Why Think About It This Way?

ByDenise

Hi, and thanks for visiting.

I imagine you’re here because you’re a small business owner or part of a nonprofit, and you saw this post or someone sent you my way because you’re asking questions about online technology and want to learn more.

Maybe you’ve been told you need a website, online scheduling, e-commerce, SEO, or some other online tool, but you’re not really sure what those things mean or whether they’re the right solution for your business.

But you know your goals. You know what you’re trying to build, sell, share, fix, organize, or improve. You may not be completely sure what tools or services will help you get there, and sometimes you don’t even know what’s available to help in the first place.

And honestly, what you really want is to run your business without having to think about technology every five minutes.

So I wanted a place where we could slow this stuff down and look at it another way.

My goals are simple:

  • Help you understand the online pieces that affect your business.
  • Explain technology in a way that connects to things you already understand.
  • Help you ask better questions before you spend time or money.
  • Help you stay involved in the decision-making process instead of feeling like the decisions are being made for you.
  • Help you make better use of the tools you already have.
  • Help you avoid paying for things you don’t actually need.

You don’t have to become a technology expert. But when you understand what the technology is supposed to do for your business, you can be a better partner in conversations with your technology providers, ask better questions, and make decisions that actually support your goals.

That’s what I want these posts to help with. I want to translate technology into plain language and everyday examples that stick with you, so when you hear terms like DNS, hosting, plugins, or e-commerce, you have a better sense of what they do, how they support your goals, and what decisions need to be made along the way.

So, let’s think about it this way.

Lucy, one of the Thrill of the Gather dogs, has a way of letting me know exactly what she wants. One day, what I thought was a request for a treat turned out to be a request to turn on the TV.

Meet Lucy.

Lucy knows how to communicate with me, but I still have to pay attention. One day, she stood near the cabinet where we usually keep treats. Naturally, I thought she wanted a snack. But then she looked at the TV. Then she looked back at me. Then back at the TV.

She wasn’t asking for a treat at all. She wanted me to turn the TV on so she could settle in, watch her nature shows, and pretend to chase the deer.

The first clue wasn’t wrong. It just wasn’t the whole message.

Technology conversations can be like that, too. A business owner may know what they’re trying to accomplish, but not know the words to explain the tech side of it yet. And sometimes the tech person understands the tool, but not the goal behind it.

That’s the gap I want these posts to help bridge. When we can connect the tech terms to everyday examples, the conversation gets easier. You can ask better questions, make better decisions, and feel more confident about the tools that support your business.

I’ll be adding more “Think About It This Way” posts as I have helpful examples to share.

If you’d like to know when new posts are added, you can sign up for email updates in the “Stay in the Loop” form below.

Thanks for spending a few minutes thinking about it with me.
— Denise