Review Small Business Lessons website for sharing our knowledge

grayproggrayprog subscriber Posts: 1
edited August 2007 in Website Critique
I`m asking you to review a website I`ve recently started to help share the knowledge and lessons learned by fellow small business owners. I`ve started by telling my lessons of various small business and financial enterprises I`ve taken.  I`ve done all the setup and the graphics myself. It took me several days (I already have experience with website programming and design, but I`m not a pro).I also would like to know if you think that people, maybe you, would be interested in contributing the lessons you`ve learned in a similar format.I also want to know what you think of the diagrams that I`m adding to the posts. Are they interesting? Helpful? Redundant?The site is:  Small Business Lessons.Thanks, Jacobhttp://www.smallbusinesslessons.com
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Comments

  • vapourlockvapourlock subscriber Posts: 4
    Plain and Simple. Looks nice.
    There ought to be a lot more content  though. I am sure there is lot coming this way !
    Here`s wishing you the very best !
     
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  • grayproggrayprog subscriber Posts: 1
    Is this a blog? 
    Yes, Craig. It uses blog software. But it`s only a platform for publishing the articles. I plan to post my business lessons (including failures) as many as I can and the idea is to get other people contribute their stories and lessons that they`ve learned doing business in a similar or other interesting format.
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  • grayproggrayprog subscriber Posts: 1
    There ought to be a lot more content  though. I am sure there is lot coming this way !
    Here`s wishing you the very best !
    Yes, I will post more articles from my experience but I also would like people to share their lessons.
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  • WeblineWebline subscriber Posts: 13 Bronze Level Member
    It threw me off a little bit first looking at it. I assumed that, when I first saw the opening page, there would be more of an introduction or information of what the site was about, what its intention was; but it basically goes right into your articles. If I hadn`t read your original post, I`m not sure I would have understood what the site was about right off, except for the basic page title.For me, it would have been beneficial to see some something like your "About" page first off, telling me what I am supposed to be seeing and expecting.Your list of categories seems to be in an out of the way place. Perhaps moving it to the top left side would be helpful.
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  • grayproggrayprog subscriber Posts: 1
    Okay...(donning Kevlar and standing reasonably close-by to Nikole), I
    think if you`re using blog software, it`ll work. But is there any way
    to create a Table of Contents.....out of Archives, Indexing, or
    something?

    These are supposedly going to be life-experience lessons learned, and
    people will want to quickly find something pertinent to their own
    problems.

    There are archives but I think currently they don`t show the list of articles. This should be fixed, I guess. There are also the categories. Or how would you suggest to index the lessons?Another question. How will it be possible to get people to contribute from their experiences?
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  • vwebworldvwebworld subscriber Posts: 40
    I agree with Craig. The typical blog format presents content in chronological order. If this site is to be a resource then finding posts/articles relevant to specific subjects is important... and more user friendly.
    Typical blog software also provides a way to label posts/articles into categories, with those categories being listed as a menu... as you have on the website.
    The trick is to create categories that are more sepcific than general AND not post the same article in multiple categories.
    This menu maker plugin (for wordpress) might help. I have not used it.
    ~Rolandvwebworld2007-8-7 2:49:41
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  • grayproggrayprog subscriber Posts: 1

    I agree with Craig. The typical blog format presents content in chronological order. If this site is to be a resource then finding posts/articles relevant to specific subjects is important... and more user friendly.Ok, I can agree with that.

    The trick is to create categories that are more sepcific than general AND not post the same article in multiple categories.Why not post the same article on multiple categories?I understand that making categories into more specific will help with that but why limit?
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  • vwebworldvwebworld subscriber Posts: 40
    Why not post in multiple categories?
    Well, think of it this way... you just got a magazine (or book) about subjects in which you are interested. You go to the table of contents (like a website`s menu) and find a chapter or page on "business success", so you go to that page and read.  Next, you go back to the table of contents and find a chapter/page on "day trading"... and you go to that chapter/page and find the exact same content.
    ~Roland
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  • grayproggrayprog subscriber Posts: 1

    Well, think of it this way... you just got a magazine (or book) about subjects in which you are interested. You go to the table of contents (like a website`s menu) and find a chapter or page on "business success", so you go to that page and read.  Next, you go back to the table of contents and find a chapter/page on "day trading"... and you go to that chapter/page and find the exact same content.Ok, that`s what I thought could be the only reason but wasn`t sure you meant exactly this. I can see your point.
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  • FeliciaSlatteryFeliciaSlattery subscriber Posts: 1


    Also, think about your audience and your intended purpose with the blog. What do you want to accomplish?  Here are a few ways people use blogs:

     Visibility for your business
     Getting new customers
     Providing a resource to a specific target
     Adding new subscribers to your list
    Providing a place for clients and customers to learn more about you
    Generating lots of traffic to your website from the blog
    Etc.  There are so many reasons why people blog.  Start with your goal and then design your blog around the goal.  Continue to communicate a consistent message.  You have a great start with the lessons learned idea. 
    Warmly,
    Felicia
     
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  • grayproggrayprog subscriber Posts: 1
    Thanks, Felicia.

    My first goal is to build a readership.

    Although I do have a couple of online businesses the likely audience of
    this site won`t be interested in them (one is Mac software I develop), other is a
    Parapsychology and alternative medicine site.

    My other goal is to learn from people`s comments on my lessons and hopefully get other people to contribute.

    I think I`m starting an interesting format and I`ve not seen any central place like this for small businesses.
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  • vwebworldvwebworld subscriber Posts: 40
    On the indexing, and Roland`s comment about not posting to multiple categories. That`s "paper" thinking. In other words, back when an index was printed, you had to put a word into multiple categories because that was the only way to do it.Nowadays, in this example of yours, the "Search" button replaces what used to be called "index." The "Browse Categories" would handle the organization. You place an article in the most relevant category, and that`s that. If someone doesn`t agree, then fine, but everyone can still easily find the article via the search feature. It`s no different than a forum, where you can post a topic to the most relevant master category, but still find the thread simply by searching.
    I would say it`s paper and web thinking  
    Certainly a search mechanism is good to have and a useful and recommended feature but the idea is how to present a "menu" of posts/articles so that viewers can find what they want.... like a menu (website navigation) on a web page.
    You would not suggest a website ONLY have a search feature without a menu?
    ~Roland
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