Northwest Gold Coast

Talk like a Pirate Day

What: Pirate themed activities and games. Children 10 and under dressed as a pirate can enter free of charge.

When: September 18th and 19th

Where: Seattle Children’s Museum

http://www.thechildrensmuseum.org/international-talk-like-a-pirate-day

 

Kent Farmers Market – Closing Day

What: Try some wonderful fresh produce at the last day of the Kent Farmers Market.

Where: Town Square Plaza – Kent

When: September 24th, 10am – 2pm

http://www.kentfarmersmarket.com/

 

Italian Festival at Seattle Center

What: Celebrate Italian culture with tasty Italian food, dancing, games and other entertainment.

When: September 24th

Where: Seattle Center

http://www.seattlecenter.com/events/event_detail.aspx?eid=319546

 

Last Mariners Game of the Season

What: Mariners vs. Athletics

When: September 28th

Where: Safeco Field, Seattle

http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=sea

 

SeaTac Photography Exhibit

What: See the photographs of local photographers on exhibition and available for sale.

Where: SeaTac City Hall on first and third floors.

When: October 3rd – 28th, 8:30am – 5pm

http://www.ci.seatac.wa.us/index.aspx?page=16&recordid=967

 

Renton Film Frenzy

What: A 50 hour film making competition

When: October 7th – 9th, registration closes October 1st

Where: Renton Civic Center

http://www.rentonfilmfrenzy.com/

 

Renton Fall Harvest Festival

What: Enjoy Renton’s best food and entertainment during the fall harvest.

When: October 8th, 10am – 4pm

Where: The Renton Piazza

http://www.piazzarenton.com/

 

Burien Brat Trot

What: 5k and family races followed by food, entertainment and kids’ activities. Costumes are encouraged.

When: October 9th. The 5k race starts at 1pm and the family race starts at 1:40pm. Online registration is available through October 7th and on-site registration will be available the day of the race.

Where: The 5k race starts in the heart of Olde Burien and the family race starts at Lake Burien Park.

http://www.burienbrattrot.com/

Burien Night of the Pumpkin

What: Kid’s carnival with Music, dancing, Face Painting, Games and more. $4 per child

Where: Burien Community Center, 14700 6th Ave SW

When: October 21st, 6:30pm-9pm

http://www.burienwa.gov/Documentview.aspx?DID=1786

 

Des Moines Chili Cook-Off

What: Sample some fantastic chili and watch the city of Des Moines culinary competition.

Where: Des Moines Farmers Market

When: October 29th, 10am – 2pm

http://www.desmoinesmail.com/webPDF/newsletter/citycurrents.pdf

 

Tags: Events by admin
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What if the opinion of every customer you have ever had was instantly available for your review? Or, what if everyone, including new potential customers had access to these opinions? Essentially, they do. The increasing importance and proliferation of review sites has made reviews powerful tools for consumers. Reviews could be powerful for a business too, or it could be a pretty scary concept.

Sites like Yelp, Google Reviews and Trip Advisor provide reviews of consumer services like restaurants, hotels and tours. This soapbox for consumers amplifies the footprint of a business’ performance. If a business performs poorly everyone will have that information at their fingertips. However, the opposite is also true. If your business provides a valuable service, this is a way for customers to find you.

For business owners like Captain Jim Maya of Maya’s Westside Charters, these platforms are great. Captain Maya’s success is a shining example of what a good reputation can do for a business. Captain Maya has earned a 96% rating on Trip Advisor from more than 50 reviews. His services earn praise and rave reviews from customers. In turn, new customers seek out Maya’s Westside Charters because of its reputation.

When things are going well it provides a supply of new customers, and simplifies business operations by closely linking success to customer satisfaction. Alternatively, if a business is getting negative responses on review sites it can be very damaging. Many savvy consumers visit review sites to vet a service before they buy. Get too many negative reviews and a business will scare away these savvy consumers.

Although a consumer seeking out reviews is just the tip of the iceberg. The search giant, Google, has taken a liking to reviews. In June 2011, Google reached more than 80% of the search engine market share. With Google’s size and affinity for reviews, it is becoming less and less likely that someone will be able to find a business on the web without getting a glimpse of reviews and consumer feedback.

Popular review sites rank very highly in Google, meaning content on these sites that is related to a business will likely be included in search results, maybe even more prominently than the business itself.

You also won’t be able to get directions from Google Maps without catching wind of the business’ reputation. Google displays information from prominent review sites on the business’ Maps listing.

