Worldly Wise Websites

Hello again, and bye bye.

Hello from me. It’s been a long time since I wrote here.

My intention was to write here as I developed other web businesses. A true weblog in fact. But when time is pressing, something has to give. Shrewdies was always going to be a slow build site, so it took a back seat. Often in my thoughts, but rarely at my fingertips. Now is the time to change that.

Or at least, very soon.

But bye bye?

Not from me - from BlogRush, and so from BlogGush also.

BlogGush was a lighthearted project designed to celebrate John Reese’s BlogRush project. I was inspired both by looking at blogs that appeared on my sites, and by looking at blogs that generated clicks to me. I started it on a whim, and never had time to develop it properly, but I enjoyed it.

Now, John Reese has pulled the plug on BlogRush, so I’ve written my final BlogGush post.

I’m working on improvements to my Niche Inspector site. In fact, it may end up being a replacement but we’ll see. More news in a week or two when I make the first release available.

One blogging tool dies, but there’s always another ready to help you. In this case, not to help build traffic, but to help you build web business sites.

Stay tuned.

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Thanks to bowbrick for this image

Does that sound like a lot of work?

Well it is, but it is surprising how quickly you can get enough information to start building your website. The best part is, you do not need to be an expert to do it - presenting your quest for information as part of your article helps make your website personal and interesting. Writing about the questions as well as the answers gives you double the content, and is particularly interesting if you can explode a few myths.

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Actually, it’s for Shrewdies.

And it can be purely altruistic, purely commercial, or a mixture of both.

The first step in any web business is to develop the site concept. Often this means a great deal of research to develop a detailed business plan.

But there is a quicker and easier way.

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I love writing content for websites when I’m passionate, curious or sometimes angry about the subject.

Inspiration comes to me from many quarters, but I often find that, without a proper framework, getting from ideas in my head to content on the page is too much of a task.

I have tried for many months to streamline a system for producing content that matches what visitors want.

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When you decide to create a small business web site to enhance an existing bricks and mortar business, do not fall into the trap of trying to make an electronic version of your companies brochures and catalogs.

Developing your site concept starts with deciding what you want to achieve. Do you simply want a web site so that your customers can get information online without having to phone you, or do you want a web site that will help you grow your business?

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Starting a web based business begins with you. You need to assess your own goals, and choose a concept for your small business web site that suits you.

Even if you’ve already started your new web business, it’s still not too late to re-examine your site concept and improve it. I’ve even completely changed a six month old site when I realized that the site concept was unlikely to be profitable, or hold my interest.

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Welcome to Srewdies.com. I thought I’d start with a shrewd definition.

1. Characterized by keen awareness, sharp intelligence, and often a sense of the practical.
2. Disposed to artful and cunning practices; tricky.
3. Sharp; penetrating: a shrewd wind.

This website concentrates on definition 1. Building small business web sites needs intelligence. That does not mean you have to be a genius, but you need to be smart enough to string sentences together meaningfully. Or be able to find someone else to do it.

Though the second definition often applies, I certainly will not propose anything underhand. So called black hat techniques do not help you build a sustainable web business.

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