It can be difficult to know the best way to apply good web advice to your own website.

So, in order to better demonstrate how the ideas I share can work on your site, I will be reviewing websites from members of this community. We’ll go through a site and break down what works well and what can be improved.

Today I am reviewing Amaliah Grace’s website. Amaliah has a robust website with a lot of different offerings. In the video below I give her (and you) some ideas for bringing focus to a site and improving audience engagement.

A few key points from the video:

Continue reading →

“Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members… Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

You should be breaking more rules. So should I.

Every day we are cluttered with more of the same: website content you’ve seen before, blog topics you’ve read before. The same free guides. The same email signup forms. The same headlines.

If you want to stand out, you need to, quite simply, stand out.

Continue reading →

I debated whether I should write this post.

I’m guessing there are some people I know who will say I shouldn’t share it with you. But I’m willing to take the chance…

In the past, I’ve discussed the idea that we learn a great deal from failure. And I’ve encouraged you to not be afraid of making mistakes for that very reason.

I’m not alone in this thinking. Many bloggers, inspirationalists, and coaches will tell you that progress is dependent on the learning that occurs when things don’t turn out as you want.

Yet, advice on failure is usually dispensed from people who share how they already weathered the storm and came out the other side. They’ll say something like “this one time I made a mistake, but look at me now: I’ve got it all figured out.”

The truth is, however, that we’re all still making mistakes in the present. Even as we progress, we’re making guesses as to what’s going to work next. Sometimes we’re right and sometimes we’re wrong.

Continue reading →

Note: This is the first in a series of “online field trips” in which we will be visiting various websites to explore their best and worst qualities. We’ll look at different aspects of the sites and what they can teach us about how to make our own websites better.

So pack your lunches, forge your parents’ signatures on your permissions slips, and let’s all hop on public transit in an orderly fashion. No buddies required, but if it makes you feel better, feel free to pair up.

On today’s online field trip we’re going to visit three websites that make some big mistakes in the experiences they provide their visitors. The sites vary in size, but all offer lessons that can be applied to any website.

Another note: My apologies to the operators of these sites. I know many other people make the same mistakes you do, I just happened to find your sites while I was writing this article.

Our first stop is…

Continue reading →

I recently started exploring the diverse and tasty world of tea.

Luckily, I live in Berkeley, right across the water from San Francisco’s Chinatown, filled with tea shops.

So when I visited this amazing neighborhood in search of tea, I visited most of the shops. But I only chose to buy from one of them. Why? Because this shop did things differently. And you can employ the exact same tactics they used in their store with your website, turning your visitors into loyal fans and customers.

Starting with…

Continue reading →