The new Google Related tool is another way that Google incorporates consumer feedback into web browsing. A small toolbar at the bottom of every website pops up which includes what Google has deemed to be the most relevant results. Since Google loves reviews they will put these in the related toolbar. For a business with negative reviews or a bad reputation these opinions will be displayed while visitors browse their site.

With the growing prominence of consumer opinions on the web it is important to take a proactive approach to your business’ reputation. This means monitoring your reputation on a regular basis and actively cultivating a positive reputation online.

Captain Jim Maya is a client of CeSI. In addition to our regular internet marketing services that we provide for him, we do online reputation monitoring. We receive updates whenever something new is published about Maya’s Westside Charters. The most recent updates included: “The Perfect Whale Watching Trip!!!”, “Great whale watching experience!” and “Could not have been better!” It is fun for us to get updates like this and see a client doing well.

If a client were to ever receive a bad review, maybe a fraudulent one from a competitor, then we would catch it early. In this event we would notify the client, contact the review site and let the client know what more they can be doing to correct the problem.

If you want more information regarding how to protect your business’ hard earned image, email kevin@4cesi.com or phone 206-244-9092.

Tags: Business Advice, Services by Kevin Cushing
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As an internet marketing company that works with small to medium sized businesses we are in a unique position to witness some very exciting times in our clients’ lives. One of these times is the start of a new business. Just recently we assisted in the launch of Solid Rock Memorials.

Solid Rock Memorials provides decorative engraved rocks for a variety of occasions, with an emphasis on memorializing lost pets. This concept did not come together overnight. Many business ideas are realized because the owner experiences the need for the products or services first hand. Carolyn Bing, founder of Solid Rock Memorials, had dealt with the pain of a pet’s short lifespan first hand and recognized the need for these memorials back in 2006.

After being laid off in 2009 Carolyn decided it was the right time to pursue the opportunity she realized several years ago. Carolyn began researching the opportunity. After taking a class at the local community college on business plan preparation she put together a proposal and borrowed the money needed to start Solid Rock Memorials.

Carolyn along with her husband, Howard, procured the equipment, learned to use it and began compiling a product catalog. Carolyn and Howard paid attention to the requests of their early customers to help them create a catalog of stock products that could be offered in volume. They also understood that some customers wanted a more personal touch on their rocks so they continued to offer custom rocks. Once they had established product offerings they prepared to distribute them to the world.

Solid Rock Memorials first developed a sales strategy. They formed relationships with veterinary centers to make their products available to those who have recently lost pets. Solid Rock Memorials also made plans to attend trade shows in order to showcase their products.

The last piece of the puzzle was a platform to sell their products. Since they wanted to keep their business operating out of their home garage, they needed a website that could market their offerings, act as a product database and offer online sales. Our company, Cascade e-Commerce Solutions Inc., used Silverstripe, an open source database system, to create a custom website that would do all of this, http://www.solidrockmemorials.com. Now, Carolyn and Howard are able to market and sell their products to customers way beyond their previous reach. Customers can go to the website, search by categories such as pets, home and garden, faith, celebration, business and more. They can choose from stock images or order a custom engraving, pay online, and have their memorial rock shipped directly to their door.

Since the launch of their new website, Solid Rock Memorials has begun making online sales. We are excited to see the progress Solid Rock Memorials makes as they grow. One of the best parts of being in our business is watching the launching and evolution of a business.

At CeSI we have a great appreciation for the entrepreneurial spirit and would love to take part in your company’s evolution.

Tags: Services by Kevin Cushing
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It’s important to keep a website up to date to keep it relevant to the search engines and website visitors. As search engines crawl websites, new content (new files, updated date and time stamps and revised file sizes) prompt the search engine robots to re-index the site’s web pages and this in turn can bolster the search engine ranking positions for the site’s pages . Furthermore, as technology changes website aesthetics go out of style (think digital jean jackets).

Even businesses that are actively involved in online marketing and frequently updating their website eventually need a complete rework. These projects end up being great experiences for the web designers and clients. CeSI recently had the pleasure of working with Federal Way Custom Jewelers to rework their site.

The company is a locally owned custom jeweler that has been serving the Puget Sound for over 55 years. Back when their old website was implemented, the average computer monitor was significantly smaller and narrower. Originally, with much narrower screens (800 pixels wide) the bright purple background occupied much less of the screen and was hence a more subtle background. Modern screens however are widescreen displays. Even small laptops are 15 inch wide screens that can be 1600 pixels wide and desktop monitors can go upwards of 24 inches. On these newer displays the page content remained the same narrow width and the purple background filled the remaining space. As a result visitors to the old site design that had modern monitors were blasted with a purple background because it took up most of their screen. This rather literal eyesore became a problem. The jeweler’s image was intended to convey elegance, class and taste. Unfortunately a wall of bright purple did not accomplish this.

