Who Is the Grumpy Web Lady?
Let’s get one thing out of the way first: I look nothing like the Grumpy Web Lady caricature on this site, except for the gray hair. She is, like, symbolic.
I am grumpy, though. But I think grumpy is a good thing. Curmudgeons keep us honest and help sort through all the bullshit* out there. And boy, there’s a ton of it.
I have been a writer and editor for 30 years and a web developer for 8. I worked for a big-city daily newspaper for 17 years, and ran a copy desk for a couple of those years, before I bailed to become a food/nutrition reporter, which was a whole lot more fun than middle management.
In one of my several day jobs, I write cookbooks. In fact, I have co-authored eight of them, all published (by folks other than myself), I’m happy to say. Not that that has anything to do with giving people unsolicited advice on building a web site, but it’s nice to know I have something to fall back on.
I’ve been a geek almost as long as I can remember. I bought my first personal computer in 1984. I used to hang out on the bulletin board services before there was a World Wide Web. (I think it was me** and 485 guys—although I have been assured more than a few of those “guys” were women trying to protect themselves from 400 geeks looking for a “social life” online).
In 1998, I learned some HTML and put up my first website. By the end of 2000, I was designing other people’s websites. I learned database design and PHP and Photoshop and CSS and all that other good web stuff. I’ve specialized in developing “clean,” easy-to-use and easy-to-update sites for small to medium businesses.
There’s a big drawback to developing sites for one client at a time, and that is that I can help only one client at a time. It occurred to me that there are a whole lot of small businesses out there that could use some guidance in building their websites, whether they hire a designer or tackle the job themselves.
And thus the Grumpy Web Lady was born. I plan to share tips, advice and reviews on everything the typical small business is likely to encounter in the process of building or improving a website. (And I’ll toss in some general ramblings now and then because, hey, it’s my blog and I can.) Since I’m a writer and a creative geek, my emphasis is on web technology, design and content, but anything and everything is fair game. I am no business expert or marketing guru—I’m just another small business owner like you and have plenty of questions myself—but I know where to find the answers.
Well, that’s all a pretty story, you’re thinking, but why should you trust my advice?
That’s easy—you shouldn’t. You should take everything I say with a grain of salt…until my advice has proved valuable to you. If some of it does prove valuable, I hope you’ll keep coming back to this site and will tell a bunch of your friends and colleagues about it.
Mostly, I hope you’ll let me know what you most need to know about Web design, tools and strategies for a successful website.
* Yes, I will occasionally, in my straight-speaking manner, use words that many people consider profanities and that I consider good old Anglo-Saxon descriptive words. If you’re easily offended, you probably don’t want to follow my blog.
** To any anal-retentive grammarians out there, yes I am well aware it should be “I” rather than “me.” But “I” sounds stilted. In the informal, colloquial style of this blog, I will occasionally ditch good grammar in favor of something that sounds better. Live with it.
June 24, 2006 Comments Off Tags: