WEBVTT
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All right.
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Welcome, welcome, welcome to the marketing spotlight.
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I am so excited today to put the spotlight on Nicole Hanasek, who also works with websites.
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So when a mutual friend of ours was like, Hey, do you want to meet Nicole?
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And I was like, Yes, yes, I do.
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So we met, I think, a year or two ago and had a really awesome conversation.
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And so we've been following up with each other.
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And I mentioned I was doing this podcast, and she was like, Yes, I would be interested in this podcast.
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So, Nicole, please tell the good people a little bit about who you are and what you do.
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Sure.
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Uh, so I've been designing and coding websites for about 27 years now.
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I cannot believe it has been that long.
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Since you were three, right?
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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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I started before the web became this huge crazy thing that it is today.
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And uh I've had my company for about 17 years.
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Also can't believe that.
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Um so yeah, I've got a team of about eight people, and we mostly focus on building websites that are beautiful and really help capture who our clients are so it can connect with their prospects and seal the deal.
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Nice.
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So this was pre-2000, it must have been.
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So what was going on with you personally in the 90s that led you to building websites?
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So I was in art school about the Cleveland Institute of Art, and I was studying illustration actually.
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And um, one of my classmates, we were in the computer lab and she was looking for graphic design internships, and I thought that was a smart idea.
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So I copied her and I landed a job at a web design company, and in the interview, he was like, So, um, why do you want to do this?
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And I was like, Oh shoot, I don't even know what this is.
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Because I need money.
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Yeah, and so he he hired me anyway.
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I don't remember what my answer was, but he hired me anyways, and um, here we are 27 years later.
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We've all been there in those conversations where like, I don't really want this job, I just really need a paycheck.
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I thought I'd get some experience for my resume.
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Yes.
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Uh um, that's awesome, actually.
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I love that.
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We've all we've all been there and done that.
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And it is, it's that's like a theme that comes up over and over in the conversations that I have with designers.
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Is I went to art school and then had to figure out what I was gonna do with this art degree.
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Turns out I'm not Picasso, so what's my plan B?
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Mm-hmm.
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Yeah, graphic design, web design, awesome.
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Um, there is so I don't I don't even know where to begin.
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There's so much to talk about in the in in that amount of time.
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Um what are I mean, if you can, I know this is gonna be a big question because of how long you've been doing this, but what are some of the biggest changes you've seen from when you started building websites to today in 2025?
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Yeah.
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Back then, I was just building an HTML web page.
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It was very simple, very straightforward.
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It was only for desktop.
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So there were nowhere near as many things to worry about or think about when you created a website.
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And my position then was just also a very simple position where I did all of the things.
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I did the back end, I did, well, the front end was just like a little bit of light design.
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Nowadays, like all of the pieces and parts of a website are kind of broken out into different roles.
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You have like a visual designer, a UX designer, a front-end coder, a back-end coder.
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And then like there's even deeper things.
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Like if you're um a software engineer like my husband, you do like back-end stuff where you're creating the APIs, the things connect to, which is like beyond me and like way more complex.
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But there's there's all these different roles where it used to just be like, I was just the one doing the thing.
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Yeah.
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Yeah, that is fascinating.
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Again, speaking as a content marketer, where I always have to emphasize to people, I do the content for your website.
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I'm not gonna do anything else for your website.
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You need a whole other team of people for that.
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I just focus on this one little part of it.
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Um, that is really interesting because I do work with a lot of people who it's a developer-designer team, right?
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One person does the design and one person does the development.
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Um, and like you said, sometimes there's like a mobile expert who emphasize like their expertise is making sure that it's on mobile, um, which is crazy to think that you got started before that was even a thing.
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Right.
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We didn't even we had cell phones, but not the kind of cell phones we have today.
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Um, that is fascinating.
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So um I just completely lost my train of thought.
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The um because I was thinking about how you got the design.
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So is that changing your approach?
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Um because you have that that extra experience that a lot of designers don't have, where you're sounds like you're doing the design, but you also have that development background and knowledge.
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So, how does that affect um how you approach your work?
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Well, when I started hiring people, I was looking for people that did both design and code.
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And I was pretty stubborn about it and refused to hire them to vote.
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So I actually have a team of like these rare unicorns that can do both the development and the design.
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Nice, and a lot of us also have like an artsy background, too, very, very creative people.
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Um, so so for me, it it just kind of made me go even deeper into like trying to find that rare person.
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Nice.
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I love that.
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So that ended up being kind of a niche for you.
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I love how that you always fall into that.
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Um, is there a platform that you work with more than others, or are you cross-platform?
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What's what's your preference?
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Yeah, we are WordPress only.
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Um because of that, we have come across some very interesting issues with WordPress, and the team is really good at figuring out what the heck is going on under the hood when things go wrong.
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Nice.
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What kinds of issues do you tend to come up with in WordPress?
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Uh well, recently there was one where, like, in a design, like all of the text was shifting.
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Like, let's say you had some circles or a box, the text was like shifting out of the box.
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Oh.
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That was an interesting one.
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That is interesting.
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Yeah.
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Turns out that it's a conflict with the theme and bootstrap.
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Bootstrap is like a CSS framework.
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Okay.
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Like uh the theme doesn't necessarily also use that same framework.
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They might have their own framework.
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So those two things were conflicting.
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Okay, I get it.
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So they were getting like the the website, so to speak, was getting like two different orders, and it was trying to figure out which one to to obey, so to speak.
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Yeah, exactly.
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Awesome.
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Um, I mean, not awesome that that's happening, but that is fascinating.
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Um, do you guys do templates or themes, or is everything you do custom built?
