We Have a New Site Design

Time to stir up the water and get a new blog design. Our previous design was very minimalist. We've decided too minimalist. We want you to be able to see the range of topics we care about, the various projects we are managing, and have room for things like Twitter and Comments too! Please tell us what you think. We splurged and bought this theme from a top Wordpress designer, Brian Gardner. (Internet oddball perhaps, but I like paying for quality services.)

One of the coolest things about blog software is how the design elements and the content are separated, kind of like how editorial and advertising once used to be. In theory, it's possible to swap out a new "theme" on the Wordpress blog, and the database of posts and comments simply gets wrapped in a new look.

In reality of course, it's not that easy because inevitably we want to tweak a little here, change a color there, add a widget, hide a widget, and make all new graphics too! It's so emblematic of the state of the web these days. On the one hand the glass is half-full: so many things are free and creativity abounds. OTOH, the glass is half-empty: it takes hours and hours to find stuff and make it work the way we want it to, a full spectrum of brain matter is useful when managing the wide and deep terrain that covers coding, design, and ultimately writing a coherent message!

I interviewed a marketing exec from IBM back in 2002. He said they had already survived 11 iterations of their web site over the past 6-7 years! Meanwhile, many small businesses are content to have one iteration every 10 or 11 years! (OK - so maybe I exagerrate a little.) Here's a list of things to think about to see if it is time to redo your website.

We want some of our clients to update their sites; "unfortunately," we built them with the most modern tools available at the time, so the sites are surviving, if not thriving. If it's not broken, don't fix it makes sense. But then there is the question: what opportunities are being missed that can only be gained with new technology?

One last thought. I used "we" a lot in this post. Really, it is Shane who gets the big kudos as he researched the WP themes, did all the extra programming, and even added some upgrades to the templates that he is sending back to Brian, the original developer. Mahalo nui Shane. You are no ka oi!

Blog Recommendations from Bare Feet Clients

I've been having these fun interactions with our clients, in part to get them involved and excited about new media and fundamentally to have them pay atention to their invoices and pay us promptly!

This past month I offered Amazon.com gift cards to each client who responded by telling me at least one blog they read and why they love it. Most surprisingly, very few actually responded. Those who did though are over-achievers; many included more than one blog.

So here's some fun new linky love!

Knowledge is Bliss Marketing
I know it might sound self serving but I love creating my own blog because it makes me think about what kind of help my clients really, truly need.

Tim Ferris 4-Hour Work Week
I especially love tim ferris blog on the4 hr. work week. Oh don't I WISH!
- Alison Bliss

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Ask the VC
I read AsktheVC.com religiously because the posts come from real VC's, many VC's contribute (different perspectives) and it seems that the information is always relevant to our company and it is accurate.I have learned many things that I use regularly from AsktheVC.com.
- Andy Alsop, Packet Analytics and Network Security Blog

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Yarn Harlot
I read the knitting blog YarnHarlot.com every single day. I just love Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. She's the total Rock Star of the knitting world. She's funny and wry and I feel now like I know her personally.

Real Simple blog
I also read the Real Simple blog nearly every day, just bc I find it useful and the editor has a great "voice" that I feel is very accessible. Speaks to me as a working mom.

37 Signals
I also read the 37Signals product blog bc I'm obsessed with their products and the creative ways people use them. (Ed. note: we use the fabulous Basecamp software to manage all of our client projects.)

Bare Feet Studios
Oh, and I read, at least weekly, the Bare Feet blog. Those guys are pretty smart.
- Meredith Schwartz, Here Comes the Guide

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Dances with Wool
She calls it Dances with Wool, letters from the Arctic Circle. I love it because this woman makes the most beautiful knitted garments, something I aspire to. She posts pictures of her works, and of the gorgeous outdoors where she lives in Finland. She has a calm, quiet writing style, and I like reading her entries because it slows me down.
- Sharon Carl, Here Comes the Guide

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Scratchy Bottom Racing International
It's the diary of a Father-Daughter projectto buy and restore an old TR7 for entry in the upcoming "24 Hours of LeMons" race (dedicated to cars that would otherwise be on the scrap heap). The main blogger is a young lady who grew up with her car-obsessed father, and in the process learned more than her fair share of what's under the hood. She and her dad have great senses of humor, and a lighthearted appreciation of cars, car people, their dog, and of course each other. It's heartwarming in an atypical way. I can't wait to see how it all turns out!
- Jolene Rae Harrington, Here Comes the Guide