The Origin Story
It started with curiosity, not a business plan
When I began experimenting with websites, there were no drag and drop builders, no social media dashboards, and no AI writing your copy for you.
You learned by doing.
So I did.
I hard coded websites, figured out what worked, and kept learning. Then I started helping businesses use the internet in ways that actually made sense for them.
Eventually, people started paying me to help them do it.
NewWard grew from there.
Twenty Years of Change
The tools keep changing
But people keep buying from people
WEBSITES
We started by building websites
SEARCH
Then being online wasn't enough. Businesses had to be found.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Suddenly businesses could communicate directly with consumers.
MOBILE + VIDEO
The way people discovered, researched and connected changed again.
AI
Now anyone can create content faster than ever before.
And through all of it people keep buying from people
What I know now
Some lessons take 20 years to learn
There is no shortcut to trust
Digital marketing can absolutely help generate business. But one post, one ad or one new platform doesn't create a relationship overnight.
More content isn't always better.
More useful, recognizable and human content usually is.
Your expertise is more interesting than you think.
The things that feel ordinary inside your business may be exactly what customers need to see.
Technology should make you better at being you.
Not better at sounding like everyone else.
Stop putting on your
Business Face.
Small businesses often believe professionalism means polishing away the personality.
We disagree.
Those real moments aren't distractions from your marketing.
They are often the reason someone chooses you.
NewWard helps you recognize those moments and turn them into something more people can see.
Meet Melissa Rathbun
Founder. Strategist. Connector
I have worked online since the late 90's and founded NewWard Development, LLC with Robert Newberry in 2004.
My background in computer science gave me the technical foundation and my MBA helped with my business acumen. More than two decades of working with small businesses taught me everything technology alone could not.
Today, my work sits at the intersection of technology, strategy and human connection.
20+ YEARS
in digital marketing
SPEAKER + TRAINER
on digital strategy and social media.
LONG TERM PARTNER
to business and nonprofit organizations.
COMMUNITY ADVOCATE
20+ YEARS
in programming & development
TECHNICAL ARCHITECT
turning complex ideas into working solutions
CUSTOM SOLUTIONS
when off-the-shelf simply won't do
Meet Robert Newberry
Operations Partner. Technical Architect. Problem Solver.
Bob is the technical force behind NewWard. With deep expertise in programming, databases, and custom application development, he turns ideas and business needs into technology that actually works.
From custom applications and complex functionality to the databases that power them, Bob specializes in solving the problems that don't have an off-the-shelf solution.
If we can envision what a website needs to do, Bob is usually the person who figures out how to make it happen.
