Thorn Creative | Software

Thorn Creative

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23.01.2022 Getting sick about all the 'little' software subscriptions you have? It might be time to consider canceling the lot and putting together a custom database system for your business to save both time and money. Read more here... https://thorncreative.com.au/be-more-efficient-in-uncertai/

23.01.2022 Hi there, I'm Kirsty! An Aussie mum of twins and your main girl for the web design/development side of Thorn Creative. There are a few new faces here so I thought I'd take a minute to introduce myself. I'm passionate about helping #smallbusinessowners grow their business online through high converting design and strategic online marketing. I am a self-taught perfectionist and love finding new and creative ways of showcasing businesses online. I also really enjoy helping the... not-so-tech-savvy business owners get laser focussed on what strategies will work best for their industry, budget, and schedule. Off the computer, I am mum to twin 5-year-old girls Aaliyah and Zoe. As a former nutrition coach, I love nutritional science and natural health and will be a forever student in the field. I'm also a horsey girl at heart, although not currently riding I will get back to it when I can! Today I'm feeling super grateful to all our incredible clients that enable me the flexibility to work around my family. This little one is home with the sniffles today and just wants to sit on me. It's a bit awkward working around her, so lucky I have a chiro session this afternoon! I love what I do, I love helping my clients smash goals online and on days like today, I really love that I have the ease of working around my girls when they're unwell. I personally am booked out until August 2020 for new projects, so if you're interested in working with me to upgrade your online business, DM us now to secure your spot! Have a fabulous day, Kirsty

23.01.2022 Tuesday tip: consistency is key! "One salad won't make you skinny" "Neither will a logo make a brand."... In both food and business branding; consistency is key. So today's tip is simple - make some choices, and keep it the same EVERYWHERE. 1. Choose an overall theme/feel. Dark or light? Edgy or sophisticated? Consider your target audience (eg, branding for childrens services is different from a mechanic!) 2. Choose 2 - 3 fonts. 1 for headings and your logo, 1 for the body of your text and an optional one for taglines/highlights. The use those fonts everywhere you can; all letter heads, emails, business cards and website. 3. Based on your theme, choose some colours. You will need 3 primary colours to build around (get them from your logo). If you're not a designer, you can look up colour swatches on google or pinterest for ideas! Make a note of the fonts and the specific colours hex code (eg #000 = black). Then, once you've made those choices STICK TO THEM. Nothing screams backyard design job more than mismatched design!

23.01.2022 Tag a friend that's finding it tough to stay solutions-focussed right now. No matter what happens to us, a negative attitude will only make it worse - so look for solutions instead of staring at the problem!

18.01.2022 Tuesday tip: Stop throwing jelly at the wall in the hopes something will stick! You've got a lot of competing priorities as a business owner, its easier to just publish a post and move on! At least you've got something up, right? Not exactly. Knowing when and what to post can make a profound difference to the results you get from any online activity!... Facebook has built-in reports that can tell you things like when your audience are online most (so you know what time of the day to post!). For websites, you should be using Google Analytics. It tracks EVERYTHING! We send all our clients on monthly maintenance plans a personalised report like this example each month. It serves a reminder to check in with their site, and see where some of their leads might be coming from! #knowledgeispower #smallbusiness #onlinebusiness #reportsrule

15.01.2022 Let's talk SPAM emails (freakin annoying!) There is the obvious spam like selling viagra or a mysterious inheritance from a foreign prince who wants to deposit the value of a small country into your account. But sometimes, those sneaky buggers send something that looks a bit legit. Like an invoice for a domain renewal - I see this one all the time! Over the weekend one of my clients received a DOOZY - a message pretending to be our web host, with some emails that are 'pending...' delivery. Check out the screenshot below. All the red blocks are where they have written the domain name or email address for this client, which makes it look so legit! Thankfully, they did not click any of the links and sent this on to me to confirm. Because who knows what awaited for them on the other side! 3. FOOLPROOF WAYS TO SPOT SPAM THAT EVERY EMAIL ACCOUNT OWNER SHOULD KNOW 1. Check the DOMAIN name - that's everything that comes after the @ symbol on the sender's email address. For example, if the message is from "Telstra" but comes from a domain like @telstraisawesome.com then you know it is spam. Because firstly, Telstra is NOT awesome (long story) and second, that's not the website address that comes up on google, or appears on invoices. Details matter - and even if you don't use the next two spam-identifying hacks, this will keep you out of trouble! Also, remember that the email domains below are very easy to create fake accounts with. Even if the email content looks legit, be wary of these emails (when coming from a business, personal is fine!) - @ gmail .com - @ yahoo .com or yahoo .com.au - @ hotmail .com - @ email .com 2. Some of my family call me a grammar nazi - but in this case, it really helps! It would seem that email hackers are so good at speaking computer they've forgotten how to speak human (or English is not their first language). So when an email starts off with 'Dear amazing valuable college' (it hurts me to mistype this), be skeptical. Check for repetitive or vague statements like 'the delivery you ordered will be dispatched immediately when you confirm your details...' 3. Never give out personal information via email unless you are absolutely certain of the source/know the sender. One way to confirm this, is to google the business (do not click a link in the offending email) and double-check the email address matches their website. Better still, call them on the phone, or submit an email via their website contact form. This way you know it is going to that business, and not a 3rd party. And if you're a client of ours and still not sure - forward your suspect messages to us and we will check it out for you!

