If you're like most people, you started out that new website project feeling excited and optimistic.

You couldn't wait to see your shiny new site! Sadly, that feeling often starts to wear off and you're left feeling somewhere on the spectrum between feeling ripped off by the designer you hired and wishing you had known how much work was involved on your side.

Are you frustrated because your website doesn't generate many leads? Don't feel bad. This is one of the biggest issues with websites. You spend good money to have a nice site developed, and it seems like it just sits there like a teenager on a sofa. And sits. And sits. Before long, you start to wonder if it will ever do anything.

Marketing Automation isn't just for the big guys any more; businesses of all sizes are using it to communicate more personally with their customers. But many clients are confused about what automated marketing actually is, and we want to give you a better understanding. Though email marketing is often referred to as automated marketing, it's really just a part of a true automated marketing system.

Ask writer Dennis Cooper and you'll find that the answer is Yes.

Cooper had hosted his blog on Blogger.com since 2002, only to find on June 28 that his 14 years of work had been deleted by site owner Google, with no explanation. Making matters worse, they also deleted his Gmail account.

US towns and rural areas have more power now in attracting new residents and keeping current residents than they have in decades.

Throughout the US, these areas have been losing the fight against brain drain, but changes in technology and lifestyle preferences are giving power back to communities and making them less dependent on traditional economic development and large companies.

With the working world becoming much more mobile and many people being able to work remotely, it's easier for people to live wherever they want. It's easier than ever for young people, especially, to turn an idea into a digital business, and also pretty easy for anyone with a good idea to start a business that can win customers throughout the world.

People in their 30's and younger are rejecting the life their parents chose – the vanilla existence in a subdivision in a bedroom community with no character. They long for authenticity and are attracted to nostalgia. They also tend to reject and not trust many larger companies.

The result? Many people are beginning to choose where they live based on lifestyle choices rather than jobs.

The evidence is all around you, from eating local to craft brewing. It's no coincidence that both of these economic movements wouldn't have been sustainable 20 years ago when companies had to be large to compete.