Sep
27
Man, I’ve been working my tail off on some new sites the past few weeks.
First, there’s the Hundred Day Head Start, a motivation/support/accountability site dieting and exercising. This is going very well, we’re getting really good traffic and incoming links, and the attention is very motivating for me, helping me stick to my diet. I’m really excited.
I’ve also been moving my mother’s small business website over to my hosting account and updating the site. It still isn’t ready for prime time, but it’s already a big improvement in terms of SEO-readiness than the former site, which was put together by an outfit that charged her 3x the going rate for design and hosting. If you’d seen the source code and meta tags, you’d have been as angry as I was about these guys. Simple, easy things that would take them 10 seconds to do, they wanted to charge $50. Anyway, the site is The Paper Porch, and again, it isn’t ready for prime-time yet, but we’re getting there. My mother doesn’t want to have to check her email for inquiries, so I REALLY need to get her over that!
Finally, I’m hosting and developing a site on a volunteer basis for a gifted-student advocacy group at my daughter’s school. Another one that is not ready for prime-time yet, but we’re getting there as well. I hate the template, but someone with a vagina over-ruled me. I think I have her convinced to switch to a better template, but the plugins I need to use won’t be supported by the better template for a couple more weeks. The site is St. Johns Gifted.
Check ‘em out. I’ve been pretty busy with them, but I can see where my tasks on the last two will be wrapped up in the next week or so.
Aug
1
Doing a favor, and an experiment
Filed Under Brooksville, Florida Business | 3 Comments
My mother owns a gift shop in Brooksville and I just want to help her search engine rankings with this post. She’s the only retailer authorized to sell Vera Bradley in Brooksville, and I believe one of two authorized to sell Vera Bradley in Hernando County. The name of the shop is The Paper Porch.
Feel free to give out some link love, maybe you’ll get some link karma! If not, build a bridge and move along… 
Note: This was NOT a sponsored post! Unless you count 9 months of uterus-living, 18 yrs of food and shelter, and a college education a prepayment on this post. 
Apr
22
Places I’ve Lived: Brooksville, FL
Filed Under Brooksville | Leave a Comment
Brooksville is one of those places you either love or hate; there are few people in the middle. Those that don’t like it consider it too small, or the surrounding county too infiltrated with people from “up north”. These days, Brooksville is growing and it can be argued that development is out of control. In fact, negotiators for developers routinely outwit local politicians and staff in getting their projects approved.
Those that love Brooksville celebrate that small-town atmosphere. There are shaded, brick-lined streets with elegant southern homes in the downtown area. A continuously-improving downtown main street has evolved to provide for afternoon shopping trips. Most well-known, of course, is Rogers Christmas House, a fixture in Brooksville for decades. Many people make day trips to Brooksville, stopping at the Christmas house, then walking over to the Paper Porch and Westover’s Flowers & Gifts to browse and shop while waiting for a seat at the award-winning Mallie Kyla’s Cafe.
For the men-folk, however, there is another famous eatery, Coney Island Hot Dogs. Coney Island has recently been renovated and updated, and the new owner has improved the service while retaining the same great artery-clogging food. I’ve driven over 50 miles just to get a long-dog when the craving hits.
As for living there, Brooksville, and the surrounding county, offer neighborhoods and living options to suit most lifestyles. There are neighborhoods where children can play in the streets, and there are “adult” communities for retirees looking to live with those of a similar age with similar interests. There are well-maintained planned communities, and extensive neighborhoods with well-spaced lots, and even working farms and ranches. The people consist of a mixture of 5th and 6th generation families, to transplants from New York, to commuters from Tampa looking for cheaper cost of living and a family-friendly lifestyle.
technorati tags: brooksville, florida, paperporch, malliekyla, coneyisland
