How Could DonLoper.com Be Improved?

I have no specific reason for asking this question other than that I’m curious. I’m always happy to listen to advice on how I can improve myself, my company, or my blog. I would appreciate any comments anyone has relevant to Don Loper and how you believe it could be better. Possible topics could include design, usability, content, spelling, grammar, font size, color, layout, categories, etc. Feel free to be as critical as you want to be. I might go home and cry, but that’s ok, I’ll get over it and Don Loper will be a better blog for it.

BTW, the idea of having Don Loper be the official blog for MWI has been brought up by more than one person as a suggestion. The reason that Don Loper is not MWI’s official blog is because there are a lot of topics I want to write about personally that I don’t consider relevant to MWI. Don Loper is Joshua Steimle, and while MWI is a big part of Joshua Steimle, there’s more to my life than just MWI.

In addition, if we had an official MWI blog I would want other MWI employees besides myself to be posting on it, whereas Don Loper has always been a single author and adding other authors would only confuse people who assume everything here comes from yours truly.

We are currently working on an official MWI blog that will cover all topics related to MWI’s services, as well as information regarding MWI’s projects, clients, employees, and other stuff. It will definitely be a marketing tool for MWI, but will use a more casual voice than the MWI website itself.

http://www.keanenfarr.com/new Keanen

I like what you’re doing with it and don’t think you really need to change. Your articles are both informative and entertaining for web developers and designers as well as entrepreneurs. I check in often. Your design is clean (although a little lacking in color ). Keep up the good work!
http://www.smoothharold.com Blake Snow

Josh, you gotta up your font size. It’s ridiculously small and its usability sucks.
http://www.mwi.com Joshua Steimle

Bah, you anti-small-font people…get some reading glasses! But seriously, you’re not the first person to bring up the font. I hate the idea of taking it up a point but if that’s what the public demands…
http://www.russpage.net Russell Page

More photos. One of the first rules of working with the media when pitching a story is to have a photo idea or a photo to accompany what you are suggesting. That’s because the media knows that people love photos. And the people are the customers.

http://www.russpage.net/how-to-increase-your-media-coverage/
http://fusionfox.com Clifton Labrum

I agree that the type should be larger and the amount of color should increase by an order of magnitude. Photos and icons would be swell. The content is all pretty good.
Scott Schlegel

I agree with the small font folk. I needs to be bigger.

If you do merge the blog with you company, please don’t change your content. I enjoy the content as it is. There is no reason to get all corporate just because you change the domain name. 37signals does a great job of being human and having a corporate blog. Might be a good lead to follow.

How about some code? Open source some of your work every now and then. It would be good to hear/see what you developers are working on.
http://www.elikirk.com JR Peterson

I guess it really depends on what you want to accomplish with this blog. If you’re looking to make people happy, then do what everyone else is saying. If you have a preference and purpose all your own, then stick with it.

The small font type – keep it. Love it. We use it constantly. It looks better in so many designs and really adds character.

My two cents.
http://www.pauljohnstonphotography.com Paul Johnston

I agree with comments about the font size being too small. With a blog, you want people to read it. It’s not necessarily about design but readability. I’m also not too sure how I feel about the reverse background. But it’s different, and different is good (mostly).

I also would have concerns sending prospects to your Don Loper blog because your are so open about your business challenges and financial woes. I’m one who paints a positive image and sweeps the ugly stuff under the carpet. An image thing I guess. But on the other hand I admire you for being so open and honest. My feeling is why tell more than you should. In sales sometimes the best thing to do is stop talking. In court lawyers advise to simply answer the question and not elaborate. I feel the same about your blog. While it is very interesting to read, I’m not sure SOME of the content is the most relevant for prospects.

My 2 ¢. Have you had any feedback from prospects about your financial situation?
http://www.mwi.com Joshua Steimle

Regarding our financial situation, no, we haven’t had any negative experiences yet as a result of me being so open about it on this blog. To the contrary, we’ve had a lot of positive contacts and have landed clients and partnerships since I started telling my story more openly. My guess is that there is a constant fear that somebody you’re doing business with is hiding something from you, and I think I’m doing a fairly good job of not hiding things which ups the level of trust.

Maybe the fact that our financial situation is not different in any major way than it was seven, six, five, four, three, or two years ago shows potential clients that while MWI’s internal finances might not be enviable, they haven’t negatively affected our ability to provide our services. We’ve never left a client out to dry because of financial matters and some of our best work has been done while in the midst of our greatest financial hardships. In fact, in some cases a lack of cash on hand has actually increased our quality. For example, there have been several situations where a full-time employee has been replaced with a part-time contractor with superior skills so while internally it’s not as easy for us since we don’t have somebody we can talk to whenever we want to, the end result for the client has actually improved while our costs have gone down.

I have to admit part of the reason I’m being so open is just part of a “darn it all, I don’t care what people think” attitude I’ve adopted lately with regards to the inside workings of my firm. I’ve been putting a positive spin on things for seven years and I know how that has worked out, but I’ve been curious lately to see if putting out more open and frank information will have an effect.
http://insideart.wordpress.com aDOLFOrUIZ

Hi, I’ve been reading you for a while. Passive reader thou. In my opinion for an improvement you should change the color scheme. It seems kinda depressing and I know it gives a serious or formal impression but a little more of life would be ok. Besides that, everything works fine for me. Actually I would like to congrat you because of the content. I’m a mexican entrepreneur who happens to like design a lot, and learning about the details behind a design firm, and ‘listening’ tales and tips from an entrepreneur has been very informative and helpful for me. Keep it on with the good work! Cheers!
http://www.mwi.com Joshua Steimle

Ok, by popular demand I’ve bumped up the size of the principal body font one point. Everything else I’ve left the same since I assume the problem has to do more with the content than the navigation and other items.

As for the black background, there is a reason for it. A black screen is easier to look at than a white screen. A white screen is like staring at a light bulb. So while it may be depressing, it’s also preserving your retinas. Just remember that next time you take your Zoloft after looking at this site.

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