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Well, we love to use um a theme and WYSIWYG editor called Beaver Builder.
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Have you I haven't heard of that one, no?
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I love it.
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It's a lot like um Divi or WP Bakery uh or Elementor.
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They're all they all do the same thing.
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They're called WYSIWYG editors.
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What you see is what you get, where you can like drag and drop things around, and it's supposed to be easier to use for like your average person who doesn't know this stuff.
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And of all of those um WYSIWYG editors, I feel that Beaver Builder is the best because it is actually like what you see is like what you're working with.
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And it's um it's a lot lighter, so it'll load faster in the browser when you're editing, but also like when a viewer is looking at the site, there's not all this extra stuff being added.
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Um, so we we really love Beaver Builder and so we don't use templates, everything we do is from scratch.
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Um, so that's part of what you get when you work with us, is that we're not just gonna grab some stuff that exists and just throw it.
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Awesome.
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Um, is there a reason that you work with WordPress over the other platforms, or is it did you just kind of fall into it?
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Well, when I started my company, I started freelancing.
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Um, you know, I was doing all this research on how to you know make it work.
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And one of the things was to choose a niche.
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So 17 years ago, I was like, all right, my niche is WordPress.
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And so then I like as I would hire people, I'd hire people that knew WordPress really well.
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Awesome.
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Yeah, that is one of those things that comes up with again and again in every business tip and business book and business everything is the riches are in the niches.
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Um I don't we haven't gotten into how did you go from working for this other agency as a designer to having your own company?
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Yeah, I was at that first company for about four years, two years while in college, and then two years full-time after.
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And that's kind of what how I learned most of what I do now for like web consulting.
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And then um I dabbled in some other stuff and then eventually um moved out here to the Bay Area from Cleveland.
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Nice and when I moved out here, I was at Alexa Internet, which is very old school.
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Um, they they had created the toolbar that went into your Internet Explorer browser.
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Okay.
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And then because this toolbar was in the browsers, they knew which websites everyone was visiting.
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So you would get an Alexa ranking, and if you were in like the top 10 or top 100, that would help like the valuation of your company.
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So I was there for two and a half years and it was very boring because it was just I was just working with one brand.
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Yeah.
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Previously, you know, at a consulting company, you've got like a variety of work in different companies, and so I really missed that.
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And I love you know, learning about some new thing that that it that I didn't even know existed.
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For example, there's a company that provides puppies for parties.
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Oh corporate parties, yeah.
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And the puppies are up for adoption.
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So that that's a thing.
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I wouldn't have known about that if I didn't have this this company.
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Right.
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That's fascinating.
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Yeah, so yeah, I missed it and I wanted to get back to it.
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So I I I quit Alexa internet and I started freelancing and yeah, that's my favorite part of my job too, is getting to learn about all these different people and their professions and what they do and why they do it.
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It's really fascinating.
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It's the most fun part of my job because then I get to learn about all kinds of different things that I, you know, like you, didn't know or didn't know that I wanted to know.
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I work primarily with attorneys and financial planners.
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So a lot of people think it's boring.
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And I'm like, no, this is fascinating.
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Like, did you know how this law works and what we need to do about it?
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So um, but yeah, and then I also came across a client who um helped people figure out if they wanted to be philanthropic, helped them figure out the best way to do that and how to make the biggest impact with their dollars.
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And I was like, is right.
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I was like, I did not know that was a job.
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Which is funny because my dad talks about that all the time.
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Like, if he won the lottery and was gonna, you know, try and donate it, how would he figure out how to have the biggest impact?
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And we just thought we were doing this as like a thought experiment.
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I was like, no, there's someone who actually that's what she does, is answer that question for people.
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That's fascinating.
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That is so awesome.
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So yeah, I was gonna ask next, like, what's your favorite part about your job?
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Is it, you know, getting to work with the different brands and learn different stuff, or is there more to it than that?
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Yeah, so you know, I've I've built out this team, and they're a fantastic team, and they do most of the actual client work now.
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And I just trust them to do an awesome job and run with it, which is really fantastic.
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So, most of what I do these days is a lot of business development, networking, one-to-one, um, sales and proposals and all that.
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And between all of that, like helping the team when they get stuck and working with prospects, what I really, really love is when someone gets stuck or there's like some interesting problem to solve where I have to try to think through like, okay, how can we do this technically, or how can I like automate something to make it happen?
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Like, I love trying to piece together a puzzle like that.
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Mm-hmm.
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Yeah, that's a lot of fun for me too.
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It's like, especially with those industries that people like, like I said, that financial planner who's like or a philanthropic advisor where it's like, no one's searching for that, which is not quite true.
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There are a few people out there searching for it, but it's not um, it's not not getting a whole lot of searches.
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So it's one of those like, all right, how can we get you in front of people who don't know to look for you?
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Because you are solving a problem.
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And and a lot of times people are gonna look for this for a solution.
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Um, the question is, what are they looking for?
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If they don't know to search for like this problem or this keyword, what else are they searching?
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So yeah, that's always a lot of fun.
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Like you said, figuring out that problem.
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Um so do you have uh certain industries that you like to work with, or are you all over the place?
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You'll work with anyone.
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Yeah, we're industry agnostic.
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And when looking at all of the clients we do have, I would say the majority of them are in professional services.
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They would probably use the word client when they're talking about the people they work with.
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Um we also have uh a pretty big chunk of clients in the tech space.
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Okay.
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That makes sense given where you are.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Do you find that you work primarily with people in the Bay Area or are you all over the place at this point?
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Yeah, we are we are all over the place.
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The majority of them are here just because I've been networking here for 10 years, but we we can work with people anywhere.
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My team is all over the place as well.
