Digital Marketing Madness published two blogs recently dealing with the use of a Content Management System (CMS) - specifically open-source CMS - to manage your website, specifically directed at providing an affordable solution for most small businesses.

Anyone looking to make a change with their company website, small or medium business specifically, would really benefit from joining in the discussion surrounding a system to manage their website.

The DBBMcKennon CPA firm out of Solana and Newport Beach contacted RightTurn to take their website management in a new direction. With a lean budget a custom design was out of the question, but we were able to deliver a Content Management System (CMS) so they could manage the entire site themselves. Pointing them to Wordpress as an open-source CMS option they were able to do research to find a template they liked and we were able to install and configure everything. After a brief training session they were up and running posting their own content and blogs.

While working on a Wordpress site I was trying to connect the "Publish by E-mail" cron job while using a Google Apps email address. Here's a few tips to save you some time:

1. When setting up the Google Apps email address, make sure you pick a funky email address that won't likely be guessed (like This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).
2. When connecting the login info, for the mail server make sure to use ssl://pop.gmail.com - notice the SSL tag. As well, make sure to use port 995 instead of the default 110.
3. The "From" email address should match the Admin email address if you want the email to post without approval first. This does allow multiple people to submit blogs without them being immediately published.

There is no way I could what I do with RightTurn without the support of an amazing wife and family. I would dare say that's true for anyone who ventures out "on their own" but in my case it's overwhelmingly true.

As we fight like any other family "these days" to keep our heads above water financially, my silent strength (aka beautiful wife Brooke) has started her own daycare! It's called Little Angels (www.littleangelssd.com) and it's located in our home in Poway, California.  If you or anyone you know are looking for the absolute best care for their little one(s) in/around San Diego, you will be richly rewarded by finding this gem of a day care.

I'm a fan of open-source. I love the whole concept. What I don't love is when someone tries to straddle the line by creating an open-source product that they charge a license for then completely disappear off the face of the planet when you need to update said license or get a new one for the open-source packet to work correctly. That's right, I'm talking about you Thyme (Extrosoft). You don't hear me, though, because without so much as a "hey, we're closing our doors, here's a script to unlock all your licenses" - POOF. Nada. I'm not sure if it's all the chatter I've been reading on the new "Trust Agents" book by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith but the concept of trust, doing right, doing good in the world of web development seems even more complicated when you factor in open-source.

The real estate market has taken a serious beating in the past year. Tough Love Real Estate approached RightTurn to help them come out with a new design that was bold and different as well as built on a platform that would allow for frequent updates. Beyond a blog, Tough Love wanted to provide guidance and clarity to a lot of the potentially confusing issues facing real estate.

RightTurn was able to build out the site on the Joomla CMS as well as trained Tough Love to manage their site themselves.

Since the launch RightTurn has worked in conjunction with a Search Engine Optimization specialist to help achieve ranking and keyword goals.

We're excited to announce the re-launch of the SBC, Inc. website! Jim Hernandez, president of SBC, Inc, approached RightTurn to help take their corporate site to the next level. It was great to meet on-site with members of Jim's team to hear about the wish-list items as well as help navigate as to what is already 'out there'.

One of the greatest values of this project was to be able to deliver not only a unique and professional design, but to hand over a system behind the website that would allow all members of the staff to update the areas they were given access to. We were also able to integrate the site with a Constant Contact enewsletter intake form allowing a multi-pronged marketing approach.

It was a pleasure to work with the SBC, Inc team as they were clear in their expectations and desires as well as responsive to deadlines and deliverables.