Terms of use

These are the rules for using this site. Please read them. They explain what the guide is and isn't, what you can do with it, and the legal terms.

[Draft for attorney review. Remove this line after the attorney signs off.]

Effective date: [Date the site goes live]Last updated: October 17, 2026

On this page

1. Agreeing to these terms
2. Who runs this site
3. What this site is
4. Not professional advice
5. No promised results
6. Accuracy and changing rules
7. Examples are made up
8. My connection to SiteSmarty
9. Other companies and their platforms
10. Links to other websites
11. How you can use the guide
12. What you can't do
13. Who owns the content
14. Messages and ideas you send me
15. Email updates
16. Copyright complaints
17. No warranties
18. Limits on my liability
19. Your responsibility
20. Idaho law and disputes
21. Changes to these terms
22. Other legal terms
23. How to reach me

Agreeing to these terms

By using this site, you agree to these terms and to the privacy policy. If you don't agree, please don't use the site.

If you use the site for a business, you agree to these terms for that business too, and you confirm you're allowed to.

This site is meant for adults. If you're under 18, please get a parent's or guardian's OK before you sign up for emails or send a message.

Who runs this site

This site is run by me, Bill Stilwell, in Idaho. When these terms say "I," "me," or "my," they mean me. When they say "you," they mean anyone who uses the site.

What this site is

A free A to Z business setup guide. This site teaches. It does not sell. It explains how the parts of setting up a business work, with sources, checklists, and videos. It's free to use.

I may add, change, or remove pages, videos, checklists, or features at any time. I may also pause or shut down the site. I'll try to keep things running, but I can't promise the site will always be available or free of errors.

Not professional advice

The guide gives general information only. It is not legal, tax, accounting, insurance, financial, or other professional advice.

Every business is different, and rules change from state to state, county to county, and city to city. Reading this site doesn't make me your lawyer, accountant, or advisor, and it doesn't create any professional relationship between us.

Before you make a decision about your business, talk to a licensed professional in your state who knows your situation. That's especially true for legal structure, taxes, licenses, permits, insurance, contracts, hiring, and payroll.

No promised results

I explain how Google, Bing, Apple, and artificial intelligence (AI) tools read business information, and what tends to help. But I don't control those companies, and their systems change often.

I don't promise any rankings, map placements, AI recommendations, calls, customers, sales, or other results.

When I share what happened on my own businesses, that's what happened for me. Your results will depend on your business, your market, your competition, and many things neither of us controls.

Accuracy and changing rules

I work hard to keep the guide accurate. Pages that cover facts that can change, like laws, fees, and platform rules, list their sources and the date I checked them. Each page also shows when it was last reviewed.

Even so, rules can change between my reviews, and mistakes can happen. Always check the official source before you act, especially for anything with a deadline, a fee, or a legal requirement. If the guide and an official source don't match, the official source wins.

I use AI tools to help draft pages, and I review every page before it's published. You can read exactly how on the How this guide is made page.

If you find a mistake, please tell me. I'll check it and fix it.

Examples are made up

The businesses, people, numbers, and situations used as examples in the guide are made up to show how something works. Any match with a real business or person is a coincidence.

My connection to SiteSmarty

I own SiteSmarty, a marketing company. SiteSmarty is paid by its clients for services like Google Business Profile management and websites that stay in sync with the Google Business Profile.

This site teaches. It doesn't sell. Nothing here requires you to hire SiteSmarty or anyone else, and everything in the guide is something you can do on your own. When I mention SiteSmarty, keep in mind that I have a financial interest in it.

I don't take payment from other companies to mention or recommend their products on this site. If that ever changes, I'll say so plainly on the page where it happens. [Confirm before launch.]

Other companies and their platforms

The guide talks about many products and services, like Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, and AI tools. Their names and logos belong to the companies that own them. I use the names only to explain how those services work.

This site is not made by, affiliated with, or endorsed by Google, Microsoft, Apple, or any other company named in the guide, unless a page says otherwise.

When you use another company's service, that company's own terms and rules apply. Following this guide doesn't change those rules or excuse you from them.

Links to other websites

The guide links to other websites, like official help pages and government agencies, so you can check the source yourself. I don't control those sites, and I'm not responsible for what's on them, what they do with your information, or whether they're available. A link isn't an endorsement of everything on that site.

How you can use the guide

You're welcome to:

• Read the guide and use it to set up and run your own business.
• Print or save the checklists and use them for your own business.
• Share links to any page.
• Quote a short part of a page, as long as you link back to the page it came from.
• Use the guide to help a client or employer, as long as you don't copy it into your own product or website.