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I've got one person in England, one in Greece, and then like scattered all over the US.
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Nice.
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The joys of the internet and remote work.
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Um, yeah, I have found the same thing.
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I can help clients from anywhere, and I have had clients all over the country, but they do end up being mostly here in Chicago just because this is where I do most of my networking.
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So that is that is on me to change that.
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And again, get on some of that remote networking if I want to change that.
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So, my thing about WordPress, and um, I'm not even sure this is true anymore.
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Maybe you can help me out with this one, is when I was researching it, WordPress was like the one, the only one you where you really own your content and you really own your website.
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Um, the others like Squarespace and and Wix can, yeah, make it really easy for you to build your website.
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The flip side of that is they own all of that.
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Can you speak to that?
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Yes, you are spot on.
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That is absolutely correct.
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Um, so there are two versions of WordPress.
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There is a hosted version of WordPress that is like Wix in Squarespace, where you wouldn't own your content.
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Oh.
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And then there is the version of WordPress where you're hosting it yourself with your own hosting, like um like hostgater or go daddy or whatever.
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Yeah.
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And you want to do that, that version of it where you you're hosting it yourself.
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Um you do own everything.
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And you can also get under the hood that way too.
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So if you wanted to do more with SEO and you hired somebody to do that for you, they could do a lot more with um a self-hosted WordPress site than they could with those other platforms.
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They're not allowed to get under the hood there.
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Yeah.
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Yeah, that does make it tricky.
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There, and there are some things you can do with SEO um on those other websites, but it is limited.
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Um, I don't think I even knew that there were the two different versions of WordPress, um, which I guess makes sense.
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Because again, if they're losing clients to people who want who just want it to be easier, um, then yeah, why not why not make it easier and offer hosting?
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But um, yeah, people tend not to know about that.
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Um, the fact that you you don't own your read the fine print people.
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I I know we all click through without reading the terms of service, but sometimes there's really important information in there.
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So absolutely read all that content.
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Um yeah, it's it's your house, your your online real estate.
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You gotta own that.
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Awesome.
00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:52.799
So what um oh gosh, what's a good what are some of the the things that you see most often that you see people doing that just drives you crazy and you go, no, please stop, don't do that anymore.
00:17:54.319 --> 00:18:10.000
Um, I have to say um needless animations on a website where it like if if you go to the site and then it starts with like a little loading spinner countdown-y kind of thing, I'm like, oh come on.
00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:11.200
Here we go.
00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:12.160
Like, why?
00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:12.960
Why?
00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:18.480
Like most people are hitting the back button, they don't have the patience for that, especially these days, you know.
00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:31.839
Um I'm a fan of animation if it's supporting some other purpose or function, but just animation for the sake of like, oh, it's really cool.
00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:33.519
Like look at what we can do.
00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:36.559
Yeah, that's just unnecessary.
00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:37.119
Yeah.
00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:44.799
What's an example of an animation that you would that you would be in favor of that you would go, okay, yeah, that is in service of something bigger, that keep that.
00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:45.440
Yeah.
00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:52.880
So sometimes if you're scrolling through the page, like things will like kind of fly in from the side or like they'll kind of appear as you're scrolling.
00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:53.519
Yeah.
00:18:53.839 --> 00:18:55.519
That that's fine, that's cool.
00:18:55.680 --> 00:19:03.680
It's you know, it's it's very light, it's not causing the page to load slower, and it's making it feel dynamic and engaging.
00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:05.440
That is perfectly okay.
00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:06.960
Yeah.
00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:11.200
And that is something we should touch on is load speed.
00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:15.920
Um, because I'm sure that's something I talk about a lot from an SEO perspective.
00:19:16.079 --> 00:19:20.000
It's not really something I can do much about as the content person.
00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:25.279
Um, but it is something I can look at and go, guys, your your load speed is like five seconds.
00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:29.599
And I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but that is an eternity in today's day and age.
00:19:29.759 --> 00:19:32.480
So, like you said, people don't have the patience for that.
00:19:32.559 --> 00:19:33.599
They're gonna click away.
00:19:33.759 --> 00:19:42.640
Um, so can you speak to that about you know load speed and what you're seeing and and how that affects uh the work that you do with your clients?
00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:50.079
Yeah, performance is definitely one of those big important check boxes for for when we're building a website.
00:19:50.319 --> 00:19:51.920
It can affect your SEO.
00:19:52.079 --> 00:20:02.799
They actually take your your page loading speed into account when they're giving you a score for whether to show your page on mobile or on desktop.
00:20:03.279 --> 00:20:12.960
So if you're building a site or even if you like go check your own website right now, there are a whole bunch of tools for checking your website speed.
00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:15.440
You know, see see how it's doing.
00:20:15.519 --> 00:20:21.759
And if it's not doing well, you should definitely ask your developer to like take a look and spend a little time to get it to load faster.
00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:23.680
It'll affect your SEO.
00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:34.240
But then also if if the page is sitting there taking forever to load, the your prospects are gonna lose interest as well, and they're also gonna click the back button.
00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:38.720
So you could be losing business if your site is not performing well.
00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:48.160
Yeah, and that's why Google punishes you for the longer load times, is because they have seen that if it takes longer than literally three seconds.
00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:52.960
I know that sounds like nothing and it's not, but again, we live in a world of instant gratification.
00:20:53.119 --> 00:20:57.839
If you don't give me what I want right now, I'm gonna click away and get it somewhere else.
00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:00.559
So yeah, that's another thing I recommend people look at.
00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:06.079
If your bounce rate is is really high or if it's getting higher, look at look at your load speed.