11.01.2022 Kirsty: What are your mornings like? With all the rain I haven't gotten out for my morning run for a couple of days, but today I did and it was magical! Its only lunchtime and I have achieved more this morning than I have all week so far. What do you do before work to get inspired?

10.01.2022 I ALMOST LOST EVERYTHING. The first week of every month I use Time Machine to get a complete backup of my entire computer, files, apps, settings - the lot! And last week, I proved just how vital this habit is! Tuesday morning my mac laptop died. She would not turn on, but fans were going mental and she was HOT. After running through a few things myself, I raced to Apple to get it checked out properly. Lo and behold, she needed to be taken away for repairs, and from the initi...al diagnostics, the parts to replace meant I would lose all data stored on the hard drive. Aaaahhhh!! That could have been extremely distressing, I would not have only lost my work, but my archives (we keep electronic records) and YEARS of precious baby photos! However, if you know me, you know that I'm ultra organised and keep multiple backups. My backups literally saved me from losing everything last week. When I picked up my repaired mac, I just needed to plug in the external hard drive and let Time Machine do its thing. I only lost about 2 weeks of changes, which is totally OK because most of my work is online anyway. All of my historical files, archives, photos etc were restored like nothing had happened at all, and I breathed a big sigh of relief. SO, just like a dental checkup - book in some digital housekeeping once a month. You never know what might happen, even the best tech can fail sometimes! (clearly, because apple is the best ) Here's my monthly checklist; - Backup website files, do any software updates - backup iPhone & sort through new photos/archive them - update iPhone - clear desktop, downloads folder and empty trash bin on mac - clear cache on internet browser/delete history - backup mac to external harddrive - update any apps on mac - and sometimes, refresh the computer with a new desktop background :) That might seem like a long list, but all up it only takes about 30 minutes. Thats a truckload less than it would have taken me to re install apps, adjust settings, reinstall email accounts... not to mention the heartache of lost memories! STOP what you're doing right now and do some digital housekeeping. Give your computer a SPRING CLEAN!

09.01.2022 Just wrapped up another WordPress website training with these guys! Good luck with your new website PUBS! "The team at Thorn Creative delivered an outstanding website for our social club. The team was in constant contact with me during the build and accommodated all of our requests in a timely manner. TC also now host our site with very competitive rates. Our members are over the moon with the result. Thanks guys." ~ Cameron Dowie https://thorncreative.com.au/work/pinerivers-brew-club/

09.01.2022 Do you even need a website designer? Skip passed the sketchy freelancers, the time sucking DIY platforms and ultra-expensive. Here's some common pitfalls when new businesses look for a new website!

05.01.2022 What do you think of this new design!? We loved working with such vibrant happy colours on this FB facelift! "Onome" means My own - a beautiful meaning behind a beautiful word that perfectly describes the gorgeous handmade goodies that are personalised for you. During this crisis, supporting small businesses like Onome is so important. So if you'd like a new bag for yourself, or to send as a gift for a friend, contact Amy ONOME Handcrafted for you via her fresh new FB profil...e! -- If your own business profile needs a facelift like this, let us know! https://thorncreative.com.au/design/

02.01.2022 Bit of a slow start to work today, Monty's been patiently waiting for the 'staff meeting' to begin! We have a massive week ahead, once we get started I know its going to be great! #workfromhome #mondaymorning #catworker