Two years ago California passed the “California Consumer Privacy Act” that went into effect on January 1st, 2020. The act is designed to enhance privacy rights of consumers by allowing them to know if and how their private information is collected and how it will be used. In addition, websites must now give customers the chance to opt out of having information collected. Do you know if your website will be affected and how to comply? We’ve got the breakdown for you:

What Is the CCPA?

The California Consumer Privacy Act is designed to let consumers know what information is collected about them when they visit a site – and what the company collecting will do with the information. This includes if the data is used for marketing purposes or if it’s being sold to other companies. If so, the buying company must be disclosed. Consumers are given options to:

A. Opt out of their information being collected

B. Access the information that is collected

C. Request that any information collected be deleted by the company

Lastly, consumers who enact any of the above are not to be discriminated against by the site for which they have opted out of data collection.

How Does It Work?

Websites must provide a process to obtain parental consent for minors under 13 years old who are visiting sites, as well as consent for minors between 13 and 16 years old. There must also be detailed methods for submitting requests for data, which needs to include, at minimum, a telephone number. The home page must include a link where consumers can opt out of the sale of information. All of the above must be detailed in the privacy policies on the website.

Who Has to Comply?

Here’s the good news, not all businesses have to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act. Any business that does business in California AND satisfies at least one of the following must comply:

  1. Gross annual revenue in excess of $25 million
  2. Possesses personal information of 50,000 or more consumers, households, or devices
  3. Earns more than half of the annual revenue from selling consumer information

Need more information? Click over to the California Consumer Privacy Act website for more information.

If you are a parent. If you are friends with parents. Then you need to read this interview! We’re excited to introduce you to our Hammersmith Support client, Marni Steinberg of iGen Parenting.  Marni founded this speaker series to not only educate parents but also to start a conversation between parents and their kids about the important topics facing today’s youth.  We hope you enjoy reading about Marni and iGen Parenting as much as we have enjoyed working with her!

Tell us a little about you

As a University of Arizona graduate, my college experience is a big part of my life. Even today, I am still close with my group of friends from that time. After college I moved to New York City to start my career in advertising. As hard as it was to move across country with no job, money or friends, I am proud of myself for doing it and my experience was priceless. I moved back west through Colorado and then returned home to Arizona. Professionally, I have over 25 years of experience in project management and client services, including senior positions in advertising, marketing, public relations, sponsorships, fundraising and event execution. Personally, I enjoy spending time with family and friends, going to the movies, eating out, hiking and exercising. The majority of my free time is now filled with my daughter’s activities and social life and I am trying to enjoy every moment of it as she really is growing up fast.

What is iGen Parenting?

I decided to start iGen Parenting because I was hearing so much about the issues and concerns my friends were experiencing with their older kids. My daughter is currently in Second Grade but, time and time I again I have said “I can see the future” through what I am hearing as friends navigate tween and teen life. I want a resource in place to provide topical information and I believe that iGen Parenting can be that resource for parents. They always say there is no manual or handbook for being a parent and every kid is different. I believe that but I also think that information from experts can help guide you. iGen Parenting will bring those experts together for you in its monthly sessions and break down some of the important topics you need to know about.

What is unique about your style and product offering?

The idea of iGen Parenting it is not only to provide speakers who are experts in their field who bring information directly to parents but also to build up the community by enabling parents to share with each other as they tackle everyday situations with their kids.

As a parent myself, I believe the iGen Parenting series will inform parents by providing them with expert advice and information about a host of important topics like drugs, bullying, cyber-safety, tolerance and emotional wellness.

What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs?

If you see a need for a service, fill it! Let your passion be your fuel.

Want to learn more about iGen Parenting? Click on their contact information below! Their upcoming speakers series schedule is below as well:

info@igenparenting.com

Facebook

www.igenparenting.com

Tuesday, August 20 – How to Reach, Teach and Support Today’s Kids

Tuesday, September 17 – Drugs in Middle School

Tuesday, October 15 – Raising Good Digital Citizens While Keeping Them Safe Online

Tuesday, November 19 – Keeping the Conversation Going with Your Tween

Tuesday, January 14 – Your Tween’s Mood: When Is It More Than ‘Just a Phase’?

Tuesday, February 11 – Suicide Warning Signs

Tuesday, March 24 – No Place for Hate in the Schools (ADL Hate Crime Initiative)

Tuesday, April 21 – Arizona Laws and Your Tween: What You Don’t Know

Want to read more about women in business? Click on over to our blog page to find more!

The next level of service after a website build should be support. Why? Picture this; you build your dream home with all the beautiful details you’ve always dreamed of: paint colors, finishes, stunning kitchen – the works. You live in the house and love it, but you never change a light bulb. Patch a hole in the wall. Water the plants. Put up security lights. Within a few months, the house is a mess – the lights don’t come on, the plants are dead and someone broke in the back door. Suddenly your dream home is a disaster.

Just like caring for your home keeps it in a beautiful state, so does consistent support for your website. Scheduled checks and scans ensure that your site runs smoothly and securely. At Hammersmith Support, our monthly site maintenance support process encompasses:

  • WordPress core and plugin updates that include the oh-so-important security patches
  • Adding client-generated fresh content
  • Lead testing
  • Analytics review through recording traffic

While each of these is important on its own, the components work together to create a system:

–> Fresh content through blogs and/or updated product information creates new information for search engines to evaluate, which means better SEO

–> That content brings potential leads that are given the opportunity to sign up for a newsletter or submit their email for a free download

–> Analytics and lead testing shows us which option got more of a response, the newsletter or the free download, and changes are made accordingly

–> Lastly, all of these processes are done safely because the site has up-to-date security

The end result is a process that allows the business to more efficiently target customers and achieve higher conversion rates. More customers with less work? That’s a winning combination.