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Well, I guess I’ve already broken my goal of blogging every day this month. And you know, that’s ok. Just like rules, it seems goals were also meant to be broken.
So there.
Now, let’s move forward . . .
A few weeks ago (ok, hold that thought . . . the moving forward one, I mean).
. . . a few weeks ago, my cousin, who owns her own hair and nail salon, colored and cut my hair in exchange for redesigning the salon’s website. Even though there are still a few tweaks to do and some info to add to the site, it is up and looks good. I think it managed to reflect the salon’s attitude and image without looking too dull or too flashy.
Now, aside from the bio’s of my cousin and her co-workers and a few minor things like that, it’s complete. However, I know there are ways to improve it and I’ll likely keep tweaking things here and there over the coming weeks so that hopefully what we really end up with is something both she and I are proud of.
Doing her website and the conversations we had about the salon business sparked something else – an idea, a thought – and so I’ve started looking for ways to put that into motion. As a result, I’ve spent hours over the past few weeks researching and learning Ruby on Rails.
Since I learned C and C++ back in the day along with a few other now defunct or obsolete programming languages, RoR (or Rails) has proven to be fairly simple for me to get a handle on. I also like the fact that some of my favorite web apps are built on Rails (Basecamp, Twitter, 43things, A List Apart, Blinksale).
And so that now brings me to moving forward . . .
There are 2 things I am planning to build, 2 different web apps I am now in the process of creating. One of those is a revamp of a project my husband I started a couple of years ago for builders and building-related companies in the Seattle area. I’m not entirely sure yet what all I am really going to include in the project and I probably won’t get into it much until after the first of the year. I’ve decided, though, that the best way to implement the components we want to include, is to rebuild the site on Rails.
But the other one, I am diving right into. And that is a project inspired by my cousin’s hair salon. In fact, it’s going to be a web app FOR salon owners and employees. I still need to pick my cousins brain as to exactly what she wants in the app and how she wants it to work but I know it will include things like a calendar for scheduling, charts for hair color mixes, product ordering, product sales and I don’t what else.
Since it will be an online app, they’ll be able to access it from anywhere, from any computer they might be using and it will tentatively be able to be set up on their own server. I am toying with whether or not I should create/provide a hosted version as well. And I think I probably will just to make it easier for people. I’m thinking it’s going to be kinda like a Basecamp for salon owners.
We’ll see how it goes as things get rolling.
Be blessed,
My 5 year old came home singing a rather interesting version of Jingle Bells today – ” . . . dashing through the snow, with stitches in my head . . .” I’m afraid to ask what the rest of the song sounds like!
Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.
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