We share a lot of information regarding your business website, but the majority of it centers around functionality, security, SEO, etc. This is why we thought the concept of the legality of a website, its content, URL, and more was interesting and important to bring to you! Thanks to Anette Beebe, of Beebe Law, PLLC, we have seven legal questions you should consider when it comes to your business website.

Anette Beebe Hammersmith Support

With over 22 years of legal experience, Anette has built her practice to support businesses that operate online and individuals who have concerns about online content. Additionally, in her spare time, she works to educate youth and adults about repercussions from internet use through public speaking engagements and online courses through her company Smarter Internet Use.

Does your domain or content infringe on anyone else’s intellectual property?

  • Did you purchase a domain that may be trademarked by someone else?
    –For example, did you buy a domain like “thehomedepot.com” for your furniture store, which may be confused with the actual construction/home building store, Home Depot?
  • Does your website contain images that you found randomly online and decided to use for your own site? 
    –For example, maybe you found a beautiful picture of a sunset online and thought it might make a good backdrop for your website.
  • Did you copy content such as images from Instagram to place on your own website?

Does your website collect ANY data about or from your users?

  • Does your site have a form that asks for people’s names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, or other types of identifying information?
  • Does your website track user IP addresses or place tracking information onto your customer’s computer upon visiting your website?

Does your website allow users to make comments about your content or upload data/images?

  • Do you operate a blog that allows your readers to openly comment on your articles or information?
  • Do you operate an app that allows people to upload and share their favorite photos that they’ve taken?

Does your website need to provide disclaimers?

  • Some industries, like law firms, may need to provide a disclaimer that the information they provide in their website pages is not legal advice in order to avoid liability.
  • Maybe as part of your PR/marketing strategy you have paid an influencer to talk about your product or service?

Does your website sell anything online?

  • Is your website a self-built platform to sell widgets, in which case you may need to take payment information (like credit cards or other banking information)?
    –Example: a self-built website that sells products that are manufactured and designed by someone other than you?

Does your website adequately explain your terms of use?

  • Do you have a Terms of Service that outlines what happens if there is ever a dispute between you and your website user, how and where such legal matters will be resolved?
  • If you are selling a product or service, does the consumer understand your policies regarding returns or warranties?

Is your website at risk for ADA-related demand letters or lawsuits?

  • Does your website contain flashing features that may cause someone to have a seizure?
  • Does your website contain videos that don’t have captions (like closed caption on the TV) for the hearing impaired?

Get in Touch

If you have questions about any of these areas, or if you would like some help evaluating your site, Beebe Law is here to help. Visit their website and contact Anette below:

Anette J. Beebe
BEEBE LAW, PLLC
www.beebelawpllc.com
Office: (480) 442-8647
3120 W. Carefree Hwy., Suite 1-631
Phoenix, Arizona 85086

Facebook: Beebe Law 

Facebook: Anette Beebe

Twitter: Anette Beebe



Hammersmith Support is a proud member of Lead Up for Women and we are excited to introduce you to the founder, Colleen Biggs. In the organization’s own words, Lead Up for Women “… is an elite community of female entrepreneurs that are driven by their passions, support, and promote with a purpose to fuel female voices with power.” This dynamic group accomplishes its mission with events hosted by members, monthly networking “Lunch-n-Learns,” bi-monthly magazines with articles written by members, the Speak Up to Lead Up podcast, and many more impressive and exciting events.

Hammersmith Support loves to support women and women-owned businesses, which is why we are a proud member of Lead Up for Women! Our founder, Heather Locke, will be sponsoring an upcoming Lunch-n-Learn, The One Thing: Success Lists vs. To-Do Lists, on Thursday, May 6th. We hope you’ll join us for this exciting event and we know you’ll enjoy learning more about Lead Up for Women’s Colleen Biggs, too.

Tell us a little about you.

Technically, I’m a corporate drop-out! After serving in Corporate America for over 25 years, I took the leap of faith to Entrepreneurship. I knew for many years that I wanted to find my way and inspire others in building businesses outside of corporate, and after coaching and consulting for over 18 years and launching over 300 businesses, I knew I needed to blaze some trails, especially for women.

Why did you start Lead Up for Women?

Lead Up for Women was born out of the need that all female entrepreneurs have – the need to be seen and heard. It’s so difficult to expand your influence in the current oversaturated social media marketing culture, so I decided to work on the promotion side of the business for women. Lead Up for Women spotlights all females on many different platforms. We host a podcast and provide podcast interviews to our members, as well as publish a bi-monthly magazine that produces articles written by our members. This not only provides credibility but also exposure for each woman to expand her influence and attract more customers. I absolutely believe that each one of us has a superpower that only we can possess. We are here on this earth to provide that unique skill to those that become our customers and need us. I provide the pathway for female entrepreneurs to feel empowered along that journey, to accelerate their business success.

