Unfortunately, the :podcast: podcast didn't happen last night. 
Technical difficulties and other random silliness could be the excuses. 
So, next week! I will still be covering the same segment that I talked about in my last post, so if you have any more feedback on that then now is the time! 
I read an interesting thing on DoshDosh yesterday while researching my topic. It is a concept that makes perfect sense in relation to building an interactive website:
Nobody cares about your company, and nobody cares about your product. Not really. They care about themselves in relation to your product. What it means to them. What it does for them. What it says about them that they use your product or believe in your company.
Via Headrush, linked by DoshDosh.
It may sound a little negative, but isn't it true? Think about how you browse through the web. Unless it's some article that you are specifically searching for, you will most likely skim through the numerous websites and blogs you come across without so much as a glance in their "about me" section. What does reading about how many kitties and puppies someone has have anything to do with you, the visitor?
I don't really go through someone's "about me" area unless something about the site impresses me and then I feel compelled to learn more about this cool person who made this amazing site. Then I start to care about how many puppies and kitties they have. So it all comes down to this question...how can you make your site content focus on your visitors without losing its reflection of your personality? In other words, how can you make your site hawt?
Some people have websites that are just damn sexy to look at, like Matt Brett. He does some amazing customization to Wordpress. I visit his site every once in a while just to look at it again, ha! So, design is always a factor. :rainbow: Pretty sites = returning visitors, at least some of them. You can't always attract visitors just by looks alone. The whole don't judge a book by its cover thing.
We have to deal with several submissions like that over at Perfection, which is a design gallery clique. The guidelines for being accepted are generally a well-designed site that must be personal in some way, meaning it needs to have content about the designer. So why we get a consistent flow of portfolio and commercial sites applying (with NO personal content whatsoever), I will never know.
Content is key! It's key, I say! :gb: That is another thing I'm trying to work on more with this site. For too long it was just a "yay I went to the mall and had a slushie" kind of site. If you look back into the archives, you will see how teenybopper I used to be.
So what is your opinion about creating an interactive site that nicely weaves things in about the designer without being boring to the visitor?
Oh, and a few website updates...my :award: fanlisting collective is up! Also, I have finished the HaveAMint.com fanlisting, so go join if you love that site!
Thanks guys!