W3 Consulting

09/24/2026

📅 Save the date: Thursday, October 1 at 11:00 AM ET

How to Choose the Right Domain Name for Your Business

Your domain name is often the first impression a customer gets of your business. The wrong domain name can be hard to spell, hard to remember, and hard to rank.

Join Ray Sidney-Smith live for Web and Beyond Webinars to learn how to choose and register a domain name that's memorable, brand-aligned, and built for long-term SEO. Ray will be there to answer your questions.

👉 Reserve your spot: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/eLteq5pbR_-7fzdZzGR8lw

07/21/2026

Podcast Movement NYC voting closes today, July 21, 2026, and Ray Sidney-Smith and his co-author, Steve Orr, would be grateful for your support!

Ray and Steve submitted three session ideas connected to the work behind their book, *Podcasting for Small Business*, published in December 2025: https://lnkd.in/e6rCXFKR

The book helps small business owners plan, launch, sustain, and use podcasts as genuine business assets, rather than treating podcasting as simply another content channel.

Their proposed sessions extend that conversation into three areas that matter now:

• Audio Is Not Dead: Why Audio Podcasting Gives Small Businesses a Strategic Advantage

• The Small Business Podcast Flywheel: Turning Episodes Into Relationships, Revenue, and Results

• Don’t Lose Your Voice: Small Business Podcasting in the Age of AI

Podcast Movement received more than 750 session submissions this year, and public voting will help shape half of the 2026 agenda.

Those who care about helping small business owners develop a stronger voice in podcasting, or who believe these topics would benefit creators, consultants, marketers, community builders, and business owners, are invited to vote for any or all three sessions:

https://podcastmovement.fider.io/

Facebook does not allow us to link directly to the individual submissions, so please paste each session title into the search box to find it.

Thank you for helping Ray and Steve bring small business podcasting into the Podcast Movement NYC conversation! 🙏🏻

06/17/2026

Yesterday, Raymond Sidney-Smith had the privilege of leading the "BizBurgh Presents: AI Small Business Conference" at Duquesne University's Small Business Development Center, working with nearly 90 small business leaders from across the region.

What stood out most was not just the interest in AI, but the seriousness with which these business owners approached it. They were not looking for hype. They were looking for practical, responsible ways to use AI to save time, improve operations, strengthen marketing, support decision-making, and build more resilient businesses.

That is where AI has real value for small businesses: not as a magic button, but as a capability that can help owners and teams work more strategically when used correctly.

Programs like this are also a reminder of how important Small Business Development Centers are to local economic development. SBDCs give entrepreneurs and small business owners access to education, advising, tools, and support that can directly affect their ability to grow, compete, and adapt.

Ray was encouraged to see so many small business leaders empowered by AI in a hands-on, practical way. These tools can help create jobs, increase business longevity, competitiveness against big businesses, and greater community impact when used right.

🔔🎉 Ray is also excited to share that his next book, "Generative AI for Small Business," will be coming out in July. It is designed to help small business owners better understand and apply these tools practically, responsibly, and strategically. If you're interested in being notified when it's available, the sign-up waiting list is here: https://forms.gle/5CC1ULbVMQjqSjix6 .

Thank you to SBDC Director Richard Longo for the invitation, to the Duquesne University SBDC (part of Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers (SBDC)) for hosting and for continuing to invest in the success of small businesses throughout the region, and to the amazing Duquesne SBDC staff for helping out (including a h/t to Tyler Benninger for the photos and videos). Shout-out to sponsors Jordan Mayer, Mayday Cybersecurity, Lois Bradley and Kate Shirk from The Bradley Partnerships, Inc., and WILKE CPAs & Advisors, LLP for the event!

09/30/2025

Happy International Podcast Day! 🎙️

"Podcasting for Small Business" is officially available for pre-order today!

04/14/2025

Join Ray Sidney-Smith in 60 minutes, as he discusses the news of the week on Web and Beyond Live (https://webandbeyondlive.com)!

Optionally, you can watch and comment here on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/w3consultinginc/live_videos

Hi, Small Business! I’m Ray Sidney-Smith, President/CEO of W3 Consulting and Managing Director, W3C Web Services which provides affordable Web and WordPress hosting, domain name registration, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and other Web-related services to Small Business. Each week, I broadcast ...