Today their site is completely different. First, the content has been widened to fill modern wide screens. Another improvement was done to the background; they chose a tasteful and more subdued background pattern. Now visitors can focus on the main content. Another thing that was done was applying a bit of a marketing touch to the site. The old site gave the visitors the option to find their own way throughout the site. Today their site is designed to draw visitors to the content that creates revenue. This was done by adding a call to action to each page. Their old site hoped that someone seeing their site would lead them to visit the store. The new version of the site has an appointment form that allows customers to interact with Federal Way Custom Jewelers directly through the website. The result of all these improvements is they now have a site that looks classy and drives sales.

Thinking of how your website could use a face lift? Below are six tips to keep your business website up to date.

1. Widen the content frame
   Take a page out of Federal Way Custom Jeweler’s book and widen your website content. Screens are getting wider. If your site is designed for monitors that are only 800 pixels wide it might be time to upgrade. Not only does wider content have a newer look, but it allows you to get more page content above the fold.
2. STOP YELLING
   Flashing red and neon banners do not get anyone to buy anything. The only thing this does is get visitors to close the window faster. Avoid using stop colors. Don’t use all caps. You can draw attention to important aspects of your site with brighter versions of your theme colors and proper link/button placement. The same goes for sounds and videos. If it bothers you on other websites, don’t put it on yours.
3. Drive Sales
   If you created your website with the intention of making money, you need to remember to keep this the focus. This concept can get lost sometimes. Each page should have the focus of driving sales. If you don’t have this focus already, try adding a call to action to every page. This means that if you sell widgets on your site, you should link to the widget catalog from every page. Use action verbs in this call to action such as “buy” or “purchase”. Try to make the homepage focus on selling those widgets too. Think of it like a virtual billboard. You wouldn’t pay for a billboard that didn’t try to sell.
4. Add content regularly
   Your website shouldn’t stay completely static. You want to provide reasons for people and search engines to visit and revisit your site. Make sure to keep contact information and any products current. A great tool for keeping websites current is a blog. Try adding a new blog post every few days. Fresh blog content keeps people and search engines coming back to your site. You can even get traffic for new keywords if you include those in your post content and titles.
5. Check Browser Compatibility
   Internet protocol is constantly updating. If you can’t remember what year you last updated your website design, then it’s a good time to consider this. Taking your site out of tables, an old website build strategy, moving JavaScript or style from the code to separate files, cleaning up the code and verifying that the code is up to international web standards will help improve page load speed and help search engines get right to the content of your page. You can update the site’s code and keep your design or you can update the code and go for a modern look. Updating your website’s code doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. CeSI will often do this for new clients that find their code to be an obstacle.

If you’ve thought your company’s website could lose a few cobwebs consider these tips. These are easy ways to dramatically improve your site. After all, it is a lot easier to change your website than it is to throw away your favorite jean jacket (really, they are perfectly acceptable as pants, why not jackets?).

Tags: Business Advice by Risa Miller
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Mobile sites are a powerful and relatively new tool for businesses. At CeSI we think they are a valuable tool and we are glad to see some of our clients beginning to adopt them.

A typical consumer already has built up a certain amount of interest in your offerings before they ever contact your business. This is sales work that the customer has done for you. If you wait to talk to the customer they might second guess their perceived need, or worse, explore a competitor’s offerings. A mobile site is a great way to expedite interaction with potential customers.

The following theoretical scenario involves one business with a mobile site, and one without:

Steve’s Modern Widgets and Murry’s Old Fashion Widgets. Both businesses sell the same thing. In fact Murry’s Old Fashion Widgets even has a website ( it hasn’t been updated since 1802 ). Some consumer out there, let’s name him Lotzi Monet (he’s a rich descendant of a famous French painter) is in his limo and gets to thinking that his business could use some new widgets. Instead of sitting idly by, he hops on his smart phone and starts checking out widgets online. He checks out Murry’s site first, but Murry doesn’t have a mobile site. Lotzi becomes impatient attempting to navigate a standard site on his mobile phone and tries Steve’s Modern Widgets instead.

“Success!”, Lotzi Monet declares. He has been redirected to Steve’s mobile site. Rather than go home and get online to buy widgets later, Lotzi takes out his oversized wallet to get his credit card nmber and buys his new widgets right then and there.

With the widespread adoption of mobile phones, businesses can react faster to consumers and make sales where they never could before.

