I have recently come across what is probably the best blog post I’ve ever read.

It is from Merlin Mann, creator of 43 Folders, and it is a sort of mission statement of where his website is going from now on.

The message is simple and yet incisive: no more bullshit.

“This is now a site for people who want to finish things that they care about — but who still occasionally need help, inspiration, and the courage to push all the bullshit off their work table. This is about clearing that space every day, and then using it to do cool stuff that makes you proud.”

Read it and then get back to work.

Webmasters usually forget what makes people WANT to visit a website. And that is if that website is valuable.

If a website creates value, then it will be visited.

So what is value in this context?
Value is anything something that attracts visitors. Is that website good? Is it entertaining? Does it have the information I need? Does it provide me with the service I was looking for?

Think about it, the same concept also applies to products: if a product is useful, properly concieved and well-built, chances are it will be successful.

What is the difference with the offline market?
Everything is faster on the internet: if you do something as simple as adding a means for your users to share the valuable site they’ve just found with others, they will do and you’ll have a free and much more incisive  marketing campaign than the usual AdWords stuff!
I say more incisive because after all who are you gonna believe more, a 468×60 pixel banner or your childhood friend telling how much “this website he’s found” is awesome?

One last note: I was listening to a training program for telemarketers by Anthony Robbins a couple of days ago, and there are lots of ideas that can be transposed to the online world. One of the more important ones is that people buy their WANTS, not their needs. So, clearly a website that people WANT to visit because it’s really good, is much more prone to have long-term success and NO NEED for marketing than a website that people NEED for whatever value it provides.
An example might be the best mortgage website versus Youtube. What is more prone to lasting success? You might need the former at one point and browse it daily, but it will soon lose its value for you (i.e. when you don’t need anymore/already got your mortgage). Youtube instead, with the service it provides and the content it has received over the years, is now the object of many “wants” and so it will be for a long time still.

So eat your heart out SEO experts and marketing gurus, we don’t need you!
It sounds obvious, but it obviously is not: want a popular website? Make sure it’s valuable first, the rest will follow.

Someone help me!

Here is a sneak peek at the new layout I am currently designing for my personal website.

I had in mind an old-world/piratesque look and, obviously, there had to be some wooden planks, a piece of parchment and ink..

I am pretty happy with what I have so far, even though I feel I might have gone a bit overboard and over-designed this theme, making it way less usable than I’d like it to be.

Please, oh please, if there are any expert designers out there, comment with suggestions on improving this! Also, I am not really sure I’ll be able to code this properly, so any CSS cheat/tip/hack for the most “difficult” elements is appreciated as well.

Thank you!