00:21:06.160 --> 00:21:11.839
Because that's the first thing I would look at as far as you know, it's taking too long to load, I'm gonna click back.
00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:17.680
Um, find find what I need somewhere else because there is always someone else doing what you do.
00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:19.839
So take a look at that.
00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:21.519
Awesome.
00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:23.200
Well, Nicole, this was so much fun.
00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:25.119
Thank you so much for for doing this.
00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:31.279
Um, before I let you go, tell the good people uh where they can find you if they want to continue this conversation.
00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:35.039
Yeah, so our website is smackhappy.com.
00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:37.119
Pretty simple and straightforward.
00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:42.480
And I am also on LinkedIn if you want to find me there and connect.
00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:48.640
And um we have an Instagram account and Facebook, but we hardly touch titles anymore.
00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:51.200
I think if you got a business, you're on LinkedIn.
00:21:51.279 --> 00:21:53.599
That's where you're your stuff these days.
00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:58.799
Yeah, I I'm not even sure I have an Instagram or Facebook account for my business anymore.
00:21:58.880 --> 00:22:02.559
I used to, um, but yeah, it just wasn't getting results.
00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:04.880
Whereas LinkedIn is is where my people are.
00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:11.759
So especially if you're serving the professional service providers, we are all over on LinkedIn.
00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:13.519
That's where we're hanging out.
00:22:13.759 --> 00:22:14.640
Exactly.
00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:17.440
Is there a story behind Smack Happy Design?
00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:18.880
How did you come up with that name?
00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:27.039
Yeah, so when I was at Alexa Internet, I was thinking I wanted to leave and freelance, and I wanted to come up with a name.
00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:30.400
And you know, it's very hard to come up with a name.
00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:37.119
The domain name to be available, easy to spell, easy to remember, all the things.
00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:42.079
And I was thinking about it for like a month and I couldn't come up with anything.
00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:48.000
And then one of my coworkers who would often annoy me was annoying me yet once again.
00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:51.119
And I thought, oh, I'm gonna go smack happy on him.
00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:54.079
Oh, maybe that's a good one.
00:22:54.720 --> 00:22:55.680
Love that.
00:22:56.160 --> 00:22:56.640
Awesome.
00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:00.960
And here I just went with simple my initials and then what I do.
00:23:01.759 --> 00:23:03.680
Well, I mean, that works.
00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:05.039
That works.
00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:07.119
It does so awesome, Nicole.
00:23:07.200 --> 00:23:09.440
Thank you so much for taking the time uh to chat.
00:23:09.519 --> 00:23:11.039
This was an awesome conversation.
00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:17.839
Um, and then for those of you who want to connect with me, if you are not already connected with me, like I said, I'm over on LinkedIn as Allison Verhalen.
00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:24.000
AV Writing Services also has its own page over on LinkedIn, so you can follow one or both of us there.
00:23:24.079 --> 00:23:25.839
Uh, you can follow me here on YouTube.
00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:30.799
If you are not watching this on YouTube, you can check it out on YouTube at Allison Verhalen Content Marketer.
00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:36.559
And the website is A V, as in my initials, Allison Verhalen, AV Writing Services.com.
00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:38.400
Thanks so much, and thank you again, Nicole.
00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:39.279
This was so much fun.
00:23:39.519 --> 00:23:40.640
Thank you for having me.
00:00:02.160 --> 00:00:02.640
All right.
00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:06.400
Welcome, welcome, welcome to the marketing spotlight.
00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:13.599
I am so excited today to put the spotlight on Nicole Hanasek, who also works with websites.
00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:18.160
So when a mutual friend of ours was like, Hey, do you want to meet Nicole?
00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:20.000
And I was like, Yes, yes, I do.
00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:24.399
So we met, I think, a year or two ago and had a really awesome conversation.
00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:26.640
And so we've been following up with each other.
00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:31.280
And I mentioned I was doing this podcast, and she was like, Yes, I would be interested in this podcast.
00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:36.719
So, Nicole, please tell the good people a little bit about who you are and what you do.
00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:37.920
Sure.
00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:43.600
Uh, so I've been designing and coding websites for about 27 years now.
00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:46.079
I cannot believe it has been that long.
00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:48.159
Since you were three, right?
00:00:48.399 --> 00:00:49.200
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:54.159
I started before the web became this huge crazy thing that it is today.
00:00:55.119 --> 00:01:00.079
And uh I've had my company for about 17 years.
00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:02.240
Also can't believe that.
00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:19.359
Um so yeah, I've got a team of about eight people, and we mostly focus on building websites that are beautiful and really help capture who our clients are so it can connect with their prospects and seal the deal.
00:01:20.079 --> 00:01:20.560
Nice.
00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:24.159
So this was pre-2000, it must have been.
00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:30.400
So what was going on with you personally in the 90s that led you to building websites?
00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:38.719
So I was in art school about the Cleveland Institute of Art, and I was studying illustration actually.
00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:47.280
And um, one of my classmates, we were in the computer lab and she was looking for graphic design internships, and I thought that was a smart idea.
00:01:47.359 --> 00:01:57.519
So I copied her and I landed a job at a web design company, and in the interview, he was like, So, um, why do you want to do this?
00:01:57.680 --> 00:02:00.879
And I was like, Oh shoot, I don't even know what this is.
00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:04.480
Because I need money.
00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:07.840
Yeah, and so he he hired me anyway.
00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:14.000
I don't remember what my answer was, but he hired me anyways, and um, here we are 27 years later.
00:02:14.319 --> 00:02:21.680
We've all been there in those conversations where like, I don't really want this job, I just really need a paycheck.
00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:25.599
I thought I'd get some experience for my resume.