Talk to us about your “why” and how that motivated you to start your business.

Females are strong advocates for many! We fight for others, serve, nurture and control the majority of the global economy, yet, females still tend to step aside or take the back seat when it comes to their families, communities, careers, and starting their own businesses. Getting funding alone is a feat for a female small business owner, much more difficult than their counterpart, the male. I’m drawn to work with females and always have been. After coaching hundreds of CEOs in the past several years, I was able to assist them in uncovering their superpowers. You see, we all have what it takes for us to lead without permission, and soar in anything we decide to take on as females. However, sometimes, we need a tribe of other like-minded women to be there along the journey to support each other, lift each other and provide a safe and nurturing community so we all win! Corporate was riddled with competition and judgment, which I don’t miss! I know that we can change the blueprint of the position of a female in business forever if we all band together and rise!

What is unique about your style and product offering?

Most other organized Women’s Organizations exist to bring women together for collaboration and networking purposes. I think this is phenomenal, and so needed. Lead Up for Women provides this and much, much more! Women Entrepreneurs need spotlights to step into to expand their influence and attract more clients. I take the “hustle” out of the “hunt” and show women how to accelerate their businesses through attracting clients, via authenticity, showing up everywhere, all the time! I’m as transparent as it gets. Do I work hard? Sure, but it’s the hard that pays off exponentially! I teach women in Lead Up how to leverage their time for money, value their time, protect their boundaries and focus on the successes in our businesses, not the time suckers that we all think are needed to “produce results.” I walk the walk and talk the talk, every time. It’s all about priority!

What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs?

Be you, because everybody else is taken. That might seem like a simple phrase, but most aren’t authentic. When you drop the armor and show up as you, every time, everywhere, people really get to know you and others want to do business with people they know, like, and trust! Get to know people, really know them. Show them you care and like them back. Build trust by making the first move to trust them! It’s a simple formula in business that most overlook time and time again. And lastly, don’t be afraid to trust yourself and take the leap of faith to grow to the next level for yourself and your business. Trust me when I say, you are your own safety net!

Get in Touch

Click over to find out more about Lead Up for Women, sign up for membership, join an event, listen to their podcast, read the blog and more!

Join Us for Lunch-N-Learn on Thursday, May 6th!

We’d love to have you join us for the Lunch-n-Learn, The One Thing: Success Lists vs. To-Do Lists, hosted by Hammersmith Support’s Heather Locke on Thursday, May 6th!

Did you catch our post about the history of women in technology last week? Even at Hammersmith Support, we learned a lot from that post! This week we’re excited to bring you a brief Q&A from several modern-day women in tech.

Question: What Advice Would You Give to Young Women Working in, or Aspiring to Work in the Technology Industry?

Preeti Adhikary, Director, AI Lead at Emergents @ Weild & Co. | Forbes Communication Council | Yale MAM’21

“There are a lot of technical and non-technical roles within the tech industry. My advice for women would be to know where they can start and also understand where they can end up. Never stop learning and improving/upskilling yourself. Be an active networker even when you’re not looking for a job.”

Alexandria Ross, Ross Consulting

“Persevere. Don’t cave in when times get tough. No matter what you are feeling on the inside, project calmness and coolness. We must continue to pave the way for women to change the tide and continue to make major inroads to tech. The old mindset is dying out and the new generation has the opportunity to be the change we want to see, equality in tech. I worked in tech when there were very few women, but my love for the technology fueled my determination.”

Kate Schneider, Director of Product, CYTK

“There are three key traits I’ve cultivated throughout my career that have proven extremely useful as I’ve navigated the occasionally treacherous waters of being a woman in technology. First is perseverance. I never give up unless all hope is gone or I’ve managed to find or create a more advantageous opportunity (I can’t stress enough the importance of networking to help with the latter). The second is curiosity. Not only is this a quality that leads to resourcefulness, it is an essential trait that I look for when hiring. The third is confidence – building it takes effort and what has served me very well countless times is wielding it when my scabbard appears empty. By choosing to trust my instincts and rely upon myself even when I wasn’t feeling it, I was able to push through difficult circumstances and take the necessary risks to succeed.”

Akemi Ueki, VP Marketing and Business Development, Biosensing Instrument

“Get an education, put in 100% effort and speak out! Women’s views bring new and refreshing perspectives in a male-dominated high tech world, so don’t be shy about speaking out.”

How Hammersmith Support Is Empowering Women in Business with Technical Training

As we continue this month with our focus on women, we want to continue to support women and empower them with skills to excel in the technology field. One of our core values is giving back and we want to help train not only women and girls, but everyone on the technology we use and empower others with the skills to manage their website and make technology less intimidating.

