Rhinelander, WI Website Expert Melissa Read

Project Manager, Designer, Social Media, SEO and Website Expert

I am currently employed full-time by TheeDigital.

TheeDigital Website & Marketing Agency

If you need a website re-designed or started up fresh, contact us at TheeDigital and we’ll be in touch. I can vouch for the amazing team at TheeDigital and love working with the team there. TheeDigital is based in Raleigh, but we can do work for any business. Get in touch today!

My goal at Digital-Melissa is to help business owners grow their business and reduce stress in their lives. As a business owner, your time is precious and sometimes you just don’t have enough. Here is where I can help. From Social Media management, to Project Management, Graphic Design, website help, editing or writing – I can help. I can even help you send out emails to your audience and research Search Engine Optimization strategies for your company. Need a few things on your website updated? I can help. Or maybe you need your website or social media presence launched – Digital-Melissa can help. I will even provide you with tutorials on how to do it yourself in the future.

You need somebody you can trust and who can get things done and done properly. My years of experience have enabled me to work quickly, produce quality work, and communicate properly while getting things done on time. I can take care of the things you just don’t have the time for but know you NEED to be doing for your business. I will help simplify your life, and hopefully help grow your business, too! Contact me today.

About Digital-Melissa

I am a 20 year veteran of the digital world. I’ve got years of experience in all areas of the internet, and a vast amount of information to help others using this knowledge. I’m reliable, trustworthy, and know how to communicate properly, get things done and make life easier!

I’ve worked in eCommerce and online for 20 years right out of college. I love to help business with their websites, social media presence or write articles or more. If you need some help, and I can’t do it, I can use my large network to find you somebody with the proper skills to help. Based in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, I can work with businesses located anywhere. Read my full story here.

How to Grow Your Business on Instagram

How To Instagram

Wondering how and what to do on Instgram to make it work for your business? Instagram has a huge power to help you establish your brand and awareness of your business. Here are some easy tips!

Post!
It is simple, folks. Post, like, interact, consistently! You can’t find an “easy” way to grow on Instagram. You have to post actual, interesting content, graphics that draw the eye, things people will respond to, tips, tricks, VIDEOS (Video posts receive almost 40% more engagement than images-only). Things people want. Things people find value in.

Be sure to utilize the “Stories” function. Although Stories dissapear in 24 hours, they are a growing tool and utilized more and more so we need to get on board. Definitely share any regular post as a Story, and share Stories as often as you can. Quick un-edited videos are a perfect place for these.

Frequency & Timing
Frequency is up for debate. I have seen both do it every day, and both only 2-4 days. It really, truly DOES matter who your audience is.

Timing – is when your audience is most active. You an find this in your reporting. There is no reason really to post when your audience is alseep, right? If you want to be generic about the timing, it is reported that the best times to post on Instagram are weekdays between 10am and 3pm.

Use the Hastags #
This is vital. Use ALL your hastags. You can post a maximum of 30 every time – so do it! Hashtags help people find you. Try to be as specific as possible, but be sure to use your 30 every time. I have read that you “shouldn’t” use the same hastags everytime, but I’ve also read that it doesn’t matter. In the end, each of your images are not the same so hastags should not be the same, right? That’s logical.

Use Geotags (Location)
When possible, be sure to use the location you are at as often as possible, if it makes sense to do so. Instagram loves Geotags! It is eported that posts with geotags earn up to 79% more engagement. You’ll find the geotag in the top left of your post.

Interact
On top of that “normal” work of posting, you are going to need to interact! Go out an find other IG accounts that have hastags you are interested in. Comment and like them. Try for 30 in the morning, 30 in the evening. But don’t OVER-DO it. That can go badly for you account. Instagram frowns on over-liking because likely some bot could do it, and that is not what they want. Repost if you find something that is perfect for your brand – it will help start more conversations and get you noticed. Just be sure to check the account first and make sure it is one you would like to be associated with. Include an @mention of their account.

Last – DO NOT hire a bot to buy followers! It Will. Not. Work. Your page will get shut down. You have to put in the time and effort her.

