We help small businesses manage their digital presence.
Our outlook and approach…
We believe that technology should be an enabler. If you’re working on solving a problem with your web site, you’re probably not advancing your business. And that’s an important thing to do.
If your web site isn’t helping your business, it makes sense to question the investment. If you’ve got a business you need it, but at what cost?
We’re thrifty. Like you, we want to spend money on the things that deliver the most return. Like you, we’re running a business. So, we focus on delivering incredible value.
Services…
Here are the things we help other clients with:
Hosting your web site
The first thing you need is a web site. We usually build and host WordPress sites, but there are other choices, too. We’ll host it, keep everything up to date, keep it secure, keep it backed up, and keep it performing at a high level.
Site Traffic
It’s all well and good to have a nicely tuned site hosted on a fast server. That doesn’t tell you who’s visiting your site. On average, only about 2% of web site visitors identify themselves. We’ll monitor the traffic and can help with identifying those anonymous users and turning them into leads.
Search Engine Optimization
If your website doesn’t show up when people are searching, it’s not much good. SEO (as it’s known) is an on-going process of improving how close to the top of the search results you appear. There are LOTS of moving parts on this and we can help you stay on top.
Advertising
Sometimes you need to pay to appear in search results. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is a common approach to drive traffic to your site. We’ve got the ability to build and manage those advertising campaigns for you.
Technology Consulting
We have deep experience with technology and have spent years working with business people across the tech spectrum. Frankly, it’s unlikely that you’ve got a technology problem we haven’t seen. And, if we can’t solve it, I can guarantee you we know someone that can.
Finally (and this might sound crazy to some of my peers), technology doesn’t solve every problem. Sometimes you just need a process improvement. We can help with that, too.
People…
Jack Lavender
Founder, Principal Consultant
Mr. Lavender is an experienced professional with a deep understanding of business process and technology and the interplay between the two. Accomplished at managing and expanding long-term client relationships. Skills range from strategic business, operations, and technology planning through design to implementation of technology across the enterprise. Talented manager, motivator, organizer and team builder in environments ranging from large, multi-national firms to start-ups. Significant wireless and mobile experience.
Specialties: Application of technology to solve business problems and improve profitability. Taking action to make positive changes. Talented motivator, organizer and team builder.
In addition to having started and sold two companies, Mr. Lavender has also acted as a Mentor for the CleanTech Open, the world’s oldest and largest clean-tech startup accelerator, and is a former board member for Surrey Services, a non-profit organization that helps older adults to live with independence and dignity and to continue as active members of our community.
Musings…
#6 Your web site is your company billboard.
You can’t just put it up and forget about it. After a few months, it’s going to start to look dingy. People are going to get tired of seeing the same words and pictures. After another few months, the paint’s going to be peeling and it’s going to start to send a new...
#5 There’s a little more to it.
One of the trickier bits about SEO is that it isn't just about your content and your site. As you're crafting your message, you need to think about "search intent". You have to ask yourself what someone else would be searching for when you want them to find your site....
#4 SEO isn’t fast, either
If you have read the previous post, you'll know that SEO isn't hard. I'm here to tell you it also isn't fast. You make the changes and then you have to wait. And wait. And wait. One of the key things to improving is to monitor. What's the old saying, "That which is...
#3 SEO isn’t hard
I'm not going to lie: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) isn't that hard. Don't get me wrong, it's time-consuming and can be tedious, but it's not hard. It starts with a solid technical underpinning. If your site isn't secure, has mixed content (secure and...
#2 Breaking up is hard to do
I've been involved in starting (and later selling) two companies. And I've done business with scores of others. Break-ups happen and they're often uncomfortable. They aren't always, but that's the way to bet. Years ago, I had an associate tell me that it...
#1 Organizational Barriers
I do a lot of work with small companies. These are the ones that have 8-20 employees. In many cases, they can't advance their overall strategy because they've come up against organizational barriers. Barriers that can be reduced or eliminated, but the...
#0 General notes about this site
This site covers things that are of interest to me and that will help others understand more about how controlGen can help; including the breadth of our offerings. First, I love the English language, and there are some things that I try not to do. I don't add extra...