00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:26.479
Yes.
00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:29.120
Uh um, that's awesome, actually.
00:02:29.280 --> 00:02:29.680
I love that.
00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:31.360
We've all we've all been there and done that.
00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:37.439
And it is, it's that's like a theme that comes up over and over in the conversations that I have with designers.
00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:42.159
Is I went to art school and then had to figure out what I was gonna do with this art degree.
00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:46.240
Turns out I'm not Picasso, so what's my plan B?
00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:47.199
Mm-hmm.
00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:50.560
Yeah, graphic design, web design, awesome.
00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:54.000
Um, there is so I don't I don't even know where to begin.
00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:58.560
There's so much to talk about in the in in that amount of time.
00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:12.080
Um what are I mean, if you can, I know this is gonna be a big question because of how long you've been doing this, but what are some of the biggest changes you've seen from when you started building websites to today in 2025?
00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:13.599
Yeah.
00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:18.639
Back then, I was just building an HTML web page.
00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:21.599
It was very simple, very straightforward.
00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:23.680
It was only for desktop.
00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:31.520
So there were nowhere near as many things to worry about or think about when you created a website.
00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:37.360
And my position then was just also a very simple position where I did all of the things.
00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:43.680
I did the back end, I did, well, the front end was just like a little bit of light design.
00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:51.280
Nowadays, like all of the pieces and parts of a website are kind of broken out into different roles.
00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:57.360
You have like a visual designer, a UX designer, a front-end coder, a back-end coder.
00:03:57.439 --> 00:03:59.759
And then like there's even deeper things.
00:03:59.840 --> 00:04:11.199
Like if you're um a software engineer like my husband, you do like back-end stuff where you're creating the APIs, the things connect to, which is like beyond me and like way more complex.
00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:17.199
But there's there's all these different roles where it used to just be like, I was just the one doing the thing.
00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:18.000
Yeah.
00:04:18.240 --> 00:04:19.680
Yeah, that is fascinating.
00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:25.920
Again, speaking as a content marketer, where I always have to emphasize to people, I do the content for your website.
00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:27.920
I'm not gonna do anything else for your website.
00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:30.000
You need a whole other team of people for that.
00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:33.279
I just focus on this one little part of it.
00:04:34.079 --> 00:04:42.160
Um, that is really interesting because I do work with a lot of people who it's a developer-designer team, right?
00:04:42.240 --> 00:04:45.600
One person does the design and one person does the development.
00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:57.439
Um, and like you said, sometimes there's like a mobile expert who emphasize like their expertise is making sure that it's on mobile, um, which is crazy to think that you got started before that was even a thing.
00:04:57.759 --> 00:04:58.079
Right.
00:04:58.240 --> 00:05:03.360
We didn't even we had cell phones, but not the kind of cell phones we have today.
00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:05.680
Um, that is fascinating.
00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:10.160
So um I just completely lost my train of thought.
00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:14.160
The um because I was thinking about how you got the design.
00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:16.959
So is that changing your approach?
00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:27.279
Um because you have that that extra experience that a lot of designers don't have, where you're sounds like you're doing the design, but you also have that development background and knowledge.
00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:31.360
So, how does that affect um how you approach your work?
00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:37.279
Well, when I started hiring people, I was looking for people that did both design and code.
00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:42.240
And I was pretty stubborn about it and refused to hire them to vote.
00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:50.079
So I actually have a team of like these rare unicorns that can do both the development and the design.
00:05:50.399 --> 00:05:55.439
Nice, and a lot of us also have like an artsy background, too, very, very creative people.
00:05:56.000 --> 00:06:06.319
Um, so so for me, it it just kind of made me go even deeper into like trying to find that rare person.
00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:07.439
Nice.
00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:08.000
I love that.
00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:10.000
So that ended up being kind of a niche for you.
00:06:10.079 --> 00:06:13.120
I love how that you always fall into that.
00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:18.959
Um, is there a platform that you work with more than others, or are you cross-platform?
00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:20.560
What's what's your preference?
00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:23.040
Yeah, we are WordPress only.
00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:38.800
Um because of that, we have come across some very interesting issues with WordPress, and the team is really good at figuring out what the heck is going on under the hood when things go wrong.
00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:39.519
Nice.
00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:42.480
What kinds of issues do you tend to come up with in WordPress?
00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:49.120
Uh well, recently there was one where, like, in a design, like all of the text was shifting.
00:06:49.199 --> 00:06:53.600
Like, let's say you had some circles or a box, the text was like shifting out of the box.
00:06:53.920 --> 00:06:54.240
Oh.
00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:56.800
That was an interesting one.
00:06:57.439 --> 00:06:58.720
That is interesting.
00:06:59.040 --> 00:06:59.360
Yeah.
00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:03.120
Turns out that it's a conflict with the theme and bootstrap.
00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:05.680
Bootstrap is like a CSS framework.
00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:06.240
Okay.
00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:10.319
Like uh the theme doesn't necessarily also use that same framework.
00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:11.920
They might have their own framework.
00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:14.720
So those two things were conflicting.
00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:16.240
Okay, I get it.
00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:26.480
So they were getting like the the website, so to speak, was getting like two different orders, and it was trying to figure out which one to to obey, so to speak.
00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:28.319
Yeah, exactly.
00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:29.360
Awesome.
00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:32.879
Um, I mean, not awesome that that's happening, but that is fascinating.
00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:38.000
Um, do you guys do templates or themes, or is everything you do custom built?
00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:43.439
Well, we love to use um a theme and WYSIWYG editor called Beaver Builder.
00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:46.160
Have you I haven't heard of that one, no?
00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:47.040
I love it.
