My father was a medical doctor, so you might imagine that I grew up wanting to be a doctor when I grew up, too. But you’d be wrong about that. For some strange reason, as far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a dentist when I grew up. Why, you ask? I’ll tell you.

Back in the early 1960′s (I’m old as a dinosaur, get over it!) our family lived close enough to walk to our dentist’s office. In fact, living in a real, live neighborhood like most people those days, we could walk to just about anywhere we needed. We could walk to the bank, the grocery store, church or to the dentist office. Believe it or not, I still remember the name of our family dentist: Dr. Walter Hladun.

Although I don’t have a very good memory, I’m pretty sure I remember his name because of the positive experience I always had when I was in his dental chair. Contrary to horror stories I’d heard about the “dentist office”, Dr. Hladun never caused me any pain or discomfort in all of my visits. This was no small feat, either, because back in the days before fluoride treatments existed I can assure you that I grew up with a mouthful of cavities that Dr. Hladun skillfully fixed and repaired. To be honest, one of the other reasons I remember his name is because of the unique spelling and combination of the letters “h” and “l”, which I don’t think I’ve ever seen used one-after-another in a name since then.

So…I always wanted to be a dentist when I grew up. But there’s more to this story.

Fast Forward to High School Graduation

I was a good student with great grades. Schoolwork came easily to me. The next natural step out of high school, in order to pursue my goal of being a dentist, was to attend the University of Detroit as the university was both local and had a well known and respected dental school. I applied and was accepted! The plan was in full swing and my adventure to become a dentist began.

All Good Things Come to An End – Some Quicker than Others

Freshman year was tough. The requisite biology & chemistry course work that were part of my first year classes were taking their toll. This was tough stuff! Just as Dorothy learned in The Wizard of Oz I learned at the University of Detroit: I wasn’t in Kansas anymore.

I survived year one and moved quickly into my sophomore year. Long story short. Organic chemistry took me down. The class was tough, the lab was tougher, and I decided that the journey to be a dentist was going to end in Professor Yvonne Szutka’s organic chemistry class. I’m old enough now to be honest about my college chemistry days. I was lazy. I didn’t want it bad enough. I didn’t work hard enough. I was well prepared and bright enough to be successful in that class, but I had other things on my mind and just didn’t want it bad enough. There. I said it for all the world to read. So I dropped out of the University of Detroit. My lifelong dream to become a dentist was over.

Now What?

Once I decided that dentistry was not in my future, I switched schools and attended Wayne State University in downtown Detroit and entered their pre-law program. After a year or so I decided that being a lawyer wasn’t for me. Are you seeing a pattern here? I know I am.

Although I’m not sure why, at this point in my “career quest” I decided I wanted to be a police officer. The chase began, and on November 27, 1978 I landed a police officer job in suburban Detroit. Twenty eight years later – on Halloween of 2006 – I retired. It was a great job for a young man and I couldn’t believe they actually paid me to have fun! But police work is tough, and the older I got the more I hated it. An early retirement was a great choice, and I’ve never looked back once during the past five years. That chapter of my book of life closed and I moved on to the next.

The Story Continues

For the past seven years I’ve been designing and developing websites with a special interest in using WordPress as a content management system. I own, operate and sweep the floors at both Stoney Creek Web Design & 1955 Design. Guess what? I really love designing websites, so I think it’s fair to say that being a website developer is what I am going to be when I grow up!

Let’s Blog Off Information

This post is one in a series that I have written (and will continue to write) for Let’s Blog Off. Every two weeks participants from different points of view explore a selected topic from their personal perspective. It’s interesting to see how different people approach the same topic!

“It sure is hot today.” That’s what I thought on that hot August day in 1982 as I eased the rented moving van into the driveway of our now-sold home on the northeast side of Detroit. The day had arrived and the process of moving our young family to a new home in suburban Detroit was about to begin.

My wife and I were in our mid-twenties and proud parents of two young sons. Our oldest son was two years old and our little boy was only 3 months old and still in diapers. Moving is always a hassle, but moving with a family so young seemed particularly taxing, made even more so by the heat of the day.

And it was hot. As I recall, the thermometer topped out at just under 100 degrees that day. By the time the day had ended my wife and I, and a group of friends, had packed up everything and completed the move to our new home in the downtown Rochester, Michigan.

“This Old House” Awaited Us

Our “new” home was actually an old house, having been built nearly 100 years earlier. An elderly woman had owned the home for many years, and for the last ten years or so she was no longer able to take care of the place the way she once had. The house had fallen into a bad state of disrepair, and to be honest this was the only reason we could afford the house in the first place. The house was in bad shape. Really bad shape.

