Better Business
It's in the news...
Our fast-paced, technology-driven world is changing every day. As a small business person, consultant, non-profit agency or artist, you have to stay on top of these changes. We at Chic Total Business Services would like to do this for you, so you don't have to. We'll keep you posted on our website and through monthly emails. We'll send you news, tips, and even a joke now and then to make you smile when you need it most. We'll let you know where we are in our latest project but more importantly, we'll keep you posted on where we are on your project. We'll keep you in the now, in the know, and we'll give you the news.
Client Quotes
News & Updates
Chic Total Business Services did a fantastic job designing TW&A's new website. I can say that it was an absolute pleasure working with Chic's passionate team. Not only did they listen to our needs and vision for this site, they exceeded our expectations while providing a big bang for the buck. I enjoyed the experience and look forward to working with their team for my future website updates.

Tom Wilson »

President
T Wilson & Associates
I have worked with Chrissie VanWormer from Chic Total Business Services as a bookkeeper for the past two years. She is consistent, reliable, hard working and determined. If you have a problem, she will resolve it in a professional and economical way. If your books are in good shape, she'll make sure they stay that way.

Doug Kabat »

Owner/President
USHealthTests.com & UPS Store #4706
Chrissie defines the word professionalism. Her ability to follow through and see a project from start to finish is more than just admirable, it's inspiring. I feel that I've learned a lot about following up with clients, staying organized and simply how to do things the right way just by working with her.

Eric Busta »

Digital Media Director
Id
A Great New Project
Posted Wednesday, September 23, 2009 by Chrissie VanWormer
Chrissie VanWormer
Currently I am in the processing of co-authoring a "How To" book with my media partner, Michael Massey. With his media planning and buying background and my writing skills, I believe it is a book that businesses all over the world will find to be not only a very valuable piece of reference material but enjoyable reading. Together we're pulling together the details and working very hard at making it something that anyone can use whether you have years and years of media buying experience or you're someone who is just starting out trying to buy a few ads for your small or medium sized business. This has been a fantastic experience pulling together the outline, filling it in with informative prose that is interesting to read and planning the website where each buyer will find updates on a daily basis. I'd love to say more and fill in a lot of blanks but then where would the surprise be? We still haven't agreed on a title but as soon as we do, I will post it here so you can begin looking for it.

Fall is in the air and emails from the IRS have started to fly. I will begin posting some updated information in the next couple of weeks. Please check back and use this website as a reference. We know small business. It's what we do. It's who we are.
Database Essentials
Posted Monday, December 15, 2008 by Chris VanWormer
Chris VanWormer
Database development is a key factor when working with and designing web applications. For a web application to be truly useful, it needs a backend database server to store information about its users and itself. Allowing this information to be available to the application at all times and from anywhere in the world shows how powerful and almost limitless this combination is from a development standpoint.

If you don’t quite get the concept of what a database is, check out Microsoft Access. It’s usually available on any computer that Microsoft Office is installed on and is one of the baseline database programs available. If Access is not available to you, looking at Microsoft Excel will give you an idea at how a database stores its information. Databases store data in tables, which are very much like a worksheet in Excel. These tables have columns and rows and the data is inserted into these cells in an orderly fashion. You may be wondering at this point, “Why use database software when it seems to act identical to Excel or any other spreadsheet piece of software”? Well, databases are dynamic and interactive. Without going into too much detail, tables can interact with other tables, data can be sorted based on information in one table and other information from another table, and data can also be changed on the fly. I could go into much more detail on the main key differences, but this article would end up being very long and, I promise, very boring. So I’ll leave it with those main key differences and go from here.

Now there are many different database servers available to use. Probably the three most well known are Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, and MySQL Server. In my experience I’ve used MySQL Server much more dealing with web applications than the other two. With the web being mostly controlled using open source operating systems, these ideals tend to leak into other areas of the field. MySQL is an open source database server and works very well with the PHP programming language, which is also a community driven language.

To interact with a database server, you must use a special language that the server recognizes to operate queries. Queries are the essence of interacting with a database. You use these to tell the server you want to grab data, delete data, or update data, etc. A query is usually written using the SQL language, or some variety of it depending on what database server you’re working with.

In the end by combining PHP and a MySQL database server with the SQL language, you can create all kinds of applications using data that can be stored from anywhere in the world. This data can then be displayed and manipulated within an application to anyone of its users. The possibilities are truly endless.
Introducing Chic Total Business Services
Posted Monday, December 15, 2008 by Chrissie VanWormer
Chrissie VanWormer
For me, the hardest part of starting my own business was to figure out exactly what service I wanted to provide. I’ve had quite an interesting life and a varied career and I have so much to offer based on the experiences I’ve had. In our culture, as in most cultures, we’re expected to specialize.

So I sat down and I made a list of my attributes. Number one on the list was that I’m great with numbers. Anyone that knows me will tell you that I have always said I love numbers. Numbers don’t lie. For the good, the bad and the ugly, they are a roadmap to the future and I’ve always enjoyed the little glimpse forward. I spent many years as a corporate controller, then moved on to be a not for profit business manager and from there a small business consultant. I spent some time with a growing company where I built and human resource department and I loved working with people and building teams. I am a writer and performer in my off hours and I’d love to incorporate that into my everyday life if possible, but how? Creative writing doesn’t pay much and all of the poetry classes I’ve taken haven’t yet won me anything more than a wonderful Sunday afternoon curled up with some paper and a pencil. Unfortunately, that kind of happiness doesn’t pay the bills. In our world, it’s all about business. We aren’t considered successful unless we’ve made it in business and are driving a fancy car or living in a big house and right now, losing hundreds of thousands in the stock market.

During the last few years, I’ve considered all of this and I decided I want it all. I want to be happy, I want to eat well, I want to work with numbers, I want to work with words and more than that, I want to serve my fellow business person. Enter the concept of Chic Total Business Services. The idea came out of a conversation with a close friend when we were contemplating her recent job loss. What could she do to remain independent, strive for a better life and do what she loves? What if I wanted to do the same thing? Wouldn’t it be a little less lonesome working with a fellow freelancer? What if I wanted to put a full service team together specifically for small businesses ? What if that small business knew they could go to one source to help them find ANY business need they had? What if that small business wanted a part-time bookkeeper but didn’t want to pay the price of the big accounting employment services? What if they wanted a new design for a business card? What if they wanted a new website? What if they wanted a public relations specialist? What if they wanted a grant writer? What if they wanted help on a business plan? What if…? The list could be endless. So I went out and built a team. I chose some young guys who are sitting right on the cutting edge of technology keeping up to date with technology changes AS they happen and I chose some older seasoned professionals with the experience we know you need for some of your tougher issues. But mostly I chose those with drive, motivation and the desire to succeed while helping others trying to succeed.

As a group, we’ve been working together for close to a year now and it’s working out. We’ve had success with the concept and we’re sticking with it. You are enjoying the launch of our new website. You’ll find articles, interesting facts and links to further information that you might find useful. We’re here and we’re ready to serve. Give us a call or shoot us an email us. Better business starts right now. So let’s talk.
Related Link: http://www.chrissievanwormer.com