00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:52.480
It's a lot like um Divi or WP Bakery uh or Elementor.
00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:53.920
They're all they all do the same thing.
00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:55.519
They're called WYSIWYG editors.
00:07:55.680 --> 00:08:05.839
What you see is what you get, where you can like drag and drop things around, and it's supposed to be easier to use for like your average person who doesn't know this stuff.
00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:16.800
And of all of those um WYSIWYG editors, I feel that Beaver Builder is the best because it is actually like what you see is like what you're working with.
00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:29.279
And it's um it's a lot lighter, so it'll load faster in the browser when you're editing, but also like when a viewer is looking at the site, there's not all this extra stuff being added.
00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:36.159
Um, so we we really love Beaver Builder and so we don't use templates, everything we do is from scratch.
00:08:36.320 --> 00:08:43.759
Um, so that's part of what you get when you work with us, is that we're not just gonna grab some stuff that exists and just throw it.
00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:46.639
Awesome.
00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:53.120
Um, is there a reason that you work with WordPress over the other platforms, or is it did you just kind of fall into it?
00:08:53.919 --> 00:08:57.279
Well, when I started my company, I started freelancing.
00:08:57.440 --> 00:09:02.559
Um, you know, I was doing all this research on how to you know make it work.
00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:06.799
And one of the things was to choose a niche.
00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:11.279
So 17 years ago, I was like, all right, my niche is WordPress.
00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:17.519
And so then I like as I would hire people, I'd hire people that knew WordPress really well.
00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:18.399
Awesome.
00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:28.879
Yeah, that is one of those things that comes up with again and again in every business tip and business book and business everything is the riches are in the niches.
00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:38.000
Um I don't we haven't gotten into how did you go from working for this other agency as a designer to having your own company?
00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:47.039
Yeah, I was at that first company for about four years, two years while in college, and then two years full-time after.
00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:52.559
And that's kind of what how I learned most of what I do now for like web consulting.
00:09:53.039 --> 00:10:02.720
And then um I dabbled in some other stuff and then eventually um moved out here to the Bay Area from Cleveland.
00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:08.799
Nice and when I moved out here, I was at Alexa Internet, which is very old school.
00:10:08.960 --> 00:10:14.000
Um, they they had created the toolbar that went into your Internet Explorer browser.
00:10:14.240 --> 00:10:14.559
Okay.
00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:20.000
And then because this toolbar was in the browsers, they knew which websites everyone was visiting.
00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:27.279
So you would get an Alexa ranking, and if you were in like the top 10 or top 100, that would help like the valuation of your company.
00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:38.960
So I was there for two and a half years and it was very boring because it was just I was just working with one brand.
00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:39.519
Yeah.
00:10:39.919 --> 00:10:47.360
Previously, you know, at a consulting company, you've got like a variety of work in different companies, and so I really missed that.
00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:54.320
And I love you know, learning about some new thing that that it that I didn't even know existed.
00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:58.159
For example, there's a company that provides puppies for parties.
00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:00.639
Oh corporate parties, yeah.
00:11:00.799 --> 00:11:02.480
And the puppies are up for adoption.
00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:03.759
So that that's a thing.
00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:06.799
I wouldn't have known about that if I didn't have this this company.
00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:07.679
Right.
00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:09.679
That's fascinating.
00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:13.360
Yeah, so yeah, I missed it and I wanted to get back to it.
00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:27.679
So I I I quit Alexa internet and I started freelancing and yeah, that's my favorite part of my job too, is getting to learn about all these different people and their professions and what they do and why they do it.
00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:29.360
It's really fascinating.
00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:38.960
It's the most fun part of my job because then I get to learn about all kinds of different things that I, you know, like you, didn't know or didn't know that I wanted to know.
00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:42.240
I work primarily with attorneys and financial planners.
00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:43.679
So a lot of people think it's boring.
00:11:43.759 --> 00:11:45.200
And I'm like, no, this is fascinating.
00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:48.720
Like, did you know how this law works and what we need to do about it?
00:11:48.960 --> 00:12:02.000
So um, but yeah, and then I also came across a client who um helped people figure out if they wanted to be philanthropic, helped them figure out the best way to do that and how to make the biggest impact with their dollars.
00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:04.000
And I was like, is right.
00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:06.480
I was like, I did not know that was a job.
00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:09.840
Which is funny because my dad talks about that all the time.
00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:17.200
Like, if he won the lottery and was gonna, you know, try and donate it, how would he figure out how to have the biggest impact?
00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:19.759
And we just thought we were doing this as like a thought experiment.
00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:24.159
I was like, no, there's someone who actually that's what she does, is answer that question for people.
00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:25.759
That's fascinating.
00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:27.200
That is so awesome.
00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:31.360
So yeah, I was gonna ask next, like, what's your favorite part about your job?
00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:37.360
Is it, you know, getting to work with the different brands and learn different stuff, or is there more to it than that?
00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:49.759
Yeah, so you know, I've I've built out this team, and they're a fantastic team, and they do most of the actual client work now.
00:12:50.240 --> 00:12:55.759
And I just trust them to do an awesome job and run with it, which is really fantastic.
00:12:55.919 --> 00:13:03.840
So, most of what I do these days is a lot of business development, networking, one-to-one, um, sales and proposals and all that.
00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:28.399
And between all of that, like helping the team when they get stuck and working with prospects, what I really, really love is when someone gets stuck or there's like some interesting problem to solve where I have to try to think through like, okay, how can we do this technically, or how can I like automate something to make it happen?
00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:32.320
Like, I love trying to piece together a puzzle like that.
00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:33.039
Mm-hmm.
00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:35.519
Yeah, that's a lot of fun for me too.