I didn’t know it yet, but five years of house restoration lay ahead of us. By the time those five years passed my wife and I had gutted and replaced virtually every component and surface of the house, both inside and outside. Suffice it to say the home we had just purchased was not “move in ready”. Regardless, we had just moved in!

As you might expect, a home of this age and in this state of disrepair was not outfitted with air conditioning, so the outside air temperature of 100 degrees had pretty much become the inside air temperature that day. Coupled with the hard work involved in moving all of our worldly possessions, you can well imagine that it had turned into an uncomfortable evening as we settled in to our new home.

I don’t imagine anyone slept very well that night. I know I didn’t. Strange house, unfamiliar neighborhood and a ridiculously hot night all added to my tossing and turning. I was also feeling a bit of regret about our old house, and was somewhat homesick on this first night in the “new” home.

What is Home?

As I lay there awake for most of the night I remember having a lot of thoughts about what the future had in store. But there was one thing I distinctly remember thinking that night. Even though the physical surroundings were new and strange, the one constant that remained was our family. We were all tucked in our new beds awaiting the adventures that tomorrow – and the years to come – would bring. Home, I realized, is wherever your family is. And my family was here with me. Life was good!

Let’s Blog Off Information

This post is one in a series that I have written (and will continue to write) for Let’s Blog Off. Every two weeks participants from different points of view explore a selected topic from their personal perspective. It’s interesting to see how different people approach the same topic!

I remember when I was about eight years old I saw a magazine advertisement for a pedal car that I knew I just had to have. And it wasn’t just any pedal car, either. It was a Good Humor three wheeled pedal car, and there was nothing on the face of the earth that this eight year old wanted more than that red, white & blue ice cream wagon.

Like any child who wants something, I pestered my folks for weeks and months on end about the pedal car. Both of them made it clear to me that this toy was just too expensive for our family to purchase and that I should set my sights on something a bit less costly for my next birthday gift. I’m certain that I was persistent in my pleas, but at some point I remember accepting the fact that I was never going to get the ice cream truck pedal car for my birthday.

It’s not liked we lived in the poor house when I was a child. My father was a physician and my mom stayed at home to take care of my brother and I. This was pretty common in the late 1950s and early 1960s. All of the costs associated with raising a young family, making a house payment, and otherwise providing for our family didn’t leave much money left over from my dad’s paycheck each month. Clearly there was not enough money to buy me this rather expensive birthday gift.

My birthday finally arrived. I remember that we were celebrating my birthday on a Sunday so that my Aunt Dorothy & Uncle Mac, who lived a couple of hours away, could make the drive up to our house for my birthday party. My brother and I always looked forward to my aunt & uncle arriving as they were both fun to be around and we always had a good time when they visited. I heard our small dog Candy barking at the back gate and knew that it must be Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Mac arriving.

I raced out the side door and to our driveway gate to meet them. And what do you think I saw? Uncle Mac & Aunt Dorothy were standing on the driveway with a brand new Good Humor pedal car as their birthday gift to me! I can still remember how excited I was when I saw that pedal car.

I’m pretty sure I wore half the tread off the tires that very afternoon as I drove the Good Humor truck up and down the driveway. Years later, after thousands and thousands of trips up and down that same driveway, all the paint on the truck was worn off. You’d have never known that years early it was a brand new, shiny birthday gift that made the day for an eight year old growing up on the east side of Detroit.

To this day, 48 years later, I still don’t know if that Good Humor pedal car was actually bought for me by my aunt and uncle or if my mom and dad just arranged it that way to be a surprise. I never asked and they never said. Whatever the answer, that gift meant so much to me that it’s the first thing that came to mind when I decided to try and remember what one thing I really wanted when I was a kid.

Oh, one more thing. You probably guessed by now, but my favorite ice cream treat from the real Good Humor ice cream wagon was the tasty orange and vanilla Creamsicle!

Let’s Blog Off Information

This post is one in a series that I have written (and will continue to write) for Let’s Blog Off. Every two weeks participants from different points of view explore a selected topic from their personal perspective. It’s interesting to see how different people approach the same topic!

Note: I wrote this article long after the deadline for submission to Let’s Blog Off, so it probably won’t actually be featured or linked to from their website. However, there are links below to other contributors who made timely submissions. Take the time to see what other contributors really wanted when they were kids!

