What I learned about websites and the lady who taught me

When an unknown woman emailed me 16 months ago, "I want you to blog for me," I deleted the email. I had barely heard of blogging, didn't know her organization, and didn't see how her request related to my work spreading the workplace safety message.

She didn't give up - she being Heather Angus-Lee, then the B2B website editor at an Internet publisher in Guelph, Ontario, and now the owner of writingSEO.com.

When I did cave in, out of sheer curiousity, I told Heather: "No one has ever asked me to blog" - not after 8 years on the North American circuit speaking to tens of thousands of students, teachers and employees a year.

Veteran business journalist-turned-webpreneur

Heather, a savvy business journalist of some 15 years, was amazed by this oversight and jumped on the opportunity, creating a website to showcase my blog. That site went up in a record six weeks - from concept to launch! - but sadly her employer downsized virtually the entire company and my blog was aborted in June 2007.

That didn't deter her; Heather reached out to me again, last summer, when she saw I'd "upgraded" our website, oyaw.com - that is, from a truly dreadful site to an electronic brochure that just lay there doing nothing.

She volunteered her time and expertise to make me a brand-new site - and what you're looking at right now is the result! (Heather just came on staff, part-time, at my organization, Our Youth at Work, while running her own successful Web consulting business.)

Reaching young workers the way they communicate

Heather helped me "get it" - how young people today are Googling for their information, voting, sharing, reviewing, demoting, promoting, gossiping, reading, writing and commenting on blogs (all of this, apparently, part of a huge and growing form of communication known as social media).

The results:

• This blog written by me and my daughter, Jessica
• Our MySafeWork group in Facebook
• Our MySafeWork channel on YouTube
• Our photos in Flickr

The payoff for me and my organization: dramatically extending our reach to young people entering the workforce. And reaching more educators, parents, and employers on how they can teach, talk to and train young workers to take care of themselves on the job.

More Knowledge  = More Lives Saved!

Get found online.. then get read, watched, commented on

Heather, and her awesome team of online experts, also taught me about the importance of search engine optimization - best practices to ensure that you get found online - and lots of other Web 2.0 tips 'n tricks!

So, take it from me - a 55-year-old guy whose online savvy stopped at email until recently - there is a whole wonderful world of web out there that can benefit your business or cause.

And you should see what Heather has planned for MySafeWork next!... sorry, I'm sworn to secrecy!