To expand our focus on our core value of giving back, we are offering free training sessions that include tips on how to maintain and understand your WordPress website.

Book your free WordPress training session today!

Last week, we touched on why gaining certification as a Woman-Owned Business matters. This week, we’ll add some context by looking at this in a bit more depth. How much do you know about the history of women in tech? Would it surprise you to know that the earliest coder was a mathematician named Ada Lovelace, who executed the first computer program in 1833? Or that women were responsible for programming as far back as World War II? Read on to find out more about women’s roots in the industry, where we are today, and what the future holds for women in tech.

Past

As far back as World War II, programming and coding were used to support the allied war effort – and the work was done predominantly by women. In fact, in the early 1940s, actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr created “frequency hopping,” using radio frequencies as a way of avoiding third-party jamming signals. Her invention is considered to be the precursor to Wi-Fi. Throughout the 1940s and ’50s, programming-related jobs, including punch-card operators and technicians who wrote instructions for room-sized computers, were considered secretarial. In general, men focused their efforts on hardware and women on software.

This trajectory continued through the mid-1980s until the advent of personal computers. At home, boys were more generally encouraged to foster computer skills, so that by the time they hit college, they had more confidence and experience with computers than did most girls. This early exposure, along with gender-biased treatment and promotions in larger companies, led to a steady decline of women in technology that has continued.

Present

Surprisingly, according to the New York Times, by 2010 the number of US women in technology-related fields had dropped to 17%. By contrast, in India, a country where women are faced with many additional barriers to education, including 8 p.m. curfews even in college, approximately 40% of students studying computer science are women. When interviewed, women in the US who had left the technology field cited issues such as lower pay for the same work and being left behind when promotions were available, despite being just as qualified if not more for positions. The excitement and love they had for their jobs had been squelched over the years in larger corporate environments.

Where Are We Now?

The good news? The future looks bright for women in tech. In early education, there is a greater emphasis on providing STEM-based learning to boys AND girls. Girls and boys alike are gaining early exposure to and experience with programming by playing code-based games like Osmo and Roblox. Many more student and young entrepreneur organizations are focusing on mentoring girls and young women, which can make a tremendous impact on their success in the field. Organizations such as Girls Who Code and Built by Girls offer opportunities for young women to learn the basics and beyond of programming, build confidence, and provide support for exploring technology-related questions. They focus on mentoring and empowering, helping to develop a network for girls and young women interested in entering technology-related fields.

Let Hammersmith Support Help Empower You and Your Business

At Hammersmith Support, we want to help ensure the future of technology is bright not just for women and girls, but for everyone. We believe in providing our customers with the very best service, empowering them to understand technology and supporting our community by modeling what it looks like to run a successful Woman-Owned Business.

Our core values are transparency, giving back and customer service. We want you to understand the technology you use so that you can be confident that you know how your website works and have a hand in keeping it working. To further our focus on our core values, we are offering free training sessions that include tips on how to maintain and understand your WordPress website.

Visit our Calendly link to book your free WordPress training session today!

This year, Hammersmith Support became a Certified Woman-Owned Business. Really, we’ve always been a woman-owned business, but being certified through the Small Business Administration was a goal for 2020. We are excited to now have this certification to continue to set our company apart from our competition. And there are a few additional benefits we’ll tell you about below.

Why Is It Beneficial?

There are a few benefits to having the certification. First, the federal government’s annual goal is to award 5% of federal contracting dollars to women-owned small businesses. These contracts are often consistent and reliable sources of business and without certification, a company would be ineligible for the contract.

In addition, being a certified business elevates visibility with clients. Larger, public companies may have requirements similar to those of government agencies or have goals of working with a more diverse pool of contractors.

The certification makes our business eligible for grants from various organizations and governments agencies. Considering the current focus on inclusivity, being a certified woman-owned business provides grant-making organizations and businesses the opportunity to work toward balancing the gender gap, which is especially pervasive in technology fields.

Finally, being a successful woman-owned business offers a model for girls and young women contemplating a career in web development and/or computer programming. Part of Hammersmith Support’s emphasis on giving back is being role models for girls and women who might want to enter this industry and who may be looking for examples of how to thrive in it.

What Qualifies a Company for Certification?

There are several groups that offer a form of a Woman-Owned Business Certification. We opted to work with the Small Business Administration as we found their process and cost to be the best fit for our business. To be eligible for certification, a company must be at minimum, 51% owned, operated, controlled, and managed by a woman. There are four entities that offer a form of certification:

  • Small Business Administration
  • Disadvantage Business Enterprise
  • Women’s Business Enterprise National Council
  • National Woman Business Owners Corporation

Read More

Click over to our blog page to learn more about other women-owned businesses as well as industry topics!