What is a Blog Off? That’s this weeks topic at Let’s Blog Off.

I really have no idea what a Blog Off is. I’m new to the concept, and new to the Let’s Blog Off website. I think I chose a tough week to write my first article. But here goes! Here’s a few thoughts about what a Blog Off is to me.

Soapbox

My first thought is that a Blog Off is a cross between two historic entities – the Soap Box and the Jousting Ring. It’s a place where those of us who are so inclined can have our words – and yes, our “message”, whatever that is – spread a little bit further around the Wild West, er, the Internet. It’s also a place where we can verbally joust and compare what we’ve got to say against what others have to say about the same topic. Some might view it as a bit of a competition.

Relationship Builder

Many of us who spend far too much time on the Internet are always looking for one more way to establish a sense of “community” in this virtual world. Something as simple as participating in Let’s Blog Off adds to this sense of community, and establishes a relationship among the participants. It’s not a “real life” relationship with personal, face to face contact. But it’s a relationship nonetheless and we are all better off when our circle of relationships expands, even just a little.

I was invited to participate in the Blog Off by someone who I have established a relationship with through Twitter. We’ve never met and quite frankly I probably would not recognize him if we passed in the grocery store aisle. But we have established a relationship. Since he also participates at Let’s Blog Off I will solidify this relationship a bit more by also writing an article here from time to time.

Let’s Blog Off Information

Here’s some information on Let’s Blog Off. Check it out and see if writing an article every other week is something you might like to do, too.

Chris Brogan followed me today on Twitter.  My world is complete.  I consider it a real honor to be followed by Chris.  He’s a busy guy and I know he doesn’t actually read his Tweet stream and probably doesn’t write his own Tweets, either. But I was glad to see him on my follower list.

I know what you’re thinking.  He follows hundreds of thousands of people.  Don’t rain on my parade, OK?

To this point I have offered ideas on how to start your new blog and what steps you can take to make the start up process easier.

Time to branch out, however. Here are four suggestions about things to avoid as you roll out your new website. Needless to say, subjectivity plays a pretty big role regarding what’s good vs. what’s bad on a website, but I think that these tips are generally regarded as being things to avoid. Feel free to take my advice or to ignore it. The choice is yours.

1. Auto Loading Music

There is nothing I like less when visiting a website than to be forced to listen to some auto loading music. In fact, it’s very likely that I will immediately leave the website when music jumps into my headphones without me asking for it. The only thing worse than auto loading music is a pop up window, and I really don’t think I need to explain those.

Aside from being annoying, auto loading music is a bandwidth hog and makes your website load slowly. Nobody likes a slow loading website. Trash the auto loading music. Trust me.

2. Light Text on a Dark Background

OK, I admit that I am not a kid anymore. In fact, depending on the circumstances, I need reading glasses to see whatever it is I am looking at close up. That being said, however, why make life more difficult for most visitors by having a website with white or light text on a dark background. Maybe it’s cool for a photography website or a heavy metal band, but if you’re not Metallica or Mike Cherim I suggest you skip the dark background.

3. Too Much Clutter

Does your sidebar look like the side of a NASCAR race car on race day? Is it loaded with links, advertisements, Adsense ads and other junk. Tell the truth. It is, isn’t it?

It’s time to learn about using white space in your design. It’s time to learn how to frame content so the user can locate and read it easier. Websites that are clean and professional in appearance do a much better job presenting your content in a manner that is likely to get it recognized and read.

4. Don’t Use <Click Here> for Link Text

Do you want your website to look like an amateur put it together? One of the best ways to portray yourself as an amateur is to use <Click Here> or something similar for your links. Not only does it look bad, it offers no descriptive information to your visitors about where the link might take them. Big mistake. Clean up those links and see how more frequently they get clicked.

A Good Design Takes Time

Coming up with a good design for your new blog takes time.  It’s easy enough to slap together a new website using the automated features that your computer and your web host put in place.  But remember this:  Anybody can start a website.  But not everybody can do it correctly.  If your new website is a business website this is particularly important.  But even if your new blog is a personal site that you put together as a hobby, don’t you want it to portray you and your written or spoken word in the best possible light?

It really is kind of scary. Starting a blog for the first time – and hitting the publish button – can be rather frightening. Let’s face it. Once that button is pushed your words are made available for all the world to see. All the world. That, my friends, is one helluva lot of people and you have every right to be a bit self conscious.

What are you afraid of? You’ve purchased a domain name and downloaded and installed WordPress. Perhaps you have even designed or contracted for a custom WordPress theme. You’ve written your first post and are all set to hit the publish button. But fear takes over and you don’t do it. What are you afraid of?

From my perspective it’s best to follow the advice of Nike – “Just Do It”. You’ll be glad you did. There is a certain sense of accomplishment when you write and publish your first blog post. Your words, heretofore largely silent, are now put on display for all to see. I agree it’s a bit scary. But it’s also a very exciting time. Obviously, you have something to say or you would not have gone through the trouble of making it happen. Don’t worry. Once you are in the pool for a while the water is no longer cold. The same thing applies to writing for your blog.

Enough said for now. Put on your swimsuit and hit the pool. The water’s fine!

Do you have a brand new blog? Do you want to increase the traffic to your new website? Here are some tips that I have learned over the years to get a quick start with your new blog. I realize it’s hard to do all these things, but the more you can accomplish the more traffic will come your way.

1. Write a new post every day: I realize that this is difficult to do. Heck, I can’t even do it on my blogs. But you should always strive to write something new each day. Remember, though, that content is king. Writing something just to say you did it is not very useful. Make the content genuinely interesting to your readers.
2. Comment and post at popular blogs and forums: The more time you spend posting and submitting comments to blogs in the same niche as yours the better. Needless to say, people who read those blogs will also be interested in reading yours. Make sure your profile gravatar or name links to your new blog.
3. Participate in blog carnivals: You will reap the rewards down the road. Trust me.
4. Link generously to other blogs in your niche: Sometimes it’s better to give than to receive. Link to as many other blogs as you can if they are in your nice market. Don’t ask for links in return. As time goes by the other blogs will come to appreciate and accept your new blog and the reciprocal links will come in time.
5. Write good content: What else can I say. We all know this is the key to gaining and retaining readers. Give them what they want – something useful.

I hope these tips are of benefit to you as you move your new blog forward. Come to think of it, I gotta go. I need to implement some of these suggestions myself!

Update: I am sad to report that Noah died several days before Thanksgiving. Many thanks to everyone worldwide who sent more than one million Christmas cards to Noah prior to his death.

The five year old son of a friend of mine is in the very last stage of Nueroblastoma Cancer.  Noah has been battling this cancer for 2 1/2 years.  The family is celebrating Christmas six weeks early and will be having their celebration next week.

Noah’s request is to get “lots of Christmas cards”.  Let’s all do a good thing and send Noah a card.  Please pass this information on through any means possible, be it Twitter or Facebook or any other choice of social media.  We can make a small difference in the life of a child and help provide him with a great early Christmas.

Send your Christmas card to:

Noah Biorkman

1141 Fountain View Circle

South Lyon, MI 48178

USA

Thanks for sending a card and for spreading the word.  Let’s really show Noah that we care!

The first time I purchased a domain name and struggled through the process of setting up my new website was both exciting and frightening at the same time.  There were so many decisions to be made and the process seemed so confusing.  Through trial and error – and learning from my mistakes – I have decided on the whom I consider to be the best registrar and hosting companies.  They suit my purposes and I have been very pleased with them.  Your mileage may vary, however, but here’s my suggestions.

Domain Registration

I use goDaddy for all of my domain registrations.  I have found them to be competitively priced and easy to use.  The web interface that goDaddy uses through which you access your account is clean, straightforward and easy to navigate.  If you need to make changes to your account it’s easy to find your way to the proper place.

In addition, goDaddy is one of the most widely used registrars and as a result transferring domain ownership is usually simple as many potential site buyers also have a goDaddy account and expect that the transfer can be accomplished directly through goDaddy.

Web Hosting Account

Through much trial and error I have finally settled on HostGator as my choice for hosting my domains.  I also own 1955 Design, a web design and consulting business and I always recommend HostGator to my clients.  I have used HostGator for several years and have never been disappointed with their service, support or pricing.

From time to time I have had to contact HostGator to resolve and issue or to ask a question.  I have always used their Live Chat customer support.  On most visits I have been answered immediately by a customer support representative.  Once in a while I have to wait a minute or two for a representative to become available.  In each instance, however, my problem has been resolved to my complete satisfaction (or my question answered in full) by their support staff.  Based on experience with other hosting providers I can say that HostGator stands out above all others that I have experience with.

In Summary

Choose your registrar and domain hosting provider carefully.  The relationship you are about to establish with them is key to the success of your new blog.  It’s also key to maintaining your sanity as you navigate into the world of domain ownership.  Good luck!