Blue Octopus Web Services

05/28/2025

I'm excited to announce that my latest project, a website for Joseph's House, is now live! They now have a beautiful website that really shows all the great work that they do.

www.josephshouse.org

05/06/2025

Life can be a whirlwind, and this past week proved that for me.

Last week was the book fair at my daughter's school and I'm the book fair chair so I was there every day. It's so great to see every kid go home with a book (our PTA is able to provide a $5 coupon towards a book for every kid). There's over 900 kids in her school so it's a lot of work and exhausting but definitely worth it.

Then Saturday morning, life took a turn I didn't see coming. We had to make the decision to let our beautiful dog Callie go. It was so sudden and I'm still reeling from the shock. We had 13 great years with her but I thought we would have more. It's made me realize that we really have to appreciate our time with each other.

04/08/2025

Today is an exciting day. My business coach, Renee Hribar, book "Selling for Expertise" is coming out today. I was a part of the pre-reader group, and this book is so good. Her advice is practical and she gives you all the steps you need to sell with confidence. I bought my copy this morning, and you should definitely check out her book if you need more confidence in selling your expertise.

Also check out her free Facebook community Entrepreneurial Connections Movement:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/485712388288047r

04/07/2025

Last week was spring break for my daughter, and my husband took a few days off, so returning to our regular schedule today was painful...especially because it snowed overnight and I'm over cold weather.

We mostly hung out around the house last week, but the one thing that was a highlight of the week was seeing the Minecraft movie. I was a bit dubious going to see it (I'm not a gamer) but I do love a movie based on a game (I love Battleship), so we went.

I really enjoyed it. I think I may have laughed more than my daughter. The combo of Jack Black and Jason Momoa is fantastic. They should make more movies together. Maybe it's all the craziness going on in the world but it was so nice to be able to laugh at Jack Black singing a song about lava chicken. 🍗

Have you seen the Minecraft movie yet?

03/18/2025

My daughter had to write a story about her day as a leprechaun and it's so funny and cute. I even make a cameo in the story.

It says: One March day I made a trap. The leprechaun fell, bam! I went to check my trap. I saw the leprechaun in my trap. He yelled "help". My mom woke up. My mom asked, "Wat was that?" as she saw the leprechaun.She said, "Wat is that!" I said, "that is a leprechaun mom".

02/27/2025

We're in the final, final stages of the website launching process and I'm so excited for Joseph's House! The new website is so beautiful and reflects the warmth and light they provide to their community. Stay tuned for the final details...

02/14/2025

02/05/2025

Do you sometimes forget that you can do cool things? You’ve been doing something for so long that everything seems routine and not special?

Recently in a Taekwondo class during a partner workout, my partner said, “You’re the expert” and it kind of took me off guard. I’m a second degree black belt but I don’t always feel like I have any more expertise than anybody else. (Everybody can do spin kicks, right?) I’ve lost some perspective on the skills that I have; I need to change my mindset.

Having a strong mindset is essential to business success, but it can often be a struggle to maintain it on a daily basis. You get bogged down in details or events and lose some perspective. Do you have any tools that you use to help your mindset? What cool things have you accomplished that you might be taking for granted?

01/28/2025

It's Data Privacy Day; have you checked your privacy/password settings lately?

Today is a day to raise awareness and promote best practices for privacy and data protection. It's something I take very seriously as a web professional. Below are three simple things you can do today to help keep your data (and website) safe.

1) Update your passwords.

2) Set up 2-factor authentication on websites that you use.

3) Make sure your website privacy policies are up to date.

Protecting your data privacy is very important as a business owner. Do you have questions about what else you can do to protect your data?
Feel free to send me a DM or set up a call (https://www.blueoctoweb.com/set-up-a-consultation/)

01/17/2025

As a business owner, you might not know all the details about your website (that's why you have a developer) but there are certain details that you do need to know. Sometimes, you may not be able to get a hold of your developer and you need to know who to call to figure out a website issue. It's like having a "Who to call in emergencies" card for your business.

Here are five things you need to know about your website:

1) What platform is your website on?
-Some platforms have their own customer service you can call.

2) Where is your website hosted?
-You need to know who to call if your website is down and you can't get ahold of your developer.

3) Do you have any premium licenses on your website?
-If the license lapses you may lose functioning on your website.

4) Do you know how to log in to your website and hosting?
-If you have to fix an issue yourself, you'll need to know how to access the dashboard on your website. Also good if you need to onboard a new developer.

5) Who is paying for hosting and other website expenses?
-Many of these costs are annual and it causes issues if they're not paid on time. Making sure you know when they renew can save you a lot of headaches later.

01/14/2025

I was driving my daughter to school this morning and we saw a coyote about to cross the road; definitely not something you see every day. (No road runner was spotted).

01/08/2025

Is it cold where you are?

It's been pretty cold the last week or so but we really needed to get out of the house so we went to the Botanical Gardens here in Cleveland. It was the last day of their holiday display so we got to see all the beautiful decorations before they were gone.

The Botanical Gardens are right by the Natural History Museum so we're planning on a visit there soon since they just finished a huge renovation of the museum. Are there any museums by you that you enjoy visiting?