We’re launching a network of directory websites targeting niche industries. The first is going to be one for drug rehab clinics in California. But when you spend a lot of time working on a website, you tend to lose an accurate picture of what the website looks like and how it works for a normal person who is seeing…
Web Development
I’ve owned and operated a web site development company since 1999. We’ve built ecommerce websites, content management systems, programmed with PHP, MySQL, Java, .NET, SQL Server, and the like, and hopefully some of what I can say as a result might be of use to you.
I’ve been working on niche directories since 1999. Geez, you’d think I’d have more to show for it after almost 10 years, but I’m a bit slow. I guess if I were a politician or corrupt CEO of an ailing public company asking for bailout dollars I’d tell you that “I’ve been refining my business model for optimum success.” But…
One of my new side businesses is creating niche directories. It’s a simple business model with ever-expanding opportunities for revenue growth. But I’ll get into that in another post. The thing is that I’ve got a few hundred domains, but I’m looking for more. I’ve got plenty of ideas, but I figured perhaps you could help me find even more.…
A few years ago a my father told me that he had been asked by an businessman friend of his how I was keep my business going in light of the competition from India that was going to be able to provide web development services for 1/20 the cost I was charging. That was several years ago and I wasn’t…
Alright folks, laundromatic.com is just about ready to launch. It just needs a little testing by some people who haven’t been looking at it for several hours each week, which means I’m disqualified. As an incentive, I’ll award two prizes:
1. Best list of bugs – Whoever finds the most bugs in the system (either parts of the system…
As MWI does more and more search engine optimization work I’m starting to see distinct advantages to SEO over web dev.
I started my first blog, this one, with MovableType. To be honest it was kind of a pain to learn all the ins and outs of how to customize MT and get it to work the way I wanted, but once I learned, it was easy to set up other blogs on the same platform. Although techie people, as I…
12
Dec
Partnership vs. Pay
My firm has been propositioned more times than I can count to “partner” with a client. That is, share in the risk, and share in the reward. At first, I was more than happy to engage in these partnerships, but over time I have become less and less enthusiastic and more and more selective. Why? Because out of the 10…
I began working in this industry at the end of 1999, and this is one of the slightly more interesting requests for proposal I have received during the past seven years. I don’t mean to post this to make fun of the guy, who I believe is serious (although I’m not 100% sure), but I hope it serves as a…
This is not a post about how Linux is better than Windows for developing websites or vice versa. It is a post about how one of the most commonly used arguments against developing on a Windows based web server with IIS and a language like ASP or .NET is no longer valid. That is, that it’s too expensive because of…
Do you know what digg and del.icio.us are? If not, you’re like I was a few months ago, and you might be confused by the links/buttons on this site that say “digg it!” or “add to del.icio.us.”
01
Jul
Outsourcing to India
I tried outsourcing to some Bulgarians once and it was a nightmare. The last straw was when, during a critical phase of a project, the team informed me they would be out of touch for the next three days due to a party they would be attending. Since then I’ve never tried outsourcing to other countries, despite the lure of…
26
May
What is Web 2.0?
By popular demand, I give you a new post.
If you’re hip to all things web, then you either know what people mean by “Web 2.0″ or you think you do, or you’ve at least heard the term. If your business isn’t principally on the web you may not even have heard the term, but you might within the next…
I am not against open-source. I am not a Microsoft evangelist. I am in favor of using logic and rational thought when approaching business challenges that require a technological solution. This post is in response to the quasi-religious fervor I’ve observed for many years related to the open source movement and some of the misinformation built up around it. It…
If you visit this website www.betterwebsite.com and think “Hmm, sounds interesting” as you put put your right hand to your chin, look up and left, and slowly nod your head while considering the content of said website seriously, then you do not have what it takes to gain any measure of sucess online. That is, unless you’re going…
Imagine this. You have a small retail business. You want to sell online. You find a website that claims to help you set up an online store. You create an account. You put in your bank information and a merchant account is automatically set up so that as you sell product it deposits in your account. You put in your…
If you aren’t aware that ColdFusion has a problematic future, then here’s another nail in the coffin in the form of an article entitled ColdFusion Job Opportunities Going Inert
I have nothing against ColdFusion. It might be the greatest thing ever. However, it just hasn’t caught on, and nothing I’ve seen in the past six years tells me…
When choosing a web development firm to work with, it is helpful to understand that there are different types of web development firms, and one or the other may be a better fit for you. While there are several categories we could talk about, for the purposes of this post I’ve divided all firms into two categories; those who compete…
Yes, I’m a procrastinator. I tend to do whatever seems important at the moment, which means that some things don’t get done until they become what is important at the moment. That’s why my web development firm uses a project management system and why I use a PDA. If I didn’t plan ahead, then many of the things…