00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:46.240
It's like, especially with those industries that people like, like I said, that financial planner who's like or a philanthropic advisor where it's like, no one's searching for that, which is not quite true.
00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:52.480
There are a few people out there searching for it, but it's not um, it's not not getting a whole lot of searches.
00:13:52.639 --> 00:13:57.759
So it's one of those like, all right, how can we get you in front of people who don't know to look for you?
00:13:57.919 --> 00:13:59.360
Because you are solving a problem.
00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:03.200
And and a lot of times people are gonna look for this for a solution.
00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:05.440
Um, the question is, what are they looking for?
00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:12.000
If they don't know to search for like this problem or this keyword, what else are they searching?
00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:15.120
So yeah, that's always a lot of fun.
00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:18.159
Like you said, figuring out that problem.
00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:24.480
Um so do you have uh certain industries that you like to work with, or are you all over the place?
00:14:24.639 --> 00:14:25.600
You'll work with anyone.
00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:27.679
Yeah, we're industry agnostic.
00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:34.960
And when looking at all of the clients we do have, I would say the majority of them are in professional services.
00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:40.559
They would probably use the word client when they're talking about the people they work with.
00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:47.679
Um we also have uh a pretty big chunk of clients in the tech space.
00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:48.159
Okay.
00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:50.720
That makes sense given where you are.
00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:51.679
Yeah.
00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:52.799
Yeah.
00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:58.480
Do you find that you work primarily with people in the Bay Area or are you all over the place at this point?
00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:00.879
Yeah, we are we are all over the place.
00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:07.519
The majority of them are here just because I've been networking here for 10 years, but we we can work with people anywhere.
00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:09.200
My team is all over the place as well.
00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:15.440
I've got one person in England, one in Greece, and then like scattered all over the US.
00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:16.320
Nice.
00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:19.840
The joys of the internet and remote work.
00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:22.559
Um, yeah, I have found the same thing.
00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:31.279
I can help clients from anywhere, and I have had clients all over the country, but they do end up being mostly here in Chicago just because this is where I do most of my networking.
00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:34.240
So that is that is on me to change that.
00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:38.720
And again, get on some of that remote networking if I want to change that.
00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:44.720
So, my thing about WordPress, and um, I'm not even sure this is true anymore.
00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:53.759
Maybe you can help me out with this one, is when I was researching it, WordPress was like the one, the only one you where you really own your content and you really own your website.
00:15:53.919 --> 00:15:59.679
Um, the others like Squarespace and and Wix can, yeah, make it really easy for you to build your website.
00:15:59.919 --> 00:16:02.720
The flip side of that is they own all of that.
00:16:02.879 --> 00:16:04.240
Can you speak to that?
00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:06.399
Yes, you are spot on.
00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:08.159
That is absolutely correct.
00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:11.039
Um, so there are two versions of WordPress.
00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:16.960
There is a hosted version of WordPress that is like Wix in Squarespace, where you wouldn't own your content.
00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:17.200
Oh.
00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:26.799
And then there is the version of WordPress where you're hosting it yourself with your own hosting, like um like hostgater or go daddy or whatever.
00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:27.840
Yeah.
00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:32.720
And you want to do that, that version of it where you you're hosting it yourself.
00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:34.799
Um you do own everything.
00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:37.279
And you can also get under the hood that way too.
00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:49.759
So if you wanted to do more with SEO and you hired somebody to do that for you, they could do a lot more with um a self-hosted WordPress site than they could with those other platforms.
00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:52.240
They're not allowed to get under the hood there.
00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:53.200
Yeah.
00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:54.879
Yeah, that does make it tricky.
00:16:54.960 --> 00:17:00.080
There, and there are some things you can do with SEO um on those other websites, but it is limited.
00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:05.759
Um, I don't think I even knew that there were the two different versions of WordPress, um, which I guess makes sense.
00:17:05.839 --> 00:17:15.039
Because again, if they're losing clients to people who want who just want it to be easier, um, then yeah, why not why not make it easier and offer hosting?
00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:18.880
But um, yeah, people tend not to know about that.
00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:23.200
Um, the fact that you you don't own your read the fine print people.
00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:30.000
I I know we all click through without reading the terms of service, but sometimes there's really important information in there.
00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:32.480
So absolutely read all that content.
00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:37.440
Um yeah, it's it's your house, your your online real estate.
00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:38.720
You gotta own that.
00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:41.759
Awesome.
00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:52.799
So what um oh gosh, what's a good what are some of the the things that you see most often that you see people doing that just drives you crazy and you go, no, please stop, don't do that anymore.
00:17:54.319 --> 00:18:10.000
Um, I have to say um needless animations on a website where it like if if you go to the site and then it starts with like a little loading spinner countdown-y kind of thing, I'm like, oh come on.
00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:11.200
Here we go.
00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:12.160
Like, why?
00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:12.960
Why?
00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:18.480
Like most people are hitting the back button, they don't have the patience for that, especially these days, you know.
00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:31.839
Um I'm a fan of animation if it's supporting some other purpose or function, but just animation for the sake of like, oh, it's really cool.
00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:33.519
Like look at what we can do.
00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:36.559
Yeah, that's just unnecessary.
00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:37.119
Yeah.
00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:44.799
What's an example of an animation that you would that you would be in favor of that you would go, okay, yeah, that is in service of something bigger, that keep that.
00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:45.440
Yeah.
00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:52.880
So sometimes if you're scrolling through the page, like things will like kind of fly in from the side or like they'll kind of appear as you're scrolling.
00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:53.519
Yeah.
00:18:53.839 --> 00:18:55.519
That that's fine, that's cool.
