It would be worth your while to research the online option. In fact with this system you can actually eliminate a substantial amount of the cost of your bookkeeping.  With a little bit of set up time you can have your financial transactions automatically entered into your online accounting program from all of your bank accounts.  All you do is log in and choose what general ledger account the transaction gets applied to.  There are online programs that are free if you can tolerate advertising popups and some that charge.  Be sure and read the fine print with regards to how they charge.  These programs work by linking directly to your business bank accounts. Simply log in and allocate where each deposit or payment goes to and the program automatically makes the changes.  Billings/invoices are easily created from within the programs and you have instant reports and current financials at your fingertips.

• http://www.waveaccounting.com/features/
• http://quickbooksonline.intuit.com/
• http://outright.com/
• http://www.xero.com/ –(this is what D6 Interactive uses — super easy!)

Whichever system you ultimately choose, current financial information is what continues to drive your business decisions. If your financial information is not current, any decision made for the business is a random decision, resulting in random profits… if you are lucky.  It is worth noting that only 50% of small businesses survive 5 years.  It is also worth noting that the Amish business survival rate for 5 years is 95%. What is their secret? Hard work, cooperation, sticking to what they know and financial oversight.

Consideration 4: Resources for all of your business paperwork questions

The U. S. Small Business Administration is an invaluable resource for all of your basic business information links, http://www.sba.gov/category/navigation-structure/starting-managing-business. From this website you can find links to everything….

• Basics of writing a business model
• Tax forms
• Business ownership types
• Loans and grants

That is the overview! Be on the lookout for tax filings in our next post!

Social Media – Facebook and Twitter

The purpose of using social media will be to communicate consistently with current customers by posting new content and to encourage non-customers to sign-up. Additionally, current customers will get incentives for sharing content, referring customers, and showcasing how they have engaged with your business.

Marketing and Recruitment Ideas (Please check individual social media sites for specific advertising guidelines)

• Contests
• “Like this post” or “Retweet XYZ” for a chance at 3 free classes.
• Photo caption contests
• Photo of you at location  for prizes
• Share the page for deals!

Increasing Awareness of the Site/Brand

• Show a company representative that you Follow us on Twitter and Like us on Facebook when you get to class and get half off!
• Share Your Success Story or a Testimonial for a chance to win!
• Learn about the business, the services, view photos.

PR Release and Distribution

Create a professional press release to be distributed to various mediums. The release should be concise but still manage to describe the founders, the purpose of the company, the benefits of membership, and how to join.

*Possible “limited time promotion” code for viewing the press release and signing up at a discount.

• Press Release Distribution List
• Local Newspaper
• Online 
• On the actual site (your blog or news section)

Email Marketing

The purpose of email marketing will be for current subscribers and to maintain high retention rates. Additionally, new content will be featured, new features will be added, and current promotions/referral deals will be showcased. At the bare minimum, it will remind less active users that “we exist,” but with much higher aspirations of engaging them in your services or product offerings.

Guerilla Street Marketing

Flyers, brochures, business cards, etc – Marketing Collateral

Depending on how “street” you want to go, you can litter surrounding parking lots, Whole Foods, etc with these. If you ask permission of local managers, you can put them in local shops around the area. Technically, you are responsible for any sort of marketing collateral that ends up as “litter” or “trash.” It rarely happens, but it is a consideration and you should check with your local government, etc.

Grand Opening

Have a tour and an introductory tour, class, or something free, depending on your new business. Follow the event with complimentary gift bags, food, drinks, and most importantly –  information. Make sure to have sign-up sheets to get people signed-up for your email campaign and people to stay following your business on social media.

• DJ or Music
• Food, Drink
• Party favors, giftbags
• Magnets, Fridge Hangars, Brochures, Flyers – Materials with Class Schedules
• Coupons for Next Visit
• Refer a Friend Discounts

Search Engine Optimization - Organic Listings

Research and identify keywords and keyword search phrases to implement in tags, posts, body content, body text, and throughout the site. These terms should accurately describe Cookin Skinny, what content it has, and the purpose of the site.

Evaluate the search terms and their competitiveness. Their competitiveness will be determined by how many other sites currently have these phrases implemented VS. how many searches are performed for these terms each month.

These are just some ideas to get you started on your marketing journey. Be on the lookout for more posts!

Federal Tax Forms….never ending…but not difficult!

We thought it might be helpful to add information to our first blog with regards to the entrepreneur’s accounting and tax information library.  This information is for the entrepreneur, not a corporation or someone who receives income through a paycheck, but rather someone who works for themselves and would like some basic guidance.  Although we are not an accounting firm, and the information contained herein should not be substituted for your accountant’s advice, the basics can be quite confusing from the professionals.  Since you probably have used an accountant or will, it pays, literally, to be knowledgeable on some of the requirements. Our goal here is to encourage you to open some of these links so you can learn how to navigate around the IRS sites and become familiar with them and your obligations.

The maze of federal tax forms and due dates are really not difficult and will become part of your routine quite quickly.

Federal taxes:  How much should you send in?  If you are an entrepreneur you should always check with your accountant as to what tax rate for “self-employment” you should use to calculate what you owe. Submit only what is necessary.  Why let the government borrow YOUR money until tax refund time?    If you want to calculate the rate yourself the rates and how to calculate them are online…..http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p919.pdf  (the IRS site does not have a 2012 tax guide up yet). Scroll to the bottom portion of this link for the calculation table for self-employed.  This will determine your amount.

Federal taxes are due quarterly.  Easy.  Do not be late.  Budget the amount you will owe quarterly by saving monthly from your revenue deposits.  The penalties and interest on any amounts past due are not “light”.  The 1st payment due date is April, along with any past year taxes due.  The other due dates are June, September, January.   The actual due dates are typically the 15th, but Holidays and weekend dates might make these vary.  The 4 annual 2012 remittance forms are found online and have the actual due date on them:

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es.pdf

We have mentioned an accountant. We find having an accountant prepare your tax return and guide you through the tax preparation and managing your business financial information is very beneficial.  You can always manage your bookkeeping day to day, as we mentioned in our previous blog, but taking the information yearly to your accountant is a good “check” on how you are doing.  They have the knowledge as to what are legal deductions and legitimate business expenses as well as the current tax laws.  The laws change constantly.  The more organized your information is when you arrive at your annual tax appointment the more you will save in accounting charges as well make you a more knowledgeable business owner.  That is why we recommend one of the online programs integrated with your bank accounts will provide you excellent reports to take to your accountant. See our previous blog with links to these programs.  Review in detail your tax return with your accountant. What you don’t know about your business can and will hurt you !  Understanding your tax return will make you a savvy business owner and better prepare you to take on the next year.