However, mobile content is a new and slightly different medium. CeSI has a few tips to help with this new challenge.

1. Keep it simple. You have limited space; don’t try to do too much. Very few people can paint a masterpiece on a 2” x 3” canvas. Adjust your goals accordingly. Think plainly with utility in mind. Put yourself in the customers’ shoes and try to imagine three or four things that a customer would most want from your site. Make these few objectives the goals for your mobile site.
2. Focus on a call to action. One thing that should remain unchanged is the focus on a call to action. You can cut out almost everything in an attempt to simplify your mobile site, however leave the call to action on the site. You have a website because you want to make sales, and you are getting a mobile site because you want more sales. Try to steer your visitors towards making a purchase.
3. Adjust the window size automatically. Mobile devices come in all shapes and sizes. Unlike a typical website that will appear on wider screen sizes, a mobile site needs to work for both narrow and wide screen sizes. Your customers may be browsing on something that is 2”x 2” or they may have a tablet screen almost as big as a laptop. Your site needs to work for both. This means buttons, and windows that scale. You don’t want the iPad user squinting or the iPhone user pulling out a magnifying glass.
4. Include a button to the full site. Your average mobile visitor will find what they need on your nifty mobile site. However, you don’t want to restrict them. Include a prominent link that will take them to your standard site. This ensures that anything they can’t find on your mobile site is accessible regardless.

CeSI recently implemented a mobile site for Smart-Service, an independent Subaru auto repair company. Historically, Smart Service has been early to adopt new Internet marketing strategies. The company has made great use of their blog and as a result has built a reputation online as an expert in their field. Their success prompted us to recommend starting a blog to other clients.  A well run blog can enhance a business’ reputation and boost the business’ presence in search engines. Smart Service was ahead of the crowd with online maps as well. Before every site had Google Maps they had custom maps to accompany the directions on their site. Today we recommend that every client, capable of doing so, claim their online maps listings in Google, Bing and Yahoo. Smart Serivce was also one of our first clients to have us implement the Facebook “like button” on key pages of their website.  We are happy to help other businesses implement similar strategies to market their products and services.  Please feel free to email us at elizabeth@4cesi.com to request more information or phone 206-244-9092.  We’d be happy to help your business get more from its Internet marketing.

Tags: Business Advice by Jordan Comar
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A recent power outage prompted our staff to seek out a restaurant (with power) for lunch. One staff member was hungry for Hawaiian. So using an iPhone we studied Yelp reviews and phoned the top rated restaurant to check if they were open and had power. We were in luck so we piled into cars and took a trip to Saimin Says in Kent, WA.

The restaurant’s name is a pun on the name of the children’s game, Simon Says, and a popular Hawaiian dish, Saimin.

The size of our group allowed us to sample a good portion of the extensive menu. The entrée options include the eclectic mix of island fare, ingredients from the sea, Asian spices and preparations and continental U.S, iconic foods such as Spam and hamburgers that make up authentic Hawaiian cuisine. From Macadamia Nut Pancakes to Kalua Pig & Cabbage to Chicken Katsu to Curry Saimin there are many pleasing options to satisfy your taste for Hawaiian food.

Each entrée was generously portioned, hot and filling – just the kind of comfort foods that native Hawaiians expect. The Fried Rice Omelet is pretty much what it sounds like. Did you know fried rice was a breakfast food? Could it be because Hawaii is in a later time zone?

Sumo Sumu is one of Saimin Says’ specialties. This dish has everything under the sun. Mix beef, chicken, wontons, kamaboko, Spam, shrimp tempura, char siu, boiled egg & veggies with a pound of noodles and you have a Saimin Says favorite. This steaming entrée is more than enough to feed two, but most customers choose to eat it solo in one sitting.

Moco Loco is a Hamburger with a Hawaiian twist. In the continental U.S. most burgers come with fries, but that is a little different at Saimin Says. An order of Moco Loco gets you a hamburger with an egg and homemade gravy, and instead of fries the burger is served with a side of rice.

While serving us these Hawaiian fares, one of the owners, Ken, shared the Saimin Says story with us. The owners opened their first Saimin Says restaurant 17 years ago. Laughingly, Ken explained that for some time his wife was the face of the business, whereas he had to hide in the back. Native Hawaiians didn’t think the white guy behind the counter looked like he could cook authentic Hawaiian food. But, in short time he proved his authentic Hawaiian style as chef and even the natives are happy to refer their family to the restaurant. Their new location in Kent is doing quite well. We highly recommend a visit even when you have power at home!

For more information visit www.saiminsays.com .

Tags: Dining by Elizabeth Paulsen
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