If all this sounds overwhelming to you – don’t worry! I can help. I’d love to sit down or chat online with you about how I could help your business grow in this area. Contact me

More detailed post times from Sprout Social and Blogging Wizard: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/best-times-to-post-on-social-media/#instagram https://sproutsocial.com/insights/instagram-stats/ https://bloggingwizard.com/get-more-instagram-followers/

Breeder-bred Dog or Mixed-breed Rescue? The Debate.

Emme Duck Toller

A debate recently occurred on a friend’s Facebook wall, even though that was not what she intended. She had posted about how she loves her Purebred dogs, bred by Breeders she knows and trusts. She highly values that she knows their bloodlines and genetic history back for ages. She had in the past owned mixed breeds – which she loved dearly… But somewhere along the line she started with Purebreds and has decided she would never go back. This started a very long, drawn out debate which I’m sure my friend never really intended on, but it is such a hot topic, I knew where it would inevitably go… Bickering and a never ending back & forth where nobody can win.

Maggie waits for Mocca in the water

This debate rages daily. My Facebook wall almost always has something about “Don’t Shop, Adopt”, or the opposite in favor of Purebreds. Countless Rescue potentials and “No time left” for dogs in kill shelters scatter my wall. Personally, I am torn about this issue, as I am the owner of several Purebreed pets: two Ocicats, and a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. Not to mention the fact that I also have only EVER owned Purebred dogs, although they all came through Rescue. I never knew their bloodlines, but they were Purebred. In fact, now that I sit down and really think about it – even when I first started researching to get my own dog when I was out on my own… I never really looked at mixed breeds, but it wasn’t intentional, I just never thought about it. Growing up, we had a Beagle, a Cocker Spaniel (who I think was a bit mixed!), an Irish Setter, a Gordon Setter, and then a Golden Retriever. Perhaps it has just been my upbringing that has made me always go the route of Purebred. Every day though I see many pictures of Mixed Breeds that are so adorable and wonderful, I would love to give them all homes. But I’ve just never gone that route.

Why did I choose a Purebred dog from a respected breeder?

Because:

  1. I wanted a puppy that was raised properly and raised with cats
  2. I wanted a dog specifically for Agility and I knew Tollers to be great Agility dogs
  3. I wanted to have as much of a guarantee on health & genetics as I could
  4. I wanted to have some idea of the personality and traits that I might expect
  5. I did not want a dog with unknown background that may have behaviors I would have to re-train or un-train

I could have covered #1, #2 and #5 with a Mixed Breed, but #3 & #4 were very important to me. Though, as it turns out, I have discovered no matter how much you know of a dog’s lineage or breed characteristics, you still can wind up with a dog you didn’t expect. So I just can’t pick a side.

But – I don’t think we need to “pick sides”. A pet is a pet. If your new family member is Purebreed or Mixed Breed – it simply doesn’t matter. That you love and care for them properly is what DOES matter.

Although of course, if you DO decide to go the Purebred route, and aside from rescue, be sure you research your chosen breed and pick a reputable breeder. Often by visiting the national breed club website you can find contacts to breeders of merit, and I encourage potential new owners to also get to know breeders in their area before settling on one person.

Ocicat and Bengal playing

In the future, when the time comes, I am not sure what I will do. We adore our Ocicats and the Bengal we owned, and would love more. Maybe we will compromise and get a shelter cat and a Bengal, or some mixture. When it comes to dogs… this will be a tough one for me. Emme has come with incredible trials I never envisioned, while so many friends randomly get a dog from a shelter or rescue and they are The Best Dog Ever. Not that Emme isn’t GREAT – she is! But she comes with a lot of baggage. She is NOT what I had all these hopes of having, and although we have come a long way, she is always going to need special care.

So who knows – we will see what happens when the time comes (hopefully not anytime soon because we love her dearly, baggage or not). And I hope that all my friends can remain friends with this debate.

Please remember that purpose-bred dogs are incredible, and breeding of specific breeds must continue. It would be such a tragedy to lose any breed.

So somehow we are going to need to work out a compromise. I would venture to guess that 100% of my “Breeder” friends also rescue dogs and take back dogs they have bred that wind up with problems or homeless. So they, too, rescue! Let’s try to all be a little more broad in our thinking.

Emme takes a nap