00:18:55.680 --> 00:19:03.680
It's you know, it's it's very light, it's not causing the page to load slower, and it's making it feel dynamic and engaging.
00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:05.440
That is perfectly okay.
00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:06.960
Yeah.
00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:11.200
And that is something we should touch on is load speed.
00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:15.920
Um, because I'm sure that's something I talk about a lot from an SEO perspective.
00:19:16.079 --> 00:19:20.000
It's not really something I can do much about as the content person.
00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:25.279
Um, but it is something I can look at and go, guys, your your load speed is like five seconds.
00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:29.599
And I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but that is an eternity in today's day and age.
00:19:29.759 --> 00:19:32.480
So, like you said, people don't have the patience for that.
00:19:32.559 --> 00:19:33.599
They're gonna click away.
00:19:33.759 --> 00:19:42.640
Um, so can you speak to that about you know load speed and what you're seeing and and how that affects uh the work that you do with your clients?
00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:50.079
Yeah, performance is definitely one of those big important check boxes for for when we're building a website.
00:19:50.319 --> 00:19:51.920
It can affect your SEO.
00:19:52.079 --> 00:20:02.799
They actually take your your page loading speed into account when they're giving you a score for whether to show your page on mobile or on desktop.
00:20:03.279 --> 00:20:12.960
So if you're building a site or even if you like go check your own website right now, there are a whole bunch of tools for checking your website speed.
00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:15.440
You know, see see how it's doing.
00:20:15.519 --> 00:20:21.759
And if it's not doing well, you should definitely ask your developer to like take a look and spend a little time to get it to load faster.
00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:23.680
It'll affect your SEO.
00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:34.240
But then also if if the page is sitting there taking forever to load, the your prospects are gonna lose interest as well, and they're also gonna click the back button.
00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:38.720
So you could be losing business if your site is not performing well.
00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:48.160
Yeah, and that's why Google punishes you for the longer load times, is because they have seen that if it takes longer than literally three seconds.
00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:52.960
I know that sounds like nothing and it's not, but again, we live in a world of instant gratification.
00:20:53.119 --> 00:20:57.839
If you don't give me what I want right now, I'm gonna click away and get it somewhere else.
00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:00.559
So yeah, that's another thing I recommend people look at.
00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:06.079
If your bounce rate is is really high or if it's getting higher, look at look at your load speed.
00:21:06.160 --> 00:21:11.839
Because that's the first thing I would look at as far as you know, it's taking too long to load, I'm gonna click back.
00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:17.680
Um, find find what I need somewhere else because there is always someone else doing what you do.
00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:19.839
So take a look at that.
00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:21.519
Awesome.
00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:23.200
Well, Nicole, this was so much fun.
00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:25.119
Thank you so much for for doing this.
00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:31.279
Um, before I let you go, tell the good people uh where they can find you if they want to continue this conversation.
00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:35.039
Yeah, so our website is smackhappy.com.
00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:37.119
Pretty simple and straightforward.
00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:42.480
And I am also on LinkedIn if you want to find me there and connect.
00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:48.640
And um we have an Instagram account and Facebook, but we hardly touch titles anymore.
00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:51.200
I think if you got a business, you're on LinkedIn.
00:21:51.279 --> 00:21:53.599
That's where you're your stuff these days.
00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:58.799
Yeah, I I'm not even sure I have an Instagram or Facebook account for my business anymore.
00:21:58.880 --> 00:22:02.559
I used to, um, but yeah, it just wasn't getting results.
00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:04.880
Whereas LinkedIn is is where my people are.
00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:11.759
So especially if you're serving the professional service providers, we are all over on LinkedIn.
00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:13.519
That's where we're hanging out.
00:22:13.759 --> 00:22:14.640
Exactly.
00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:17.440
Is there a story behind Smack Happy Design?
00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:18.880
How did you come up with that name?
00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:27.039
Yeah, so when I was at Alexa Internet, I was thinking I wanted to leave and freelance, and I wanted to come up with a name.
00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:30.400
And you know, it's very hard to come up with a name.
00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:37.119
The domain name to be available, easy to spell, easy to remember, all the things.
00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:42.079
And I was thinking about it for like a month and I couldn't come up with anything.
00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:48.000
And then one of my coworkers who would often annoy me was annoying me yet once again.
00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:51.119
And I thought, oh, I'm gonna go smack happy on him.
00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:54.079
Oh, maybe that's a good one.
00:22:54.720 --> 00:22:55.680
Love that.
00:22:56.160 --> 00:22:56.640
Awesome.
00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:00.960
And here I just went with simple my initials and then what I do.
00:23:01.759 --> 00:23:03.680
Well, I mean, that works.
00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:05.039
That works.
00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:07.119
It does so awesome, Nicole.
00:23:07.200 --> 00:23:09.440
Thank you so much for taking the time uh to chat.
00:23:09.519 --> 00:23:11.039
This was an awesome conversation.
00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:17.839
Um, and then for those of you who want to connect with me, if you are not already connected with me, like I said, I'm over on LinkedIn as Allison Verhalen.
00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:24.000
AV Writing Services also has its own page over on LinkedIn, so you can follow one or both of us there.
00:23:24.079 --> 00:23:25.839
Uh, you can follow me here on YouTube.
00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:30.799
If you are not watching this on YouTube, you can check it out on YouTube at Allison Verhalen Content Marketer.
00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:36.559
And the website is A V, as in my initials, Allison Verhalen, AV Writing Services.com.
00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:38.400
Thanks so much, and thank you again, Nicole.
00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:39.279
This was so much fun.
00:23:39.519 --> 00:23:40.640
Thank you for having me.
