About BlogWell

Blogwell is a blog dedicated to helping small businesses and non-profits make better use of the Web.

Advances in technology have made it easy for every business to create and maintain their own sites, establish a sound online reputation, and appear in search engine results. It’s not difficult; it’s simply a matter of understanding the basics.

We aspire to be the greatest online resource for small businesses and non profits by providing tips, ideas, and explanations that are easy to understand, and are written in plain English.

The authors of this blog are firm believer in Web standards.

About MadLid

MAD - Martyn Davis- the computer programming geek dad, and Lid (Lidija) - the information and Internet nut mom, who met at the launch of Windows 95 (August 25 in case you’re wondering).

Along with our two little people - Jonah and Jamie - we are Aussies living in Silicon Valley.

Mad - Brief background

Went to Melbourne University to do maths, but found computing much more interesting (let me play Rogue and Hack). Graduated in 1985 and got my first job programming PDP-11’s. Started programming on the Windows platform [can't remember the year] when Windows 2.1 was released and have been bigoted ever since.

Worked for Microsoft for a while (in Australia), did my own consulting for a while, got offered a job at Verity (now Autonomy) in Silicon Valley in 2005, and now have the blogging bug.

Lid - Brief background

Studied at the Victorian College of the Arts for a Bachelor of Music, but realized in my final year I didn’t have the skills [read patience] to teach. I left my classical training and my piano accordion and moved into media as a production assistant.

Eventually, I began producing videos, television commercials, and in the early 90’s, fell in love with the Internet and the Web. In 1995, I wrote my first pilot, .neteffect, a series about the Internet, which was sold to Beyond International later the same year.

In 1997, I produced Online, Australia’s first television series about all things Internet for the Nine Network.

I have continued freelancing for newspapers, television, radio, and the Web; continued learning, and recently completed coursework in graduate journalism at Harvard University.

Since arriving in the United States, I have been regularly reporting for Tech Talk Radio Australia about all things Silicon Valley, as well as working for WebMama.com Inc., on a freelance basis, as Web Strategist.

This blog is our place to talk about the things we love; and hopefully help at least one other person in this world to make better use of the Internet and the Web. Of course, being our blog, we’ll have to throw in our pearls of wisdom.

The plan is simple; use plain English.

Any suggestions would be great!