What you can't do

Please don't:

• Copy whole pages, large parts of the guide, the checklists, or the videos and publish them, sell them, or pass them off as your own.
• Use the guide to build a competing guide, course, or product.
• Remove copyright notices or say the guide is yours.
• Say or suggest that I endorse you, your business, or your product.
• Use the contact or signup forms to send spam, sales pitches, threats, harassment, or anything illegal.
• Sign up anyone else for emails without their permission.
• Try to break into, overload, slow down, or attack the site, or get around the spam check.
• Use automated tools to copy the site in bulk in a way that strains it.
• Use the site for anything illegal.

If you break these rules, I may block your access to the forms or the site.

Who owns the content

The writing, checklists, videos, design, and other content on this site are mine and are protected by copyright and other laws, except for content that belongs to others, like quotes, screenshots, and other companies' names and logos.

Using the site doesn't give you ownership of anything on it. The permissions in "How you can use the guide" are the only rights you get, and they last as long as you follow these terms.

Messages and ideas you send me

When you send me a message, a correction, a topic idea, or other feedback, you let me use it to improve the guide, without owing you anything. I won't publish your name or your message without asking you first.

Please only send things you have the right to share, and don't send confidential information. I can't promise to keep ideas you send me confidential, and I may already be working on something similar.

Email updates

If you sign up, I'll send you short emails when new guide pages and videos go up. You can unsubscribe at any time with the link in any email. The privacy policy explains how I handle your email address.

Copyright complaints

I respect other people's work. If you think something on this site uses your copyrighted work without permission, send a notice to my copyright agent under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Your notice needs to include:

1. Your physical or electronic signature.
2. A description of the work you say is being used without permission.
3. The link to the page on this site where it appears.
4. Your name, mailing address, phone number, and email address.
5. A statement that you believe in good faith the use isn't allowed by you, your agent, or the law.
6. A statement that the information in your notice is accurate, and, under penalty of perjury, that you own the copyright or are allowed to act for the owner.

My copyright agent: [Name and address of the copyright agent registered with the U.S. Copyright Office]

If I remove something because of a notice, and you believe it was removed by mistake, you can send a counter notice to the same agent. Knowingly making a false claim in a notice or counter notice can make you liable for damages.

No warranties

The site and everything on it are provided "as is" and "as available," without any warranty of any kind. That includes any warranty that the content is accurate, complete, current, or right for your situation, and any warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.

I don't promise the site will be available without interruption, free of errors, or free of viruses or other harmful code. Some states don't allow some of these limits, so some of them may not apply to you.

Limits on my liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, I am not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for any lost profits, lost revenue, lost data, or lost business, that come from your use of the site or the guide, or from relying on anything in it. This applies even if I was told such damages were possible.

To the fullest extent the law allows, my total liability for any claim about the site is limited to $100.

These limits apply no matter what legal theory a claim is based on. Some states don't allow some of these limits, so some of them may not apply to you.

Your responsibility

You're responsible for the decisions you make for your business. If someone makes a claim against me because you broke these terms, broke the law, or misused the site, you agree to cover my reasonable costs from that claim, including reasonable lawyer fees.

Idaho law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Idaho and the federal laws of the United States, without regard to rules about which state's laws apply.

If you have a problem with the site, please contact me first. Most problems can be solved with a conversation, and I'll do my best to make it right.

If we can't solve it that way, you and I agree that any lawsuit about the site or these terms will be filed only in the state or federal courts serving [County in Idaho where any court case would be heard], Idaho, and we both agree to those courts' authority. Either of us may still bring a qualifying claim in small claims court.

Changes to these terms

I may update these terms from time to time. When I do, I'll change the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. If a change is important, I'll also post a notice on the home page. Changes apply from the date they're posted and don't apply to a dispute that started before then. Using the site after a change means you accept the new terms.

Other legal terms

• Whole agreement: these terms and the privacy policy are the whole agreement between you and me about the site.
• If part doesn't hold up: if a court decides part of these terms can't be enforced, that part will be limited as little as possible, and the rest still applies.
• No waiver: if I don't enforce part of these terms right away, I can still enforce it later.
• Transfer: you can't transfer your rights under these terms to someone else. I can transfer mine if the site changes hands.
• What lasts: the sections on ownership, messages you send me, no warranties, limits on liability, your responsibility, and Idaho law still apply after you stop using the site.

How to reach me

Questions about these terms? Send me a note through the contact page, or write to me at: [Mailing address for legal notices. A post office box works]